This is Wanda Gág’s last book. She was working on and had substantially completed More Tales from Grimm when she succumbed to a fatal illness in June of 1946. The translation of the text had reached the stage of final revision, and thus was ready for the press. The illustrations presented a slightly more difficult problem. There were on hand almost a hundred usable drawings. Of these about three quarters were in their final pen-and-ink form, finished for reproduction as line blocks. The balance were in varying stages of completeness, yet sufficiently realized to be passable as illustrations. As usual,...

Once upon a time there were seven Swabians who put their heads together and decided to go out to see the world. As they hoped to meet with great adventures and to perform many a mighty deed, they considered it best to be well armed.

“What kind of weapons would be best for us?” they wondered, and at last, thinking it safest to stay close together, they decided on a single weapon to be used by all. So they had it made—one long, strong spear—after which they stood up beside it in a row, every man in his...

There was once a greedy wolf who had a fox living with him, and because the fox was the weaker of the two, he always had to do whatever the wolf wanted him to. The fox liked this little enough and would have gladly been rid of his master.

Now it happened that once, as the two were going through the forest, the wolf said, “Red Fox, find me something to eat or I will gobble you up instead.”

To which the fox replied, “Well, I know of a farmyard in which there are two little lambs. If you like,...

There was once a widow who had two daughters. Both were called Marie, but one of them was lazy and homely while the other was pretty and industrious. Yet the widow favored the lazy girl, who was her own daughter, and she hated the industrious one who was her stepdaughter. Really, she could not bear the sight of the pretty child and so, while the lazy one lolled around and did nothing, the stepdaughter was shoved out into the kitchen to work, or sent outdoors to a well near the highway where she was made to spin until her fingers...

Brotherkin and Sisterkin were playing beside a fountain, when—plump!—they both fell in. Down below lived a Water Nixie, and when she saw the children, she said, “Now that I have you here, you shall work hard for me,” and with that she carried them off with her.

Well, from then on, things went none too well for the children. Brotherkin was made to cut down a tree with a blunt ax, Sisterkin was forced to carry water in a bottomless bucket and to spin with dirty, tangled flax; and for their meals they never had anything to eat...

Once there was a tiny cottage and in it lived no people, only a mouse, a bird, and a sausage. There they had kept house most joyously together for many years, and had even been able to save some money besides.

Each of the three had a daily task to do, and this is what they did: the bird flew out into the woods and gathered sticks with which to make the fire; the mouse fetched water from the brook, lit the fire and set the table; and the big, fat, jolly sausage cooked the meals.

In this way the...

Once upon a time—oh, that was many years ago—there lived a King and Queen who said every day, “Alas, if we only had a child!” But year after year passed by and still their wish was not granted.

Now it happened that one day as the Queen was bathing in a pool, a frog crawled out of the water and said to her, “Your wish will soon be granted. Before the year is up a daughter shall be born to you.”

And what the frog promised came true. Within the year a daughter was born, a child so...

Once there was a poor but worthy girl who lived with her mother in a little village. They were so poor, these two, that many a night they had to go hungry to bed, and at last there came a time when there was nothing left in the house for them to eat. Now the girl, hoping perhaps to find some nuts or berries, went out into the woods where she met an old woman. Strangely enough, the woman already knew that the two were in trouble and, handing the girl a little cooking kettle, she said, “Take this, my...

There was once a shepherd boy who was famed far and wide for the clever answers he gave to all the questions which were put to him. The King of the country, too, had heard tales of the boy’s wisdom and, finding them hard to believe, sent for him so that he might find out the truth for himself.

When the boy arrived at the palace, the King said to him, “If you can answer wisely the three questions I am about to ask you, I will look upon you as my own son and you shall dwell here with...

It was evening, and twelve servants, who had done nothing but dawdle from dawn till sundown, lay sprawled on the grass, boasting of their idleness.

Said the first:

“I can’t be worried about anyone else’s laziness; my own keeps me busy enough. To pamper my body—that is my life’s work! I eat more than a little and have a great thirst in consequence. After I have eaten four big meals, I fast a short time until I feel hungry again—that agrees best with me. Early rising is not for me. I get up late and before midday I...

Once upon a time there was a girl who was pretty enough, but very lazy and wasteful. At her spinning she was so careless and short tempered that whenever she found a little knot in the flax she didn’t pick it out carefully as she should have done. No, she would impatiently pull out a whole handful of flax with it and throw it on the floor.

Now this idle girl had a little servant, a neat, industrious maid, who always gathered up the scraps of flax which her mistress left lying so untidily about the floor. More than that,...

A CAT met a fox as she walked in the woods, and because she had heard that he was a clever and important gentleman, she spoke to him in a friendly way.

“Good day, dear Sir Fox,” said she, bobbing and bowing all the while. “How are you? How are things going, and how do you manage in these troublous times?”

The fox, who had a very high opinion of himself, looked haughtily at the cat from head to foot. For a long time he could not decide whether he should bother to answer her at all, but at last...

Once upon a time there was a soldier who had fought valiantly for his country, but when the war was over his King dismissed him without thanks and with only a farthing’s pay.

The soldier was very angry at this.

“Just wait!” he cried. “I am no fool and I won’t stand for such treatment! If I can only find the right people to help me, the King shall give me all the treasures of his kingdom instead of one miserable farthing.”

And so, full of fury and vexation, he strode forth into the forest, hoping to find some way...

Rppsterkin said to Hennikin, “Now is the time when the nuts are ripe. Let us go up on the nut hill and eat our fill before the squirrel gets away with them all.”

“Oh yes,” replied Hennikin. “Come, we will have a happy time together!”

So they went away to the hill where they ate their fill of nuts; and as it was such a bright pleasant day they stayed until it was evening. Now I don’t know whether they had eaten so many nuts that they couldn’t walk, or whether they wanted to put on airs—at any rate,...

There was once an orphan girl who had become so poor that she no longer had a room to live in or a bed to sleep in. All she had left were the clothes she was wearing and a little bit of bread which someone had given her, and now, forsaken by all the world, she wandered into the country, hoping that God, at least, would not forget her.

She had not gone far when she met a poor man who said, “I am so hungry and you have some bread. Won’t you give me a little?” The girl handed...

Long ago, in the time when houses could fly and animals could talk, when brooks burned like fire and straw was used to quench the flames—that’s when I took a trip to Schlaraffenland. Well! The sights I saw there, to be sure!

In one place a plow was tilling a field all by itself with never a man nor horse nor ox to help it. A little farther on a withered old goat was carrying a hundred cartloads of lard on his back, and sixty loads of salt besides; and by a stream two greyhounds were lifting a mill,...

In Switzerland there lived an old Earl who had an only son; but as the boy seemed stupid and unable to learn his lessons the father said to him one day, “Look, my boy. Do what I may, I can’t seem to get anything into your head. Now I am going to send you off to a celebrated master to see what he can do with you.”

The boy was sent to a strange town where he stayed with the learned master for a year and then came back.

“Well, my son,” said the old Earl, “have you learned anything?”...

An old woman who had gathered a mess of beans for her supper was building a fire on her hearth. In order to make it burn up quickly she threw on a handful of straw, but as she did so, a piece of straw slipped out of her fingers and dropped to the floor. Then, as the woman was emptying the shelled beans into the soup pot, one of the beans, too, fell unnoticed to the floor where it rolled along until it lay beside the straw. By this time the fire on the hearth was blazing merrily when, pop!...

Long ago there was a tailor who for years had worked hard in order to raise his three sons. Every day he sat cross-legged on his table and stitched away, but now as he was getting old he said to his oldest boy, “It is time you went out into the world to learn an honest trade so that you can support me in my old age. I haven’t much to give you,” he continued, “only a farthing and a pancake to start you on your way. The rest is up to you.”

The boy went forth. On the first...

Do you know the story of the tailor who went to Heaven?

It was a beautiful day in Heaven—so beautiful, indeed, that the good God decided to go for a pleasant stroll in the heavenly garden. With him went the apostles and the saints—all of the holy folk except Saint Peter, who had to stay behind and see to it that no one entered the heavenly portals in the meantime.

Well, not long and there came a knock at the door. “Who is there?”

"Who is there?" asked Saint Peter. "And what do you want?"

"I am a...

A tailor and a goldsmith were traveling together, and one evening, just as the sun had slipped behind the mountains, they heard the sound of distant music. Clearer it came, and louder, as the two walked on; but it was no ordinary music, this they felt sure of. It had a weird, sweet charm, but a rousing power too, for as they listened, the two travelers lost all feeling of fatigue and found themselves walking with a new and easy vigor.

After the sun had vanished, the moon rose big and round and full. Briskly the two strode on until...

There was once a lazy girl who hated spinning from the bottom of her heart and, no matter how much her mother talked and scolded about it, the girl would not, would not spin. At last one day the mother lost her temper and spanked the girl until she cried out at the top of her lungs—cried and wailed so lustily that the Queen, who happened to be passing by, heard it and came in to see why she was being punished.

The mother, ashamed to admit her daughter’s laziness, said quickly, “Oh, the child is a great trial...

Years ago, when there was still much magic in the world, there lived a good King. His wife was dead but he had seven children, six boys and a girl, whom he loved above all else in the world.

One day while hunting in a big forest, the King lost his way. He looked for a way out but found none. The farther he went, the more hopelessly lost he became, and as the evening drew near he feared he might starve or be eaten by wild beasts before anyone could find him. Full of despair, he sat down to...

There were once two Princes, one as thoughtless as the other, who went out in search of adventure. But they fell into such a wild, wasteful way of living that before long they had used up all their money and had no way of getting home again. At this their younger brother, who was rather simple and was called Duncehead, went out to look for them. He found them, too, but when he wanted to join them in their travels, they scoffed at him.

“What!” they cried. “How can a simpleton like you hope to make your way in the...

This is a lying story, my children, but it’s true all the same, for my grandfather who told it to me used to say: “It must be true, my child, or else how could one tell it, after all?”

But this is the way the story goes:

It happened on the Buxtehuder Heath on a Sunday morning at harvest time just as the buckwheat was coming into flower. The sun was climbing up into the heavens, a morning breeze blew gently over the stubbles, larks trilled in the sky, bees buzzed in the buckwheat, and everybody was going to church...

A rich King had three daughters who were the joy of his heart. The pride of his heart was a large palace park filled with beautiful flowers and handsome trees of many kinds. He was especially proud of his trees, and one in particular, an apple tree, was his favorite. So highly did he prize it that he allowed no one but himself to touch it.

“Anyone who lays hands on this apple tree will regret it,” he said, “and whoever picks even one apple from it will be sent one hundred fathoms under the ground.”

No one touched it,...

An old man with three sons called them to his bedside and gave them each a present.

To the first he gave a rooster.

To the second he gave a scythe.

To the third he gave a cat.

“I am far along in years,” said the father, “and I want to make sure that you will be well provided for after I am gone. To be sure I have no money to leave you, and what I am giving you may seem of little value, but remember this, my sons: anything is worth much or little depending upon what use...

A man found himself in need of a helper for his workshop, and one day as he was walking along the outskirts of a little hamlet he met a boy with a bundle slung over his shoulder. Stopping him, the man said, “Good morning, my lad. I am looking for an apprentice. Have you a master?”

“No,” said the boy, “I have just this morning said goodbye to my mother and am now off to find myself a trade.”

“Good,” said the man. “You look as though you might be just the lad I need. But wait, do you know...

There was a King who had a large and beautiful forest in which roamed wild animals of many kinds. One day he sent a hunter into these woods to shoot him a deer. The hunter went, but when evening came he did not return.

“Perhaps an accident has befallen him,” said the King, and the following day he sent two other hunters to search for the first, but they too did not return.

On the third day the King called out all his remaining hunters, saying, “Search the entire forest and do not stop until you have found the three...

I don’t know if it is still there, but at one time there was an old grey castle in the middle of a deep, dense forest where lived an old woman who was a witch. By day she took the form of an owl or a cat, but after sundown she always became a human being again. She had many cruel tricks but the one she liked best was her Magic Circle Enchantment, for with this she could catch anyone who came within a hundred steps of the grey wall surrounding her castle.

If it was a man or boy...

Once there was a mother goat—her name was Mother Nanny. She had seven little baby goats which, as you know, are called kids, and these she loved as dearly as any other mother loves her children.

One day Mother Nanny wanted to go into the woods to get some food, so she called her seven little kids and said, “Children dear, I am going away to get you something to eat. Bolt the door after me when I leave, and watch out for the wolf—that wolf, he would like nothing better than to get in here and eat...

There was once a shoemaker who made shoes and made them well. Yet luck was against him for, although he worked hard every day, he became poorer and poorer until he had nothing left but enough leather for one pair of shoes.

That evening he cut out the leather for the last pair of shoes, and then after laying the pieces in a neat row on his workbench, he said his prayers and went peacefully to bed.

“I’ll get up early in the morning,” he thought. “Then I can finish the shoes and perhaps sell them.”

But when he arose...