I know what I have learned
Encyclopedia
I know what I have learned is a Danish fairy tale
, collected by Svendt Grundtvig in Gamle Danske Minder i Folkemunde. Andrew Lang
included it in The Pink Fairy Book.
s. One day he visited the youngest. Her husband knocked pieces from his head, so they could make broth, and gave him a sack of gold. He remembered he had a cow about to calf and left the gold to get back quicker, but a thief stole the gold, and the man stubbornly said that he had learned something.
He visited the second daughter, and instead of candles, her husband lit his fingers. He lost two bags of gold to a thief.
He visited the oldest daughter, and her husband went fishing out in a dough trough. He asked his wife whether his eyes were green yet, and when they were, he jumped in and fished. The father lost three bags of gold this time.
His wife was angry with him, but he tried to knock pieces from his head for broth and had to take his bed. Then he tried lighting his fingers for candles, and again had to take to bed. Finally
, he tried to fish, asking his wife whether his eyes were green; she claimed they were, he jumped in, and she rowed off and left him.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
, collected by Svendt Grundtvig in Gamle Danske Minder i Folkemunde. Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...
included it in The Pink Fairy Book.
Synopsis
A man's three daughters were all married to trollTroll
A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
s. One day he visited the youngest. Her husband knocked pieces from his head, so they could make broth, and gave him a sack of gold. He remembered he had a cow about to calf and left the gold to get back quicker, but a thief stole the gold, and the man stubbornly said that he had learned something.
He visited the second daughter, and instead of candles, her husband lit his fingers. He lost two bags of gold to a thief.
He visited the oldest daughter, and her husband went fishing out in a dough trough. He asked his wife whether his eyes were green yet, and when they were, he jumped in and fished. The father lost three bags of gold this time.
His wife was angry with him, but he tried to knock pieces from his head for broth and had to take his bed. Then he tried lighting his fingers for candles, and again had to take to bed. Finally
Rule of three (writing)
The "rule of three" is a principle in writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader/audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of...
, he tried to fish, asking his wife whether his eyes were green; she claimed they were, he jumped in, and she rowed off and left him.