The Two Caskets
Encyclopedia
The Two Caskets is a Scandinavian fairy tale
included by Benjamin Thorpe
in his Yule-Tide Stories: A Collection of Scandinavian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions. Andrew Lang
included it in The Orange Fairy Book.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 480, the kind and the unkind girls. Others of this type include Shita-kiri Suzume
, Diamonds and Toads
, Mother Hulda
, Father Frost
, The Three Little Men in the Wood
, The Enchanted Wreath
, The Old Witch
, and The Three Heads in the Well
. Literary variants include The Three Fairies
and Aurore and Aimée
.
The girl fell to a wonderful land. She walked on and came to a tumble-down fence, overgrown with vines. It pled with her not to hurt it, because it did not have long to live, and she carefully jumped over it where the vines were less. She found an oven full of loaves, and it told her she could eat what she liked, but begged her not to hurt it. She ate a loaf, thanked it for such fine bread, and shut its door. She came to a cow with a bucket on its horns; it said she could milk it and drink, but asked her not to hurt it or spill its milk. She agreed, and when a drop of milk was left, the cow told her to throw it over its hooves and hang the bucket back up.
She came to a house. An old woman asked her to comb her hair. When she did, the old woman showed her a farm where she could take service. She took good care of the cows, gave milk to the cats, and when she sieved corn, gave some to the birds.
One day, her mistress summoned her and told her to fill a sieve full of water and bring it back. The birds told her to use ashes to stop up the holes. Another day, she had to wash some black yarn until it became white, and white yarn until it became black. The birds told her to face east to turn the black white, and west to turn the white black. Then her mistress had her weave them into a robe as smooth as a king's by sunset, but the skiens tangled and broke every moment. The cats wove it on her behalf.
She wanted to leave and go home. Her mistress sent her to an attic and told her to take whatever casket she liked. She considered many beautiful ones, but the cats directed her to a black one, so she took it and went home. Her stepmother took her wages, but the box was filled with marvelous treasures.
Her stepmother put her own daughter on the edge of the well, to spin with coarse stuff, and threw her down the well when it broke. The daughter proceeded as her sister had, but was rude to everyone on the wall, and worked very poorly at the farm, including the three tasks her stepsister had done. At the end of the year, she went on her way with a large red casket. When she opened it at home, fire burst out and burned her and her mother to death.
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...
included by Benjamin Thorpe
Benjamin Thorpe
Benjamin Thorpe was an English scholar of Anglo-Saxon.-Biography:After studying for four years at Copenhagen University, under the Danish philologist Rasmus Christian Rask, he returned to England in 1830, and in 1832 published an English version of Caedmon's metrical paraphrase of portions of the...
in his Yule-Tide Stories: A Collection of Scandinavian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions. 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 Orange Fairy Book.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 480, the kind and the unkind girls. Others of this type include Shita-kiri Suzume
Shita-kiri Suzume
, translated literally into "Tongue-Cut Sparrow", is a traditional Japanese fable telling of a kind old man, his avaricious wife and an injured sparrow...
, Diamonds and Toads
Diamonds and Toads
Diamonds and Toads or Toads and Diamonds is a French fairy tale by Charles Perrault, and titled by him "Les Fées" or "The Fairies." Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book....
, Mother Hulda
Mother Hulda
Mother Hulda is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. It was originally known as Frau Holle and is tale number 24.- Synopsis :...
, Father Frost
Father Frost (fairy tale)
Father Frost is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki. Andrew Lang included it, as "The Story of King Frost", in The Yellow Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 480, The Kind and the Unkind Girls...
, The Three Little Men in the Wood
The Three Little Men in the Wood
The Three Little Men in the Wood or The Three Dwarfs is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 13. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book, and a version of the tale appears in A Book of Dwarfs by Ruth Manning-Sanders.It is Aarne-Thompson type 403B, the black and the...
, The Enchanted Wreath
The Enchanted Wreath
The Enchanted Wreath is a Scandinavian fairy tale, collected in Benjamin Thorpe in his Yule-Tide Stories: A Collection of Scandinavian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions...
, The Old Witch
The Old Witch
The Old Witch is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his 1894 book, More English Fairy Tales.Also included within A Book of Witches Ruth Manning-Sanders and A Book of British Fairy Tales by Alan Garner....
, and The Three Heads in the Well
The Three Heads in the Well
The Three Heads in the Well is a fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales.It is Aarne-Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls. Others of this type include Shita-kiri Suzume, Diamonds and Toads, Mother Hulda, Father Frost, The Three Little Men in the Wood, The Enchanted...
. Literary variants include The Three Fairies
The Three Fairies
The Three Fairies is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone.It is Aarne-Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls, and appears to stem from an oral source...
and Aurore and Aimée
Aurore and Aimée
Aurore and Aimée is a French literary fairy tale written by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Like her better known tale Beauty and the Beast, it is among the first fairy tales deliberately written for children....
.
Synopsis
A woman had a daughter and stepdaughter. One day she set them to spin while sitting on the edge of a well, giving her daughter good flax and her stepdaughter coarse, unusable flax, and declared that whoever's thread broke first would be thrown in. When her stepdaughter's thread broke, she threw her in.The girl fell to a wonderful land. She walked on and came to a tumble-down fence, overgrown with vines. It pled with her not to hurt it, because it did not have long to live, and she carefully jumped over it where the vines were less. She found an oven full of loaves, and it told her she could eat what she liked, but begged her not to hurt it. She ate a loaf, thanked it for such fine bread, and shut its door. She came to a cow with a bucket on its horns; it said she could milk it and drink, but asked her not to hurt it or spill its milk. She agreed, and when a drop of milk was left, the cow told her to throw it over its hooves and hang the bucket back up.
She came to a house. An old woman asked her to comb her hair. When she did, the old woman showed her a farm where she could take service. She took good care of the cows, gave milk to the cats, and when she sieved corn, gave some to the birds.
One day, her mistress summoned her and told her to fill a sieve full of water and bring it back. The birds told her to use ashes to stop up the holes. Another day, she had to wash some black yarn until it became white, and white yarn until it became black. The birds told her to face east to turn the black white, and west to turn the white black. Then her mistress had her weave them into a robe as smooth as a king's by sunset, but the skiens tangled and broke every moment. The cats wove it on her behalf.
She wanted to leave and go home. Her mistress sent her to an attic and told her to take whatever casket she liked. She considered many beautiful ones, but the cats directed her to a black one, so she took it and went home. Her stepmother took her wages, but the box was filled with marvelous treasures.
Her stepmother put her own daughter on the edge of the well, to spin with coarse stuff, and threw her down the well when it broke. The daughter proceeded as her sister had, but was rude to everyone on the wall, and worked very poorly at the farm, including the three tasks her stepsister had done. At the end of the year, she went on her way with a large red casket. When she opened it at home, fire burst out and burned her and her mother to death.
See also
- The MonthsThe MonthsThe Months is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone.-Synopsis:Cianne and Lise were brothers, and Cianne was rich and Lise poor. Lise set out to wander the world. He met with twelve youths who welcomed him, and asked him about the months...
- The WitchThe Witch (fairy tale)The Witch is a Russian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.A version of the tale, under the title "The Twins and the Snarling Witch", appears in A Book of Witches, by Ruth Manning-Sanders.-Synopsis:...
- Vasilissa the BeautifulVasilissa the BeautifulVasilisa the Beautiful , commonly known as Vasilisa's Doll, is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki....
- The Enchanted CanaryThe Enchanted CanaryThe Enchanted Canary is a French fairy tale collected by Charles Deulin. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.-Synopsis:A lord was the fattest lord in Flanders. He loved his son dearly. One day, the young man told him he did not find the women in Flanders beautiful; he did not wish to...