The Witch (fairy tale)
Encyclopedia
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
.
. Finally, she told them she was sending them to her grandmother, in the woods, where she knew there was a witch; she said they would have to serve her, but would be well-rewarded. The girl said they should visit their own grandmother first. They did this and found that their grandmother knew the woman was a witch. She advised them to be civil and kind, and never touch a crumb belonging to anyone else, and gave them bread, milk, and ham.
The witch set the girl to spin, and the boy to carry water in a sieve. The girl, who could not spin, wept. Mice came up to her and asked for bread. She gave them some. They told her to give the cat ham, and it should show them a way from the woods; meanwhile, they would spin for her. She went out, where her brother was trying to carry water. Wrens flew up and asked for some bread. They gave it, and the wrens advised him to stop up the holes with clay. They then gave the cat the ham. It gave them a handkerchief and comb, which would become a river and a forest, if they threw them behind them while they fled.
The next morning, the witch set the girl to weave, and the boy to chop wood into chips. Instead, they fled. A watch-dog sprung up, but they threw it the last of their bread. Birch trees nearly put out their eyes, but the girl tied a ribbon on their branches, and they let her by. Meanwhile the cat was tangling the weaving, and when the witch saw it, she demanded to know why it had not stopped the children. It told her that she had never given it a bone, and they had given it ham. The dog and the birch answered likewise, and she got her broom to follow.
The children threw down the handkerchief, but in time, the witch found a way to ford it. The children threw down the comb, and the witch found it impossible to force her way through it. They found their father again, and he drove the stepmother out of the house.
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...
. 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 Yellow Fairy Book.
A version of the tale, under the title "The Twins and the Snarling Witch", appears in A Book of Witches
A Book of Witches
A Book of Witches is a 1966 anthology of 12 fairy tales from Europe that have been collected and retold by Ruth Manning-Sanders. It is one in a long series of such anthologies by Manning-Sanders....
, by Ruth Manning-Sanders
Ruth Manning-Sanders
Ruth Manning-Sanders was a prolific British poet and author who was perhaps best known for her series of children's books in which she collected and retold fairy tales from all over the world. All told, she published more than 90 books during her lifetime. The dust jacket for A Book of Giants...
.
Synopsis
A poor widower with twin children, a girl and a boy, remarried. The stepmother had several more children and mistreated the twinsCinderella Effect
The Cinderella effect is a term used by psychologists to describe the high incidence of stepchildren being physically abused, emotionally abused, sexually abused, neglected, murdered, or otherwise mistreated at the hands of their stepparents at significantly higher rates than at the hands of their...
. Finally, she told them she was sending them to her grandmother, in the woods, where she knew there was a witch; she said they would have to serve her, but would be well-rewarded. The girl said they should visit their own grandmother first. They did this and found that their grandmother knew the woman was a witch. She advised them to be civil and kind, and never touch a crumb belonging to anyone else, and gave them bread, milk, and ham.
The witch set the girl to spin, and the boy to carry water in a sieve. The girl, who could not spin, wept. Mice came up to her and asked for bread. She gave them some. They told her to give the cat ham, and it should show them a way from the woods; meanwhile, they would spin for her. She went out, where her brother was trying to carry water. Wrens flew up and asked for some bread. They gave it, and the wrens advised him to stop up the holes with clay. They then gave the cat the ham. It gave them a handkerchief and comb, which would become a river and a forest, if they threw them behind them while they fled.
The next morning, the witch set the girl to weave, and the boy to chop wood into chips. Instead, they fled. A watch-dog sprung up, but they threw it the last of their bread. Birch trees nearly put out their eyes, but the girl tied a ribbon on their branches, and they let her by. Meanwhile the cat was tangling the weaving, and when the witch saw it, she demanded to know why it had not stopped the children. It told her that she had never given it a bone, and they had given it ham. The dog and the birch answered likewise, and she got her broom to follow.
The children threw down the handkerchief, but in time, the witch found a way to ford it. The children threw down the comb, and the witch found it impossible to force her way through it. They found their father again, and he drove the stepmother out of the house.
See also
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- 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...
- PrunellaPrunella (fairy tale)Prunella is an Italian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it The Grey Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 310, the Maiden in the Tower.A version of the tale also appears in A Book of Witches, by Ruth Manning-Sanders....
- 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 Two CasketsThe Two CasketsThe 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....
- The Magic Swan GeeseThe Magic Swan GeeseThe Magic Swan Geese or is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.It is Aarne-Thompson type 451...
- The Little Girl Sold with the PearsThe Little Girl Sold with the Pears"The Little Girl Sold with the Pears" is an Italian fairy tale collected by Italo Calvino in Italian Folktales, from Piedmont. Ruth Manning-Sanders included a variant, as "The Girl in the Basket", in A Book of Ogres and Trolls.-Plot summary:...
- The Water of LifeThe Water of Life (German fairy tale)The Water of Life is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 97.It is Aarne-Thompson type 551.John Francis Campbell noted it as a parallel of the Scottish fairy tale, The Brown Bear of the Green Glen.-Synopsis:...
- The King of LoveThe King of LoveThe King of Love is an Italian fairy tale collected by Thomas Frederick Crane in Italian Popular Tales.It is Aarne-Thompson type 425A. Others of this type include The Black Bull of Norroway, The Brown Bear of Norway, The Daughter of the Skies, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, The Enchanted...
- Baba YagaBaba YagaBaba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...