Saint Joseph in the forest
Saint Joseph in the forest is the first of ten children's legends in the appendix to the children's and house tales by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 201; ATU 480).
content
A mother loves her oldest, bad daughter and hates her youngest, good daughter, who therefore often sends her into the forest. Her guardian angel always leads her home, but once in the evening she comes to a hut with a venerable old man. It's St. Joseph. He lets her cook food and asks her to give him something, which she does in abundance. She wants to sleep on the straw, but he carries her to bed. In the morning she finds a money bag with her name on it, which she brings to her mother. The second daughter goes there too. But the oldest leaves the old man almost nothing of the food and takes the bed he offers her. When she is looking for her wages, a second nose sticks to her nose. At her plea, Joseph took it from her and gave her two pfennigs. She tells the mother that the money was lost on the way. When they are looking for it, lizards and snakes come, stab the older daughter dead and the mother in the foot.
origin
From the second edition (1819) the legend fairy tale is included as children's legend No. 1, according to Grimm's comment from the Paderbörnische by the Haxthausen family . They compare KHM 13 The three little men in the forest . See also KHM 135 The White and the Black Bride , KHM 169 The Forest House , with regard to the once sleeping Guardian Angel KHM 161 Snow White and Rose Red . Cf. in Giambattista Basiles Pentameron III, 10 The three fairies .
Hedwig von Beit names the text as an example of Joseph as earthly God the Father, whom the vernacular also approximated to the underworld demon. Hans-Jörg Uther , on the other hand, notices the often rather profane portrayal of Joseph as a foster father since the Counter-Reformation . Lizards and snakes are generally emissaries of the devil.
literature
- Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm : Children's and Household Tales. With an appendix of all fairy tales and certificates of origin not published in all editions . Ed .: Heinz Rölleke . 1st edition. Original notes, guarantees of origin, epilogue ( volume 3 ). Reclam, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-15-003193-1 , p. 275, 516 .
- Hans-Jörg Uther : Handbook to the "Children's and Household Tales" by the Brothers Grimm. Origin, effect, interpretation . de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 , pp. 408-409 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ by Beit, Hedwig: Contrast and Renewal in Fairy Tales . Second volume of «Symbolism of Fairy Tales». Second, improved edition, Bern 1956. p. 466. (A. Francke AG, Verlag)
- ↑ Hans-Jörg Uther : Handbook on the "Children's and Household Tales" by the Brothers Grimm. Origin, effect, interpretation . de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2008, ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 , pp. 408-409 .