The Godfather (fairy tale)
The Godfather | |
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![]() Illustration by Otto Ubbelohde, 1909 | |
Folk tale | |
Name | The Godfather |
Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 332 |
Country | Germany |
Published in | Grimms' Fairy Tales |
"The Godfather" (German: Der Herr Gevatter) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm as tale number 42.[1]
Synopsis
An impoverished man has had so many children that (by the time he has another) he finds that he has already asked everyone in the world to be godparents for his previous children. Befuddled as to how he is supposed to find anyone to act as godparent for his newly-born child, he withdraws to his chamber for the night. While fast asleep, he has a dream that tells him to leave his house and ask the first person he encounters to be his child's godparent. As soon as he awakens, he proceeds to do this. The man he meets and makes godparent of his newly-born child hands the impoverished man a small bottle containing water that the man claims the impoverished man can use to heal the sick, so long as the sickness stems from the head and not the feet.
The impoverished man subsequently becomes both well-known and wealthy because of the magical water. He has a certain bout with treating the child of the King, in which he is able to use the magical water on two successive occasions, but is unable to do so on a third occasion, announcing thus to the King that his child will die.
Not too long after the death of the King's child, the man decides to visit the Godfather (to tell him of his undertakings with the magical water). However, when he arrives at the Godfather's house, he notices that everything there is in disarray. On the first stair, a dustpan and brush quarrel with each other. On the second stair, many fingers lie. On the third stair is a stack of bowls. On the fourth stair are fish that are cooking themselves. On the fifth stair is the Godfather's room, and (when the man looks through the keyhole on the door to the room) he sees the Godfather, donning very long horns. The man opens the door, and (as soon as he does so) the Godfather retreats to a bed and cloaks himself. The man asks the Godfather about the odd happenings occurring in the house, to which the Godfather brushes off most of and counter-claims that the man was seeing things. Once the man brings up the self-cooking fish, however, the fish enter the room and present themselves (on a dish) to the Godfather. Finally, the man brings up how, when peeking through the keyhole on the door to the room, he saw the Godfather with long horns. At this, the Godfather bellows at the man that he is telling falsehoods—frightened by his shouting, the man bolts from the house.
See also
- Godfather Death
References
- ^ Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, Household Tales
- v
- t
- e
- Grimms' Fairy Tales
- Deutsche Sagen
- Deutsche Mythologie
- Deutsches Wörterbuch
tales
- "Bearskin"
- "The Brave Little Tailor"
- "Brother and Sister"
- "Cat and Mouse in Partnership"
- "Cinderella"
- "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs"
- "Doctor Know-all"
- "The Dog and the Sparrow"
- "The Elves and the Shoemaker"
- "The Fisherman and His Wife"
- "The Four Skillful Brothers"
- "The Frog Prince"
- "The Gnome"
- "Godfather Death"
- "The Golden Bird"
- "The Golden Goose"
- "The Goose Girl"
- "The Goose-Girl at the Well"
- "The Grave Mound"
- "Hans My Hedgehog"
- "Hansel and Gretel"
- "The Hut in the Forest"
- "The Jew Among Thorns"
- "Jorinde and Joringel"
- "The Juniper Tree"
- "The King of the Golden Mountain"
- "King Thrushbeard"
- "Little Red Riding Hood"
- "Mary's Child"
- "Mother Holle"
- "Old Hildebrand"
- "Old Sultan"
- "Pied Piper of Hamelin"
- "The Queen Bee"
- "Rapunzel"
- "The Riddle"
- "The Robber Bridegroom"
- "Rumpelstiltskin"
- "The Seven Ravens"
- "The Singing, Springing Lark"
- "The Six Servants"
- "The Six Swans"
- "Sleeping Beauty"
- "Snow White"
- "Snow-White and Rose-Red"
- "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was"
- "The Three Little Men in the Wood"
- "The Three Spinners"
- "Thumbling"
- "Town Musicians of Bremen"
- "Trusty John"
- "The Turnip"
- "The Twelve Brothers"
- "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"
- "The Water of Life"
- "The White Snake"
- "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats"
- "The Wonderful Musician"
- Grimm's law
- Göttingen Seven
- Grim Tales
- The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
- Once Upon a Brothers Grimm
- Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics
- The Brothers Grimm
- Grimm Tales
- The Sisters Grimm
- Fairy tale
- American McGee's Grimm
- German Fairy Tale Route
- Grimm
- Once Upon a Time
- The 10th Kingdom
- The Grimm Variations
Category
Commons