Extra Reading Diary: The Brothers Grimm

For my extra reading this week, I finished the Brothers Grimm unit that I started with Reading Diary A. Of the second half of stories I read, my favorite was Eve's Unequal Children. The thing that initially interested me about it was that it didn't seem like it followed the typical plot of a Brothers Grimm story, which, at least in my experience, don't touch on religion much. In the story Adam and Eve are giving birth to children, with some of them being good looking and some being somewhat ugly. Eve learns that God will come to visit, and so she decides to hide her ugly children and only show God her good looking children. When God comes he proclaims that the children will become hugely successful, with some being princes, knights, and counts. After hearing this, Eve decides to show God her ugly children as well. Eve is surprised and dismayed when God declares that they will be a fisherman, a tanner, and a potter, amongst others. Eve is upset about this and questions God, but he explains that it is necessary for people to play all roles on Earth, else there will be no one to sow the food that the prince ultimately eats. All have different roles, but all are equally important. I really enjoyed this story because I thought the theme of equal value is an important one for people to learn. No matter how successful a person is, they still rely on other people in their day-to-day lives.

God with Adam, Eve and their children

Brothers Grimm (Ashliman)

Reading Diary A: Brothers Grimm

This week I read a story from the Brothers Grimm. I've always been a big fan of these stories because they're so interesting to read when paired with the more popular fairy tales that we all read as kids. I didn't realize that there were many others stories from the Brothers Grimm that weren't adapted into children's stories. My favorite that I read today was Old Sultan. It's the story of a dog - Old Sultan - who is getting old, so the father of the family decides to put him down. The wife talks him out of it, and so the dog hatches a plan with a wolf to interrupt a kidnapping of the family's child. After doing this, the mother and father love the dog again. When the dog refuses to let the wolf steal sheep in repayment, the wolf challenges Old Sultan to a fight. I won't ruin what came next. I really enjoyed this story because it was from the point of view of a dog, and it offered an interesting take on the negative outcomes that can come from laying with a wolf.

Old Sultan about to battle the wolf

Brothers Grimm unit