THE GLASS COFFIN[story for children]

THE GLASS COFFIN [A STORY FOR CHILDREN]

“I promptly conjectured no good thing. I dressed speedily, asked for my palfrey to be saddled, and joined by a single employee, rode the full run to the boondocks.

-A Free version from Grimm’s Tales-

[“The Glass Coffin” is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 163]

THE STORY

A poor tailor can also do extraordinary things and win honours. He ought to go to the correct workshop and have good luck. A common, competent tailor’s apprentice once went out voyaging and came into a pleasing woods, and, as he lost the way. Night fell, and he was to look for a bed in this difficult retreat. He could have discovered a proper bed on the delicate greenery, yet the terror of wild brutes forbade him no rest. Finally, he was forced to spend the night in a tree. He found a giant oak, climbed up to its end point, and praised God that he had his goose with him, for generally the breeze which blew crazy of the tree would have diverted him.

After he had spent a few hours in the haziness, perhaps with dread he saw at a short separation, an inviting display of light, and as he assumed that a house of a human may be there. This would be better than on the branches, he thought and got down and went towards the light. It guided him to a little shelter that was woven together of reeds. He knocked and the entryway opened, and by the light which approached he saw a little old man who wore a coat made of bits of shaded stuff. “Who are you? what do you need?” asked the man. “I am a poor tailor,” he replied, “whom night has shocked in the wild, and I beseech you to let me into your home until morning.” “Go your direction,” answered the old man in a surly voice, “; Look for yourself an asylum somewhere else.” After these words, he was going to slip into his hovel once more, yet the tailor held him strongly by the edge of his tunic and argued so miserably. The old man, not all that bad as he wished to show up, finally let him into the cottage. He gave the guest something to eat and afterwards indicated out him a decent bed in a nook.

The exhausted dressmaker rested comfortably till morning, yet he had been aroused by an awesome commotion. A rough stubble of shouting and thundering swept through the thin dividers of the hovel. The tailor, brimming with fearlessness, bounced up, put his garments on, and rushed out. Near to the shack, he saw an incredible dark bull and an amazing stag, which were just getting ready for a pitiless battle. They attacked each other with such outrageous anger that the ground rocked with their trampling, and the air resonated with their cries. For quite a while, it was dubious who would win, but finally, the stag pushed his horns into his enemy’s body, whereupon the bull tumbled to the earth with a staggering thunder.

The tailor, who had viewed the battle with amazement, was all the while remaining there noiseless when the stag in full vigour bounded up to him, and before he could get away, he captured the stag up on his unusual horns. He had very little time to gather his considerations, for it went into a quick race over ridges and notches, wood and knoll. He held with the two hands to the horns and surrendered himself to his destiny. . Finally, the stag ceased before a mass of shake, and delicately let the tailor down. The tailor, more dead than alive, required a more drawn out time to begin to act normally again. When he recouped, the stag, which had stayed with him, pushed its horns with such vigour against an entryway which was in the stone, that it sprang open. Blazes of discharge shot forward, after which an extraordinary smog emanated, which concealed the stag. The tailor did not grasp what to do, or where to turn, to escape this wilderness and go back to the people.

I asked him where he had left my brother, and how he had got by this stag, out of whose striking eyes I saw tears spilling

While he was standing uncertain, a voice sprang out of the stone, which tweeted to him, “Enter without fear, no malevolence will befall thee.” He wavered, yet determined by a secretive power, he complied with the voice and approached the iron-entryway into a vast extensive passage, whose roof, dividers and floor were made of shimmering rectilinear gems, on every one of which were sliced letters which were secret to him. He glanced at everything with relish when he again heard the voice which told him, “Venture on the stone which lies amidst the antechamber, and unimaginably beneficial luck anticipates you.”

His audacity had developed considerably that he obeyed. The boulders started to give route under his pads and descended progressively down into the profundities. When the ground was firm, the tailor viewed around. Here, nonetheless, there was more to take a gander at and to appreciate. Hollow spots were cut in the dividers, in which stood receptacles of dainty glass which were stuffed in a shaded material with a faint cerulean vapour. On the basement of the corridor, two incredible glass chests remained inverse to each other, which energized his enthusiasm. When he advanced to one of them, he saw in it a great looking edifice similar to a palace encompassed by structures, stables and outbuildings, and other fabulous pieces. en Everything was meticulously executed by an adroit hand with crown magnificence.

Then a voice made itself heard. It entreated him to turn round and take a look at the glass cabinet which stood inverse. How his profound respect expanded when he saw in that a lady of the greatest glory! She reclined as though snoozing, and was enveloped by her long gorgeous hair as in a precious mantle. Her eyes were firmly closed, yet the splendour of her vision and a lace which her breathing moved forward and backwards, left the impression that she was alive.

When he advanced to one of them, he saw in it a great looking edifice similar to a palace encompassed by structures, stables and outbuildings, and other fabulous pieces.

The dressmaker was looking at the wonderful spectacle with a pulsating heart when she all of a sudden opened her eyes and began up at seeing him in cheerful fear. “Just Heaven!” cried she, “my deliverance is close by!

Snappy, speedy, enable me to out of my jail; if thou pushes back the electrical discharge glass pine box, at that point I will be free.” The tailor obeyed immediately, and she instantly raised up the glass top, turned out and rushed into the side of the corridor, where she secured herself with an extensive shroud. At that point, she settled herself on a stone, requested the young fellow to go to her, and after she had kissed him on his lips, she stated, “My long-awaited deliverer, kind Heaven has guided thee to me, and put an end to my distresses. On the same day when they close, will thy blessing start? Thou art the husband chosen for me by Heaven, and shalt pass thy life in unbroken joy, loved by me, and rich to overflowing in every earthly possession. Seat thyself, and listen to the story of my life:

Thou art the husband chosen for me by Heaven, and shalt pass thy life in unbroken joy, loved by me, and rich to overflowing in every earthly possession.

“I am the daughter of a rich count. My parents died when I was still in my tender youth and recommended me in their last will to my elder brother, by whom I was brought up. We loved each other so tenderly and were so alike in our way of thinking and our inclinations, that we both embraced the resolution never to marry but to stay together to the end of our lives. In our house there was no lack of company; neighbours and friends visited us often, and we showed the greatest hospitality to everyone. So it came to pass one evening that a stranger came riding to our castle, and, under the pretext of not being able to get on to the next place, begged for shelter for the night. We granted his request with ready courtesy, and he entertained us in the most agreeable manner during supper by conversation intermingled with stories.

My brother liked the stranger so much that he entreated him to spent a few more days with us, to which, after some wavering, he consented. We didn’t leave the table until late in the night, Then the visitor withdrew to his room, and I rushed, as I was exhausted, to my tender bed. Scarcely had I napped for a short period when the racket of spectacular measure awoke me. As I couldn’t weigh from whence it arose, I expected to summon my house supervisor who rested in the neighbouring room, nevertheless, I found that my talk was brought down by a sinister power. I felt as if a mountain were over-burdening my ribs, and was not capable of uttering the littlest noise. Meanwhile, by the light of my bedtime-lantern, I saw the stranger enter my room through two passages which were snappy impacted. He came to me and expressed, that by magic articulations which were at his charge, he had made the astonishing music sound in order to confuse me and that he at present broke all fastenings with the objective of offering me his hand and heart. My loathing to his spell utterance was so sharp, that I vouchsafed him no answer. He paused for a while without stirring, obviously idling for a crucial verdict, yet as I was silent, he resentfully reported he would vindicate himself and feign designs to censure my pride, and left the room. I spent the night in the best disquietude and just collapsed asleep till morning. When I got up, I hurried for my brother, yet did not encounter him in his chamber, and the escorts reported to me that he had ridden forward with the stranger by first daylight.

“I promptly conjectured no good thing. I dressed speedily, asked for my palfrey to be saddled, and joined by a single employee, rode the full run to the boondocks. The help meanwhile, fell with his horse, and couldn’t accompany me, for the steed had broken its frog and hoof. I looked for after my way without halting, and in the blink of an eye, I detected, the stranger reaching towards me with an uncommon stag which he drove by a line. I asked him where he had left my brother, and how he had got by this stag, out of whose striking eyes I saw tears spilling. As opposed to taking note of me, he broke into uproarious laughter. I fell into an odd outrage at this, pulled out a firearm and discharged it at the brute; yet the shell bobbed once more from his chest and went into my steed’s head. I tumbled to the soil, and the stranger mumbled a couple of oaths which barred me from easy discernment.

“When I woke up again, I discovered myself in this isolated cave inside a glass coffin. The sorcerer emerged once again, and said he had turned my brother into a stag, my citadel with all that belonged to it lessened in size by his craft, he had closed up in the other glass cabinet all my people, who further were transformed into a fog, imprisoned in glass vials. He informed me that if I would now agree with his order, it was quite easy for him to put everything back in its earlier status, as he had nothing to do but crack the containers, and everything would revert once more to its original station. I answered him as little as I had done the initial time. He disappeared and left me in my jail, in which a long slumber overpowered me. In the fantasies which passed before my orbs, that was the most reassuring in which a young man arrived and anchored me free, and when I reopened my eyes this very day, I saw thee and saw my vision accomplished. Help me to achieve the other things which appeared in those fantasies. The first is that we hoist the glass chest in which my castle is confined, on to that wide boulder.”

When the stone was loaded, it started to ascend on high with the dame and the young fellow and scaled through the opening of the roof into the upper lobby. From there they could without much of a stretch reach the outside. Here the lady opened the lid, and it was superb to see how the stronghold, the houses, and the homestead structures which were encased, extended themselves and developed to their regular size with the best speed. After this, the lady and the tailor came back to the buckle underneath the earth and had the vessels which were topped with smoke took away from the stone. The lady had barely opened the containers when the blue smoke hurried out and changed itself into living men, in whom she perceived her aides and her kin. Her happiness was further expanded when her brother, who had killed the conjurer as the bull, left the timberland towards them in his human shape, and on the same day, the lady, as per her word, gave her hand at the sacred place to the fortunate dressmaker.

………………………………….

References-

1- The original folk & fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm: the complete first edition. Grimm, Wilhelm, 1786-1859, Grimm, Jacob, 1785-1863,, Zipes, Jack, 1937-, Dezsö, Andrea, Princeton [New Jersey]. ISBN 9780691160597. OCLC 879662315.

2-Several versions of the Original story

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WORKS of Grimm Brothers [Jakob and Wilhelm] ---

Über den altdeutschen Meistergesang (Göttingen, 1811)

*Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Berlin, 1812–1815) (many editions)

*Das Lied von Hildebrand und des Weissenbrunner Gebet (Kassel, 1812)

Altdeutsche Wälder (Kassel, Frankfurt, 1813–1816, 3 vols.)

*Der arme Heinrich von Hartmann von der Aue (Berlin, 1815)

Irmenstrasse und Irmensäule (Vienna, 1815)

*Die Lieder der alten Edda (Berlin, 1815)

Silva de romances viejos (Vienna, 1815)

*Deutsche Sagen (Berlin, 1816–1818, 2nd ed., Berlin, 1865–1866)

Deutsche Grammatik (Göttingen, 1819, 2nd ed., Göttingen, 1822–1840) (reprinted 1870 by Wilhelm Scherer, Berlin)

Wuk Stephanowitsch' Kleine Serbische Grammatik, verdeutscht mit einer Vorrede (Leipzig and Berlin, 1824) Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic - Serbian Grammar

Zur Recension der deutschen Grammatik (Kassel, 1826)

*Irische Elfenmärchen, aus dem Englischen (Leipzig, 1826)

Deutsche Rechtsaltertumer (Göttingen, 1828, 2nd ed., 1854)

Hymnorum veteris ecclesiae XXVI. interpretatio theodisca (Göttingen, 1830)

Reinhart Fuchs (Berlin, 1834)

Deutsche Mythologie (Göttingen, 1835, 3rd ed., 1854, 2 vols.)

Taciti Germania edidit (Göttingen, 1835)

Über meine Entlassung (Basel, 1838)

(together with Schmeller) Lateinische Gedichte des X. und XI. Jahrhunderts (Göttingen, 1838)

Sendschreiben an Karl Lachmann über Reinhart Fuchs (Berlin, 1840)

Weistümer, Th. i. (Göttingen, 1840) (continued, partly by others, in 5 parts, 1840–1869)

Andreas und Elene (Kassel, 1840)

Frau Aventure (Berlin, 1842)

Geschichte der deutschen Sprache (Leipzig, 1848, 3rd ed., 1868, 2 vols.)

Des Wort des Besitzes (Berlin, 1850)

*Deutsches Wörterbuch, Bd. i. (Leipzig, 1854)

Rede auf Wilhelm Grimm und Rede über das Alter (Berlin, 1868, 3rd ad., 1865)

Kleinere Schriften (F. Dümmler, Berlin, 1864–1884, 7 vols.).

--[Source- Wikipedia]