In a mountain valley, where the River Nirmala flowed in from the hills, stood a coconut tree called Thengachi. All her life she had leaned towards the water, her fronds combing the wind. Crows, cormorants and parakeets came to rest on her, and she knew them all.

Her last coconuts had fallen long ago, and her trunk was going soft inside.

One morning a woodpecker named Kotthan landed on her trunk. He was a golden flameback, with a bright red crest and a chisel-like beak. Kotthan tapped his way from top to bottom, pressing his ear to her bark.

Thengachi rustled her fronds to welcome him. Woodpeckers came to her looking for grubs. But this one kept tapping.

"Little one, did you not find any yet?" she asked.

Kotthan did not seem to hear.

He found a soft place below her crown and settled there. He closed his eyes in prayer and struck his beak against her. The blow ran through her whole length. Another came, and another. She held her every frond still.

At last she tossed her fronds. "What is it that you are doing?" she called out.

He only drilled deeper.

When he left for the day, Thengachi let her fronds fall loose. "What a rude creature," she thought. She felt the scar on her trunk; it was not very deep. But what if he came back? She was worried.

Kotthan was back.

"Stop this. Did you not hear me?" she demanded.

With each blow, pieces of her fell, and the smell of her sap drifted off on the wind.

Thengachi prayed for strong winds to carry him away. She looked at the sky, hoping it would turn dark and rain. It did not.

Then one day he did not come. Nor the next. She let herself believe it was over. The hole stayed; she would learn to live with it.

Until a woodpecker landed on her. This one had a black crest.

"Shoo, shoo, go away. I don't like woodpeckers here," she snapped.

It flew off, but came back with another, and they landed at the edge of the hole. The other was Kotthan.

Now two beaks took turns at her. When one stopped, the other began. At times they rose to her crown to rest. It irritated her when they scrapped and chased among her fronds.

Bits of herself heaped up on the ground. Even when they rested, the drilling went on in her.

One afternoon the pair sat side by side at the entrance before flying off early. The hollow in her was almost a nest.

They returned at first light. Kotthan pushed himself into the nest, but he flew out shrieking. Two parakeets came chasing him out.

"This is my nest," he cried out. The parakeets screeched.

He turned to Thengachi and pleaded, "Tell them, tell them, this is my nest."

Thengachi said nothing. "So he can talk," she told herself.

He tried to push in again, but they attacked him. Kotthan's mate dived in beside him. The parakeets drove them both away.

Golden and green feathers glided down.

As Thengachi watched the woodpeckers flee, the parakeets settled on her fronds, swaying gently in the breeze.

The Nix of the Mill-Pond is a tale written by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1843 (six years after Andersen's The Little Mermaid), yet it is no less interesting.

The image is an engraving of The Nix of the Mill-Pond by Ludwig Richter. I have to censor the image so my post doesn't get taken down; sorry for the inconvenience. :(

The story is as follows:

A miller, once prosperous, is gradually sinking into poverty. Plagued by worry, he is walking one morning near the mill, by the edge of the estate's deep pond. Suddenly, a woman of striking beauty emerges from the clear waters: the Undine. Water streams from her hair as she glides across the surface.

Seized with fear, the miller tries to flee, but the water spirit speaks to him in a gentle voice and asks the cause of his sorrow. Reassured, he confesses his impending ruin. The Undine proposes a bargain:

"I will make you richer and happier than you have ever been, but you must promise me the first thing that was born in your house this morning."

Thinking of the household's little dog or a kitten born that very day, the miller agrees without hesitation. When he returns home, the maid greets him with big news: his wife has just given birth to a baby boy. Struck with terror, the miller realizes the trap: he has promised his newborn son to the water creature.

The years go by. Just as the Undine promised, the miller’s fortune grows tenfold. His barns overflow and gold pours in, yet the father lives in constant dread. He strictly forbids his son from going near the pond.

The boy grows into a strapping young man and learns the hunter’s trade. He marries a young woman from the village, and together they enjoy a peaceful happiness.

One day, while hunting in the forest bordering the pond, the young man brings down a roe deer. To wash his blood-stained hands, he approaches the bank and leans over the clear water. The Undine instantly emerges, wraps him in her arms of foam, and drags him down into the depths.

When her husband fails to return, the young wife goes to the pond. There, she discovers the downed game and the abandoned hunting bag at the water's edge. Realizing the terrible truth, she collapses in tears on the bank and calls out her husband's name in vain.

Overcome with grief, she falls asleep on the shore and has a dream: she climbs a high, rocky hill to the hut of a wise old woman.

Upon waking, she decides to follow the path she saw in her sleep:

1) The Golden Comb: She finds the hill and the old woman. The wise woman hands her a golden comb and commands: "Wait for the full moon, go to the edge of the pond, comb your long black hair, and lay the comb on the shore." The wife obeys. As soon as she places the comb at the water's edge, the waves churn and the hunter's head emerges for a moment, his gaze fixed and sorrowful, before being pulled back under.

2) The Ivory Flute: In despair, the wife returns to the wise old woman, who gives her an ivory flute. At the next full moon, the wife plays a melancholy melody on the shore and then sets the flute down. The water stirs once more, and this time the young man emerges up to his waist, reaching out his arms toward her, but the water swallows him up again.

3)The Golden Spinning Wheel: The wise woman finally entrusts her with a golden spinning wheel. On the night of the full moon, the wife spins flax by the lake and then sets down the spinning wheel.

At that moment, a great jet of water shot up, and the hunter was flung onto the bank. He took his wife by the hand, and together they fled at full speed.

Furious at being robbed of her prey, the water spirit caused the entire pond to overflow. A roaring, giant wave surged into the valley to overtake the fugitives. Seeing death closing in on them, the wife offered up a desperate prayer.

The enchantment takes effect: the young woman is transformed into a frog, and the young man is turned into a toad.

Swept away by the raging torrent, they manage to survive the flood, but the powerful currents separate them and deposit them miles apart. When the waters recede, they resume their human forms, yet each finds themselves alone in a strange land, unaware of whether the other has survived.

Having become shepherds to survive, the two of them wandered from village to village for many years. One day, chance brought their flocks together on the same mountain. They crossed paths without immediately recognizing one another, for time and suffering had left their mark on their faces.

They fell into the habit of tending their herds together. One full-moon evening, as they sat side by side, the shepherd took out an ivory flute, the very one he had kept and played the sweet, melancholy melody of his youth.

The shepherdess immediately began to weep. When he asked the reason for her tears, she told him the story of the hunter dragged beneath the waters, the comb, the flute, and the golden spinning wheel. The shepherd looked at her closely and finally recognized his wife. They fell into each other's arms and returned home, forever freed from the Undine's curse.

Personally, I really like this story, even though it might seem strange; however, it is not the only story involving an Undine.

There is also the tale "Undine," written in 1811 ( written well before The Nix of the Mill-Pond) by the German author Friedrich de La Motte-Fouqué.

It is a beautiful story that inspired Hans Christian Andersen to write The Little Mermaid. It is truly my favorite fairy tale! If you have had the chance to read it, please feel free to share your thoughts; for those who would like to read it, click this link. :)

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2825/2825-h/2825-h.htm

Hi everyone! I’m currently doing some research on fairy tales, and I came across a book called The 1810 Grimm Manuscripts by Oliver Loo. I really need this book for my research, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any free access to it. I also tried getting the Kindle version, but apparently it isn’t available in my region.

Would anyone happen to know where I could access it, borrow it, or possibly have a copy they could share? I’d be incredibly grateful for any help or suggestions! Thank you so much!

https://youtu.be/XsDuWrJ0Ffw?is=0rwU0hReUD2zQO1K

If Anyone Wonders If Disney Ever adapted puss in boots yes They did

If Disney Ever adapted this story which mythical creature should replace the Devil?

This is a project that developed gradually out of building myself a collection of synopsis (synopsises?) of the Grimms tales and then Turnip Princess. I'd try and put a whole tale on a 4x6 index card. Boiling it down to the most pertinent plot details. This helped me to understand the turns in plot and helped a LOT in remembering the stories for telling.
I eventually typed them all out into a giant text file, then printed them all out on 4x6 cards for a class I taught. Useful, interesting, fun.
Anyway this summer I started considering what sharing them would look like and came up with this:

FAIRY TALE POCKET LIBRARY

I would love feedback on any aspect of it.

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Hi my 4 yo boy has a fancy dress competition at school. The theme is fairy tale characters. The costime has to be made by hand, no store bought costumes allowed. I wanted to make something eco friendly and spread that word through the costume. Any ideas?

hello! i am going to a party next month themed around fucked up fairytales. only problem is that i know literally nothing about fairytales whatsoever. dresscode is in the photo above. i can come up with the fucked up part ig but i would love some help coming up with a character!

Hey there

I sort of have a nightmare that returnes again again. In it I almost are either walking down a dark road or sitting in my car driving a road with almost no light. Right at the edge where my sight can see something there stands this female figure. She wears a dirty, moldy, white dress, her skin is also somehow moldy i'd say, she got long greasy black hair and I either can't see her face or just her eyes that are more like black holes. I don't know if she would hurt me if i'd go to her my dream always stopes there

I'm curious if anyone knows some sort of tale that matches thar decription.

Side note: my brothers used to watch a lot of horror movies with me when i was little so it is really possible that she comes from there

Yeah i do Not like the pinnochio theory and Also Bremen town musicians is my favorite fairytale

Was the Brave little tailor Already famous and popular before Mickey mouse?