The Brothers Grimm Lunch Break: The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm

A prince travels the world, and along the way defeats a witch and a band of muderers. He uses the experience to win the hand of a princess via a riddle contest.

The familiar story of a girl marrying a prince, despite her evil step-sisters doing their best to keep her down. This original version is a bit more bloody than the one you may know, however.

A little tailor kills seven flies with one blow, and milks the feat for all it's worth. And then some.

A fisherman catches a wish-granting flounder, and his wife wishes for more and more outlandish things.

A peice of straw, a smoldering coal, and a bean escape from a poor old woman's house and head off for a foreign country. Along the way, we learn why beans to this day have a black seam.

A servant secretly tastes the king's food, and is given the power to talk to animals.

A young man makes a name for himself, and is able to marry a king's beautiful daughter. An illness takes her, but a snake provides three miraculous leaves that he uses to bring her back to life. Unfortunately, she returns a changed woman, and conspires to kill her husband. His servant uses the same leaves to bring him back to life, and she meets justice.

A poor woodcutter can afford to feed his children, so he abandons them in the forest. They find an edible house, but the witch who lives inside ensnares them and want to cook them. They escape, and live happily ever after.

A lazy girl doesn't want to spin flax, but her mother's lie to the queen finds her in the middle of three rooms full of the stuff. Three women with odd features happen by and agree to spin the flax for her. They do, and the girl never has to spin again.

A good girl is tortured by her evil stepmother and stepsister, but thanks to the gifts bestowed by three gnomes in the forest, everything works out for the good girl and her tormentors come to a terrible end.

The classic story of a maiden with long hair locked in a tower, but maybe a bit darker than you remember. Still, she and her prince live happily ever after.

A brother (who gets turned into a deer) and a sister (who becomes a ghost) get tormented by their evil stepmother (who is also a witch). But in the end, they live happily ever after.

A rooster and hen, along with a duck, a pin, and a needle, don’t make for the best houseguests.

Twelve princes lose everything after their father has a strange prophesy regarding their young sister. They stew in the forest for a while and eventually reconcile with her, only to be turned into ravens. Their young sister then endures extreme hardship to save them.

The Marvelous Minstrel: A bored minstrel walking through the forest wants a companion. Beasts need not apply.

A dumb farmer is outsmarted by frogs and dogs, but still manages to strike a good bargain with a soldier and a Jew. (Yeah, I know. But for this podcast, I’ll be reading *all* the Grimm’s stories.)

A dying King, a young king, their servant who is faithful to the end, a kidnapped princess, talking ravens, and beheaded princes, who all manage to live happily ever after.

A wolf eats the mother goat’s kids, but ends up with a belly full of stones.

A simple boy who just wants to be frightened.

The Virgin Mary adopts a child who lies, grows up, lies again, repents, and is forgiven.

A mouse lives with a cat, and the cat eats all the fat.

A princess loses her ball down a well, a frog retrieves it, and a servant’s heart grows three sizes.

This is the introductory episode of “The Brothers Grimm Lunch Break”. Over the next year or so, hopefully several times a week, during my lunch break I will record, edit, and publish one of the original 250 storyies colelcted by the Brothers Grimm in the 1800s and translated into English by Dr. Jack Zipes. Welcome!