| The Clever Little Tailor | |
|---|---|
 Illustration by Heinrich Vogeler | |
| Folk tale | |
| Name | The Clever Little Tailor |
| Data | |
| Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 850 |
| Country | Germany |
| Published in | Grimms' Fairy Tales |
"The Clever Little Tailor" (German : Vom klugen Schneiderlein) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm as tale 114. It is Aarne-Thompson type 850, The Princess's Birthmarks. Andrew Lang included it in The Green Fairy Book .
A proud princess set a riddle to her wooers and sent them away when they could not answer. Three tailors came. Two were known for their cleverness and skill, and the third for his uselessness. The princess asked them what two colors were her hairs. The first said black and white; the second brown and red; the third gold and silver, and he was right.
The princess demanded that he spend the night with a bear as well. In his stall, the tailor began to crack nuts. He offered the bear not nuts but pebbles, and the bear could not crack them. The tailor took one away, substituted a nut, and cracked it. The tailor began to fiddle, and the bear danced. The tailor offered to teach it, but first he had to cut its nails. He trapped it in a vise and left it there.
The princess agreed to marry him. The other two tailors freed the bear. It came after the carriage. The tailor stuck his legs out the window and threatened the bear with the claim that they were a vise. It ran off.
Professor Stith Thompson classified the tale type as Aarne–Thompson–Uther ATU 850, "The Birthmarks of the Princess". [1]
Another characteristic element of the tale type is the type of the birthmark: they are usually shown as a sun, a moon, or a star. [2] French historian François Delpech (fr) noted that strange birthmarks in folktales indicated a supernatural or royal origin of the characters, and mentioned the tale type in that regard. He interpreted the "hidden birthmark" as a sign of sovereignty, linked to the fate of the protagonist: to ascend to the throne. [3]
Stith Thompson suggested the tale type ATU 850 originated from genuine European oral folklore, since an ancient literary version is not attested. He also stated that variants are "told all over Europe". [4] This geographical analysis seems to have been confirmed by scholars Richard Dorson and Kurt Ranke, who claimed that the tale type was "narrated throughout Europe as well as in North and South America". [5]
August Leskien claimed that that this "Märchenkreis" is very widespread in Slavic tradition, with the same plot: the princess sees the dancing animals (sheep, pigs, etc.) of a peasant who plays a musical instrument (flute, violin, etc.) and is interested in buying the animals, in exchange for showing her birthmarks. [6]
Folktale scholar D. L. Ashliman developed his own reconstruction of a proto-form of the tale type. [7]
The Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index is a catalogue of folktale types used in folklore studies. The ATU Index is the product of a series of revisions and expansions by an international group of scholars: originally composed in German by Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne (1910), the index was translated into English, revised, and expanded by American folklorist Stith Thompson, and later further revised and expanded by German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther (2004). The ATU Index, along with Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (1932) is an essential tool for folklorists.
"The Swineherd" is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a prince who disguises himself as a swineherd to win an arrogant princess. The tale was first published December 20, 1841 by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark in Fairy Tales Told for Children. New Collection. Third Booklet. The tale appears to be original with Andersen though similar tales are known. "The Swineherd" has been adapted to other media.
The Story of Pretty Goldilocks or The Beauty with Golden Hair is a French literary fairy tale written by Madame d'Aulnoy. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book.
"Maid Maleen" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 198.
"Trusty John", "Faithful John", "Faithful Johannes", or "John the True" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1819. Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book.
The Prince Who Worked as Satan's Servant and Saved the King from Hell is a Lithuanian fairy tale collected by German linguists August Leskien and Karl Brugmann. Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book under the title The Magician's Horse.
"The Four Skillful Brothers" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is Aarne-Thompson type 653.
The Knights of the Fish is a Spanish fairy tale collected by Fernán Caballero in Cuentos. Oraciones y Adivinas. Andrew Lang included it in The Brown Fairy Book. A translation was published in Golden Rod Fairy Book. Another version of the tale appears in A Book of Enchantments and Curses by Ruth Manning-Sanders.
The Princess Who Never Smiled, The Unsmiling Tsarevna or The Tsarevna who Would not Laugh is a Russian folk fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki, as tale number 297.
"The Three Languages" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 33. It is Aarne-Thompson type 671.
The Blue Belt is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr. It is Aarne-Thompson type 590.
Stith Thompson was an American folklorist: he has been described as "America's most important folklorist".
Jesper Who Herded the Hares is a Scandinavian fairy tale, first recorded by Danish folktale collector Evald Tang Kristensen in the first volume of Æventyr fra Jylland. Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book.
Grateful dead is both a motif and a group of related folktales present in many cultures throughout the world.
The Bird Lover, also known as The Prince as Bird, is a type of narrative structure in folklore, no. 432 in the Aarne–Thompson classification system. In the typical version of story, a woman acquires a bird lover—a nobleman in the shape of a bird—who is wounded by means of a trap set by the woman's husband, such as a set of sharp points set up outside the woman's window. She follows the wounded bird's trail, cures him, and then marries him.
The Motif-Index of Folk-Literature is a six volume catalogue of motifs, granular elements of folklore, composed by American folklorist Stith Thompson. Often referred to as Thompson's motif-index, the catalogue has been extensively used in folklore studies, where folklorists commonly use it in tandem with the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, an index used for folktale type analysis.
The Calumniated Wife is a motif in traditional narratives, numbered K2110.1 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature. It entails a wife being falsely accused of, and often punished for, some crime or sin. This motif is at the centre of a number of traditional plots, being associated with tale-types 705–712 in the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index of tale-types.
Strong Hans is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in their collection as number KHM 166.
In folkloristics, "The Animal as Bridegroom" refers to a group of folk and fairy tales about a human woman marrying or being betrothed to an animal. The animal is revealed to be a human prince in disguise or under a curse. Most of these tales are grouped in the international system of Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index under type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband". Some subtypes exist in the international classification as independent stories, but they sometimes don't adhere to a fixed typing.
The Three Golden Children refers to a series of folktales related to the motif of the calumniated wife, numbered K2110.1 in the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature. The name refers to a cycle of tales wherein a woman gives birth to children of wondrous aspect, but her children are taken from her by jealous relatives or by her mother-in-law, and her husband punishes her in some harsh way. Only years later, the family is reunited and the jealous relatives are punished. According to folklorist Stith Thompson, the tale is "one of the eight or ten best known plots in the world".
