Stories About Snakes (Brothers Grimm)
Story subtitles are editorial.
Story 1. A childs friendship with a snake ends in tragedy
A little child received a daily afternoon meal of milk and bread from her mother, which she ate sitting in the yard.
During her meals, a small snake emerged from a crevice in the wall and shared her food, dipping its head into the dish to eat alongside her.
The child delighted in this companionship, and when the snake delayed its appearance, she would call to it:
Snake, snake, come swiftly
Hither come, thou tiny thing,
Thou shalt have thy crumbs of bread,
Thou shalt refresh thyself with milk.
The snake responded eagerly to her calls and showed remarkable gratitude by bringing the child beautiful gifts from its hidden treasures - bright stones, pearls, and golden playthings. However, the snake only drank the milk and left the breadcrumbs untouched. One day, the child gently struck the snake's head with her little spoon, encouraging it to eat the breadcrumbs as well. Her mother, working in the kitchen, heard the child talking to someone.
The mother...heard the child talking to someone, and when she saw that she was striking a snake with her spoon, ran out with a log of wood, and killed the good little creature.
This violent act marked the beginning of a tragic transformation in the child's life. The snake's death brought devastating consequences for the little girl.
As long as the snake had eaten with her, she had grown tall and strong, but now she lost her pretty rosy cheeks and wasted away.
The child's decline continued rapidly. Soon ominous signs appeared - the funeral bird began crying in the night, and the redbreast collected branches and leaves for a funeral garland. Before long, the child lay dead on her bier, a victim of her mother's misguided fear and the severing of her magical bond with the snake.
Story 2. An orphan finds a golden crown but loses the snake
An orphan child sat spinning on the town walls when she noticed a snake emerging from a hole low in the wall.
Knowing that snakes had a strong attraction to blue silk handkerchiefs and would only creep upon such fabric, she quickly spread one beside the hole. The snake saw the handkerchief, retreated, then returned carrying a small golden crown, which it placed on the silk before departing again.
The girl took the crown, admiring its glittering delicate golden filigree work. When the snake returned for the second time and discovered the crown missing, it was overcome with grief. The creature crept up to the wall and repeatedly struck its little head against the stone until it died from the effort. Had the girl left the crown in place, the snake would certainly have brought more treasures from its hiding place.
Story 3. A childs brief conversation with a snake
In the shortest of the three tales, a child engaged in a simple dialogue with a snake. The snake made crying sounds, and when the child called for it to come out, it emerged.
The child inquired about a missing little sister called Red-stockings.
The snake replied that it had not seen her, and the child responded that neither had they. The snake then declared they were alike in this regard, continuing its mournful crying sounds. This brief exchange captured a moment of shared loss and understanding between child and creature, both searching for something missing from their lives.