The Juniper-Tree (Grimm)
Short summary
Long ago, a woman wished for a child and eventually gave birth to a son as white as snow and red as blood, then died. Her husband remarried.
The new wife had a daughter but hated her stepson, wanting all fortune for her own child.
Then while the little boy was stooping inside, the Devil prompted her, and crash! she shut the lid down, and his head flew off and fell among the red apples.
She tricked her daughter into thinking she knocked off the boy's head. They made him into black puddings which the father ate.
She placed his bones under the juniper tree. He became a bird, sang of his murder, collected gifts, then killed his stepmother with a millstone and returned as a boy.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The mothers wish and the birth of her son
Two thousand years ago, a rich man lived with his beautiful and pious wife, who loved each other dearly but remained childless despite their fervent prayers. In winter, while standing beneath a juniper-tree in their courtyard and paring an apple, the woman cut her finger and blood fell on the snow.
"Ah," said the woman, and sighed right heavily, and looked at the blood before her, and was most unhappy, "ah, if I had but a child as red as blood and as white as snow!"
Her wish filled her with hope. Months passed as she watched the seasons change beneath the juniper-tree. In the eighth month she grew sick and sorrowful, and in the ninth month she gave birth to a child as white as snow and as red as blood. Her joy was so great that she died immediately after seeing her son.
The stepmothers jealousy and the boys murder
The husband buried his wife beneath the juniper-tree and eventually remarried. By his second wife he had a daughter, while his first wife's child grew into a little boy as red as blood and as white as snow.
The second wife loved her daughter dearly but grew to hate her stepson, believing he would always stand in her daughter's way of inheriting the family fortune. The Evil One filled her mind with jealousy until she constantly tormented the boy with slaps and cuffs, leaving him in continual terror.
One day, when her daughter asked for an apple, the woman gave her one from a chest with a heavy lid and sharp iron lock. When the daughter asked if her brother could have one too, the Devil entered the woman's heart. She retrieved the apple and told the girl to wait until her brother came home from school.
When the boy arrived, the stepmother kindly offered him an apple from the chest. As he leaned inside to take one, she slammed the heavy lid down with such force that his head flew off and fell among the red apples. Overwhelmed with terror, she placed his head back on his neck, wrapped a handkerchief around it, and seated him on a chair with the apple in his hand.
The birds song and quest for justice
When Marlinchen found her brother sitting motionless, she asked for the apple but received no response. Following her mother's instruction to box his ear if he wouldn't answer, she struck him and his head fell off. The horrified girl ran crying to her mother, who coldly told her they would make the boy into black puddings.
The stepmother chopped up the boy and cooked him while Marlinchen wept continuously. When the father returned home asking for his son, the woman claimed the boy had gone to visit relatives. The father ate the black puddings with great appetite, declaring them delicious and refusing to share, while Marlinchen continued weeping. He threw all the bones under the table.
Marlinchen gathered all the bones in her silk handkerchief and carried them outside to the juniper-tree, weeping tears of blood.
Then the juniper-tree began to stir itself, and the branches parted asunder, and moved together again, just as if someone was rejoicing and clapping his hands.
A mist arose from the tree with fire burning in its center, and from the fire flew a beautiful bird singing magnificently. The handkerchief with bones vanished, and Marlinchen became happy as if her brother were still alive.
The bird flew to a goldsmith's house and sang its haunting song about its murder. Enchanted by the beautiful melody, the goldsmith gave the bird his golden chain in exchange for hearing the song again. The bird then visited a shoemaker, who traded red shoes for another performance, and finally went to a mill where twenty millers gave the bird their millstone.
The final reckoning and restoration
The bird returned to its father's house, where the family sat at dinner. The father felt lighthearted and happy, while the stepmother grew anxious and uneasy. Marlinchen sat weeping. When the bird perched on the juniper-tree and began singing, the father went outside despite his wife's protests and received the golden chain around his neck.
Marlinchen also ventured outside and received the beautiful red shoes, which filled her with joy. But when the stepmother finally emerged, terrified and desperate, the bird dropped the heavy millstone on her head, crushing her completely. Smoke, flames, and fire rose from the spot, and when it cleared, the little brother stood there alive again. He took his father and Marlinchen by the hand, and all three went into the house for dinner, right glad to be reunited.