Grimm's Fairy Tales Summary
GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES: The Tellers of the Forest is a manga series based on Children's and Household Tales (Kinder- und Hausmärchen), the folktale collection gathered by Germany's Brothers Grimm (first edition 1812, final edition 1857). Each episode opens and closes with the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm, who collect old tales, and Dortchen, a pharmacist's daughter who tells them stories. From there, the story moves into the tale itself. (These framing scenes are original to the manga, based on historical fact.)
In Episode 1, "The Frog King, or Iron Henry," the youngest princess drops her golden ball into a spring and promises to be friends with the frog who fetches it. But she breaks her promise and runs back to the castle. When her father, the king, tells her she must keep her word, she finally loses her temper and throws the frog against the wall. At that moment the frog turns back into a prince. It was not a kiss that broke the spell.
In Episode 2, "The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids," a wolf disguises his voice and his feet while the mother goat is away, gets into the house, and swallows six of the young goats whole. The youngest, who survived by hiding in the clock case, and the mother goat rescue the others with scissors, a needle, and thread. Both episodes follow the plot of the original tales.
Story summary
Episode 1The Princess Who Wouldn't Kiss the Frog — The Frog Prince (The Frog King, or Iron Henry)
In the mangaEpisode 1 of the Grimm's Fairy Tales series. A careless promise made to a frog at the well follows the Youngest Princess all the way to her dinner table. The spell isn't broken by a kiss, but by one furious throw. And in a faraway kingdom, the iron bands around a loyal servant's heart burst, one by one, for joy.
In the original mythMost people think they know The Frog Prince: a princess kisses a frog and he turns into a handsome prince. The version the Brothers Grimm printed is quite different. Its full title is The Frog King, or Iron Henry (in German, Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich), and it is tale number 1 in their famous collection, Children's and Household Tales (Kinder- und Hausmärchen). Here is how it goes in the final 1857…
Episode 2The Youngest Hid in the Clock—and Watched — The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids
In the mangaEpisode 2 of the Grimm's Fairy Tales series. While Mother Goat is out, the Wolf disguises his voice and his paws and knocks on the door three times. The youngest kid hides inside the tall clock's case and hears everything from the dark. Then, to get the family back, the little one has to run home alone.
In the original myth"The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids" (in German, Der Wolf und die sieben jungen Geißlein) is tale number 5 in the Brothers Grimm's famous collection, Children's and Household Tales. This summary follows the final 1857 edition. An old mother goat has seven little kids, and she loves them the way any mother loves her children. Before she goes into the forest to find food, she warns them about the Wolf: if he gets…