"Grandmother-Metelitsa" (German folk tale): a summary and analysis

Among all the authors who rewrote folk tales and created their own stories based on them, the Brothers Grimm are among the most famous. Out of their pen came many revered literary works, and "Grandma-Metelitsa" (German folk tale), embodied in literary form, is not an exception. Consider its brief content, the characteristics of the main characters, and also try to make a small analysis of the work.

"Grandmother-Metelitsa" (German folk tale): plot plot

So, as usual, one widow had two daughters: a native and a stepdaughter. It goes without saying that the first was absolute lazy, and the second was an industrious girl. "Grandmother-Metelitsa" (German folk tale), a summary including, begins with the opposition of two daughters. Incidentally, this approach is also observed in Russian folk tales, which will be discussed in the analysis section of the work.

The stepdaughter did what she had been doing all day long in the yard and spinning yarn. Her fingers were completely spiked with a spindle, so much so that they constantly bleed. It so happened that one day the poor girl noticed that the spindle was stained with blood. He needed to be washed, and she went to the well to scoop up water. But then the unforeseen happened - the spindle fell down.

Then followed the scolding from her stepmother, the girl decided to jump into the well to pull the spindle. "Grandmother-Metelitsa" (German fairy tale), the short content continues with the fact that it is from this moment that the adventures of the main positive heroine begin, which will lead to a logical result. But ahead of the girl still a lot of tests, and quite serious, of which she will, as they say, with honor.

Folk tale "Grandmother-Metelitsa": the adventures of a hard-working girl

After jumping into the well, to her great amazement, the girl was not in the water, but in the green meadow. Surprise her there was no limit when she went further.

Then she saw a stove in which there was a huge quantity of baked bread. They were so hot that they could no longer be inside the brazier, and they asked the girl to pull them out. Of course, she took a shovel and pulled them out.

Further, as the "Grandmother-Metelitsa" (German folk tale) narrates, she met an apple tree, bent under the weight of ripe fruit. They also asked the girl to shake them, as they were fully ripe. And this is our heroine did.

Then she came to a small house where she was met by an old woman with big teeth. The girl at first was somewhat frightened, but, having seen a good attitude towards herself, calmed down.

The old woman said that her name is Grandmother-Metelitsa, and when her feather is beaten, so that the fluff flew, then in the human world there is fluffy snow. She said that from now on the girl should be engaged in this business.

Reward from my grandmother

So our heroine decided to stay with the old woman, constantly engaged in housekeeping. However, despite the fact that she lived here much better, she began to miss home and asked Metelitsa to let her go. Grandmother answered that the girl has a good heart, and, accordingly, the reward for the work will be impressive.

She led the girl to the gate, and when she passed through them, a rain of gold struck upon her. The girl returned to her native place, and the cock that saw her cried out that the girl was all in gold.

Laziness

Having looked at this, my stepmother decided to send Metlitse and lazy to get that gold. But along the way, the girl refused to help both the stove and the apple tree. Having come to the house of Snowstorm, on the first and second day with the beating of the feather bed, she still managed somehow (she remembered about the award), but on the third day she refused to rise from the bed.

The natural result

Then the grandmother decided to "reward" her. Laziness thought that gold would also be poured on her, but instead she received a ladle with black soot. Cockerel, seeing her return, shouted that the "blackie" was coming back. No matter how she tried to wash off the soot, nothing happened, and so she remained a nigger.

Brief analysis of the plot

Here we are briefly and dismantled the work. Probably, according to the story, many will understand that "Grandmother-Metelitsa" (German folk tale) very much resembles Russian folk tales, which, incidentally, were created much earlier. With all this, the work itself is, as it were, molded from two classical Russian subjects, is not it?

It is obvious that in the fairy tale "Grandmother-Metelitsa" the Brothers Grimm has a short content based on such well-known works of the Russian epic as "Geese-Swans" (meeting with the stove and apple tree) and "Morozko" (jump into the well, whisking the feather of Metelitsa and the award) .

Of course, based on the above, this could be called plagiarism, but there is one "but" here. The fact is that most critics consider the Grimm brothers not so much to the writers of fairy tales as to the tellers and distributors of classical stories connected with the folk epic. Agree, and to call this fairy tale purely German is simply impossible. Not to mention Russian mythology and the epic, such stories can be found in many literary works of any nationality and in any culture.

However, as it is already clear, from this the work itself is less interesting, especially as it is written in a simple language designed for a children's audience. But the conclusions here are clearly "adults". After all, this tale can be attributed to those works that condemn laziness. And complaisance and hard work will always be rewarded, even if you do not expect this at all.

Naturally, laziness and unwillingness to help one's neighbor lead only to the fact that the reward will be appropriate (as in the case of a lazy girl). And this, I must say, for many children can become a visual lesson demonstrating how to treat people and work.