The Brothers Grimm- First published in 1869.
Reading Level: 9+ Number of Pages: 4 Genre: Classic Fairy-tale
Summary: Hans and his mother were taken captive by bandits and forced to live in a cave for several years. During that time, Hans grew up to be immensely strong, and he freed himself and his mother by beating up all the bandits with a staff. After this, he stole all the bandits' gold and returned to the house of his father. The gold he recovered from the bandits made he and his family rich. Hans made himself a staff of great weight, and went off into the world to seek his fortune. He came across two giants, one who was twisting trees to make a rope and another who was splitting rock with his fists. The two became his traveling companions, and they took turns hunting in the forest. One night, a dwarf appeared at the campfire while Tree-twister was cooking meat, who demanded food. Tree-twister denied him, and the dwarf attacked him, beat him up, and stole meat. Tree-twister decided not to tell his companions about the episode, but decided to see how they would fare. The same thing happened to Rock-splitter, and he also decided to see if Hans would be able to manage the dwarf.
When Hans was approached by the dwarf, he gave him a piece of meat. The dwarf ate it, and then attacked Hans, who clubbed him with his staff and chased the little rascal off. When Rock-splitter and Tree-twister returned to camp, Hans was merry with himself, and proposed that the three go in search of the dwarf. When they arrived at the cave where the dwarf was hidden they observed that he was holding a princess captive, and Hans was smitten with her beauty. Hans swung the club and killed the dwarf, and then purposed to go down into the cave and rescue the princess, so they lowered a basket and Hans released her.
Now Hans did not trust his companions, for they had not told him about the dwarf, so when he needed to come back up himself he put his staff in the basket. It was good that he did so, for his companions dropped it as they were lifting it up, and it fell back into the cave. If he had been in the basket he would certainly have been killed. So after his companions left he discovered that the dwarf had a ring on his finger, which when he wore discovered two spirits rustling above him, who offered to serve him with wishes. He desired to be out of the cave and to exact revenge on his companions, who had abandoned him and stolen his princess. So he was carried up out of the cave, where he pursued his former companions out to sea. After defeating them he threw them into the sea and steered their boat home. The father and mother of the princess were very happy, and they had a beautiful wedding.
My Impressions: First of all, Hans is incredibly strong. He would be a good character for a role-model of manliness and strength. The story is typical of fairy-tale stories in that there are great trials which are overcome by strength and courage.
Parent's Guide:As mentioned above, there is a lot of fighting in this story, and Hans is an exacter of vengeance on those who wrong him.
Recommendations:Classic fairy-tales are great, and definitely worth the time.
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