Throwback Thursday: Winged Messengers: Birds in Fairy Tales, by Susan Caroff

Editor’s note: While the Great Backyard Bird Count of 2016 is long gone, and this year’s count is over too, this post about birds in fairy tales will never date. It has lots of useful detail and provides good for thought for bird and fairy tale lovers. 

February brought us the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, in which citizen scientists and ornithologists across the world identify and classify birds in backyards and parks (St. Fleur, 2016). Results of this year’s count included sightings of common birds, such as the American blue jay, and uncommon birds, such as the Great hornbill in India.  Data on thousands of birds were uploaded to a database to add to the extensive information already known about bird species.

"The Ugly Duckling," John Hassall

Birds, with their wonderful gifts of flight and song, capture the attention of many in the real world, so it’s no surprise that they often appear in fairy tales.  In “bird” tales, birds are often the agents of transformation or are themselves transformed into different creatures.  Three of the best known stories involving birds are "The Little Nightingale" and "The Ugly Duckling," by Hans Christian Andersen and "Hansel and Gretel," by the Brothers Grimm.

First, the little nightingale, though plain, has a splendid song that moves the heart of even the most imperious emperor.  Her voice is unique and cannot be replicated mechanically.  And the ugly duckling, facing rejection by many, eventually becomes a graceful swan.  Finally, birds play an oppositional role in Hansel and Gretel, eating the breadcrumbs the children drop to guide their way home from the dark forest.

 

"Hansel and Gretel," John B. Gruelle

 "The Happy Prince," by Oscar Wilde, is not often included in anthologies of fairy tales, yet it is a compelling story of regret and enchantment.  A brave, tireless swallow helps a bejeweled statue of a prince give all his gems to the poor.  The swallow dies in his efforts, and along with prince, whose lead heart is broken in two when the little bird dies, is carried to heaven to live in paradise.  Even less known is a tale of retribution and redemption, "The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf," by Hans Christian Andersen.  The girl in this story begins her life as cruel and selfish child, and is eventually turned to stone for her bad deeds.  But after learning to have pity for others, she is shown mercy and becomes a happy little bird overjoyed at the beauty of the world around her.  

 

"The Happy Prince," Charles Robinson

Here are a few other tales you may have missed: The Slavic folktale, "The Firebird," provides a foundation for many fairy tales.  The firebird’s plumage glows as if it contains real fire, and so becomes the goal of heroic quests by princes and paupers alike.  A famed version of the story is the Russian ballet, The Firebird,with musical score by the celebrated composer Igor Stravinsky. In another retelling, "The Golden Bird," by the Brothers Grimm, a prince teams up with an enchanted fox to seek the prized bird.

 

"The Firebird," Edmund Dulac

A modern version of a bird story can be found in the song by Bob Marley, “Three Little Birds.”  The birds appear outside Marley’s window to deliver reassurance to the singer and his listeners.  “Don’t worry about a thing,” they say, “’Cause every little thing gonna be all right.”

Please share other information you may have about birds in fairy tales in comments on this article.

***

St. Fleur, N. (2016, February 8). "Experience science: Count birds from your backyard." New York Times.

***

Bio: Susan Caroff is a retired education professor. 

***

First image is by Harry Clarke, from "The Nightingale."

Hansel and Gretel, By Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, 1857

Editor's note:  "Hansel and Gretel" probably has done more to harm the reputation of stepmothers than any other fairy tale -- except, of course "Cinderella." But in many early versions, the mother figure wasn't a step at all. She was plain, old mom. Once people began to see fairy tales as children's stories, the stepmother label became more common.

But let's not forget that the father in this story is a weak man who knows he shouldn't give into his wife but does anyway. Oh, it's a bad tale for parents, "Hansel and Gretel" is.

Some other points to ponder: 

The mother figure and the witch are likely meant to be the same woman. The witch is burned at the end of the story and the mother is dead at the end as well. More telling is that both the "mother" and the witch call Hansel "lazybones." In a story where words are not wasted, these seems like it is probably not an accident.

Anne Anderson

Next, it seems that Hansel and Gretel are meant to be "regular" children with the charm and shortcomings of real children. Gretel is a classic crybaby for much of the story and Hansel is a solidly dependable big brother figure. Yet, after the witch imprisons them, Gretel ..., well, she cries some more, but after four weeks, she has grown a lot and it is through her initiative that she and her brother break free. 

Also, note that when the witch first encounters Hansel and Gretel literally eating her out of house and home, she asks them who they are and they seem to blame it on The Heavenly Child. Wouldn't that have been a Baby Jesus reference? It's a weird little scene.

Oh, notice the birds. They show up in important places in the story.

That little bit about the mouse at the end of story seems to have been a convention of the time that sometimes showed up in these stories.

Finally, the "gingerbread" house, you will note, is made of bread and cake in this version.

Next to a great forest there lived a poor woodcutter with his wife and his two children. The boy's name was Hansel and the girl's name was Gretel. He had but little to eat, and once, when a great famine came to the land, he could no longer provide even their daily bread.

One evening as he was lying in bed worrying about his problems, he sighed and said to his wife, "What is to become of us? How can we feed our children when we have nothing for ourselves?"

 Jennie Harbour

"Man, do you know what?" answered the woman. "Early tomorrow morning we will take the two children out into the thickest part of the woods, make a fire for them, and give each of them a little piece of bread, then leave them by themselves and go off to our work. They will not find their way back home, and we will be rid of them."

"No, woman," said the man. "I will not do that. How could I bring myself to abandon my own children alone in the woods? Wild animals would soon come and tear them to pieces."

"Oh, you fool," she said, "then all four of us will starve. All you can do is to plane the boards for our coffins." And she gave him no peace until he agreed.

"But I do feel sorry for the poor children," said the man.

Ethel Franklin Betts

The two children had not been able to fall asleep because of their hunger, and they heard what the stepmother had said to the father.

Gretel cried bitter tears and said to Hansel, "It is over with us!"

"Be quiet, Gretel," said Hansel, "and don't worry. I know what to do."

And as soon as the adults had fallen asleep, he got up, pulled on his jacket, opened the lower door, and crept outside. The moon was shining brightly, and the white pebbles in front of the house were glistening like silver coins. Hansel bent over and filled his jacket pockets with them, as many as would fit.

Then he went back into the house and said, "Don't worry, Gretel. Sleep well. God will not forsake us." Then he went back to bed.

At daybreak, even before sunrise, the woman came and woke the two children. "Get up, you lazybones. We are going into the woods to fetch wood." Then she gave each one a little piece of bread, saying, "Here is something for midday. Don't eat it any sooner, for you'll not get any more."

Jennie Harbour

Gretel put the bread under her apron, because Hansel's pockets were full of stones. Then all together they set forth into the woods. After they had walked a little way, Hansel began stopping again and again and looking back toward the house.

The father said, "Hansel, why are you stopping and looking back? Pay attention now, and don't forget your legs."

"Oh, father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my white cat that is sitting on the roof and wants to say good-bye to me."

The woman said, "You fool, that isn't your cat. That's the morning sun shining on the chimney."

However, Hansel had not been looking at his cat but instead had been dropping the shiny pebbles from his pocket onto the path.

When they arrived in the middle of the woods, the father said, "You children gather some wood, and I will make a fire so you won't freeze."

Hansel and Gretel gathered together some twigs, a pile as high as a small mountain. The twigs were set afire, and when the flames were burning well, the woman said, "Lie down by the fire and rest. We will go into the woods to cut wood. When we are finished, we will come back and get you."

Jessie Wilcox Smith

Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire. When midday came each one ate his little piece of bread. Because they could hear the blows of an ax, they thought that the father was nearby. However, it was not an ax. It was a branch that he had tied to a dead tree and that the wind was beating back and forth. After they had sat there a long time, their eyes grew weary and closed, and they fell sound sleep.

When they finally awoke, it was dark at night. Gretel began to cry and said, "How will we get out of woods?"

Hansel comforted her, "Wait a little until the moon comes up, and then we'll find the way."

After the full moon had come up, Hansel took his little sister by the hand. They followed the pebbles that glistened there like newly minted coins, showing them the way. They walked throughout the entire night, and as morning was breaking, they arrived at the father's house.

They knocked on the door, and when the woman opened it and saw that it was Hansel and Gretel, she said, "You wicked children, why did you sleep so long in the woods? We thought that you did not want to come back."

But the father was overjoyed when he saw his children once more, for he had not wanted to leave them alone.

Not long afterward there was once again great need everywhere, and one evening the children heard the mother say to the father, "We have again eaten up everything. We have only a half loaf of bread, and then the song will be over. We must get rid of the children. We will take them deeper into the woods, so they will not find their way out. Otherwise there will be no help for us."

Kay Nielsen

The man was very disheartened, and he thought, "It would be better to share the last bit with the children."

But the woman would not listen to him, scolded him, and criticized him. He who says A must also say B, and because he had given in the first time, he had to do so the second time as well.

The children were still awake and had overheard the conversation. When the adults were asleep, Hansel got up again and wanted to gather pebbles as he had done before, but the woman had locked the door, and Hansel could not get out. But he comforted his little sister and said, "Don't cry, Gretel. Sleep well. God will help us."

Early the next morning the woman came and got the children from their beds. They received their little pieces of bread, even less than the last time. On the way to the woods, Hansel crumbled his piece in his pocket, then often stood still, and threw crumbs onto the ground.

"Hansel, why are you always stopping and looking around?" said his father. "Keep walking straight ahead."

"I can see my pigeon sitting on the roof. It wants to say good-bye to me."

"Fool," said the woman, "that isn't your pigeon. That's the morning sun shining on the chimney."

But little by little Hansel dropped all the crumbs onto the path. The woman took them deeper into the woods than they had ever been in their whole lifetime.

Charles Robinson

Once again a large fire was made, and the mother said, "Sit here, children. If you get tired you can sleep a little. We are going into the woods to cut wood. We will come and get you in the evening when we are finished."

When it was midday Gretel shared her bread with Hansel, who had scattered his piece along the path. Then they fell asleep, and evening passed, but no one came to get the poor children.

It was dark at night when they awoke, and Hansel comforted Gretel and said, "Wait, when the moon comes up I will be able to see the crumbs of bread that I scattered, and they will show us the way back home."

When the moon appeared they got up, but they could not find any crumbs, for the many thousands of birds that fly about in the woods and in the fields had pecked them up.

Hansel said to Gretel, "We will find our way," but they did not find it.

They walked through the entire night and the next day from morning until evening, but they did not find their way out of the woods. They were terribly hungry, for they had eaten only a few small berries that were growing on the ground. And because they were so tired that their legs would no longer carry them, they lay down under a tree and fell asleep. It was already the third morning since they had left the father's house.

They started walking again, but managed only to go deeper and deeper into the woods. If help did not come soon, they would perish. At midday they saw a little snow-white bird sitting on a branch. It sang so beautifully that they stopped to listen. When it was finished it stretched its wings and flew in front of them. They followed it until they came to a little house. The bird sat on the roof, and when they came closer, they saw that the little house was built entirely from bread with a roof made of cake, and the windows were made of clear sugar.

"Let's help ourselves to a good meal," said Hansel. "I'll eat a piece of the roof, and Gretel, you eat from the window. That will be sweet."

Hansel reached up and broke off a little of the roof to see how it tasted, while Gretel stood next to the windowpanes and was nibbling at them. Then a gentle voice called out from inside:

Nibble, nibble, little mouse, Who is nibbling at my house?

The children answered:

The wind, the wind, The heavenly child.

They continued to eat, without being distracted. Hansel, who very much like the taste of the roof, tore down another large piece, and Gretel poked out an entire round windowpane. Suddenly the door opened, and a woman, as old as the hills and leaning on a crutch, came creeping out. Hansel and Gretel were so frightened that they dropped what they were holding in their hands.

But the old woman shook her head and said, "Oh, you dear children, who brought you here? Just come in and stay with me. No harm will come to you."

She took them by the hand and led them into her house. Then she served them a good meal: milk and pancakes with sugar, apples, and nuts. Afterward she made two nice beds for them, decked in white. Hansel and Gretel went to bed, thinking they were in heaven. But the old woman had only pretended to be friendly. She was a wicked witch who was lying in wait there for children. She had built her house of bread only in order to lure them to her, and if she captured one, she would kill him, cook him, and eat him; and for her that was a day to celebrate.

Witches have red eyes and cannot see very far, but they have a sense of smell like animals, and know when humans are approaching.

John B. Gruelle

When Hansel and Gretel came near to her, she laughed wickedly and spoke scornfully, "Now I have them. They will not get away from me again."

Early the next morning, before they awoke, she got up, went to their beds, and looked at the two of them lying there so peacefully, with their full red cheeks. "They will be a good mouthful," she mumbled to herself. Then she grabbed Hansel with her withered hand and carried him to a little stall, where she locked him behind a cage door. Cry as he might, there was no help for him.

Then she shook Gretel and cried, "Get up, lazybones! Fetch water and cook something good for your brother. He is locked outside in the stall and is to be fattened up. When he is fat I am going to eat him."

Gretel began to cry, but it was all for nothing. She had to do what the witch demanded. Now Hansel was given the best things to eat every day, but Gretel received nothing but crayfish shells.

Every morning the old woman crept out to the stall and shouted, "Hansel, stick out your finger, so I can feel if you are fat yet."

But Hansel stuck out a little bone, and the old woman, who had bad eyes and could not see the bone, thought it was Hansel's finger, and she wondered why he didn't get fat.

When four weeks had passed and Hansel was still thin, impatience overcame her, and she would wait no longer. "Hey, Gretel!" she shouted to the girl, "Hurry up and fetch some water. Whether Hansel is fat or thin, tomorrow I am going to slaughter him and boil him."

Oh, how the poor little sister sobbed as she was forced to carry the water, and how the tears streamed down her cheeks! "Dear God, please help us," she cried. "If only the wild animals had devoured us in the woods, then we would have died together."

"Save your slobbering," said the old woman. "It doesn't help you at all."

The next morning Gretel had to get up early, hang up the kettle with water, and make a fire.

"First we are going to bake," said the old woman. "I have already made a fire in the oven and kneaded the dough."

She pushed poor Gretel outside to the oven, from which fiery flames were leaping. "Climb in," said the witch, "and see if it is hot enough to put the bread in yet." And when Gretel was inside, she intended to close the oven, and bake her, and eat her as well.

H.J. Ford

But Gretel saw what she had in mind, so she said, "I don't know how to do that. How can I get inside?"

"Stupid goose," said the old woman. The opening is big enough. See, I myself could get in." And she crawled up stuck her head into the oven.

Then Gretel gave her a shove, causing her to fall in. Then she closed the iron door and secured it with a bar.

The old woman began to howl frightfully. But Gretel ran away, and the godless witch burned up miserably. Gretel ran straight to Hansel, unlocked his stall, and cried, "Hansel, we are saved. The old witch is dead."

Then Hansel jumped out, like a bird from its cage when someone opens its door. How happy they were! They threw their arms around each other's necks, jumped with joy, and kissed one another. Because they now had nothing to fear, they went into the witch's house. In every corner were chests of pearls and precious stones.

"These are better than pebbles," said Hansel, filling his pockets.

Gretel said, "I will take some home with me as well," and she filled her apron full.

"But now we must leave," said Hansel, "and get out of these witch-woods."

After walking a few hours they arrived at a large body of water. "We cannot get across," said Hansel. "I cannot see a walkway or a bridge."

"There are no boats here," answered Gretel, "but there is a white duck swimming. If I ask it, it will help us across."

Then she called out:

Duckling, duckling, Here stand Gretel and Hansel. Neither a walkway nor a bridge, Take us onto your white back.

The duckling came up to them, and Hansel climbed onto it, then asked his little sister to sit down next to him.
"No," answered Gretel. "That would be too heavy for the duckling. It should take us across one at a time."

That is what the good animal did, and when they were safely on the other side, and had walked on a little while, the woods grew more and more familiar to them, and finally they saw the father's house in the distance. They began to run, rushed inside, and threw their arms around the father's neck.

Unknown

The man had not had even one happy hour since he had left the children in the woods. However, the woman had died. Gretel shook out her apron, scattering pearls and precious stones around the room, and Hansel added to them by throwing one handful after the other from his pockets.

Now all their cares were at an end, and they lived happily together.

My tale is done, A mouse has run.

And whoever catches it can make for himself from it a large, large fur cap.


Creators names are under images, when known.

Hansel and Gretel, By Shu Li Liu

My name is Shu Li Liu. I’m a junior at NYC Lab School. I am interested in math and science. I love to listen to music and read fantasy and mystery books. I spend a lot of my free time coming up with weird story plots.

As the fire burned, Hansel and Gretel smiled. It was all too easy to realize that the witch was actually their stepmother. It’s all too easy. As they walked around the house, exploring every crook and cranny, they noticed the casket of gold coins. They left the house and walked back into the familiar forest and slowly found their way back home. To their surprise, their father was standing by the door weeping for their return.

“I am so sorry for leaving you in the forest. You stepmother forced me leave you in the forest. I’m sorry,” he wept.

“That’s okay. All is taken care of…” Hansel whispered.

It all started when Hansel and Gretel’s mother passed away. If only she didn’t died, the happy family of four living in the forest would have nothing to worry about except later their mother passed away. A few months after their mother passed away, a woman who was quite pretty with flowing red hair stumble into their house. Apparently she was lost in the woods alone and didn’t have any food or shelter. Their father took pity on her and let her stay in their house until he traveled out into the city to sell his wood. But as the days pass, the father fell in love with her. Seeing that the children needed a mother and that he needed a wife, he asked her to marry him. After three months of being happily married, the wife had a little mischievous plan in mind.

One day when the wife was alone with her husband, she took the first step in her plan, to get the kids to her witch house at the edge of the forest. She had purposely hid the remaining amount of food for the week under the floorboard. That night, when she thought the kids were sleeping, she persuaded her husband to get rid of the kids.

“Dear, our food supply is running low. I don’t know what we’re going to do. We can’t feed four mouths with the food we have left in the cupboard. Dear, we need to get rid of them,” she told her husband.

“But dear, we can’t do that. They’re my kids! I am their father. I have the responsibility to take care of them.”

“Well you can’t take care of them if we can’t feed ourselves!” she whispered loudly. “Tomorrow you will take them into the woods, miles away from home. You will leave them there and come back yourself, do you understand?”

Hansel, who has been standing outside the door all this time, was saddened by what he has just heard. He could not believe what he heard. He had thought his stepmother loved them, but turned out she did not. He ran back to his room and shared the news with Gretel. Hansel was worried about what might happen to them in the woods. So that morning before his parents woke up, he went to the kitchen and grabbed a few pieces of bread and stuffed it into his pocket. After breakfast, their stepmother told them to head out.

Hansel and Gretel walked quietly behind their father. Their father kept quiet the whole entire time. When the sun was directly above, the father noticed that they had walked far enough from the house.

“It is noon already kids,” he said. “I will go gather some woods and make a fire so we can have lunch. I’ll be right back.”

Hansel knew what was going to happen next. Gretel tugged on his sleeves. He knew she was scared, but as her older brother, he reassured her by placing his hand on hers. When they noticed that their father was gone for a while, Hansel spoke.

“Don’t worry, I know the way back,” he said. “I left a trail of bread crumbs when we were coming here. All we have to do is follow it to get back.”

As they turn to leave they noticed the bread crumbs were gone but overhead there was a flock of birds. The birds had cleared their bread crumb track. Gretel noticed that there was no trail.

“Hansel, I don’t see any trails,” she commented. Hansel looked around and saw the birds.

“The birds must have eaten it while I was dropping out of my pocket,” he replied.

“How are we going to get home?” Gretel cried. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t worry, we can find our way home,” Hansel reassured.

The two of them started to wander in the forest, desperately trying to find their way home. They had been walking for hours when they came across a cottage. The cottage was strange looking indeed. The wall was covered in chocolate, icing, and candy. When they got closer to the wall they could see the walls were made of cookies. Hansel placed his hands on the walls and took a clump of chocolate off.

“This is chocolate!” he exclaimed.

Gretel took a piece and ate it. “This is icing,” she said excitedly. Both having been hungry for hours began to devour the house. Suddenly an old woman poked her head out the window of cottage.

“Well, if it isn’t two hungry children with a sweet tooth! Aren’t you hungry?” she said smiling at Hansel and Gretel. “Come in! No need to be scared.”

They did not know that she was the witch that has been eating children from the city. There were stories floating around the city about an evil witch who lured kids into her cottage in the forest. Sometimes she would change her appearance in order to attract widowed husbands to give up their kids. However because Hansel and Gretel lived in the woods, they did not know of the story. As the old woman spoke both of them stared at the old woman curiously. To Hansel, she looked somewhat familiar, like he had seen her somewhere before. Gretel on the other hand was too hungry to notice anything, and she walked into the house. Hansel followed her in, not knowing what to do. As they entered the cottage, they looked around noticing candy and chocolate all around the walls of the house. Within seconds of walking into the cottage, Hansel and Gretel felt a hand around their arm tugging their backwards. They screamed, but it was too late. They were locked in a caged.

“All I have to do now is feed you like chickens and wait until you fatten up and are ready to be eaten,” the witch said laughing. As of now we can all guess what happened next. The old woman, because she was old, had bad eyesight. Each day she would check on them and see if they were fat enough to eat, but Hansel had found a bone on the ground and every time she checked on them he held out the bone for her to touch. The witch was getting impatient each day. As each day passed, she complained.

One day she got tired of waiting and she needed the children’s meat to regain strength and keep her youthful look. After all she was an old witch, who has been around for quite some time. She dragged Gretel out of the cage and ordered her to light the oven. Gretel thought of an idea at the moment. She didn’t want her brother to die. She lit the fire in the oven.

“Is the oven hot enough yet?” the witch asked impatiently.

“I don’t know,” Gretel replied. “I can’t tell whether it’s hot enough like you want it.”

“You useless kid! I’ll just do it myself then.”

Gretel, seeing the chance to save her and her brother, watched the witch get close to the oven. As the witch stuck her hand in, Gretel pushed her into the oven. She then closed the door and locked it. The witch screamed in pain. Her voice echoed in the oven, traveling through the cottage. As she was burning, Gretel went and retrieved her brother from the cage. The two of them stood in front of the oven and watched the witch burn.

“We knew it was you all along, beloved stepmother,” Hansel smirked.

They watched her burn with a smirk across their faces. They were now afraid of nothing. When the crying and screaming died down, Hansel and Gretel searched the cottage for food and valuables. They ate all the food they found. When they got to the corner of the room, they found a casket of gold. They slept in the cottage until the next morning.

When morning arrived, Hansel and Gretel set off into the woods to find their home. They wandered for a few hours until they saw smoke rising into the sky. They walked toward the smoke. When they reached the house, they saw their father and knew they were home. They saw their father weeping and walked towards the house as their father looked up.

“Hello, father,” Hansel said, with a monotone.

“We’re back,” Gretel added in the same tone as her brother.

“Oh thank god. I’m so sorry for leaving you in the forest. I went back to look for you when you stepmother headed for the city,” he told them. “She’s been gone for months now. I think she disappeared.”

“That’s okay. She won’t be back. Forever. It’s all been taken care of, father,” Hansel said with a smirk on his face.

“Let’s go in and have dinner,” their father replied feeling a bit scared.

“Yes, let us eat,” Gretel answered. When she turned around she let out a small laugh and went into the kitchen to prepare the oven…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Illustration by HJ Ford.