• norimee@lemmy.world
    6·
    13 hours ago

    I love, that the meme used the actual picture of a German fairytale.

    Its called “The Dreadful Story Of Pauline And The Matches” - “Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug”

    … But Pauline would not take advice, She lit a match, it was so nice! It crackled so, it burned so clear,– Exactly like the picture here. She jumped for joy and ran about, And was too pleased to put it out. …

    Now see! oh, see! a dreadful thing! The fire has caught her apron string: Her apron burns, her arms, her hair; She burns all over, everywhere. …

    Pauline was burnt with all her clothes, And arms and hands, and eyes and nose; Till she had nothing more to lose Except her little scarlet shoes; And nothing else but these was found Among her ashes on the ground. And when the good cats sat beside The smoking ashes, how they cried, “Me-ow, me-o! Me-ow, me-oo! What will Mamma and Nursey do?” Their tears ran down their cheeks so fast They made a little pond at last.

  • SternburgExport@feddit.de
    5·
    24 hours ago

    My god I had a book with fairy tales as a kid with this exact image in it. It was called „Der Struwwelpeter“

  • Wxnzxn@lemmy.ml
    36·
    2 days ago

    My favourite German fairy tale has to be this one.

    The harrowing morality tale, teaching you that you better stay in your lane, peasant, especially if you are a Bratwurst!

      • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
        61·
        2 days ago

        Many fairy tales are. Especially the oldest. Some of them have direct references to historic people. This is what I got out of the story:

        I think the sausage is supposed to be the rich class, safely hidden away, in a life of luxury, having others do most of her work. Leaving the safety of their own land without protection was no safe task for many nobles, especially with warring nobles around waiting for a chance to seize more power. With an excuse, the dog took out their neighbouring queen and left society to crumble.

        The mouse may be an allegory for the church (as the church, nobility, and the laymen were often grouped together). Though the sausage clearly had an easy life, the mouse had control in the end, and could be persuaded by the bird (the common people doing the hardest work). The second bird was a (foreign?) revolutionary, infecting the bird’s mind with dangerous ideas.

        In other words: stay in your lane, just do your chores, and everyone is better off. Start shit and society will collapse, and everyone will suffer. Probably written by someone well off.

        • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world
          2·
          24 hours ago

          Or whoever told the version of the story that ended up being written down decided to insert a joke into it. I mean, that whole bit could have been left out; the dog could have already eaten the sausage by the time the bird got there.

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
      3·
      2 days ago

      When mealtime approached, she would slither through the porridge or the vegetables, and thus everything was greased and salted and ready to eat.

      My mom was not the BEST cook in the world…

  • ValiantDust@feddit.de
    28·
    2 days ago

    Are you telling me your fairytale wedding does not include doves hacking out the eyes of your stepsister or your stepmother dancing to her death in shoes of red hot iron? Boooring.

  • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
    14·
    2 days ago

    Threadly reminder that “German fairy tales” were as much for adults’ entertainment as they were for kids. Just because a story has a moral, doesn’t mean it’s intended for toddlers

    It’s kind of the old school “cartoons are for children” vibe of stories. Don’t let the evil mouse corporation trick you into believing fairy tales always have a happy ending!

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
    5·
    2 days ago

    Worse still, your fairytale has a Polish (The Witcher monsters) middle and a Danish (HC Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling) beginning.