They consider themselves as “patriotic folklorists” (O’Neill 50). Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm wrote “the best known books ever created in the German language” (Ashliman). It all started in 1806, When Jacob and Wilhelm were influenced by the folk poetry collection of Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim. They decided to collect oral folktales and rescued that German treasure from being lost. From 1812 to 1857 they published seven editions of Kinder- und Hausmärchen, known in English as Children' and Household Tales. In 1812, The Grimm brothers published their first edition of Children' and Household Tales. It contained 86 folktales. At 1814, edition two of Children' and Household Tales appears in print, adding 70 stories to the previous edition. They kept writing and adding new stories until they published the seventh edition in 1857. This final version is the base for most editions and translations published, it contained 200 stories plus 10 Children's Legends. (Ashliman).

      And the remain question is why?

     Well, if we went back to the medieval days between 5th and 15th century, where reading and writing specified to priests, monks, and bishops, the oral lessons were the only way to educate normal people. This is when the tales began. After these dark ages, the precious stories started to fade, and this is when the Grimm brothers sought these tales and collected them in a book. “More than 40 people orally helped the brothers to write these tales”. (O’Neill 53). All together, these stories were like lessons people used to circulate from generation to generation, and writing them down kept this tradition going forever. Now days, this book is translated into more than 160 languages, and these valuable lessons too.

     This book is the key to another world. World full of all kinds of colors, feelings, and unexpected things. A book you will find yourself in it, so from all these 210 stories you will find yourself in at least one or two stories. One story drags my attention for the treasure that is hidden inside of it. This story talks about two siblings ran away and cooperate with each other to help and save each other’s life. Fundevogel and Lina are the best example of a team, best friends, and family, and according to the brothers Grimm, Fundevagel’s story start when a hunter was hunting in the forest, who found a baby named him Fundevogel and raised him with his only daughter Lina. The kids became so close to each other. The forester had an old cook called Sanna, and one day Sanna started to fetch water with two buckets several times, and when Lina questioned her about it, Sanna told her that she was going to boil Fundevogel with this water in the next day. At night Lina told Fundevogel what Sanna’s intentions are, and told him that they have to run away to the forest next morning. In the morning they woke up, dressed, and ran away. When Sanna went to get Fundevogel to put him in the boiling water, she did not find the two children, and she got really mad. The cook sent her three servants after the kids to the forest. In the forest, Lina and Fundevogel saw the servants from far away, so he became a rose bush and she became a rose on this bush. When the servant came, they didn’t find the children, and for that they came back to the cook, and told her that they only found a rose-tree with one rose on it. She got angry because she knew that was the two children, and asked the servants to go back and bring this rose bush to her. They went back again, but they didn’t find anything only a church with a chandelier in it, and that was Fundevogel and Lina changed themselves. The servants told the cook what they saw, for that she was upset and went with the servants to the forest. Lina and Fundevogel saw them from far away. Lina told Fundevogel to be a fishpond and she will be a duck upon it. When the cook came, she laid down to the lake to drink it all, but before that the duck swam to her, drew her into the water, and there she had to drown. In the end the children were happy and went back home together, glad that they are still alive (The Brothers Grimm 18). Altogether, Lina and Fundevogel represent the best example of a team, they helped and completed each other “rosebush with one rose, church with chandelier, and a pond with duck” (The Grimm brothers18). To escape from the evil witch. Though they are not really siblings, they loved and took care of each other.

     My coworkers and I are almost the same, we act like a family, and we act like we are one. Because of our work nature, we have to deal with all kinds of people, and some of them play the evil character. Acting like one family helped a lot in these situations. I remember once there was a lady, and it seems that she didn’t like me, because I’m from Iraq, so she started to say that I should go back to where I came from, and that I’m a terrorist, and all kinds of offensive things. And before I say anything the manager asked her to leave the store, and said that she don’t want her business as long as she don’t show respect to others and especially to the people who work in this store. The manager did not expect this offense to her team, to her family. I believe if we did not act like a family, we could break and fall apart easily.

Just like Lina and Fundevogel, if they didn’t band together, they would get caught and he would be cooked, but Lina did not except this to happen to her brother, and she did everything to protect him. In the end, a lot of people ask, why do you love your job? It is not the kind of job that I love, but the people that I work with. They make me happy, delighted, and give me the chance to live my fairy tale life.

     After all, these are the two brother’s story and stories that led them to the success itself. “we live a fairy tale live.” yes! Each one of us is living his own fairy tale whether it’s happy or sad. I told you mine, so tell me yours?

 

Works cited:

 

Ashliman, D. L. “Chronology of Their Life” Grimm Brothers' Home Page. www.pitt.edu,

 10 Jan, 2013. <http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm.html> . Web. 27 Sep, 2014.

The Brothers Grimm. “Fundevogel”. Fairy Tales.1812:18. Project Gutenberg, 2008

<http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2591/2591-h/2591-h.htm#link2H_4_0018> .Web. 27 Sep, 2014.

O’Neill, Thomas. “Guardians Of The Fairy Tale: The Brothers Grimm”. Living In the World. Boston: Wadsworth. 2014. Print.