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"The Goose Girl" is a German fairy tale in which a widowed queen sends her daughter to her bridegroom in a faraway land, only accompanied by a waiting maid and a magical talking horse. But the evil maid rebels and forces the princess into trading clothes with her and swearing secrecy, effectively taking her place until they arrive at a foreign palace. 

Snow-White, fair-haired, quiet, and shy, and Rose-Red, dark-haired, outspoken, and lively, are two little girls living with their mother in a small cottage by the woods. They give shelter on a winter night to a kindly bear, who treats them gently and returns every night. In the summer, the girls encounter a wicked dwarf whose beard is stuck in a tree. Freeing the dwarf, the girls are met with loud ungrateful recriminations for cutting his beard.

A queen sewing by the window during a snowfall pricks her finger. Admiring the drops of blood on the snow, she wishes for a daughter as white as that snow, as red as that blood, and as black as this ebony window frame. The queen dies after giving birth to Snowdrop. The girl's stepmother, a vain and vindictive woman with a magic mirror, plots to eliminate Snowdrop, who grows more beautiful by the day. Snowdrop is left in the forest to die but takes shelter with seven dwarfs who become her protector when the evil stepmother learns she is still alive.

A series of huntsmen disappear in a mysterious forest. It is eventually discovered that an iron-skinned man is dragging passersby into the lake where he lives. The man is captured by the king and subsequently released by a sympathetic prince, who then must flee the kingdom. The prince, with the help of the iron-skinned man, defeats an army and wins the hand of a princess. The prince is reunited with his parents, and Iron Hans is revealed to be a normal man who was under a spell and released from it by the prince who was found to be pure of heart.

A peasant sends his seven sons to fetch water for his daughter's christening. Having lost their pails in the well, they are afraid to return home without having completed their task. The peasant, thinking they have gone off to play, curses them whereupon they are immediately transformed into ravens. When the daughter is grown up she sets off to discover the whereabouts of her long-lost brothers.

Dummling, the youngest and simplest of three brothers, is sent into the forest to chop wood. He shares his food and drink with a little gray man who directs him to a tree which, when chopped down, is found to contain a golden goose. Dummling sets off on a journey with the goose under his arm, eventually arriving in a kingdom wherein the king will offer his daughter's hand in marriage to any man who can make her laugh.

A boy is murdered and made into a stew by his evil stepmother, who buries his bones beneath a juniper tree outside their house. The boy is reincarnated as a bird who flies forth from the tree and enlists the townspeople to help him exact revenge.

A poor shoemaker prepares his last piece of leather to work on before turning in for bed. In the morning, he is amazed to find the shoes already made. Selling these to a grateful customer, his financial obligations are met, and he is able to buy enough leather for two more pairs. When these are completed overnight in a similar fashion, he stays awake to solve the mystery. Learning that a team of naked elves are responsible for the fine shoes, the shoemaker and his wife create tiny clothes for the elves to thank them. 

In this folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression and triumphant reward, a young girl is forced by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters to a life of servitude. Sleeping next to the fireplace, she earns the nickname Ashputtel, or Cinderella.

A miller's careless boast that his clever daughter can spin gold from straw is forced by the king to deliver on this claim. A little man arrives to help the miller's distraught daughter in exchange for her firstborn child. Later, when the daughter, now the queen, gives birth to her first child, the little man comes to collect. He agrees to release the queen from her promise if she can learn his name.

A lonely couple hopes for a child, even, the wife says, if it were no bigger than my thumb. To their delight, their wishes come true, and the boy is named Tom Thumb for his diminutive stature.

The boy is crafty and helps his father by directing the family horse to haul firewood by standing in his ear and whispering commands. Embarking on several adventures, Tom displays a knack for tricking the slow-witted people who attempt to take advantage of Tom's unique size.

A little girl walks through the woods to deliver wine and cake to her sickly grandmother. Having been warned by her mother not to stray from the path, she is tricked by a large wolf into picking flowers in a nearby field. During this time, the wolf, masquerading as Little Red Cap, swindles the grandmother into letting him in. He then devours her and dons her clothing. When Little Red Cap arrives, the wolf, whose appetite was merely whetted by the frail grandmother, makes a meal out of the young girl. Happily, a brave woodsman arrives to rescue the both of them.

A famine has settled over the land. The children of a poor woodcutter are abandoned in the woods by their cruel stepmother who believes she and her husband will starve as a result of providing for the children. Days of wandering lead them to a beautiful cottage made of gingerbread and candy, which the children begin to eat. Lured inside by an old woman who promises hot baths, soft beds, and more delicious food, the children are captured and enslaved by what turns out to be a cannibalistic witch. The resourceful children must rely on their wits to make a daring escape.

A tailor parleys his success at killing seven flies in one stroke into a string of unlikely successes. Making a belt with the words Seven at one blow written on it, the gullible townspeople assume the tailor to have amazing strength. After a contest in which he tricks a giant into believing he is stronger, the tailor persuades the king he can rid the kingdom of giants. In exchange for this the king offers his daughter's hand in marriage and half his kingdom. When the king balks on this promise and creates more conditions, the tailor must again rely on his wits to prove his bravery.

A childless couple awaits the arrival of their firstborn. One day, the husband is caught stealing the salad greens, called Rapunzel, that his wife craves from the garden of the evil witch next door. The witch strikes a deal with the man, obtaining their firstborn child in return for all the Rapunzel the wife can eat. The child, growing up in captivity with the witch turns into a beautiful maiden with a voice of gold and extraordinarily long hair. When a handsome prince passes through, the witch's cunningly-won custody arrangement starts to fall apart.

A princess' maid turns on her mistress while traveling and forces her to switch roles with her. The false princess then kills the princess' horse to keep it from talking and forces the real princess to herd geese with the boy, Conrad. Conrad begins to notice strange things about the new goose-girl and informs the king. Will the false princess be discovered?

A spoiled princess grudgingly befriends a frog after a chance meeting at a pond. Forced against her will to spend time with the creature, he is ultimately revealed to be a handsome prince under a spell when she hurls him against the wall. In many other versions of the story, the curse is broken by a kiss or a night spent on the princess' pillow.

In this tale, twelve princesses, each of astounding beauty, are locked in their shared bedroom by their father each night. Vexed to discover that their dancing shoes show signs of wear every morning, the king demands an explanation, which they refuse to give. The king offers his kingdom and marriage to any of his daughters as a reward to the man who solves the mystery. However, if the mystery remains unsolved after three nights, the erstwhile suitor will be put to death. After many entrants fail, a wise old soldier finally cracks the case.

Grimm's Fairy Tales was first published in 1812 by the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm. Though earlier editions included material deemed unpalatable to modern audiences, subsequent editions softened some of the violence and raciness of the original. Containing 62 stories, including "Briar Rose" ("Sleeping Beauty"), "Hansel and Grete", "Snow White", and "Rose Red", and "Ashputtel" ("Cinderella"), this collection was praised by W.H. Auden as among the founding works of Western culture.

An entertaining selection of classic and gruesome fairy tales to delight and chill the bone.