Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Not the Book by Phillip Pullman

Just sayin'.


Is this the world's shortest fairy tale?  The Grimms' The Golden Key is reproduced here in full for your enjoyment, translated by D.L. Ashliman.

Once in the wintertime when the snow was very deep, a poor boy had to go out and fetch wood on a sled.  After he had gathered it together and loaded it, he did not want to go straight home, because he was so frozen, but instead to make a fire and warm himself a little first.  So he scraped the snow away, and while he was thus clearing the ground he found a small golden key.  Now he believed that where there was a key, there must also be a lock, so he dug in the ground and found a little iron chest.  "If only the key fits!" he thought.  "Certainly there are valuable things in the chest."  He looked, but there was no keyhole.  Finally he found one, but so small that it could scarcely be seen.  He tried the key, and fortunately it fitted.  Then he turned it once, and now we must wait until he has finished unlocking it and has opened the lid.  Then we shall find out what kind of wonderful things there were in the little chest.

This needs no other commentary than this: it was historically always placed as the last tale in the collection.

fleur2

12 comments:

  1. Ooh, I love it! Although I think the Pullman book is called The Golden Compass. George MacDonald wrote a (much longer) fairy tale by this title, though.

    The last fact you put down is the sort of thing to induce chillbumps. :)

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    1. I know the one you're talking about, about Tangled and Mossy. <3

      The Golden Key is an Grimms collection/anthology edited by Phillip Pullman. I haven't read it, so I don't know if it's named after this fairy tale or what.

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    2. Oh... pfff... duh. Well, guess I didn't Google hard enough. Sorry about that!

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    3. Heehee, I only knew because I frequent so many fairy tale blogs. :p

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  2. Lovely tale, perfect at the ending, inviting anticipation.

    Haven't been by here in a while as I've been promoting my book on authonomy, but I just read your poem Achilles's Sister and it's really excellent - love the "whisper-whisper knifey somethings", among other phrases.

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    1. Oh thank you!

      Authonomy? Just the name of it sounds like my cup of tea.

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    2. yeah, it's an interesting place - loads of people just in a hurry to promote their books but also many really great people and what a range of books, some of them hopefully on the way to print...

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    3. What's your link? I'd like to support you in whatever way I can.

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  3. I love it. Just love it. It should still be at the end of every fairy tale collection!

    (& the film is called 'The Golden Compass' but the book is called 'Northern Lights'...unless there's a different name in the US? I now have a strong urge to read that series again!) xx

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    1. The U.S. version is called The Golden Compass.

      --Lynn

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    2. Yes, The Golden Compass.

      The Golden Key is a new anthology edited by Phillip Pullman.

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  4. Fascinating-Golden Key is NOT the last tale in my "Grimms Complete Fairy Tales" (the Barnes and Noble edition, which I'm sure is not especially historically accurate). That definitely changes how you read it!

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