The Tale of Grimm's Pot of Porridge

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

"The Pot of Porridge" is one of the fairy tales of German writers, linguists and collectors of folklore brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm. This article contains a brief retelling of this wonderful story, a few lines for the reader's diary, as well as its folklore origins.

In Russia, the fairy tale about the pot of porridge was translated by A. I. Vvedensky, and the most famous illustrations for the book were made by the Russian Soviet artist Vladimir Konashevich.

Summary

One girl in the forest met an old woman and shared with her the collected berries. As a thank you for her kindness, her grandmother gave her a magic pot that cooked delicious and sweet porridge (in the original version, millet). It was only necessary to say the magic words:

One, two, three, pot, boil!

And when there is enough food:

One, two, three, no more cooking!

- and the pot stopped.

Once the girl's mother decided to cook porridge in her absence, but she forgot the magic phrase that stops the pot. And porridgeit became so much that she got out of the house and crawled through the streets of the city. It's good that the girl came back in time and prevented an ecological disaster.

For the reader's diary

This is a fairy tale about a pot of porridge of one kind girl. But one day, due to an oversight, the magic pot boiled so much porridge that it filled up the whole city, and the travelers had to eat their way. Magic items also need to be able to use - this is the essence of a fairy tale.

Another interpretation of the plot: it is known that it is based on an ancient legend that real magic can only belong to a pure and immaculate soul. That is why the magic pot was received as a gift from the old fairy by a kind girl. And when the mother wanted to use the magic item herself, big trouble almost happened. Hence another morality: you cannot use someone else's magical gift, it belongs only to the one who received it.

Where did the fairy tale come from

The Grimm brothers heard the tale of the pot of porridge from the storyteller Henrietta Dorothea Wild. She was the fifth daughter of an apothecary who kept his pharmacy next door to brothers who lived nearby. It was in the German city of Hesse. Subsequently, Dorothea became the wife of Wilhelm.

The fairy tale about the pot of porridge by the Brothers Grimm in various versions could have other names - for example, "Pot, boil!", "Sweet porridge", "Magicpot".

As for the original source of the tale, it is known that famine was a very common phenomenon in the Middle Ages. It was believed that only miracles could make sure that everyone was fed. Hence the various fairy tales about obtaining magical items that promote satiety and well-being. Such, for example, is the old Indian tale about a magical vessel from which an infinite amount of porridge can be obtained. And all of it was cooked from one grain of rice.

Porridge (most often in Europe it was millet) was generally a common food of the lower strata of the population. It is known that in some lands of Germany, in particular in Thuringia, there was a custom during the week before Lent, that is, on Maslenitsa, to eat this dish so that the whole next year would be satisfying.

The above was a brief retelling of the fairy tale about the magic pot of porridge by the Brothers Grimm, as well as the interpretation and history of this work.