Aschenputtel (1812 Brothers Grimm First Edition)

This is a presentation of "Aschenputtel" as published in the 1812 first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales) by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, also known in English as "Grimm's Tales" or "Grimm's Fairy Tales."
This audiobook accompanies episode 64 of the Children's Literature Podcast, "Two Grimm Cinderellas." childrensliter...
The full text of this translation is found at childrensliter...
This story was translated and performed by T.Q. Townsend. The translation was kept as direct and as straightforward as possible in order to keep the language close the original telling. Some things are lost in translation, such as certain rhymes or figures of speech, but this version hopefully gives listeners an idea of the story as it was first published in the 1812 first edition of Grimm's tales.
At the time this story was published, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm believed their main audience would be folklore scholars, so the story closely reflects the versions told to them by their sources, who were mainly women. These women would have learned the story in the traditional way, hearing it from older female relatives and household members as children.
In this early version of the story, Aschenputtel is tormented mainly by her stepsisters, and she receives help from her dead mother, who sends birds to help her when she is given impossible tasks to do and needs clothing fit for a royal ball. Unlike the later 1819 edition, the stepsisters do not receive any punishment beyond what they do to their own feet, and the role of the father and stepmother in tormenting Aschenputtel are minimal. The later edition removes some elements from this story, such as any mention of the horses and carriage that take the young woman to the ball. It also adds things that aren't in this telling, such as the tree on the mother's grave coming from a twig that Aschenputtel's father brings her. Comparing the two versions tells us interesting things about what kind of story the Brothers Grimm thought was fit for children, as the first edition was intended to be read by literary scholars, and the second edition was revised to meet early 19th century standards of morality as the main audience was now children.
The original German text of this story is in the public domain. The illustrations used in this presentation are from early printed editions and are in the public domain. This translation and audio performance may be freely used for non-profit educational purposes only.
#aschenputtel #cinderella #cinderellastory #audiobook #freeaudiobook #childrensliterature #classicliterature #märchen #folktales #kinderundhausmärchen #brothersgrimm #childrensliteraturepodcast