Hans My Hedgehog

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Hans My Hedgehog, or Hans the Hedgehog, is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Since the second edition published in 1819, it has been recorded as Tale no. 108.

Synopsis

A wealthy but childless merchant wishes he had a child, even a hedgehog, and comes home to find that his wife has given birth to a baby boy that is a hedgehog from the waist up.

After eight years, the merchant goes to a fair and asks everyone in the household what they want. Hans My Hedgehog asks for bagpipes, and when he receives them, asks his father to have the cock shot so he can ride off to seek his fortune.

When he gets them, he goes off into the woods and watches over his donkeys and pigs. A king, lost in the woods, hears him playing the bagpipes, and Hans My Hedgehog promises to show him the way home in return for whatever first meets him when he returns. The king promises, but, realizing that Hans My Hedgehog cannot read, writes down instead that Hans My Hedgehog should receive nothing, which he is glad of when he returns and it is his daughter; she is glad of it, too. A second king is also lost, and he does write down the promise, and his daughter, on hearing of it, gives her promise that she will obey.

In time, Hans My Hedgehog goes to claim his promises. The first king attempts to withhold his daughter, but Hans forces him to yield her, and then takes her off, forces her to take off her clothing, pierces her all over until she bleeds, and sends her back to her father. The second king agrees to the marriage, the princess holds herself bound by her promise, and Hans My Hedgehog promises her that his prickles will not harm her. Then he tells the king on their wedding night, he should build a big fire, and when Hans takes off his hedgehog skin, he should have four servants burn it. They do this, and Hans My Hedgehog becomes a handsome young man.

Television

See also

References

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