Fairy Tale - The Wonderful Musician

   This Fairy tale story is from Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (The Brothers Grimm), Household Tales, translated by - Margaret Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884)

   The Wonderful Musician
Fairy tale by The Brothers Grimm

   Once there was a wonderful musician, who went quite alone through a forest. He thought of all manner of things, and when nothing was left for him to think about, he said to himself, "Time is beginning to pass heavily with me here in the forest, I will fetch here good companion for myself." 

   Then he took his violin from his back and played so that it echoed through the trees. It was not long before a wolf came running through the bush towards him. "Ah, here is a wolf coming! I have no desire for him!" said the musician.

   But the wolf came nearer and said to him, "Ah, dear musician, how beautifully you played the music! I should like to learn that, too."

   "It is soon learnt," the musician replied, "you have only to do all that I bid you." 

   "Oh, musician," said the wolf, "I will obey you as a scholar obeys his master." 

   The musician bade him follow, and when they had gone part of the way together, they came to an old oak-tree which was hollow inside, and cleft in the middle. 

   "Look," said the musician, "if you want learn to violin, put your fore paws into this crevice." The wolf obeyed, but the musician quickly picked up a stone and with one blow wedged his two paws so fast that he was forced to stay there like a prisoner. 

   "Stay there until I come back again," said the musician, and went his way. 

   After a while he again said to himself, "Time is beginning to pass heavily with me here in the forest, I will fetch here another companion," and took his violin and again played in the forest.

   It was not long before a fox came creeping through the trees towards him. "Ah, there is a fox coming! I have no desire for him.” said the musician.

   The fox came up to the musician and said, "Oh, dear musician, how beautifully you did play! I should like to learn that too." 

   "That is soon learnt," said the musician. "You have only to do everything that I bid you." 

   "Oh, musician," then said the fox, "I will obey you as a scholar obeys his master."

Folk tale - The Boy and the Violin

    This is a Folk tale from Brazil. Brazil is the largest country in South America. The largest country on the continent and it is very well-known for it's cultures and the game ‘Football’. The world biggest river Amazon and the Amazon Rain-forest is here. This Brazilian folk tale was collected by Elsie Spicer Eells.

 The Boy and the Violin

 A South American Folktale

   Once upon a time there was a man lived in Brazil, who had an only son. When the man died, then the boy was left all alone in the world. There was not very much property for the boy. He had just a cat and a dog, a small piece of land and a few orange trees. The boy gave the dog away to a neighbor and sold the land and the orange trees. All of the money he got from the sale, he invested in a violin. He had waited for a violin all his life and now he wanted one more than ever. While his father had lived he could tell his feelings to his father, but now there was none to tell them to except the violin. Then the violin became his friend and the violin said him to make the very sweetest music in the world.

   The boy went to hire out as shepherd to care for the sheep of the king. But he was told that the king already had a large number of shepherds and had no need of another shepherd. The boy took his violin which he had brought with him and hid himself in the deep forest. There he made sweet music with the violin. The shepherds who were near by patrolling the king’s sheep, they heard the sweet melodious music. But they could not find out who was playing that sweet music. The sheep heard the music too. Several of them left the crowd and followed the sound of the music into the forest. They followed it until they reached the boy and the cat and the violin.

    The shepherds were greatly disturbed when they found out how their sheep were losing away into the forest. The shepherds went after their sheep to bring them back, but they could find no trace of them. Sometimes it would seem that they were quite near to the place from which the music came, but when they hurried in that direction they would hear the melody of the music coming from an isolated point in the opposite direction. They were scared of getting lost themselves so they gave up in disappointment.