Week 11- #GRIMMread2019
Devils, death, and wickedness abound in this week's stories. These stories are all warnings against evil.
Herr Korbes- Very similar to The Pack of Ragamuffins. Some animals and animated objects take a joy ride to the house of Herr Korbes, and torment him, and he dies because he "must have been a very wicked man!" The narrator just tacks on that statement at the end of the story. We don't really know how or why Herr Korbes is evil.
The Godfather- A man has so many children that he has already asked everyone in the world to be godfather (Okay, so he couldn't ask twice for some unknown reason). He asks the first man he sees at the gate because he dreamt about it. The godfather bestows a gift of healing water to him. He can see death at patient's bedsides. If Death stands at the head, he can use the water to heal, but if Death stands at the foot. He may not use the water. He has luck with this and decides to visit the godfather. When he gets there he goes through levels of "hell?": animated objects yelling at each other, dead fingers, dead heads, and fish cooking themselves, until he gets to the top level, and sees that the godfather has horns. The godfather tries to hide this, and a scene reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood ensues, in which the godfather gaslights the man by telling him he is stupid and seeing things. The man becomes terrified and runs off, "and if he had not, who knows what the godfather would have done to him." The man is the only main character in this week's stories that survives, because he isn't deliberately evil. He only unwittingly chooses and evil godfather.
Frau Trude- A very disobedient girl wants to visit Frau Trude, but her parents forbid her because they say Frau Trude is a witch. The girl disobeys them yet again, and when she gets to Frau Trude's, she discovers that she is the Devil, and Frau Trude has been expecting her for a long time. Frau Trude turns the girl into a log and burns her in the fireplace. This one is obviously meant to scare kids into obeying their parents.
Godfather Death- Almost identical to the Godfather in the first section of the story, but Death plays the role of godfather in this one, and the godson decides to cheat Death by switching patient's around so that Death is always standing at their heads, so he can heal them. Death warns him, but he disobeys again, and then Death has his revenge by taking the boy's life. He tried to cheat Death, even after Death gave him a second chance. That wasn't a good strategy for him.
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