Read "A Tale About the Boy Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was" two nights ago, from Volume I of The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, translated by Jack Zipes.
Synopsis:
A father has two sons, the elder smart and responsible, the younger slow and disinterested in many things. The younger son often listens to his elder brother's refusal to do errands at night, having to pass through a cemetery in the dark, because it makes his hairs stand on end. The younger son has never experienced having his hairs stand on end and makes it his singular objective to have that experience. The father willingly lends his younger son to the sexton, who assigns the boy to ring the church bell at midnight. One night, unbeknownst to the boy, the sexton dresses himself in white, goes up to the belfry, and waits for the boy to come up and ring the bell. Seeing the figure in white, the boy merely demands it to identify itself, and, when it remains silent, throws it down the stairs. The sexton breaks a leg, and the boy's angry father sends the boy away from home.
The boy meets a man with whom he confides his desire to experience having his hairs stand on end. The man challenges him to spend the night below a tree where the corpses of seven criminals remain hanging. The boy does so and even lights a fire and takes down the corpses to sit round it to keep themselves warm. The boy attempts to converse with the men, but they remain silent. The corpses' pieces of clothing catch fire, though, and the boy hangs them back on the tree.
The boy then meets a carter, who takes him to an inn, where he learns from the innkeeper that the king is offering the reward of his daughter' hand to any man who can spend the night in a nearby haunted castle. In the past, many suitors attempted to do this but were never seen alive again. Unfazed, the boy takes on the challenge.
On the first night inside the haunted castle the boy is attacked by huge cats and dogs, but he kills most of them with his knife and sends the rest running away. He lies on a bed that springs to life and zooms around and through the castle, but he thoroughly enjoys it and goes to sleep on the bed afterward.
On the second night, dead men come tumbling down the chimney and play a game of ninepins with skulls as balls. The boy not only joins the game--he turns the skulls on a lathe to make them roll more easily.
On the third night, six huge men set a coffin on a floor. The boy opens the coffin, sets the corpse near the fire, and rubs its body to revive it. The corpse does come to life but attempts to strangle the boy, and so the boy seals it inside the coffin once again. An old man arrives next, and he challenges the boy to a test of strength. The old man takes an axe and rives an anvil in two. The boy, however, is able to do the same. He wedges the old man's beard in the split of the anvil and proceeds to beat him up. The old man surrenders and gives the boy three chests full of gold: one for the poor, the second for the king, the third for the boy.
Everyone is amazed that the boy survived three nights inside the haunted castle. The boy marries the king's daughter, and they live happily except that the boy still cannot experience having his hairs stand on end. His wife becomes exasperated, but their chambermaid thinks of a solution. They pour water with live minnows from the river on the boy's body. The little fish flap all over his body and make his hairs stand on end.
My Commentary:
This fairy tale is about the archetypal Warrior's journey in developmental psychology. On his quest, the boy encounters only men, who conduct his rites of passage to full manhood, the equivalent of the French "100 blows". Ringing the church bell at midnight seems to indicate the first awakening of the boy's body; his encounter with the sexton seems to be a failed seduction on the sexton's part. The episode that follows, involving the cadavers of seven criminals, reflects the boy's dealing with the Shadow Selves of his peers; he extends kindness to them but is forced to place them back where they belong because they are not responsive to him.
The three nights inside the haunted castle reflect the last three stages in the Warrior's journey: the cats and dogs are the vices one must combat and transcend before having a good night's sleep; the game of ninepins is the challenge of socializing in a world of deceit; the corpse in the coffin is none other than his own weaknesses and shortcomings, which he must learn to overcome, and the old man is his future self, the keeper of riches. Note that the Warrior is obliged to turn over a third of his booty to the poor and another third to the king.
Above everything, every story about a boy who leaves his father and his brother behind to go out into the world is basically a story of the Zero Card, the Fool, in any Tarot deck. It is also the antithesis of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, retitled the Parable of the Beneficent Father--I say antithesis because the Warrior, whether successful in life or not, DOES NOT GO BACK TO THE FATHER AND TO THE BROTHER and instead continues to live independently the rest of his life. The ending of this fairy tale actually suggests the straight path to individuation: it is through the archetype of Woman, not of Man, that the Warrior ends this stage in his life and begins his journey through the next stage, the stage of the Lover, whether he is contending with an actual wife or with the Anima, or Feminine Self, within.
Synopsis:
A father has two sons, the elder smart and responsible, the younger slow and disinterested in many things. The younger son often listens to his elder brother's refusal to do errands at night, having to pass through a cemetery in the dark, because it makes his hairs stand on end. The younger son has never experienced having his hairs stand on end and makes it his singular objective to have that experience. The father willingly lends his younger son to the sexton, who assigns the boy to ring the church bell at midnight. One night, unbeknownst to the boy, the sexton dresses himself in white, goes up to the belfry, and waits for the boy to come up and ring the bell. Seeing the figure in white, the boy merely demands it to identify itself, and, when it remains silent, throws it down the stairs. The sexton breaks a leg, and the boy's angry father sends the boy away from home.
The boy meets a man with whom he confides his desire to experience having his hairs stand on end. The man challenges him to spend the night below a tree where the corpses of seven criminals remain hanging. The boy does so and even lights a fire and takes down the corpses to sit round it to keep themselves warm. The boy attempts to converse with the men, but they remain silent. The corpses' pieces of clothing catch fire, though, and the boy hangs them back on the tree.
The boy then meets a carter, who takes him to an inn, where he learns from the innkeeper that the king is offering the reward of his daughter' hand to any man who can spend the night in a nearby haunted castle. In the past, many suitors attempted to do this but were never seen alive again. Unfazed, the boy takes on the challenge.
On the first night inside the haunted castle the boy is attacked by huge cats and dogs, but he kills most of them with his knife and sends the rest running away. He lies on a bed that springs to life and zooms around and through the castle, but he thoroughly enjoys it and goes to sleep on the bed afterward.
On the second night, dead men come tumbling down the chimney and play a game of ninepins with skulls as balls. The boy not only joins the game--he turns the skulls on a lathe to make them roll more easily.
On the third night, six huge men set a coffin on a floor. The boy opens the coffin, sets the corpse near the fire, and rubs its body to revive it. The corpse does come to life but attempts to strangle the boy, and so the boy seals it inside the coffin once again. An old man arrives next, and he challenges the boy to a test of strength. The old man takes an axe and rives an anvil in two. The boy, however, is able to do the same. He wedges the old man's beard in the split of the anvil and proceeds to beat him up. The old man surrenders and gives the boy three chests full of gold: one for the poor, the second for the king, the third for the boy.
Everyone is amazed that the boy survived three nights inside the haunted castle. The boy marries the king's daughter, and they live happily except that the boy still cannot experience having his hairs stand on end. His wife becomes exasperated, but their chambermaid thinks of a solution. They pour water with live minnows from the river on the boy's body. The little fish flap all over his body and make his hairs stand on end.
My Commentary:
This fairy tale is about the archetypal Warrior's journey in developmental psychology. On his quest, the boy encounters only men, who conduct his rites of passage to full manhood, the equivalent of the French "100 blows". Ringing the church bell at midnight seems to indicate the first awakening of the boy's body; his encounter with the sexton seems to be a failed seduction on the sexton's part. The episode that follows, involving the cadavers of seven criminals, reflects the boy's dealing with the Shadow Selves of his peers; he extends kindness to them but is forced to place them back where they belong because they are not responsive to him.
The three nights inside the haunted castle reflect the last three stages in the Warrior's journey: the cats and dogs are the vices one must combat and transcend before having a good night's sleep; the game of ninepins is the challenge of socializing in a world of deceit; the corpse in the coffin is none other than his own weaknesses and shortcomings, which he must learn to overcome, and the old man is his future self, the keeper of riches. Note that the Warrior is obliged to turn over a third of his booty to the poor and another third to the king.
Above everything, every story about a boy who leaves his father and his brother behind to go out into the world is basically a story of the Zero Card, the Fool, in any Tarot deck. It is also the antithesis of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, retitled the Parable of the Beneficent Father--I say antithesis because the Warrior, whether successful in life or not, DOES NOT GO BACK TO THE FATHER AND TO THE BROTHER and instead continues to live independently the rest of his life. The ending of this fairy tale actually suggests the straight path to individuation: it is through the archetype of Woman, not of Man, that the Warrior ends this stage in his life and begins his journey through the next stage, the stage of the Lover, whether he is contending with an actual wife or with the Anima, or Feminine Self, within.
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