Fairy by the Grim Brothers, the Juniper Tree

Long, long ago, some 2,000 years or so, there lived a rich man with a good and beautiful wife.

They loved each other dearly, but sorrowed much that they had no children. So greatly did they desire to have one that the wife prayed for

it day and night, but still they remained childless. In front of the house there was a court in which grew a juniper tree.

One winter's day the wife stood under the tree to peel some apples and as she was peeling them she cut her finger and the

blood fell on the snow.

Ah, sighed the woman heavily, if I had but a child, as red as blood and as white as snow.

And as she spoke the words, her heart grew light within her and it seemed to her that her

wish was granted, and she returned to the house

feeling glad and comforted. A month passed and the snow had all disappeared. Then another month went by and all the earth was green.

So the months followed one another and first the trees butted in the woods and soon the green branches grew thickly intertwined and then the blossoms began to fall.

Once again the wife stood under the juniper tree and it was so full of sweet scent that her heart leapt for joy and she was so overcome with her happiness that she fell on her knees.

Presently the fruit became round and firm and she was glad and at peace, but when they were

fully ripe she picked the berries and ate eagerly of them, and then

she grew sad and ill.

A little while later, she called her husband and said to him weeping,

If I'd die, bury me under the juniper tree.

Then she felt comforted and happy again, and before another month had passed she had a little child and when she saw

that it was as white as snow and as red as blood her joy was so great that she died.

Her husband buried her under the juniper tree and wept bitterly for her.

By degrees, however, his sorrow grew less, and although at times he still grieved over his loss,

he was able to go about as usual, and later on he married again.

...