Today, we are going to talk about a very classic Grimm’s fairy tale, “The Three Little Men”. It is a story about kindness, hard work and gratitude. Although the little girl in the story suffered unfair treatment, she used her kindness and hard work to win happiness, while the selfish and lazy people were punished as they deserved. This story is not only interesting, but also teaches us many life lessons.
The evil stepmother’s plan
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was beautiful and kind. But her stepmother did not treat her well, because her own daughter was ugly and stupid, and she was jealous of the little girl’s excellence.
One day, heavy snow covered the whole land, and the weather was so cold that people shivered. However, the stepmother deliberately made a thin “coat” out of paper paste, and said to the little girl, “You quickly put on this ‘coat’ and go to the forest to pick a basket of strawberries for me. If you can’t pick any strawberries, you can’t come home!”
Then the stepmother gave her a small piece of hard bread and said coldly, “This is your ration.” In fact, the stepmother had already made up her mind: on such a cold day, the little girl wearing a paper dress would definitely freeze to death and never come back.
Meeting the three dwarfs
The poor little girl had no choice but to brave the cold and walk into the forest. She walked and walked in the snow until she finally found a small house. She knocked on the door, but there was no response, so she pushed the door open. Inside the house sat three little men, who looked very friendly.
The little girl sat by the stove and took out the small, hard piece of bread and began to eat. At that moment, the little men said to her, “Can you share some of your food with us?”
Without hesitation, the little girl broke the bread in half and gave the dwarfs her half. They all ate the bread together, and the dwarfs asked her, “Why are you wearing paper clothes in such cold weather and running into the forest?”
The little girl sighed and told them what had happened to her. After listening, the dwarfs handed her a broom and said, ”Help us sweep the snow from the back door.”
The little girl nodded and immediately picked up the broom and began to sweep earnestly. The dwarfs couldn’t help but praise her as they watched her busy figure, saying, “She is such a kind and polite child. How should we repay her?”
The first dwarf said, ‘I hope she will grow more and more beautiful.’
The second dwarf said, ‘I hope that every time she speaks, gold will come out of her mouth.’
The third dwarf said, ”I hope that she will be loved by a king and become his queen.”
And, miracle of miracles! When the little girl had finished sweeping the courtyard, she found bright red strawberries in the snow. She was overjoyed and quickly filled a basket with them before taking them back to the house. Before leaving, she thanked the dwarfs sincerely and then went home with the strawberries.
The stepmother’s daughter’s greed and laziness
When she got home, the little girl had barely greeted her stepmother when a piece of gold fell out of her mouth. She told her stepmother about her experience in the forest, and soon the house was full of gold.
Her stepmother’s daughter saw all this and was both jealous and envious. She begged her mother to let her go to the forest and try her luck too. So the stepmother gave her a thick fur coat and stuffed it full of cakes and fruit, and sent her off to look for the magical little people.
When she arrived in the forest, the stepmother’s daughter went straight to the little people’s house, pushed open the door and rushed in. She plopped herself down by the stove and started gobbling up her cakes and fruit.
The dwarfs begged her, “Please share some of your cake with us.”
But she refused loudly, “I don’t want to go hungry!”
After she had finished eating, the dwarfs handed her a broom and said, “Please help us sweep the snow outside the back door.”
She shouted impatiently, “Am I your servant? Do it yourself!”
Then she stormed out of the house. The dwarfs looked at her back and said angrily, “What should we give to a lazy girl like her who is so selfish and rude?”
The first dwarf said, ‘I hope she grows uglier and uglier.’
The second dwarf said, ‘I hope a toad will pop out of her mouth every time she speaks.’
The third dwarf said, ”I hope she doesn’t have a happy ending.”
Sure enough, when she returned home, a toad would pop out of her mouth every time she spoke. When the stepmother saw this, she turned green with rage.
The happy life of the kind girl
Meanwhile, the kind little girl attracted the attention of the king because of her beauty and gentleness. One day, the king was walking past a frozen river and saw the little girl, who was rinsing wool. He thought she was really beautiful, so he took her back to the palace.
Soon after, they got married and lived happily together. A year later, the little girl gave birth to a cute little prince, and the whole family was immersed in joy.
However, when the evil stepmother heard the news, her jealousy returned. She brought her ugly daughter to the palace and, when no one was around, viciously threw the queen out of the window into the moat.
To cover up the truth, the stepmother had her daughter lie in bed pretending to be sick and prevented the king from approaching the fake queen.
The truth comes out
At night, the palace page boy noticed something strange: a duck swam out of the sewer and turned into the beautiful queen. She quietly went upstairs to see the young prince, and then turned back into a duck and swam away.
The queen appeared in this way for three consecutive nights. On the last day, she said to the page boy, “Please tell the king to bring his sword and wave it over my head three times.”
The young man hurried to report to the king. The king did as she said, and when he swung the sword for the third time, the queen resumed her human form and stood in front of him. The king was moved to tears, and after their reunion, the queen told him the whole story.
In order to expose his stepmother’s crime, the king set a trap. He asked publicly, “If someone does a bad thing and throws someone into the river, what should be done to punish her?”
Without hesitation, the stepmother replied, “You can put the wicked person in a barrel full of nails and roll it down a hill into the river.”
The king smiled and said, ‘Very well, let it be done as you say.’
As a result, the stepmother and her daughter were locked in a barrel full of nails and rolled down a hill into the river, finally getting the punishment they deserved.
The significance of the story
From this story, we can learn the following:
- Kindness and hard work are virtues
The little girl’s kindness and hard work impressed the three dwarfs, and they were able to obtain their help. This tells us that no matter what predicament we are in, as long as we remain kind and work hard, there will always be a way out. - Selfishness and laziness will bring punishment
The stepmother and her daughter suffered the consequences of their selfishness and laziness. This reminds us that we should not just think about taking advantage of others, but also know how to give and be grateful. - Justice will ultimately triumph over evil
In the story, although the stepmother succeeded for a while, she was eventually exposed and punished. This shows that no matter how cunning the bad guys are, they cannot escape justice. - Good deeds are rewarded, and evil deeds punished
This old truth runs through the whole story. It teaches us that doing good deeds will be rewarded with good, while doing evil deeds will have consequences.
Learn to be a kind person
Dear children, this story tells us that kindness and hard work are the most valuable qualities. They not only earn us the respect of others, but also bring us a happy life. On the contrary, selfishness and laziness will only lead to missed opportunities and even trouble.
So let’s cultivate the habits of kindness and hard work from an early age! I believe that as long as we do our best, the future will definitely be full of sunshine!
