Sweet Porridge

Sweet Porridge is a fairy tale (ATU 565 ). It is in the Children's and Household Tales of the Brothers Grimm in place 103 (KHM 103). Until the 2nd edition of the title was of the sweet porridge.

Content

A child who is living alone with his poor mother going to beg for food. An old woman gives him a magic pot that cooked on the command " pot, cook " sweet porridge, and at the words " little pot, " again ceases. From then on, they must never go hungry again. One day the girl out of the house, and the mother tells the pot " pot, cook ," and the pot boiled porridge. The second saying she has not noticed, and so he does not hear back on it. The whole city is already buried under porridge when the child comes home to him " little pot, " says. Since it ceases to boil.

Origin

Grimm's note quoted from Hesse ( by Henriette Dorothea Wild ) and compares an ancient legend of the never -ending pitcher, the only innocence can control, and an Indian tale of the pot, the endless cooking of a grain of rice, as well as Goethe's The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Porridge or bread stands for food in general and was eaten in Thuringia to Carnival for the year to no shortage prevails. At a feast of sweet porridge as workers wage is compared Asbjörnsen thl. 2 of the mill which grinds everything.

The sweetness Brey is, a story about feeding the poor in Erasmus Franciscis The Infernal Proteus, the brothers Grimm knew. To the pious poor girl compare KHM 153 The Sterntaler to the miraculous gift KHM 36, 130, 158, 159 Hans Sachs published in 1530 the famous vision of millet mountain at the entrance to paradise.

Lutz Rohrich noticed that the mention of millet in Wonderland is apparently remained of the medieval food habit of the lower class. In magic formulas, it depends on the preservation of the exact wording.

For the interpretation

The motive of the fairy tale was formerly well known, widespread and bitter hunger. The tale is also older than the first import of affordable (cane ) sugar, and previously was sweetening (honey, syrup, sweet cherry, etc.) extremely scarce - so the natural sweetness of the cooked millet grains makes the porridge especially wonderful. In addition, the swelling capacity of millet is as large as that of rice.

Only a miracle can help sometimes - this is the " consolation " motif to whose account such tales have held for a long time orally. The amusing and grotesque image of the city full of porridge could also transport the doctrine: miracle entrusted to someone - you should not avoid the recipient from behind a special gift that not even a mother to her child. This brings a curse. Only the child mastered - A little refreshment child's self awareness.

The boiling vessel of the old woman is the food -giving function of the mother archetype. Friedel Lenz is based on the ancient Indian importance of the sun and moon as celestial Breikessel who learns to take only the child's soul life. Rudolf Geiger also emphasizes the tapered wisdom childlike confidence towards the elderly, with Walter Scherf criticized that this does not correspond to the constellation of other versions, mostly it 's about a poor and a rich brother. As used Leitfassung The mill, grinding the mixture in the bottom of the sea by Jørgen Moe.