Old Hildebrand facts for kids

"Old Hildebrand" (German: Der alte Hildebrand) is a classic fairy tale from Austria. It was collected by the famous Brothers Grimm and included in their well-known book, Grimm's Fairy Tales. This story is written in an Austrian style and is known as Aarne-Thompson type 1360C.

Where the Story Came From

This interesting tale was first shared with the public by the Brothers Grimm. They added it to the second edition of their book, Kinder- und Hausmärchen, in 1819. The story came from someone in Austria who shared it with them, but their name was not recorded.

What Happens in the Story

The story is about a farmer named Hildebrand and his wife. The village parson was trying to trick Hildebrand's wife. To get Hildebrand out of the way, the wife pretended to be very sick. The parson then preached that anyone with a sick family member could go to a special place called Cuckoo's Mountain in Italy. He claimed that picking laurel leaves there would cure the sick person.

Hildebrand, wanting to help his wife, left on a journey to find these leaves. While he was gone, the parson quickly went to Hildebrand's house. However, on his way, Hildebrand met his cousin, who was an egg merchant. The cousin told Hildebrand what was happening back home. He quickly gave Hildebrand a ride back in his cart.

When they arrived, the parson and Hildebrand's wife were singing. The egg merchant joined in with a song, and then Hildebrand sang loudly that it was enough. He jumped out of the basket and quickly made the parson leave the house.