The Spirit in the Bottle facts for kids

The Spirit in the Bottle (in German, Der Geist im Glas) is a famous German fairy tale. It was collected by the well-known Brothers Grimm, who gathered many popular stories. This tale is number 99 in their collection. It's also known as Aarne-Thompson type 331, which is a way experts classify different kinds of folk tales.

The Woodcutter's Son and the Spirit

Once upon a time, there lived an old woodcutter and his young son. The woodcutter really wanted his son to go to school. However, they did not have enough money for it. After a few years, the son had to come home from school.

The son wanted to help his father in the woods. He insisted on working as a woodcutter too. But his father worried he was not strong enough. He thought the work would be too hard for him.

Finding the Trapped Spirit

One day, during their lunch break, the son did not rest. Instead, he wandered off into the forest. He heard a strange voice calling for help. The voice said it was trapped at the bottom of a tree. The son looked around and found a bottle.

When he opened the bottle, a giant demon sprang out! The demon was very angry. It threatened to break the boy's neck and kill him.

A Clever Trick

The young woodcutter was brave and quick-thinking. He challenged the demon. He said the spirit was not strong enough to get back into the bottle. The demon wanted to prove how powerful it was. So, it shrunk itself and re-entered the bottle.

As soon as the spirit was inside, the boy quickly sealed the bottle again! The demon was shocked and trapped. It begged the woodcutter's son to let it out. But the boy refused. He said he would only release the spirit if it promised to help him.

A Magical Gift

The spirit pleaded with the boy. It offered to make him very rich. The boy thought about it and decided it was worth the risk. He then released the demon from the bottle.

The spirit kept its promise. It gave the boy a special cloth. One side of the cloth could turn any object into pure silver. The other side could heal any wound instantly.

The boy tried the cloth right away. He touched his axe, and it turned into silver! He then tried to cut a tree with his new silver axe. But the axe head bent right away. His father was very disappointed. He had to replace the axe, which belonged to their neighbor.

Becoming a Famous Doctor

The boy went to sell the silver axe head. He earned 400 times more money than he needed! He easily paid for the broken axe. Finally, he told his father the whole story. He explained about the spirit in the bottle.

After hearing the tale, the father was very happy. He realized his son's cleverness had made them rich. The boy went back to school. He studied hard to become a doctor. With the help of his magical healing cloth, he became one of the most successful and famous doctors in the land.

An Alternate Story Ending

In another version of this fairy tale, the son does not use his wealth wisely. He spends all the money he makes from the silver. He is then forced to make more silver with the cloth. This makes his father sad. The father sees that his son is becoming greedy and lazy.

Eventually, the magical cloth accidentally falls into a fire. The boy loses all his wealth. Desperate to get rich again, he goes back to the woods. He looks for the spirit in the bottle. But this time, the spirit is cleverer. It tricks the boy into taking its place inside the bottle.