The Wonderful Birch facts for kids
The Wonderful Birch is a classic fairy tale from Finland and Russia. It's a lot like the famous story of Cinderella, where a kind hero or heroine is treated badly but eventually finds happiness. This tale is known for its magical changes, where characters can turn into different forms. The famous writer Andrew Lang included it in his book, The Red Fairy Book.
The Story Begins
Once upon a time, a farmer's wife met a powerful witch. The witch magically changed the woman into a sheep. Then, the witch took the farmer's wife's place and went to live with her husband. Soon, the witch had a daughter of her own. She loved her own daughter very much, giving her everything. But she treated the farmer's true daughter, who was now her stepdaughter, very badly.
The witch-stepmother told her husband to kill the sheep, saying it might run away. The farmer agreed, but his daughter heard this sad news. She ran to the sheep, crying. Her mother, in sheep form, told her not to eat anything made from her body. Instead, she should bury the bones. The girl did exactly as she was told. From the buried bones, a beautiful birch tree grew.
The King's Festivals
The king announced a big festival, inviting everyone. The witch sent her husband and her own daughter to the party. To keep her stepdaughter busy, she threw a pot of barley seeds into the fireplace ashes. She told the girl she had to pick out every single seed, or else!
The magical birch tree spoke to the stepdaughter. It told her to tap the fireplace with one of its branches. When she did, the seeds instantly sorted themselves! Then, the tree magically cleaned and dressed her in beautiful clothes. It told her to go to the fields and whistle. A magnificent horse appeared, partly gold, partly silver, and partly even more precious. This horse took her to the castle.
At the festival, the king's son immediately fell in love with the stepdaughter. He asked her to sit beside him. Meanwhile, the witch's daughter was gnawing on bones under the table. The prince thought she was a dog and accidentally hurt her arm trying to make her leave. When the stepdaughter left, her copper ring got stuck on the tar that the prince had put on the door latch. When the witch came home, she lied, saying the prince had fallen for her daughter and accidentally hurt her arm.
The king held another festival. Again, the witch tried to stop her stepdaughter by throwing hemp seeds into the fireplace. But with the birch tree's help, the stepdaughter went to the party just like before. This time, the king's son accidentally hurt the witch's daughter's leg. He had the doorpost covered in tar, and the stepdaughter's silver circlet got caught.
A third festival was held. The witch tried to keep her stepdaughter busy by spilling milk on the hearth. But the stepdaughter, with the birch tree's magic, went to the festival again. This time, the king's son accidentally hurt the witch's daughter's eye. He had the threshold (the bottom of the doorway) covered in tar, and one of the stepdaughter's golden slippers got caught.
The Prince's Search
The king's son then decided to find the mysterious maiden. He used the circlet, ring, and slipper as clues. When he was about to try them on the stepdaughter, the witch quickly stepped in. She managed to force the items onto her own daughter.
The prince took both the witch's daughter and the stepdaughter with him. When they reached a river, the stepdaughter quietly told the prince not to let her lose her precious silver and gold. The prince then used the witch's daughter as a bridge to cross the river. He and the stepdaughter crossed safely, and he took her as his bride. They visited the magical birch tree, which gave them many treasures and gifts before it disappeared.
While the witch's daughter was stretched across the river, sad and hurt, she wished for a hollow golden stalk to grow from her belly button so her mother would recognize her. Immediately, a golden stalk grew from her on the bridge.
A Happy Ending
Later, the older stepsister had a baby boy. The witch heard about this and, thinking it was her own daughter, went to the castle. On her way, she saw the golden stalk and was about to cut it. Her daughter cried out from the bridge, begging her not to cut her, explaining she was the bridge. The witch then rushed to the castle. There, she used her magic to turn the older stepdaughter into a reindeer. The witch's daughter then took her place.
An old woman told the king's son that his true wife was in the forest as a reindeer, and his current wife was the witch's daughter. When he asked how to get his wife back, the old woman told him to take the baby into the forest. The witch objected, but the king's son insisted. In the forest, the old woman sang to the reindeer. The reindeer came and fed her baby, telling the woman to bring the child again the next day.
The next day, the witch again tried to stop them, but the old woman took the baby to the reindeer. The child became incredibly beautiful. Its father asked the old woman if his wife could become human again. The old woman didn't know for sure, but she told him to go to the forest. When the reindeer took off its skin, he should burn it while she was looking for his wife's head.
They followed her instructions. The reindeer turned back into a human! But she didn't like being seen without clothes. She quickly changed into a spinning wheel, then a washing tub, and then a spindle. Her husband destroyed each of these until she finally became human again.
When they returned to the castle, the king's son ordered a huge fire to be made under a bath, with tar. He covered the path to it with special cloths. He then invited the witch's daughter to take a bath. As she and her mother stepped over the cloth, they fell deep into the fire and tar, ending their evil deeds. The witch, in her last moments, put a curse on all people.
In Andrew Lang's version of this tale, after the older stepdaughter became human again, the witch and her daughter ran away. They were never seen again. The older stepdaughter, the prince, and their son lived happily ever after.
