The Juniper Tree

There were a man and his wife, and she was beautiful. They loved each other very much and soon they had a boy.

Sadly the woman got sick and died. The man married again, but his new wife was evil. She treated his son bad when he wasn´t looking because she was jealous.

They also had a child, a little daughter. She and the boy got along quite well, but her mother would still hate her step-son.

One day, when the man head to go visit a business partner, the woman offered an apple to the little boy.He gladly accepted and was told to take one from the Applechest.

As he opened it and bowed down to take his apple, his stepmother closed the chest violently and cut off his head.

Then she put his body back together and covered the cut around his neck with a scarf. After she put an apple in his hands, she called her daughter.

The daughter was told to ask the boy to give her his apple. She did, but didn´t receive a reply!

After she asked two more times, she pushed him in anger and his head flew off.

Crying she ran back to her mother and screamed "I have killed my brother!"

Her mother calmed her and told her it was going to be okay. She cut the boy into little pieces and cooked him for dinner.

When the father came home he was very hungry. He ate all of the meat his wife gave him and asked for more because it was so delicious. While he was eating, his daughter sat next to him and cried. He asked her what was wrong, but she couldn´t tell him.

The woman buried the boys bones under a tree in the garden. When her husband asked where his son was, she told him he had run away.

The man's heart filled with sadness and he sat down under his favourite tree in the garden and cried deeply. Suddenly the tree began to shine brightly and a little bird appeared and sang a beautiful song:

"My mother killed me,

my father ate me,

while my sister cried in anguish"

The man was amazed by the birds voice, which reminded him of his son.

The bird flew off and visited the shoemaker. He sang his song and the shoemaker was amazed.

"Dear bird," he said, "please sing one more time for me!"

The bird looked at the most expensive shoes the shoemaker had to sell. The shoemaker gave him these shoes and the bird sang for him.

Afterwards the bird visited the tailor and sang his song.

"Dear bird," he said,"please sing one more time for me!"

The bird looked at the most expensive suit the tailor had to offer. After he received the suit, he sang his song one more time for him.

Now he flew off to the stonecutter and sang his song.

"Dear bird," he said, "please sing one more time for me!"

The bird looked at the heaviest stone that was around. After the stonecutter gave him this stone, he sang his song one more time for him.

The bird flew back to his home and sang his song.

His sister was the first one to hear his voice and she went outside. As she came close to the tree in the garden, the bird dropped beautiful shoes at her. She thanked him and went back inside.

Then his father heard the voice and went outside. As he came near the tree, the bird dropped a beautiful suit on him. The father thanked the bird and went back inside.

The Stepmother had seen what happened and also wanted a present from that magical bird.

As she went out and approached the tree, the bird dropped a giant stone on her which crushed her bones right underneath the tree.

*Credited to the Brothers Grimm*