Asatru Folk Assembly - The White Snake (Academy Storytime)

The White Snake by Grimm's Fairy Tales Read by Mrs. Piggie Read and illustrated by Ms. Baldwin Read and Illustrated by Ms Baldwin Read by Edna Racette The White Snake is a tale of a king whose wisdom was noiseless in all the country, and nothing remained long unknown to him, and it was as if the knowledge of hidden things was brought to him in the air. However, however, he had one curious custom every day at dinner: every day, at dinner, a servant brought in a dish, but it was covered up, and no one else knew where the dish was, and the servant himself did not know what was in it.

00:00:00.000 All right, so we're going to be reading The White Snake from Grimm's Fairy Tales.

00:00:28.220 a long time ago there lived a king whose wisdom was noised abroad in all the country nothing

00:00:37.700 remained long unknown to him and it was as if the knowledge of hidden things was brought to him

00:00:43.700 in the air however he had one curious custom every day at dinner after the table had been cleared

00:00:51.420 and everyone gone away the trusty servant had to bring in one other dish but it was covered up

00:00:58.520 and the servant himself did not know what was in it and no one else knew where the king waited

00:01:04.440 until he was quite alone before he uncovered it this had gone on a long time but at last there

00:01:12.320 came a day when the servant could restrain his curiosity no longer but as he was carrying the

00:01:17.880 dish away he took it into his own room as soon as he fastened the door securely he lifted the cover

00:01:24.620 and there he saw a white snake lying on the dish after seeing it he could not resist the desire to

00:01:32.560 taste it and so he cut off a small piece and put it in his mouth as soon as it touched his tongue

00:01:39.860 he heard outside his window a strange chorus of delicate voices he went and listened and found

00:01:46.800 that in it was the sparrows talking together and telling each other all they had seen in the fields

00:01:53.020 and woods the virtue of the snake had given him power to understand the speech of animals

00:01:59.260 now it happened one day that the queen lost her most splendid ring

00:02:04.160 and suspicion fell upon the trusty servant who had the general superintendents and he was accused

00:02:11.720 of stealing it the king summoned him to his presence and after many reproaches told him

00:02:18.080 that if by the next day he was not able to name the thief he should be considered guilty and

00:02:23.400 punished it was in vain that he protested his innocence he could get no better sentence

00:02:29.380 in his uneasiness and anxiety he went out into the courtyard and began to consider what he could do

00:02:36.540 in so great a necessity there sat the ducks by the running water and rested themselves

00:02:42.900 and plumed themselves with their flat bills and held a comfortable chat the servant stayed there

00:02:51.160 where he was and listened to them they told how they had waddled about all yesterday morning and

00:02:57.660 found good food and then one of them said pitifully something lies very heavy in my craw

00:03:04.300 it is the ring that was lying under the queen's window i swallowed it down in too great a hurry

00:03:11.500 then the servant seized her by the neck took her into the kitchen and said to the cook kill this

00:03:17.960 one she is quite ready for cooking yes said the cook weighing it in her hand there will be no 0.98

00:03:23.860 trouble of fattening this one it has been ready ever so long she then slid up its neck

00:03:31.380 and when it was opened the queen's ring was found in his craw the servant could now clearly prove

00:03:40.340 his innocence in order to make up for the injustice he had suffered the king permitted

00:03:45.100 him to ask some favor for himself and also promised him the place of greatest honor in

00:03:50.440 the royal household but the servant refused it and only asked for a horse and money for traveling

00:03:57.580 for he had a fancy to see the world and look about him a little

00:04:02.820 so his request was granted and he set out on his way and one day he came to a pool of water by

00:04:10.600 which he saw three fishes who had gotten entangled in the rushes and were panting for water although

00:04:17.940 fishes are usually considered dumb creatures he understood very well their lament that they were

00:04:24.260 to perish so miserably. And as he had a compassionate heart, he dismounted from his 0.85

00:04:29.760 horse and put the three fishes back again into the water. They quivered all over with joy,

00:04:36.200 stretched out their heads, and called to him, We will remember and reward thee,

00:04:40.820 because thou hast delivered us. He rode on, and after a while he heard a small voice come up from

00:04:47.780 the sand underneath his horse's feet. He listened and understood how an ant king was complaining.

00:04:53.300 if only these men would keep off with their great awkward beasts here comes this stupid horse 1.00

00:05:00.060 treading down my people with his hard hoofs the man then turned his horse to the side path and 1.00

00:05:06.280 the ant king called out to him we will remember and reward thee the path led him through a wood

00:05:13.380 and there he saw father raven and mother raven standing by their nest and throwing their young

00:05:18.620 ones out off with you young gallows birds cried they we cannot stuff you anymore you are big

00:05:25.700 enough to fend for yourselves the poor young ravens lay on the ground fluttering and beating

00:05:31.300 the air with their pinions and crying we are poor helpless things we cannot fend for ourselves we

00:05:37.080 cannot even fly we can only die of hunger the kind young man dismounted killed his horse with

00:05:44.220 his dagger and left it to the young ravens for food they came hopping up feasted away at it and

00:05:52.660 cried we will remember and reward thee so now he had to use his own legs and when he had gone a

00:06:00.300 long way he came to a great town there was much noise and thronging in the streets and there came

00:06:06.280 a man on a horse who proclaimed that the king's daughter seeks a husband but he who wishes to

00:06:11.740 marry her must perform a difficult task and if he cannot carry it through successfully he must lose

00:06:18.300 his life many had already tried but had lost their lives in vain the young man when he saw

00:06:25.640 the king's daughter was so dazzled by her great beauty that he forgot all danger went to the king

00:06:30.880 and offered himself as a wooer then he was led to the seaside and a gold ring was thrown in the

00:06:38.380 water before his eyes. Then the king told him that he must fetch the ring up again from the

00:06:43.440 bottom of the sea, saying, If you come back without it, you shall be put under the waves again

00:06:48.660 and again until you are drowned. Everyone pitied the handsome young man, but they went and left

00:06:56.800 him alone by the sea. As he was standing on the shore and thinking of what he should do,

00:07:01.960 there came three fishes swimming by none other than those who he had set free the middle one

00:07:08.900 had a muscle in his mouth and he laid it on the strand at the young man's feet and when he took

00:07:15.300 it up he opened it there was a gold ring inside full of joy he carried it to the king and expected

00:07:21.940 the promised reward but the king's daughter proud of her high birth despised him and set him another

00:07:28.240 task to perform she went on to the garden and strewed about over the grass ten sacks full of

00:07:35.440 millet seed by the time the sun rises in the morning you must have picked up all these she

00:07:41.740 said and not a grain must be wanting the young man sat down in the garden and considered how it

00:07:49.580 was possible to do this task but he could contrive nothing and stayed there feeling very sorrowful

00:07:56.820 and expecting to be led to death at break of day but when the first beams of the sun fell in the

00:08:02.680 garden he saw that the ten sacks were all filled standing one by the other not even a grain was

00:08:08.960 missing the ant king had arrived in the night with his thousands of ants and the grateful creatures

00:08:14.080 had picked up all the millet seed and filled the sacks with great industry the king's daughter

00:08:19.920 came herself into the garden and saw with astonishment that the young man had performed

00:08:24.240 all that had been given him to do but she could not let her proud heart melt and said although

00:08:30.760 he has completed the two tasks he shall not be my bridegroom unless he brings me an apple from

00:08:35.740 the tree of life the young man did not know where the tree of life was to be found but he set out

00:08:42.780 and went on and on as long as his legs could carry him but he had no hope of finding it when he had

00:08:49.060 gone through the three kingdoms, he came one evening to a wood and seated himself under a

00:08:55.060 tree to go to sleep. But he had heard a rustling in the bows, and a golden apple fell into his

00:09:03.700 hand. Immediately three ravens flew around him, perched on his knee, and said, We are the three

00:09:09.620 young ravens that you delivered from starving. When we grew big and heard that you were seeking

00:09:14.380 the golden apple we flew over the sea to the end of the earth where the tree of life stands and we

00:09:20.020 fetched the apple full of joy the young man set off on his way home and brought the golden apple

00:09:27.020 to the king's beautiful daughter who was without any further excuse so they divided the apple of

00:09:33.340 life and ate it together and their hearts were filled with love and they lived in undisturbed

00:09:38.100 happiness to a great age

00:09:39.700 Thank you.

Asatru Folk Assembly - January 04, 2024

The White Snake (Academy Storytime)

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