The story was actually considered progressive at the time because it was sympathetic to a Jewish character, but Andersen actually dated a Jewish girl named Sara who dumped him after he offered her a job in a castle he was eyeing, so take that as you will.

She eventually dies and must be buried outside the Christian cemetery, but it’s okay because Christian hymns still reach her grave. That title has probably geared you up for one offensive roller coaster, which is the correct reaction because it’s about a Jewish girl named Sarah who longs to convert to Christianity but her mean old father won’t let her because of a promise he made to her dead mother. She’s down there for years before she finally repents and gets another shot. “ The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf ” is the bratty ward of a rich lady who has to be cajoled into visiting her impoverished parents, and when she does, she uses the loaf of bread she was supposed to give to them as a stepping stone so she doesn’t get mud on her shoes and gets punished by sinking into a muddy hell. Sounds nice, right? Well, it’s revealed at the end that three of the other peas were immediately eaten by pigeons and one of the excitable ones just landed in a dirty gutter, where it swelled with water until it exploded but not before it and the gutter agreed it was “the most remarkable” pea of its pod, so who knows what the hell Andersen was trying to say. It’s not a great song for a crab.įive peas - two restless, two lazy, and one annoyingly placid - from the same pod are loaded into a pea shooter and scattered to the wind, after which the Zen pea becomes a symbol of hope for a sick little girl. Also, she’ll die if the prince marries someone else, which he does, but because she resisted the offer to kill him in exchange for turning back into a mermaid, she’s instead turned into a “daughter of the air” spirit and told that she can go to heaven if she does 300 years of good deeds.

Likewise, the Disney movie left out the fact that the Little Mermaid’s new legs feel like walking on knives. The version you read probably didn’t mention that the Ugly Duckling was driven from the farm after being physically tortured by the other animals and told by his mother that she wished he was never born, right? Or that the only potential friends he found were murdered in front of him? Also, he only realizes what he is after attempting suicide by swan. Disney might have rounded off some of his sharper edges, but some of these stories are better fit for the Coen brothers. Hans Christian Andersen was a beloved short story writer who gave us dozens of modern classics and also one messed up dude.

Hans andersen fairy tales