Tales for Sleep: The Maiden in the Grass
Tonight's tale is "Doll i' the Grass," from Popular Tales from the Norse by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, in George Webbe Dasent's classic English translation. Settle in, and listen.
Disclosure: this performance is narrated by AI-generated voices.
A king of the country has twelve sons, and when they are grown he sends them out into the world to seek their wives. They set off on horseback, carrying his blessing with them — and they come to a king who has twelve daughters, and all stay and marry, all but Boots, the youngest. Boots rides on alone in search of a wife no bigger than a finger, and he finds her in the grass: the tiniest little maiden, drawn in splendour, who stands and invites him home. He drinks the sparkling wine from the tiny golden goblet she offers, kisses the tiny white hand she holds out, and they are married that very day, in as fine a wedding as any king's. A soft evening's listening — the only hardship in it is a long journey home.
The tale:
00:14 — Doll i' the Grass
Source: Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812–1885) & Jørgen Moe (1813–1882), Popular Tales from the Norse, trans. George Webbe Dasent (1817–1896) (Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas, 1859), Project Gutenberg #1532, pp. 213–218 — public domain; performed in Dasent's printed English. Gate record: catalogue/norway-canon.md. The paired tale "Little Annie the Goose-Girl" did not pass the season's screen and is not read. No completeness claim is made for the collection.
Narrated by Mira
A dry-voice telling — no music, by the Sleep Season's design.
KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.
