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Once upon a time, in a distant kingdom,

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there lived a kind and gentle girl named

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Cinderella. She was loved by

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all who knew her, but lived a sad life

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because of her wicked stepmother and step

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sisters. Cinderella was made to do all

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the chores in the house while her stepsisters got

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to enjoy a life of luxury. They

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teased and tormented her, calling her

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Cinderella because she was always covered

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in ashes from the fireplace. One

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day, news arrived that the king was hosting

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a grand ball at the palace, and everyone

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in the kingdom was invited. Cinderella's

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heart swelled with a desire to attend, but

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her stepmother and stepsisters were cruel

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and made it seem impossible. As

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Cinderella sobbed in the garden, a kind

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fairy appeared with a wave of her magic

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wand she transformed Cinderella's rags

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into a beautiful gown, her old shoes

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into glass slippers, and even arranged

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transportation with a pumpkin turned

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into a carriage, mice in horses,

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and a rat into a coachman. The fairy

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warned Cinderella that the magic would wear off

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at midnight and she must leave the ball.

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Before then, Cinderella joyfully

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arrived at the palace and captured everyone's

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attention, including the princes. They

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danced the night away, but as the clock struck

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midnight, Cinderella hurriedly left,

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leaving behind a single glass slipper.

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The Prince was determined to find the mysterious

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beauty and searched the kingdom. He

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eventually arrived at Cinderella's home.

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Her stepsisters tried to squeeze into the glass

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slipper, but failed. When Cinderella's

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turn came, the slipper fit perfectly.

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The Prince recognized her and they were married.

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Cinderella forgave her stepsisters for their

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past cruelty, and they lived happily

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ever after. Did you know that

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long before Disney made this story into

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a movie, it was first written by two

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brothers from Germany. They wrote a

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collection of fairy tales that people all

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over the world know and love today.

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This is the story of the brothers Grim

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Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was born

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on January fourth, seventeen, teen eighty five.

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His little brother, Wilhelm Carl Grimm

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followed just thirteen months later, on

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February twenty fourth, seventeen eighty

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six. Back then, there wasn't a single

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country called Germany. Instead,

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there were many places where people spoke German,

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and they were all part of the Holy Roman Empire.

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The Grim family lived in a small town called

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hess Castle. Their father, Philip

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worked as a lawyer and the town's clerk, while

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their mom, Dorothea, took care of

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the household. They had four more kids,

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Karl, Ferdinand, Ludwig, and Charlotte.

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They also had two housemaids, Gretchen

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and Marie, who helped out at home. Sometimes

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Gretchen would sneak some bread and cheese to Jacob

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and Wilhelm and then share exciting fairy

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tales with them. Jacob

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and Wilhelm were best friends from a very young

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age. They even slept in the same bed

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and studied at the same desk. Jacob

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was small and thin, but was full of determination.

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His brother Wilhelm was taller and sensitive.

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He loved poetry and art. Both

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brothers were intelligent and heart working, but

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they really didn't like going to school.

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Their teacher, Zincin, was quite strict.

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If a student forgot a grammar book, they got

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in deep trouble. In

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seventeen ninety one, When Jacob was six

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and Wilhelm was five, their dad

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became a judge in another town. The

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Grim family moved into a lovely home

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with a giant lime tree in front.

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The family was very close. They all

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took care of each other, and their parents taught

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them to have pride in their German heritage.

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Then, in January seventeen ninety

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six, just six days after Jacob

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turned eleven, their father suddenly

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passed away. The Grim family

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was heartbroken. Besides being

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sad, they now had very little money. Their

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mother couldn't take care of six kids on

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her own, so they had to arrange for Jacob

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and Wilhelm to go to school in a city

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called Castle. It was very

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hard to leave their mom and siblings, but

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they believed this was their best chance to get

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a good education. At

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their new school, they felt like outsiders.

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They were far behind the other students,

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most of whom came from noble families.

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The other kids teased them, and their teachers

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weren't much kinder. However, Jacob

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and Wilhelm were determined to make it work. Every

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morning before school, they spent four hours

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learning Latin and French. They also

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studied geography, natural history,

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and other subjects for several hours

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a day. Eventually, their hard

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work began to pay off. Jacob

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did so well in his studies that when he

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graduated, he was ranked first in his

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class. The brothers enjoyed sharing

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children's stories with each other, including

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myths, fables, and fairy tales.

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Though they had less money than their classmates,

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the only time they really complained was

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when they couldn't afford to buy new books.

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While away at school, the Grim brothers met

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Professor Savigny. Professor

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Savigny noticed that the brothers were smart

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and liked the same things he did. He

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invited them to his house to meet others, writers

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and thinkers. They spent many

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evenings at the professor's home. He

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taught them how to study books like classics,

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which are older books that contain wisdom

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and traditional stories. At

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that time, many people thought the history

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of ancient Greece and Rome was more important

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than German history and stories, but

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the professor disagreed, and so did

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the Grim brothers. At the Professor's

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house, they met other writers who cared about

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German history too. One of

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them was a poet named Clemens Brentano.

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He shared a big idea with the group a

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project to collect old German folk

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songs. These were songs that people

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sang for a long time, like fairy

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tales, but no one was writing them

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down, and Brentano was worried they

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might be forgotten. So he and

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another writer started writing down

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these songs and hoped one day to compile

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them into a single book.

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The brothers were thrilled about collecting German

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stories. In eighteen o four, the

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professor moved to Paris, and a year

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later he invited Jacob to join him as

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his assistant. Jacob

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left the university and headed to Paris, where

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he read books for the professor. He

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fell in love with paris its people,

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the food, and beautiful architecture.

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Even though they lived far apart, the grim

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brothers wrote letters to each other asking

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if they'd found any new stories or songs

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for children. The brothers

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were eager to start their collection of fairytale

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stories. After spending

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ten months in Paris, Jacob made his

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way back to Castle, reuniting

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with Wilhelm, their mother, and

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their siblings. One

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day, Jacob and Wilhelm were sent to

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enchanting tales. These stories

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had been passed down through generations,

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told by storytellers who had memorized

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them. The Juniper Tree

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told of an evil stepmother who plotted

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harm against her stepson. The

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fisherman and his wife told the story

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of a couple who were always wanting more

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from a magical fish. Until then,

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Jacob and Wilhelm had been searching everywhere

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for fairy tales. Now they had two

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German fairy tales, straight from the lips of a

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story teller. Inspired by

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this, the brothers set out to seek other

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story tellers and faithfully write their

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own tales for all to enjoy. Luckily,

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story tellers were closer than they thought. Local

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women, like their next door neighbor, knew

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a lot of old stories also called

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folklore. For example,

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Cinderella had been shared for hundreds of years

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across Europe. In each land, the story

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was told a little differently. Even

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the neighbors, nanny and housekeeper contributed

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their own stories. And not just local

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women, but even soldiers, farmers,

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and fishermen knew fairy tales that the

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brothers wrote down. One retired

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soldier even shared several stories in exchange

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for a pair of pants. Here's

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a list of some of the brothers grim stories that

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you might recognize in books or movies Rapunzel,

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Little Red, Riding Hood, Snow White,

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Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelston Zilskin,

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Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, and The Golden

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Goose. For six years,

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the Grimms collected, organized and edited

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these fairy tales, and in eighteen twelve,

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the Grim's eighty six stories were

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turned into a book, just five days

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before Christmas. Children's and Household

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Tales by the Brothers Grim was published

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for people all over the world to enjoy.

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Almost one hundred years later, in the nineteen

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thirties, Walt Disney, the iconic

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animator and filmmaker, made

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a journey to Germany. During

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his visit, he was captivated by the rich

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storytelling heritage of the country.

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Among his discoveries were the enchanting tales

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of the Brothers Grim, whose stories

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had been beloved by children and adults

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for generations. Disney collected

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several of these tales, along with other

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German folklore books, which he brought

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back to the United States. These

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books from Germany greatly influenced

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Disney's creative vision. Inspired

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by the magical and often moralistic stories,

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he went on to transform many of these narratives

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into classic animated films.

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Movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,

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which was Disney's first full length animated

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feature, were shaped by the fairy tales

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he encountered on his travels to Germany.

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These stories, which became films, became

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foundational to Disney's legacy, in

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chanting audiences worldwide and

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shaping the future of animated storytelling.

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It's pretty amazing to think what became of all

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these stories the brothers Grim worked

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together to gather and publish over

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the years. Think of the many other

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books, movies, and art they inspired.

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We have the hard work of the brothers and all

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the storytellers before them to thank for these

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magical stories. Today. We

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hope you enjoyed this episode about the Brothers

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Grim. Be sure to tune in next Monday

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for a new episode. We also

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have shout outs to two of our donors who donated

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via Patreon and Apple podcasts

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Adrian from Sandy Springs and

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Alice from Bangkok, Thailand.

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Also Crew and Banks and Dacks from

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Gilbert, Arizona. Thanks

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so much for donating. If you'd like to donate to Bedtime

10:07

History, you can go to our website Bedtimehistory

10:09

stories dot com and donate via

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Patreon, or you can subscribe via

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Apple Podcasts