Mother Trudy (Frau Trude) - a fairy tale by Grimm Brothers

Read "Mother Trudy" fairy tales for kids. Mother Trudy (Frau Trude), is a short bedtime Story by the Grimm Brothers about a cheerful little girl who thinks that she must see Mother Trudy, and against her parents' will, the little girl goes to see Frau Trude. Once there, the girl is asked by Mother Trudy what she saw, and she said that she saw a black man (a miner said Mother Trudy), a green man (a huntsman said Mother Trudy again) and a red man (a butcher said Mother Trudy again). And when he looked through the window, she saw the devil instead of Mother Trudy.

Mother Trudy (Frau Trude)
a fairy tale by Grimm Brothers

There was once a little girl who was obstinate and inquisitive, and when her parents told her to do anything, she did not obey them, so how could she fare well? One day she said to her parents, „I have heard so much of Mother Trudy, I will go to her some day. People say that everything about her does look so strange, and that there are such odd things in her house, that I have become quite curious!“

Her parents absolutely forbade her, and said, „Mother Trudy is a bad woman, who does wicked things, and if thou goest to her; thou art no longer our child.“ But the maiden did not let herself be turned aside by her parent’s prohibition, and still went to Mother Trudy. And when she got to her, Mother Trudy said:

„Why art thou so pale?“

„Ah,“ she replied, and her whole body trembled, „I have been so terrified at what I have seen.“

„What hast thou seen?“

„I saw a black man on your steps.“

„That was a collier.“

„Then I saw a green man.“

„That was a huntsman.“

„After that I saw a blood-red man.“

„That was a butcher.“

„Ah, Mother Trudy, I was terrified; I looked through the window and saw not you, but, as I verily believe, the devil himself with a head of fire.“

„Oho!“ said she, „then thou hast seen the witch in her proper costume. I have been waiting for thee, and wanting thee a long time already; thou shalt give me some light.“

Then she changed the girl into a block of wood, and threw it into the fire. And when it was in full blaze she sat down close to it, and warmed herself by it, and said:

„That shines bright for once in a way.“