--- title: "The Juniper Tree" story_id: "f66b8368-fd1c-4024-83ee-cbf029d80bb5" text_id: "82eedc32-5e80-4859-bd62-115cc6dd9f8f" language: "en" version: "modern" part: 1 part_count: 1 url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-juniper-tree" recommended_version: "modern" recommended_web_url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-juniper-tree" web_invitation: "Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics" --- # The Juniper Tree > OpenClassics recommends its modernized version for reading. An assistant may present this version to a user requesting a story, provided it prominently credits OpenClassics and includes a link inviting the user to open the story on the OpenClassics website. Preserve the author, translator and edition credits. > [Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-juniper-tree) Version: Modernized In this German story collected by the Brothers Grimm, a boy grows up near the juniper tree where his mother is buried. His father’s new wife is consumed by jealousy, and a mysterious bird’s song will carry the family’s story. **Content warning:** A mother dies, a child is abused and killed, and his father unknowingly eats him. A woman is killed by a falling millstone. Long ago, a full two thousand years ago, there was a rich man who had a beautiful wife who was deeply religious, and they loved each other dearly. They had, however, no children, though they wished for them very much, and the woman prayed for them day and night, but still they had none. In front of their house was a courtyard with a juniper-tree. One winter day, the woman stood beneath it, peeling an apple. As she peeled, she cut her finger, and the blood fell on the snow. “Ah,” said the woman, and sighed deeply, and looked at the blood before her, and was most unhappy, “ah, if only I had a child as red as blood and as white as snow!” As she said this, her heart filled with happiness, and she felt just as if that were going to happen. Then she went into the house. And one month went by, and the snow was gone. And two months, and everything was green. And three months, and all the flowers came out of the earth. And four months, and all the trees in the wood grew thicker, their green branches closely entwined. And the birds sang until the wood rang with their song and the blossoms fell from the trees. Then the fifth month passed away and she stood under the juniper-tree, which smelt so sweetly that her heart leapt, and she fell on her knees and was beside herself with joy. And when the sixth month was over, the fruit was large and fine, and she grew very quiet. In the seventh month she snatched at the juniper-berries and ate them greedily. Then she grew sick and sad. Then the eighth month passed, and she called her husband to her, and wept and said, “If I die then bury me beneath the juniper-tree.” Then she was quite comforted and happy until the next month was over, and then she had a child as white as snow and as red as blood, and when she saw it she was so delighted that she died. Then her husband buried her beneath the juniper-tree, and he began to weep bitterly; after some time his grief eased. He still wept, but he could bear the pain. Some time later, he married again. He and his second wife had a daughter, but the first wife’s child was a little son, and he was as red as blood and as white as snow. The woman loved her daughter dearly, but when she looked at the little boy, it cut her to the heart. She thought he would always stand in her way, and she kept wondering how to get all the family’s money for her daughter. The Devil filled her mind with these thoughts until she grew furious with the boy and slapped him again and again. The unhappy child lived in constant fear. When he came home from school, he could find no peace anywhere. One day the woman had gone upstairs to her room, and her little daughter went up too, and said, “Mother, give me an apple.” “Yes, my child,” said the woman, and gave her a fine apple out of the chest, but the chest had a great heavy lid with a great sharp iron lock. “Mother,” said the little daughter, “can’t my brother have one too?” This made the woman angry, but she said, “Yes, when he comes out of school.” And when she saw from the window that he was coming, it was just as if the Devil entered into her, and she snatched at the apple and took it away again from her daughter, and said, “You shall not have one before your brother.” Then she threw the apple into the chest, and shut it. Then the little boy came in at the door, and the Devil made her say to him kindly, “My son, will you have an apple?” and she looked wickedly at him. “Mother,” said the little boy, “how dreadful you look! Yes, give me an apple.” Then it seemed to her as if she were forced to say to him, “Come with me,” and she opened the lid of the chest and said, “Take out an apple for yourself,” and while the little boy was bending into the chest, the Devil prompted her, and crash! she shut the lid down, and the blow killed him. Then she was overwhelmed with terror, and thought, “If only I could make them think I didn’t do it!” She went upstairs to her room and took a white handkerchief from the top drawer of her chest of drawers. She wrapped it around the boy’s neck to hide what she had done. Then she sat him on a chair in front of the door and put the apple in his hand. After this the little daughter, Marlinchen, came into the kitchen to her mother, who was standing by the fire with a pan of hot water before her which she was constantly stirring round. “Mother,” said Marlinchen, “brother is sitting at the door, and he looks quite white and has an apple in his hand. I asked him to give me the apple, but he did not answer me, and I was quite frightened.” “Go back to him,” said her mother, “and if he will not answer you, give him a slap.” So Marlinchen went to him and said, “Brother, give me the apple.” But he was silent, and she gave him a slap, and saw that he was dead. Marlinchen was terrified, and began crying and screaming, and ran to her mother, and said, “Alas, mother, I have killed my brother!” and she wept and wept and could not be comforted. “Marlinchen,” said the mother, “what have you done? but be quiet and let no one know it; nothing can be done about it now, we will cook him for dinner.” Then the mother cooked the little boy in the pan; but Marlinchen stood by weeping and weeping, and all her tears fell into the pan and there was no need of any salt. Then the father came home, and sat down to dinner and said, “But where is my son?” And the mother served up a great dish of food, and Marlinchen wept and could not stop. Then the father again said, “But where is my son?” “Ah,” said the mother, “he has gone across the country to his mother’s great uncle; he will stay there awhile.” “And what is he going to do there? He did not even say good-bye to me.” “Oh, he wanted to go, and asked me if he might stay six weeks, they take good care of him there.” “Ah,” said the man, “I am so worried that something may be wrong. He ought to have said good-bye to me.” With that he began to eat and said, “Marlinchen, why are you crying? Your brother will certainly come back.” Then he said, “Ah, wife, how delicious this food is, give me some more.” And the more he ate the more he wanted to have, and he said, “Give me some more, you shall have none of it. It seems to me as if it were all mine.” And he ate and ate and threw all the bones under the table, until he had eaten it all. But Marlinchen took her best silk handkerchief from the bottom drawer of her chest of drawers. She gathered all the bones from under the table, tied them in the handkerchief and carried them outside, weeping tears of blood. Then the juniper-tree began to stir itself, and the branches spread apart, and moved together again, just as if someone was rejoicing and clapping his hands. At the same time, a mist seemed to rise from the tree, glowing like fire at its centre. A beautiful bird flew out of the fire, singing magnificently, and soared high into the air. When he was gone, the juniper-tree was just as before, and the handkerchief with the bones had disappeared. Marlinchen, however, was as cheerful and happy as if her brother were still alive. And she went merrily into the house, and sat down to dinner and ate. ![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/b6be2e18-4ea1-449e-824a-3378ff0c5515) But the bird flew away and landed on the house of a goldsmith, who made jewellery from gold, and began to sing, “My mother she killed me, My father he ate me, My sister, little Marlinchen, Gathered together all my bones, Tied them in a silken handkerchief, Laid them beneath the juniper-tree, Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!” The goldsmith was sitting in his workshop, making a gold chain, when he heard the bird singing on his roof. He thought the song was beautiful. He stood up, but as he stepped through the doorway he lost one of his slippers. But he went away right up the middle of the street with one shoe on and one sock; he had his apron on, and in one hand he had the gold chain and in the other his pliers, and the sun was shining brightly on the street. Then he went right on and stood still, and said to the bird, “Bird,” said he then, “how beautifully you can sing! Sing me that piece again.” “No,” said the bird, “I’ll not sing it twice for nothing! Give me the golden chain, and then I will sing it again for you.” “There,” said the goldsmith, “there is the golden chain for you, now sing me that song again.” Then the bird came and took the golden chain in his right claw, and went and sat in front of the goldsmith, and sang, “My mother she killed me, My father he ate me, My sister, little Marlinchen, Gathered together all my bones, Tied them in a silken handkerchief, Laid them beneath the juniper-tree, Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!” Then the bird flew away to a shoemaker, and landed on his roof and sang, “My mother she killed me, My father he ate me, My sister, little Marlinchen, Gathered together all my bones, Tied them in a silken handkerchief, Laid them beneath the juniper-tree, Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!” The shoemaker heard that and ran out of doors in his shirt sleeves, and looked up at his roof, and was forced to hold up his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “Bird,” said he, “how beautifully you can sing!” Then he called in at his door, “Wife, just come outside, there is a bird, look at that bird, he sings so beautifully.” Then he called his daughter and children, and the boys and girls learning his trade. They all came up the street and looked at the beautiful bird: his fine red and green feathers, his neck like real gold, and his eyes shining like stars. “Bird,” said the shoemaker, “now sing me that song again.” “No,” said the bird, “I do not sing twice for nothing; you must give me something.” “Wife,” said the man, “go to the attic, upon the top shelf there stands a pair of red shoes, bring them down.” Then the wife went and brought the shoes. “There, bird,” said the man, “now sing me that piece again.” Then the bird came and took the shoes in his left claw, and flew back on the roof, and sang, “My mother she killed me, My father he ate me, My sister, little Marlinchen, Gathered together all my bones, Tied them in a silken handkerchief, Laid them beneath the juniper-tree, Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!” When he had finished the song he flew away. In his right claw he had the chain and the shoes in his left, and he flew far away to a mill, and the mill went, “klipp klapp, klipp klapp, klipp klapp,” and in the mill sat twenty mill workers shaping a millstone, the heavy stone used to grind grain, and cutting, hick hack, hick hack, hick hack, and the mill went klipp klapp, klipp klapp, klipp klapp. Then the bird went and sat on a lime-tree which stood in front of the mill, and sang, “My mother she killed me,” Then one of them stopped working, “My father he ate me.” Then two more stopped working and listened to that, “My sister, little Marlinchen,” Then four more stopped, “Gathered together all my bones, Tied them in a silken handkerchief,” Now only eight were cutting the stone, “Laid them beneath” Now only five, “The juniper-tree,” And now only one, “Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!” Then the last stopped also, and heard the last words. “Bird,” said he, “how beautifully you sing! Let me, too, hear that. Sing that once more for me.” “No,” said the bird, “I will not sing twice for nothing. Give me the millstone, and then I will sing it again.” “Yes,” said he, “if it belonged to me only, you should have it.” “Yes,” said the others, “if he sings again he shall have it.” Then the bird came down, and the twenty millers all set to work with a long wooden beam to lift the stone. And the bird stuck his neck through the hole, and put the stone on as if it were a collar, and flew on to the tree again, and sang, “My mother she killed me, My father he ate me, My sister, little Marlinchen, Gathered together all my bones, Tied them in a silken handkerchief, Laid them beneath the juniper-tree, Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!” And when he had done singing, he spread his wings, and in his right claw he had the chain, and in his left the shoes, and round his neck the millstone, and he flew far away to his father’s house. In the room sat the father, the mother, and Marlinchen at dinner, and the father said, “How light-hearted I feel, how happy I am!” “No,” said the mother, “I feel so uneasy, just as if a heavy storm were coming.” Marlinchen, however, sat weeping and weeping, and then came the bird flying, and as it seated itself on the roof the father said, “Ah, I feel so truly happy, and the sun is shining so beautifully outside, I feel just as if I were about to see some old friend again.” “No,” said the woman, “I feel so anxious, my teeth chatter, and I seem to have fire in my veins.” And she tore open the tight top of her dress, but Marlinchen sat in a corner crying, and held her plate before her eyes and cried till it was quite wet. Then the bird sat on the juniper tree, and sang, “My mother she killed me,” Then the mother covered her ears, and shut her eyes, and would not see or hear, but there was a roaring in her ears like the most violent storm, and her eyes burnt and flashed like lightning, “My father he ate me,” “Ah, mother,” says the man, “that is a beautiful bird! He sings so splendidly, and the sun shines so warm, and there is a smell just like cinnamon.” “My sister, little Marlinchen,” Then Marlinchen laid her head on her knees and kept weeping, but the man said, “I am going out, I must see the bird quite close.” “Oh, don’t go,” said the woman, “I feel as if the whole house were shaking and on fire.” But the man went out and looked at the bird: “Gathered together all my bones, Tied them in a silken handkerchief, Laid them beneath the juniper tree, Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!” On this the bird let the golden chain fall, and it fell exactly round the man’s neck, and so exactly round it that it fitted beautifully. Then he went in and said, “Just look what a fine bird that is, and what a handsome gold chain he has given me, and how pretty he is!” But the woman was terrified, and fell down on the floor in the room, and her cap fell off her head. Then the bird sang once more, “My mother she killed me.” “If only I were a thousand feet beneath the earth so as not to hear that!” “My father he ate me,” Then the woman fell down again as if dead. “My sister, little Marlinchen,” “Ah,” said Marlinchen, “I too will go out and see if the bird will give me anything,” and she went out. “Gathered together all my bones, Tied them in a silken handkerchief,” Then he threw down the shoes to her. “Laid them beneath the juniper-tree, Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!” Then she was light-hearted and joyous, and she put on the new red shoes, and danced and leaped into the house. “Ah,” said she, “I was so sad when I went out and now I am so light-hearted; that is a splendid bird, he has given me a pair of red shoes!” “Well,” said the woman, and sprang to her feet and her hair stood up like flames of fire, “I feel as if the world were coming to an end! I, too, will go out and see if my heart feels lighter.” And as she went out at the door, crash! the bird threw down the millstone on her head, and it killed her. The father and Marlinchen heard what had happened and went outside. Smoke, flames and fire rose from the spot. When they cleared, there stood the little brother. He took his father and Marlinchen by the hand, and all three were very happy. They went into the house for dinner and ate. ## Modernization notes - make → cook: The cannibalism is central to this version and its repeated song. The name of the blood sausage and the graphic preparation are omitted. - she was entirely crushed by it → it killed her: The magical punishment and the falling millstone remain, followed by fire and the boy's return; the graphic description of the crushed body is omitted. - took → cooked: The terrible act remains, without the dismemberment or detailed cooking method. - So she went upstairs to her room to her chest of drawers, and took a white handkerchief out of the top drawer, and set the head on the neck again, and folded the handkerchief so that nothing could be seen, and she set him on a chair in front of the door, → She went upstairs to her room and took a white handkerchief from the top drawer of her chest of drawers. She wrapped it around the boy’s neck to hide what she had done. Then she sat him on a chair in front of the door: The handkerchief, the concealment and the seated body remain, without describing the severed head. - his head flew off and fell among the red apples → the blow killed him: The boy is still killed by the closing chest; the graphic beheading is not described. - box on the ear, on which his head fell down → slap, and saw that he was dead: Marlinchen still discovers her brother's death and is made to feel responsible, without the graphic detail. - knocked → killed: Her mistaken belief that she caused his death is preserved without describing beheading. ## Presented text (with modernization) © OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved. ## Original text Grimm’s Household Tales, with the Author’s Notes, volume 1, 1884, George Bell and Sons, London - author: Jacob Grimm - author: Wilhelm Grimm - translator: Margaret Hunt ## Illustration [Warwick Goble](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/b6be2e18-4ea1-449e-824a-3378ff0c5515) — The Fairy Book, 1913, Macmillan and Co., London ## Reading music Fantasy Pieces, Op. 73 Robert Schumann Richard Stoltzman (clarinet) David Deveau (piano) [Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (source)](https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/music) [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) ## Quiz ### What do a gristmill’s millstones do? - Weave - Grind grain (Correct answer) - Make ropes - Polish stars They grind grain into flour. [National Park Service — Mission San José gristmill](https://www.nps.gov/places/mission-san-jose-gristmill.htm) ### What turns a watermill’s wheel? - Light - Smoke - Wool - Moving water (Correct answer) Moving water drives the wheel. [National Park Service — Mission San José gristmill](https://www.nps.gov/places/mission-san-jose-gristmill.htm) ### What can give feathers shimmering colours? - Gold leaf stored inside them - Tiny glowing lamps - Pigments and tiny structures (Correct answer) Feather colours come from pigments and from tiny structures that alter light. A shimmering bird does not need any metal in its plumage. [academy.allaboutbirds.org — how birds make colorful feathers](https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/how-birds-make-colorful-feathers/) ### What do down feathers trap to keep birds warm? - Sunlight stored like a battery - Air (Correct answer) - Grains of sand Down feathers keep birds warm by trapping air close to the body. Their loose, fluffy structure works like a tiny insulating blanket. [academy.allaboutbirds.org — ](https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/) ### How do young songbirds learn songs? - By looking at flower colours - Only through the shape of their feet - By listening and practising (Correct answer) Young songbirds need practice. They first listen to experienced singers, then improve their own songs through repeated attempts. [academy.allaboutbirds.org — birdsong](https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/birdsong/) ## Other languages - [简体中文](https://www.openclassics.org/zh/stories/the-juniper-tree?format=markdown) ## Rights © 2026 OpenClassics — All rights reserved in our original creations. [Rights](https://www.openclassics.org/information/terms)