Fundevogel

A forester hunting in the woods heard a child scream. He followed the sound to a tall tree; at the top sat a little child. Its mother had fallen asleep below with the baby in her arms, and a bird of prey had flown down, snatched the infant, and set it among the branches. The forester climbed up, brought the child down, and decided to raise him at home beside his own daughter Lina. They called the boy Fundevogel, because a bird had carried him off. The two children grew up together and loved each other so dearly that when they were apart they grew sad.

The forester kept an old cook named Sanna. One evening she hauled many pails of water from the spring—not once, but again and again. Lina asked why she fetched so much. “If you will never tell anyone,” said the cook, “I will say.” Lina promised. The cook whispered that next morning, when the forester was out hunting, she would heat a kettle and throw Fundevogel into the boiling water.

At dawn the forester left for the hunt; the children were still in bed. Lina woke Fundevogel. “If you will never leave me, I will never leave you.” “Neither now nor ever,” he answered. She told him everything the cook had said: the buckets, the kettle, the plan to boil him. “We must rise quickly, dress, and go away together,” she finished. They dressed and fled.

When the water boiled, the cook went to the bedroom to seize Fundevogel—and found empty beds. Terrified of what the forester would say, she sent three servants racing after the children. Outside the forest the children saw the runners coming. “Never leave me,” said Lina, “and I will never leave you.” “Neither now nor ever.” “Become a rose-tree, and I the rose upon it.” The servants found only a rose-bush with one bloom, saw no children, and went home to report. The cook scolded them as simpletons: they should have cut the bush in two, broken off the rose, and brought it home. Go again at once.

The children saw them coming a second time. “Never leave me,” said Lina. “Neither now nor ever.” “Become a church, and I the chandelier in it.” The servants found a church with a chandelier, shrugged, and went home again. The cook raged: fools—why not pull the church apart and bring the chandelier? This time she herself followed with the three servants. The children saw the cook coming. “Become a fishpond, and I the duck upon it.” The cook lay down to drink the pond dry; the duck swam up, seized her head in its beak, and drew her under—and there the old witch drowned. The children went home together, delighted, and if they have not died they are living still.

About this story

“Fundevogel” means “found-bird”: the boy is named for the bird of prey that carried him off and left him in a tree. Margaret Hunt translates the title as “Foundling-Bird” and lists the tale as number 51. The text here follows Project Gutenberg’s Grimms’ Fairy Tales (#2591), based on the translations of Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes.

The children’s promise, “Never leave me, and I will never leave you,” is repeated before each change of shape. The wicked cook is called a witch at the end, and the story ends with her drowning after she tries to reach the children.

Read the original: Grimms’ Fairy Tales (Project Gutenberg #2591)

Best for older readers with an adult — a caregiver plans to boil a child alive, and the pursuit ends in drowning.

Reading the story closely

Lina makes two promises, but they are not equal: secrecy to the cook and loyalty to Fundevogel. Telling him about the danger breaks the first promise to protect a life. The story therefore cannot be reduced to “always keep your word.” A secret about someone being harmed should be shared with a trusted adult who can help.

Sketch each paired transformation: tree and rose, church and chandelier, pond and duck. One child becomes a setting and the other something belonging in it, so their closeness becomes the means of concealment. At the final pond, concealment turns into active resistance. Which details make the cook recognize what the servants miss?

Talk about it

• Why do you think the children kept repeating their promise before each transformation?
• How did the servants’ lack of imagination help the children escape?
• If you could turn into something to escape danger, what would you choose, and why?

Related stories

• Sweetheart Roland — another Grimm chase where a girl uses magic changes to escape a witch
• Hansel and Gretel — two Grimm children escape a witch who plans to cook and eat them
• The Raven — a Grimm story full of enchantments and a faithful helper