THE SINGING, SPRINGING LARK

The Brothers Grimm 'Beauty and the Beast' Fairytale

Brothers Grimm’s

Children’s and Household Tales

No. 88

By Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Translated by Rachel Louise Lawrence

"I shall eat anyone who tries to steal my singing, springing lark!"

Rather than a rose and a beast, the Brothers Grimm version of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale begins with a request for a singing, springing lark and a prince cursed as a lion. The youngest daughter keeps her father’s promise and returns to the lion’s castle, where her adventure is only just beginning. For soon, with the assistance of the Sun, the Moon, and the Four Winds, she is forced to search for her lost love and save him from the grasp of an enchanted princess.

Alongside another variant, From the Summer and Winter Garden, also from the first edition of the Brothers Grimm’s Children's and Household Tales, the original version of The Singing, Springing Lark is brought to life for an English readership in this new translation.

[Folklore Type: ATU-425C (Beauty and the Beast)]