Wilhelm Hauff, Three Fairy Tales

Text in English & German. "Poverty is the greatest plague, wealth is the highest good", Goethe wrote in his ballad "The Treasure Seeker". Over the course of the poem, however, it becomes apparent that this is a mistaken conclusion. The search for riches, fame and power often brings with it greed, inhumanity and violence, as Wilhelm Hauff shows us in this book of fairytales. The best known of these is The Cold Heart, in which the wish for a better life leads Peter Munk the charcoal-burner to seek the help of the spirits of the Black Forest. The first spirit he encounters is the kindly glass manikin, who makes him the owner of a glassworks, but, as he never wished for the necessary understanding, he cannot give the running of his glassworks the attention it deserves. He becomes idle, fails miserably and falls victim to Hollander Michael, the evil spirit, who demands Peter's heart in return for helping him and gives him a stone in return. With a heart of stone, Peter loses all his social competence, and is filled with avarice, which, however, does not prevent him from pursuing his new profession as a businessman and money-lender. Rather, it helps him to succeed. But when he kills his wife for showing kindness to a destitute man, he finally comes to his senses, with the assistance of the glass manikin, who helps him to recover his original heart. And so everything turns out for the best. Peter Munk becomes a charcoal-burner again, and lives humbly but happily with his mother and his wife, restored to life by the glass manikin, for the rest of his days. The Cave of Steenfoll has a less happy outcome. In this story, greed becomes an obsession and even a madness that finally leads to the death of William Falcon. Having found the long-sought treasure -- a little chest full of gold pieces -- he is still not satisfied, and he dives into the sea a second time, never to emerge again. The fairytale of Said's Adventures is the opposite of the other two. The hero, a man under the protection of a good fairy, embarks on a dangerous journey. The hero encounters greed and avarice everywhere during his adventures, but they have no place in his own character. He is a skilful fighter, but always guided by compassion. Finally, he is rewarded with wealth, good fortune and contentment.