Breaking Down Jim Henson's The Storyteller - Part Two

Fearnot

The second episode of The Storyteller is based on another German folktale collected by The Brothers Grimm, first published in 1819. Fearnot or its less catchy original name "The Story of the Youth (often interchanged with Boy) Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was" is a much simpler and more classic-style fairy tale than Hans My Hedgehog.

A young boy sets out on a journey to learn how to "shudder", after an unfortunate incident in which the boy pushes a local sexton down the stairs of the bell tower, due to the sexton trying to prank the boy by dressing as a ghost. (It's so much more complicated than this, but is not very vital to the storyline).

On his journey, the boy is told that the best way to learn how to shudder is to spend a night under the gallows, where several hung men swing. The boy, not being very bright, thinks that when the bodies sway in the night it's because they're cold - so he places them around the fire he has lit (I know, this boy is not the brightest).

The boy continues on his journey after the unsuccessful (or successful, I guess?) night at the gallows and finds himself at an inn. The innkeeper suggests that the boy spend the night in the nearby haunted castle. The King had decreed that anyone who could spend three nights in a row in the castle, would win the riches of the castle and his daughter's hand in marriage (not problematic at all, sure the daughter was totally ok with it).

The boy goes to the King and says that he will accept the challenge. The King agrees and allows the boy to bring three non-living things with him. The boy chooses a fire (is a fire a living thing?), a lathe (a kind of woodturning tool) and a cutting board with a knife (technically four things, but ok...).

On the first night, the boy is visited by two talking black cats, who ask if the boy would like to play a card game. After agreeing to play, suddenly the boy is attacked by black cats and dogs who emerge from the darkness of the room. The boy uses his chopping board and knife to kill them all. A bed suddenly appears. As the boy lays down on the bed, the bed walks throughout the castle. The boy, unphased by everything that had happened so far, thinks it is a game and asks the bed to go faster! The bed unhappy with this tosses the boy

to the floor. The boy decides to sleep in front of the fire instead.

On the second night, half a man falls down from the chimney and onto the hearth. The boy calmly calls up the chimney saying that the other half is needed. The chimney, delivers the second half of the man, uniting the two halves. More and more men fall from the chimney, followed by skulls and bones and deadman's legs. Amused, the boy sets the legs up as pins and plays a game of "nine-pins" with a skull.

On his final night, the boy is awakened by six men carrying a coffin. The boy becomes distraught, but not frightened when the body appears to look like a favourite cousin. The boy rushes to his cousin's side, trying to warm the body. Suddenly, the body springs to life trying to strangle the boy. The boy, angered by the cousin's ingratitude slams the coffin shut and sends him away. An old man comes to visit the boy and brags that he can split an anvil in two (why??). The boy keen to see the trick follows the old man down to the basement. The old

man is easily able to break the anvil in half with an axe. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, the boy asks to try. The old man stands nearby to watch, keen to see the boy fail. As the boy brings down the axe, he catches the old man's beard, trapping it within the anvil. Now, I am unsure why this happens next, but the boy threatens to kill the man and attempts to beat him. The old man, promises to show the boy the riches of the castle if he sets him free. The boy agrees, and the old man shows the boy all the wonders the castle holds.

The next morning the King agrees to keep his promise and the boy gets to marry the King's

daughter. Throughout the celebrations, while happy, the boy is still disappointed that he has not learnt to shudder. The boy's new wife, sick of his complaining, sends for a bucket of freezing water from the stream, complete with fish. Throwing the bucket of water over her husband, the shock finally teaches him how to shudder - however, he still does not know what fear is.

Yes, that is the end of the story.

This kind of fairytale was often meant to teach kids that fear is only a state of mind, however, this version is probably not the best way to impart this wisdom. The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, has been passed down by storytellers for many many years. It was often seen that the best storyteller would add the tale, making it more terrifying than the last time it was told.

Bruno Bettelheim wondered if this fairy tale's moral was that to "attain human happiness one has to derepress one's suppressions". Bettelheim seemed particularly fixated on children repressing their sexual fears at night when those sexual urges are normal - take from that what you will.

In more saner opinions, Egon Fabian and Astrid Thome have said that the fairy tale is a great insight into the psychological need to perceive fear.

Jim Henson's The Storyteller is now streaming on Amazon Prime.