A Riddling Tale
{{Short description|German fairy tale}}
{{Infobox folk tale
|Folk_Tale_Name = A Riddling Tale
|Image_Name =
|Image_Caption =
|Aarne-Thompson Grouping = 407
|AKA =
|Mythology =
|Country = Germany
|Region =
|Origin_Date =
|Published_In = Grimms' Fairy Tales
|Related =
}}
"A Riddling Tale" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales.Jacob and Wilheim Grimm, Household Tales, [http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/160riddlingtale.html "A Riddling Tale"]
It is Aarne-Thompson type 407, the girl as a flower.D.L. Ashliman, "[http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimmtales.html The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales (Grimms' Fairy Tales)"] The tale portion of it is subordinate to the riddle, and the tale is not widely found in the oral tradition.Stith Thompson, The Folktale, p 95, University of California Press, Berkeley Los Angeles London, 1977
Synopsis
Three women were changed to identical flowers. One was allowed home at night and told her husband to pick and free her. He did so.
Riddle
How did he recognize her?
Answer
The other flowers, having been in the field all night, had dew on them. The wife did not. So for that, he would know that that flower was his wife.
References
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{{Brothers Grimm}}
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Category:Fairy tales about shapeshifting