A Riddling Tale is a German
fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
collected by the
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
in ''
Grimm's Fairy Tales
''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob and Wilhelm, first publis ...
''.
It is
Aarne-Thompson type 407, the girl as a flower. 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
Story and riddle
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.
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's her
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddling Tale
Grimms' Fairy Tales
Fiction about shapeshifting
Riddles
Fictional plants
ATU 400-459