"The Duration of Life" 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 ...

'', number 176. It was first included in their fourth edition. In the Aarne-Thompson classification system, it is classified as both Types 173 and 828, Men, Animals, and the Span of Life.

Synopsis

God was giving the animals and man their duration of life and offered all thirty years. He lessened the donkey's years because of his burdens, the dog's because he had to run about, and the monkey's because he always had to amuse people. Man, however, wanted more years, and so God gave him the years from the others. For this reason, a man is a man only for his first thirty years; he carries burdens like donkey, then must sit in the corner like the dog, and then becomes silly and simple like the monkey.

Motifs

This fairy tale recounts a progression through life with a pessimistic outcome similar to that in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's stage of life speech from ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...

''.

D.L. Ashliman Dee L. Ashliman (born January 1, 1938), who writes professionally as D. L. Ashliman, is an American folklorist and writer. He is Professor Emeritus of German at the University of Pittsburgh and is considered to be a leading expert on folklore and ...

,
Aging and Death in Folklore
'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duration Of Life Grimms' Fairy Tales German fairy tales Existentialist short stories Fiction about God ATU 150-199 ATU 750-849