G is for Germany

Pearl Tears

The Blessed Virgin became a godmother to a girl, Maria, whose mother died shortly after and was replaced by an evil stepmom. The Holy Mother spirited the girl away to a mountainside palace and made her into a servant, on the condition that she not enter a room or she'd be sent back. Maria broke the taboo and returned to her stepfamily. They learned that her tears became pearls and her laughter produced flowers. Naturally, they tortured for more. Maria and her nursemaid relocated and Mary informed her that she was blessed with romantic disinterest and that she'd live her life helping people in a sanctuary. Maria fulfilled her duties until her death.

Source: The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar.

F is for France

Boudin-Boudine

A woman sent her son to give food to their neighbors and visit Grandma. He met a wolf who asked where he was going. It arrived at the old lady's house before the boy. Thankfully, the child got indoors unharmed.

Grandma attacked the wolf and made it run away, though it still had intentions to eat the child. The boy stayed with his grandmother for so long that his father went for him, but fell into a ditch. Meanwhile, the boy headed out and the wolf pursued.

Father and son reunited, raced home together, and the man of the house killed the predator.

Source: Folktales of France by Geneviève Massignon and Jacqueline Hyland.

Tale Type: ATU 333, "Little Red Riding Hood"

Variants: "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Little Red-Cap" and "The Grandmother"

Scholarship: The Phylogeny of Little Red Riding Hood

E is for Ethiopia

The Ungrateful Snake

A man encountered a talking snake. It whined about slithering over rocks and the man took pity on it. He carried the reptile on his head. However, the man grew tired and asked the snake to descend. It refused and threatened him. Terrified, the man persuaded the snake to allow someone else to settle their dispute. They asked an elephant, a lion, a leopard, a hyena, a baboon and a buffalo, and all sided with the snake because they feared its poisonous bite (can you say 'juror bias'?).

Then they asked a fox. It duped the snake into coming down so the man could beat it to death. The man promised his savior a sheep as payment for the help. On his way home, he decided that he was too poor to surrender a whole sheep, and brought his dog to kill the fox.

Source: Ethiopian English Readers

Tale Type: ATU 155, "The Ungrateful Snake Returned to Captivity"

Variants: "The Ungrateful Snake, the Fox, and the Man" and "The Man and the Snake" and this curated list.

D is for Denmark

 The Pig

Four women were minding their business when a pig started eating their cabbages. Mama sent her oldest after it. She got lost in the woods. The pig turned into a human and offered her refuge. Lacking better options, she agreed. Same thing happens to the middle child. 

The youngest chased the swine into the woods in which fogginess, lostness, and marriage ensued. But despite her newfound wealth, the girl regretted leaving her mother and decided to escape. Oh, and she found her sisters!

When the werepig returned home one evening, he complained of feeling cold, and his wife said her parents (her father was suddenly present) probably did too. Piggy delivered coal to his in-laws not realizing his wife stuffed her sister inside the bag. Or that she repeated the process with her other sister. And herself. When he discovered the truth, he exploded into pebbles.

Source: The Danish Fairy Book by Clara Stroebe and Frederick Herman Martens.

Tale Type: ATU 311, "Rescue by the Sister"

Variants: "The Old Dame and Her Hen" and "How the Devil Married Three Sisters"

C is for Canada

The Tiens-bon-la

A priest wants to have an affair with a baker's wife. Therefore, he sets the baker up by telling the king that he can do various impossible things. If he fails, he dies. A kind fairy assists the poor man. The first two challenges go well but then the king orders a "tiens-bon-la" despite not knowing what that is. Enter the fairy; she provides the baker with a magic wand and whenever he  shouts "tiens-bon la" the objects will be bound together. The baker magically sticks more people and animals together and leads the conga line to the castle and dupes the king into getting stuck and only lets everyone go once the king agrees to pay him 5,000 pounds yearly for his entire lifetime.

Source: Canadian Folk-life and Folk-lore by William Parker Greenough.

Tale Type: ATU 571B, "Lover Exposed"

Variants: ???

B is for Brazil

Why Misery Remains in the World

Aunt Misery was an old woman, constantly pestered by the neighborhood kids. Apart from giving her that insulting nickname, they climbed her beloved pear tree and snatched its fruits.

One day, a stranger came to her house. In exchange for her hospitality, he granted her wish: that nobody who climbed her tree could descend without permission. Later on, the kids tried stealing pears, and she trapped them. They begged for their freedom and Misery consented - after getting them to promise that they'd never come back.

Death arrived soon after and told Misery that it was her time. She tricked the goddess into fetching her one last pear and kept her stuck to the tree. This caused elderly and sick people to live forever and the situation worsened until Misery released Death. However, she forced the Reaper swear an oath to never return. Thus, Misery is everlasting.

Source: Elder Tales: Stories of Wisdom and Courage from Around the World by Dan Keding.

Tale Type: ATU 330, "The Smith and the Devil"

Variants: "Godfather Misery" in Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane.

A is for Australia

Baiame and the Crow

Long ago, there was a man named Wahn who could perfectly mimic any sound (e.g., crying babies, running water, bird calls, etc.). Rather than become an entertainer, Wahn chose laziness. His tribe exiled him and he established a settlement in the plains folks travelled through. One evening, a hunter stopped by and was killed. Several warriors followed suit. Their tribes didn't realize the greater conspiracy until they gathered at an Aboriginal Lollapalooza. They feared for their safety but didn't know what to do. Then the Great Spirit, Baiame, arrived and promised to resolve the issue.

Baiame visited to Wahn's settlement - with a wallaby piggybacking on him! Anyway, Wahn mimics the sounds of a busy campsite, greets the god, and tries to push him into a bonfire. Baiame turns the tables and sets the murderer ablaze. After Wahn's corpse burns completely, the ashes turn into the first crow, and Baiame returns to the heavens and stars reappear in the night sky.

Source: Aboriginal Tales of Australia by A. W. Reed.