The Grateful Beasts

The Grateful Beasts (German: Die dankbaren Thiere) is a Hungarian fairy tale collected by Georg von Gaal (hu) in Mährchen der Magyaren (1822).

The youngest, Ferko, was so beautiful that his older brothers thought he would be preferred, so they ate his bread while he slept, and refused to share theirs until he let them put out his eyes and break his legs.

The wolf gathered all his fellows and came to the hill, where the wolves tore the king, the wicked brothers, and all his court to pieces.

The tale was also translated as Die drei Thiere ("The Three Animals") by German philologist Heinrich Christoph Gottlieb Stier (de).

[6] In this regard, Hungarian scholar Ákos Dömötör, in the 1988 revised edition of the Hungarian Folktale Catalogue (MNK), also classified the tale as types AaTh 554, Hálás állatok ("Grateful Animals"), and AaTh 613, Igazság és Hamisság ("Truth and Falsehood").

[7] According to folklorist Stith Thompson, the type ATU 613 sometimes begins when one of the travelers refuses to share his food until his companion blinds himself.

The now blinded man, abandoned by his friends, wanders about until he hears some voices (ghosts, spirits, animals, witches) conversing with each other and commenting on a place that hides healing properties.

[9] The narrative action of tale type ATU 554, remarks folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther, is developed by the aid of the helpful animals.

These envious claims are common in other tales, without the beasts, such as "Boots and the Troll", "Thirteenth", "Esben and the Witch" and "Dapplegrim".

Fearing their brother telling the truth, they lie to his master about his being able to perform impossible tasks, which he does with the help of the mouse, the bee and the dove.