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Верный Иоганн

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«Верный Иоганн» - история о человеке, пообещавшем умирающему королю присмотреть за его сыном. Однако не все идет по плану, но верный Иоганн находит выход из положния, даже рискуя собственной жизнью.

11 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1857

3 people are currently reading
33 people want to read

About the author

Jacob Grimm

5,804 books2,285 followers
German philologist and folklorist Jakob Ludwig Karl Grimm in 1822 formulated Grimm's Law, the basis for much of modern comparative linguistics. With his brother Wilhelm Karl Grimm (1786-1859), he collected Germanic folk tales and published them as Grimm's Fairy Tales (1812-1815).

Indo-European stop consonants, represented in Germanic, underwent the regular changes that Grimm's Law describes; this law essentially states that Indo-European p shifted to Germanic f, t shifted to th, and k shifted to h. Indo-European b shifted to Germanic p, d shifted to t, and g shifted to k. Indo-European bh shifted to Germanic b, dh shifted to d, and gh shifted to g.

This jurist and mythologist also authored the monumental German Dictionary and his Deutsche Mythologie .

Adapted from Wikipedia.

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5 stars
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80 (47%)
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
Profile Image for Caroline.
1,564 reviews79 followers
May 25, 2021
Very weird. It's got a lot of the classic elements though.
Profile Image for ♡︎.
669 reviews3 followers
November 20, 2022
idk how i feel about this one. weird as usual.

Brothers Grimm Challenge.
Profile Image for Greta is Erikasbuddy.
856 reviews27 followers
January 15, 2015
A king is dying but wants his most faithful servant to watch after his son because he doesn't think the Prince is not adult enough (more or less).

Faithful John promises he will watch the prince. The king also makes John promise that he won't let the prince into one room of the castle because in that room is a portrait of a beautiful princess who the prince will fall in love with and never give up his search to try to win her hand.

Well duh this happens! And John comes up with a plan that they sail to the Princess's homeland and make a ton of things of gold cuz the chick digs gold.

John talks the princess onto the boat because I guess back then she didn't have bodyguards who had to be everywhere and while she is looking at all the gold stuff the boat sets course to the (now) King's land.

While on the way 3 ravens talk about how the princess is bad news and how these 3 things can lead to death if not stopped but if someone says why then the dude will turn to stone.

Well, of course these things happen and John makes sure that they king and Princess aren't involved with any of it until the last thing happens and John has to suck 3 drops of blood out of the (now) Queen's boob.

The King is not cool with this and orders Johns death.

John pleads his case and the King is all like "MY BAD!!" but then John turns to stone.

They move John's stone body to the bedroom and while time goes by the King and Queen do it enough in front of the statue to have twins.

While the Queen is at church the statue tells the King that he'll come back to life if he chops off the heads of his sons and sprinkles the blood all over the statue. Because this seems totally legit, the King does this and John comes back to life.

But there's a happy ending because he's able to put the heads back onto the boys and bring them back to life.

When the Queen comes back from church, the King hides everyone in the closet and asks her if she would be cool with killing their kids to bring John back to life. I can't believe it but she's like "YEAH! We owe it to the dude! Let's slay our kids!" HAHAS! Well, I laughed at it. And because of that the King orders everyone out from hiding and they live happily ever after !

Profile Image for S C.
57 reviews2 followers
December 2, 2022
I really enjoyed the concept of how faithful they are and learned to be, it’s a great lesson, even if it did have some odd twists and was weird.
Profile Image for Mandy.
560 reviews
January 1, 2022
6. Faithful John
Faithful John has made a grand promise to his king that he will not allow his son into a room that holds the portrait of a beautiful princess. All because one look at her and the boy would be in danger from all things in life and from himself. Of course, as soon as the boy learns of this secret room that he shouldn't go into he insists that he must go in! Faithful John concedes even though he knows that it could one day lead to the young king's death, or his own. After a long journey to find the girl in the painting, they are returning home when Faithful John hears of horrible things that are to come to the young king, but if he warns anyone to his actions he himself will slowly turn to stone. He decides to not tell anyone and hopes that his traits of being faithful hold true and protects the young king and his new queen but never explains his actions. For a time the king defends him but by the last threat he allows other's ideas get into his own head and threatens to kill Faithful John for his odd deeds. Only then does Faithful John speak out and tells all why he acted in such a way, and as he finished speaking he turned to stone. The king was devastated and as time whet on wished for his dear friend. When one day the status spoke and said that is the king were to kill his two children he could return. the king did so because he knew he owed John this and so the statue came to life and because the king had made this sacrifice, Faithful John restored life into the boys and all lived happily ever after.

Personal Note
Now, I totally understand that part of the story that wants to portray to the readers that it's important to trust those that you have always trusted. But what I can't get behind is the king listening to a STATUE and killing his own children to MAYBE his friend returning. And he didn't know that the statue would love once again and didn't know that it would bring back his children!
Profile Image for Melika Khoshnezhad.
479 reviews96 followers
April 13, 2020

شروع داستان شبیه داستان چهل گیس بود. شاه به خدمتکار وفادارش، جان، میگه نذاره پسرش عکس زن زیبایی رو ببینه، اما جان نمی تونه از این اتفاق جلوگیری کنه و پسر پادشاه بعد از دیدن تصویر، یک دل نه صد دل عاشق صاحب تصویر میشه. اما باقی داستان دیگه شباهتی به چهل گیس نداشت. پسر پادشاه برای به دست آوردن اون دختر لازم نیست با غول ها و اژدهاها بجنگه، فقط کافیه به زرگرانش دستور بده تا با طلا چیزهای زیبا و عجیبی درست کنن تا توجه دختر و جلب کنه و راضی اش کنه باهاش ازدواج کنه. بعد خب خیلی احمقانه است که دختره متوجه نمی شه گول خورده و وقتی می بینه همه ی اینا نقشه بوده بازم راضی به ازدواج با پسر پادشاه میشه.
اتفاق عجیب داستان وقتیه که در انتهای داستان مجسمه ی جان وفادار به پسر پادشاه می گه اگه بچه هاشو بکشه و خونشو به پای مجسمه بریزه اون دوباره زنده میشه و پسر پادشاه هم این کارو می کنه! خیلی غیرمنطقی و عجیب و غریب بود این خواسته و این کار و منو یاد داستان ابراهیم و اسماعیل انداخت.
Profile Image for Sukriti .
3,663 reviews1 follower
March 13, 2024
Jacob Grimm, alongside his brother Wilhelm, is renowned for compiling "Grimm's Fairy Tales," a collection of German folktales. This book is a captivating journey into the heart of folklore, presenting a mixture of enchanting and sometimes dark stories that have fascinated readers for generations. Grimm's work is not just a mere collection of tales; it's a profound exploration of the human condition, morals, and the cultural heritage of Germany. The stories range from the well-loved "Cinderella" and "Snow White" to the less known but equally intriguing tales. Each story is a masterpiece of fantasy, imbued with timeless themes and moral lessons, making this book a valuable treasure for both young and adult readers. Jacob Grimm's contribution through this compilation has left an indelible mark on literature and continues to inspire the imagination of readers worldwide.
Profile Image for Darshini Evelyn.
69 reviews
January 6, 2024
3.0 ⭐️

Personally I liked this fairytale (I learnt about it from the Netflix series - A Tale Dark and Grimm).

I liked that it had classic elements of a fairytale and magic of course. I loved how John was so faithful till the very end in his service to the Crown.

However, I found it completely unnecessary that the King’s children had to be sacrificed and that actually all of this could have been avoided if they had hid the picture better.

I’d recommend it if you are a fan of the Grimms’ Brothers. If not no.
Profile Image for Amelia Bujar.
1,844 reviews1 follower
June 28, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...

The original tale is much better but also darker then the version kids see.

It is different but not that different from what you might remember from first hearing this tale as a kid.

The plot here are very good but also dark which is the mix which I personally like a lot.

The writing style here was very old and you could feel the vibe of old the Europe which was amazing for me.
Profile Image for Paige.
429 reviews19 followers
June 5, 2018
I have the complete works of the Brothers Grimm thanks to my dearest love. With that said, they are good short stories so many I never read or heard of. I made a promise with myself that I will give each and everyone of them a review.

Faithful John I quite enjoyed. It is a messed up fairytale but which Brothers Grimm is not. I quite liked the devotion John had to the family but I found the ending to be dull and boring. To quick. So much did not make sense in the end. This is why I gave it a 3.
Profile Image for James.
1,823 reviews19 followers
February 10, 2019
Perhaps not one of his better stories about a faithful servant who kept a promise to his king on his death bed.

I am semi new to reading ‘The Brothers Grimm’, being my specialist author(s) for this year, I am intrigued to see how it goes. The thing that I am starting to see are The breadth and depth of their stories, which, aren’t just kept to a traditional ‘fairy tale’ that we come to know and expect.
Profile Image for Anthony Munnings II.
41 reviews6 followers
November 22, 2024
I know that a lot of persons find some of these books simple and or (in this case) weird. However you can learn a lot from in anywhere if you but dare to look without a preconceived thought about the worthiness of the vessel wherewith wisdom can be taken.

I learned something powerful. Being faithful will cost you, sometimes even your life or the very things that you hold dear. However in the end the faithful will always win.
Profile Image for April Helms.
1,457 reviews8 followers
November 28, 2024
A dying king charges his most faithful servant for taking care of and advising his young son, who becomes king once the old king has passed away. Faithful John finds himself challenged as the young king wants passionately to do the one thing the old king did NOT want to do, and the trustworthy servant finds me must risk his life to keep his promise. I enjoyed this story, the moral is predictable but the path is not. Part of the ending is a bit eyebrow-raising, though.
Profile Image for Mary.
188 reviews
January 12, 2023
Was pretty interesting story. The ending was interesting.
Profile Image for Normalmente.
73 reviews
September 25, 2025
Children stories with exhibitionism, kidnapping, assassination, animal abuse, blind faith, coercion.

Now I understand Boomers saying we are snowflakes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Wren (fablesandwren).
676 reviews1,556 followers
September 17, 2020
I have the complete set of the Grimm Fairy-Tales, and there are so many that I haven’t read! They are very short, as one would know, so I have decided to read each one and give them a review. Some are very vulgar, some are very cute and some don’t even make sense. Some of them are well known fairy-tales and some have never been told. Some are fairy-tales we know but are not the same because they have been downplayed for the children.

A king dies and makes his faithful servant John promise to show his young son the kingdom and all its corners. The only exception was a room that held a picture of a beautiful woman that would make the prince fall madly in love with her and make him do crazy things. The servant did all of this but couldn't keep the young king from seeing the portrait.

The servant and the king made all the kingdom’s gold into things like tables, chairs, dishes, glasses, bowls, household furniture and so on because the princess has all things in gold (she is called the princess of the Golden Dwelling). They dress as merchants in order to make himself quite unrecognizable.

After some events, they are on their way back to the kingdom when the faithful servant John hears three ravens discussing some interesting things about his king:

1. When they reach land a chestnut horse will leap forward to meet him, and the prince will want to mount it, but if he does that, it will run away with him, and rise up in the air with him, and he will never see his maiden more.

2. When they go into the castle together, a wrought bridal garment will be lying there in a dish, and looking as if it were woven of gold and silver; it is, however, nothing but sulphur and pitch, and if he put it on, it will burn him to the very bone and marrow

3. After the wedding, when the dancing begins and the young queen is dancing, she will suddenly turn pale and fall down as if dead, and if someone does not lift her up and draw three drops of blood from her right breast and spit them out again, she will die.

There are many consequences to all these things if someone tries to stop them. Will John take on the consequences? Will he die? Is there a way to bring him back? Will they live happily ever after?

The end of this story is very weird and I am not sure it should be read to kids. It is as graphic as stories like The Three Little Pigs or Little Red Riding Hood. I leave that up to the parents.
Profile Image for ReadingSloph.
1,160 reviews9 followers
December 31, 2014
This is a short but odd tale of a faithful servant called John who in risking his own life saves the king and this tale has a joyous ending in which more deeds bring forth good fortune.
Profile Image for Janis.
256 reviews1 follower
April 16, 2015
Loyalty. Trust. Face your fear.
Profile Image for Michael Sorbello.
Author 1 book317 followers
October 2, 2018
Trust those that are so loyal that they are willing to die for you. A romantic message with a stunning yet meaningful conclusion.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews

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