the willful child

jacob and wilhelm grimm

once upon a time there was a child who was willful and did not do what his mother wanted. for this reason god was displeased with him and caused him to become ill, and no doctor could help him, and in a short time he lay on his deathbed.

he was lowered into a grave and covered with earth, but his little arm suddenly came forth and reached up, and it didn’t help when they put it back in and put fresh earth over it, for the little arm always came out again. so the mother herself had to go to the grave and beat the little arm with a switch, and as soon as she had done that, it withdrew, and the child finally came to rest beneath the earth.

从前有个非常任性的小孩,她从不听母亲的话,上帝对此很不高兴,让她得了医生谁也治不好她的病,很快她就踏上了黄泉之路。人们把她的屍体放入了墓穴,然后向她身上撒泥土,但突然她的一只手臂伸了出来,向上举着。人们把她的手臂又塞了进去,继续撒泥土,但她的手臂又伸了出来。对此她母亲也无计可施,只得走下墓穴,用棍子在那手臂上敲了一下,它这才缩了进去,这样小女孩总算在地下安静地长眠了