Grimm's “Hans Hedgehog:” The Rejected Becomes the Cornerstone

A wealthy, childless peasant feels something is missing and is mocked for not having a child.  He wishes, “I wish to have a child, even if it is a hedgehog!”  He and his wife are given one, and they have it baptised but do not give it a godfather.  The priest says its quills prevent its sleeping in a bed, and they put it behind the stove for several years. Father is going to the fair and asks people what they want.  Hans asks for bagpipes.  He soon asks to have the cock-rooster shod, and promises to go away and never return.

In the forest, they fly up into a tree and he plays his bagpipes, and the donkeys and pigs he’s brought with him multiply.  A lost king comes to him and Hans leads him out, agreeing that the king will give him the first thing that comes to him when he returns to his palace, but the king wrote in the contract that he would NOT give it to him.  Hans plays his bagpipes merrily, watching over his asses and pigs.  Another lost king comes to him, and he helps him likewise, with the same agreement, although without chicanery on the part of the second king.

Hans’ pigs fill the forest and he returns home, filling the town with meat.  He has his father have the blacksmith shod his cock-rooster again and promises again to never return.

Hans now goes to the first kingdom and is met with hostility.  He flies over their defenses, forces the king and his daughter to honor their marriage agreement, but then quills the daughter all over and sends her home in disgrace.  At the second kingdom, the reluctant daughter honors her father’s agreement, and Hans has his skin burned on their wedding night.  He is scrubbed, and is now a handsome young prince.  They return to his father and he announces his identity, and his father is now glad to see him, and they all return to the kingdom, happy and whole.

"The stone that was rejected has become the cornerstone"--from Psalm 118:22

00:00 Introduction

00:45 Summary of the Story

13:18 Hans, Rejected from Birth, Fulfills His Father’s Wish -16:45

17:37 The Hedgehog is what the Father Lacks

24:40 Hans the Hedgehog is Indefatigable

27:45 Hans at Home Behind the Stove

30:20 Hans is asked a Life-Changing Question