![]() ![]() 'The Tinder Box' is in this sense unremarkable, except for the clarity and charm with which all of the tropes of these kinds of stories are painted. And no doubt there is also something about amoral heroes tricking their way to fame and fortune which does too. No doubt there is something about stories involving heroes going underground to defeat monsters and win treasure and glory which resonates deeply with human beings. He then summons the giant dogs to rescue him and make him king instead (with the princess as his wife, natch she seems remarkably unperturbed that the soldier's escape involves the dogs throwing the king and queen, her parents, into the air and 'dashing them to pieces', but that's fairy tales for you). Eventually imprisoned by the king for seduction of the princess, he is sentenced to death, but uses his cunning to recover the tinder-box. He uses them to get rich again and win the love of a beautiful princess. Reduced to penury, in desperation he uses the tinder-box to try to light a fire, and discovers it allows him to summon the giant dogs to perform tasks for him. He then goes the nearby town and spends all his ill-gotten gains in an excess of generosity. She refuses to tell him, so he chops her head off. Then he gets the magic tinder-box and climbs out, but before giving it to the witch, asks her what she wants it for. In each he encounters one of the giant dogs, guarding treasure, and uses the apron to pacify them and steal the treasure they are guarding. ![]() He does as she asks, climbs down inside the tree, and finds a hall with rooms leading off it. But the witch warns him about three giant dogs who live down there, and gives him her apron to use to deprive them of their power. ![]() Returning home from war, he encounters a witch, who asks him to climb into a nearby hollow tree and go down into the bowels of the earth to recover a magic tinder box. If you are feeling lazy or want your memory refreshing, here's a brief precis: Can there be anyone alive who does not know the plot of Hans Christian Andersen's ' The Tinder Box'? Well, I'm going to spoil it, so if you haven't ever encountered it, I recommend giving it a read. ![]()
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