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Unterhaltungen deutscher Ausgewanderten
The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily
Versão portuguesa por João da Providência Costa.
72 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1795
47 people are currently reading
599 people want to read
About the author
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
13.4k books7,001 followersA master of poetry, drama, and the novel, German writer and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe spent 50 years on his two-part dramatic poem
Faust
, published in 1808 and 1832, also conducted scientific research in various fields, notably botany, and held several governmental positions.
George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Works span the fields of literature, theology, and humanism.
People laud this magnum opus as one of the peaks of world literature. Other well-known literary works include his numerous poems, the Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and the epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther .
With this key figure of German literature, the movement of Weimar classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries coincided with Enlightenment, sentimentality (Empfindsamkeit), Sturm und Drang, and Romanticism. The author of the scientific text Theory of Colours , he influenced Darwin with his focus on plant morphology. He also long served as the privy councilor ("Geheimrat") of the duchy of Weimar.
Goethe took great interest in the literatures of England, France, Italy, classical Greece, Persia, and Arabia and originated the concept of Weltliteratur ("world literature"). Despite his major, virtually immeasurable influence on German philosophy especially on the generation of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, he expressly and decidedly refrained from practicing philosophy in the rarefied sense.
Influence spread across Europe, and for the next century, his works inspired much music, drama, poetry and philosophy. Many persons consider Goethe the most important writer in the German language and one of the most important thinkers in western culture as well. Early in his career, however, he wondered about painting, perhaps his true vocation; late in his life, he expressed the expectation that people ultimately would remember his work in optics.
George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Works span the fields of literature, theology, and humanism.
People laud this magnum opus as one of the peaks of world literature. Other well-known literary works include his numerous poems, the Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and the epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther .
With this key figure of German literature, the movement of Weimar classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries coincided with Enlightenment, sentimentality (Empfindsamkeit), Sturm und Drang, and Romanticism. The author of the scientific text Theory of Colours , he influenced Darwin with his focus on plant morphology. He also long served as the privy councilor ("Geheimrat") of the duchy of Weimar.
Goethe took great interest in the literatures of England, France, Italy, classical Greece, Persia, and Arabia and originated the concept of Weltliteratur ("world literature"). Despite his major, virtually immeasurable influence on German philosophy especially on the generation of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, he expressly and decidedly refrained from practicing philosophy in the rarefied sense.
Influence spread across Europe, and for the next century, his works inspired much music, drama, poetry and philosophy. Many persons consider Goethe the most important writer in the German language and one of the most important thinkers in western culture as well. Early in his career, however, he wondered about painting, perhaps his true vocation; late in his life, he expressed the expectation that people ultimately would remember his work in optics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
February 3, 2025
When the great writer Goethe lay dying on his deathbed in a hushed, darkened room, he was totally at wit’s end. He hated formality.
So he suddenly yelled out loudly to all his gathered family and friends:
“For God’s sake - OPEN THE CURTAINS!”
He loved the warm, happy sunlight, and so didn’t mince his words: And when he said "light, and air, and love of friends - let NO one be unhappy who has these," he MEANT it.
In this heady and magical story of profoundly mystical depth, the fervently Romantic, young Goethe posed the question “How will Time come to an end?” - and then promptly and sunnily answered it - with a fairytale...
This one!
In 1974, a year after graduating from uni and landing my first full-time job, I set out on a sentimental journey of reunion with friends who had graduated from the Health Sciences faculty, and were then living in Toronto.
My girlfriend had peremptorily dumped me at about that time, so I was seeking solace in the company of these friends now.
Two of them were working on their medical internship, and so would be caught up in their work in the daytime, but had kindly offered me their hospitality and a place to stay in the evenings.
So I had three free days to explore the city in the interim.
And naturally, I zeroed in on the bookstores. I remember buying the Portable Whitman... and of course, this tiny beaut of a book!
If you buy it these days on Kindle, it won’t set you back more’n a dollar or two - WORTH EVERY PENNY - and it’ll be a salve for your bruised heart in such Lugubriously Trying Days as These!
Be sure to search for it under its better-known names of A Fairytale or A Fable. You’ll find it for sure.
“The time is at hand!”
Those are the heavenly words that set off (in Goethe’s mystical mind) a serendipitous Chain of Events, that, punctiliously tumbling like a timeless set of dominoes in a fabulously pre-ordained way, issue in, like a rousing rupture of the weary times we live in:
A NEW AGE:
Chock Full of Peace, Happiness and Ultimate Fulfillment!
Seem outlandish?
Well, Goethe believed, with the Medieval Alchemists, that the great Work of “a lifetime’s effort” is to bring our higher and lower natures into Sync, by making our Subconscious CONSCIOUS. When the time is at hand, and this happens, All of our Chickens come Home to Roost.
This was the object of all this Great Poet’s scientific studies, with which his journals are filled.
The way is common to many Christian thinkers of olden times, as witness, in Goethe’s Faust the voices of the Pater Angelicus and the Pater Profondis (father of the depths) in the Chorus Mysticus.
The drift of this gnostic message finds voice in many modern Christian Liberal thinkers.
For myself, I always tended to a more conservative approach, as I did the year I chanced upon this story while staying with my liberal-minded Toronto friends, and was therefore relieved to quit myself of their three-days’ hospitality.
Goethe’s liberalism shines in his tale.
But the story resonated deeply with me...
Don’t blame me - I’m only the piano player...
And this is my tinny little prelude to a TIMELESS MASTERPIECE -
Whatever your political stripe may be.
So now here for your listening enjoyment is Goethe's complete FAIRY TALE:
https://youtu.be/vg-kvq8foDk
So he suddenly yelled out loudly to all his gathered family and friends:
“For God’s sake - OPEN THE CURTAINS!”
He loved the warm, happy sunlight, and so didn’t mince his words: And when he said "light, and air, and love of friends - let NO one be unhappy who has these," he MEANT it.
In this heady and magical story of profoundly mystical depth, the fervently Romantic, young Goethe posed the question “How will Time come to an end?” - and then promptly and sunnily answered it - with a fairytale...
This one!
In 1974, a year after graduating from uni and landing my first full-time job, I set out on a sentimental journey of reunion with friends who had graduated from the Health Sciences faculty, and were then living in Toronto.
My girlfriend had peremptorily dumped me at about that time, so I was seeking solace in the company of these friends now.
Two of them were working on their medical internship, and so would be caught up in their work in the daytime, but had kindly offered me their hospitality and a place to stay in the evenings.
So I had three free days to explore the city in the interim.
And naturally, I zeroed in on the bookstores. I remember buying the Portable Whitman... and of course, this tiny beaut of a book!
If you buy it these days on Kindle, it won’t set you back more’n a dollar or two - WORTH EVERY PENNY - and it’ll be a salve for your bruised heart in such Lugubriously Trying Days as These!
Be sure to search for it under its better-known names of A Fairytale or A Fable. You’ll find it for sure.
“The time is at hand!”
Those are the heavenly words that set off (in Goethe’s mystical mind) a serendipitous Chain of Events, that, punctiliously tumbling like a timeless set of dominoes in a fabulously pre-ordained way, issue in, like a rousing rupture of the weary times we live in:
A NEW AGE:
Chock Full of Peace, Happiness and Ultimate Fulfillment!
Seem outlandish?
Well, Goethe believed, with the Medieval Alchemists, that the great Work of “a lifetime’s effort” is to bring our higher and lower natures into Sync, by making our Subconscious CONSCIOUS. When the time is at hand, and this happens, All of our Chickens come Home to Roost.
This was the object of all this Great Poet’s scientific studies, with which his journals are filled.
The way is common to many Christian thinkers of olden times, as witness, in Goethe’s Faust the voices of the Pater Angelicus and the Pater Profondis (father of the depths) in the Chorus Mysticus.
The drift of this gnostic message finds voice in many modern Christian Liberal thinkers.
For myself, I always tended to a more conservative approach, as I did the year I chanced upon this story while staying with my liberal-minded Toronto friends, and was therefore relieved to quit myself of their three-days’ hospitality.
Goethe’s liberalism shines in his tale.
But the story resonated deeply with me...
Don’t blame me - I’m only the piano player...
And this is my tinny little prelude to a TIMELESS MASTERPIECE -
Whatever your political stripe may be.
So now here for your listening enjoyment is Goethe's complete FAIRY TALE:
https://youtu.be/vg-kvq8foDk
October 13, 2025
Goethe , el romántico alemán y polímata, escribió esto allá por 1797, y el texto intitulado originalmente simplemente como "cuento", pasó a llamarse después "Cuento de la serpiente verde y la bella Lily" (o Azucena como le han puesto algunos) como para aclarar de que va. Lo que al parecer a nadie ha quedado claro es de que trata, pues lo que narra la historia fantástica de un barquero pasando fuegos fatuos morosos por un rio, y una serpiente traga monedas de oro que pasa por una transformación, una gruta con reyes de metales preciosos, un viejo con una lámpara y una doncella que mata a todos al contacto tiene múltiples interpretaciones. Desde una historia del poder de la literatura, misticismo y salvación, de los cambios para pasar del conciente a la salvación.
¿De dónde vienes?
—De los abismos en los que reposa el oro —respondió la
serpiente.
—¿Qué es más precioso que el oro? —preguntó el rey.
—La luz —contestó la serpiente.
—¿Qué es más reconfortante que la luz? —preguntó aquél.
—La conversación —respondió ésta.
Aunque la poesía se me debe haber quedado perdida en la traducción.
Se puede leer aquí:
https://elespejogotico.blogspot.com/2...
November 18, 2014
Goethe attempts to convey in imagery what he felt couldn't be said in words, or even, I dare-say that which should not even be said. He was trying to convey the feeling and experience of personal spiritual transformation and the journey to enlightenment. This of course is only achieved through death of the materially-enslaved soul and the consummate rebirth into a high consciousness.
I could sense a distrust of words and narrow definitions that Goethe was trying to avoid because the imagery was so open-ended it could be interpreted in numerous ways. The entire story felt like he had a dream one night, woke up wrote it down and published it. The streaming of pure unconsciousness onto paper.
This book will easily drive most readers away, which is likely why it has never become very popular. Instead the spiritually-inclined mystics will be about the only ones who will enjoy it.
I could sense a distrust of words and narrow definitions that Goethe was trying to avoid because the imagery was so open-ended it could be interpreted in numerous ways. The entire story felt like he had a dream one night, woke up wrote it down and published it. The streaming of pure unconsciousness onto paper.
This book will easily drive most readers away, which is likely why it has never become very popular. Instead the spiritually-inclined mystics will be about the only ones who will enjoy it.
Read
February 6, 2018"Ma noi e le nostre forze siamo impotenti contro questo impotente."
June 25, 2018
Este é um pequeno conto que conta a historia da bela Açucena que tem uma linda canção e a serpente como o animal maligno que petrifica com o olhar. Mas a serpente sacrifica-se e desse sacrifício há a possibilidade de Açucena ser feliz. Como todos os contos de fadas, a bela donzela se casa com um nobre e vive feliz para sempre. Apenas que este tem pormenor o nobre é velho e depois rejuvenesce.
Read
December 19, 2022What an imagination Goethe has. What a mind. I loved the wonder of this story but it jumps around a lot and wasn’t the easiest ever to read. I want to reread this and pay more attention to it someday.
April 4, 2014
It's a simple story, but with a layered and difficult interpretation. but when you get it, you'll marvel at this fairy tale that leaves an indelible lesson on aesthetics and its value.
August 29, 2021
Goethe didn't set out to write an esoteric Fairy Tale, yet esoteric it is! I had a lovely time reading this with a group and speaking about the imagery and how we related to it. Afterward, I did further study on what it means. It's really about that longing for wholeness and access to the whole world and our whole selves and All that is.
April 28, 2018
allah alegorinin de hayırlısını versin.
June 1, 2023
Libro ricco, semplice nella forma e nell'esposizione, ma pregno di significati: se fossi riuscito a coglierne una decima parte, mi riterrei bravo.
Mi auguro solo che la restante parte abbia lasciato semi che portino frutto.
Mi auguro solo che la restante parte abbia lasciato semi che portino frutto.
May 7, 2023
Every leaf seemed of emerald, every flower was dyed with new glory
three Cabbages, three Artichokes, and three large Onions
It is true we are related only by the look;
for, observe you," here both the Flames, compressing their whole breadth, made themselves as high and peaked as possible
Whence the glittering gold came?
The great Giant lives not far from this; with his body he has no power; his hands cannot lift a straw, his shoulders could not bear a faggot of twigs; but with his shadow he has power over much, nay all.
At sunrise and sunset therefore he is strongest; so at evening you merely put yourself upon the back of his shadow, the Giant walks softly to the bank, and the shadow carries you across the water.
She believed she could illuminate the whole of that subterranean vault by her own light; and hoped to get acquainted with these curious things at once. She hastened back; and soon found, by the usual way, the cleft by which she used to penetrate the Sanctuary.
"Whence comest thou?" "From the chasms where the gold dwells," said the Snake.
"What is grander than gold?" inquired the King.
"Light," replied the Snake.
"What is more refreshing than light?" said he.
"Speech," answered she.
Tell her, Not to mourn; her deliverance is near...
these obelisks of cypresses, these colossal oaks, a Hawk, sitting quiet as a dove,
The Man with the Lamp
If they be speedy, they may cross upon the Giant's shadow, and seek the Man with the Lamp, and send him to us.
Lily rose and called to him: "What good spirit sends thee, at the moment when we were desiring thee, and needing thee, so much?"
"The spirit of my Lamp," replied the Man, "has impelled me, and the Hawk has conducted me. My Lamp sparkles when I am needed, and I just look about me in the sky for a signal; some bird or meteor points to the quarter towards which I am to turn. Be calm, fairest Maiden! Whether I can help, I know not; an individual helps not, but he who combines himself with many at the proper hour. We will postpone the evil, and keep hoping. Hold thy circle fast,"
The return of the Flames
The party looked at one another, silently reflecting; care and sorrow were mitigated by a sure hope.
"Take the mirror," said the Man to the Hawk; "and with the first sunbeam illuminate the three sleepers, and awake them, with light reflected from above."
A gleaming circle with strange lights passing over it. Showers of gold from our two retiring Flames.
three Cabbages, three Artichokes, and three large Onions
It is true we are related only by the look;
for, observe you," here both the Flames, compressing their whole breadth, made themselves as high and peaked as possible
Whence the glittering gold came?
The great Giant lives not far from this; with his body he has no power; his hands cannot lift a straw, his shoulders could not bear a faggot of twigs; but with his shadow he has power over much, nay all.
At sunrise and sunset therefore he is strongest; so at evening you merely put yourself upon the back of his shadow, the Giant walks softly to the bank, and the shadow carries you across the water.
She believed she could illuminate the whole of that subterranean vault by her own light; and hoped to get acquainted with these curious things at once. She hastened back; and soon found, by the usual way, the cleft by which she used to penetrate the Sanctuary.
"Whence comest thou?" "From the chasms where the gold dwells," said the Snake.
"What is grander than gold?" inquired the King.
"Light," replied the Snake.
"What is more refreshing than light?" said he.
"Speech," answered she.
Tell her, Not to mourn; her deliverance is near...
these obelisks of cypresses, these colossal oaks, a Hawk, sitting quiet as a dove,
The Man with the Lamp
If they be speedy, they may cross upon the Giant's shadow, and seek the Man with the Lamp, and send him to us.
Lily rose and called to him: "What good spirit sends thee, at the moment when we were desiring thee, and needing thee, so much?"
"The spirit of my Lamp," replied the Man, "has impelled me, and the Hawk has conducted me. My Lamp sparkles when I am needed, and I just look about me in the sky for a signal; some bird or meteor points to the quarter towards which I am to turn. Be calm, fairest Maiden! Whether I can help, I know not; an individual helps not, but he who combines himself with many at the proper hour. We will postpone the evil, and keep hoping. Hold thy circle fast,"
The return of the Flames
The party looked at one another, silently reflecting; care and sorrow were mitigated by a sure hope.
"Take the mirror," said the Man to the Hawk; "and with the first sunbeam illuminate the three sleepers, and awake them, with light reflected from above."
A gleaming circle with strange lights passing over it. Showers of gold from our two retiring Flames.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2021
Una bella favola che ha come obiettivo quello di affascinare e al tempo stesso disorientare il lettore. Si ha la nettissima impressione che dietro ai singoli, magici, personaggi e alle loro enigmatiche azioni si celi un messaggio che può essere colto solo fino ad un certo punto. Un gioco di allusioni, citazioni e virtuosismi.
January 9, 2023
Många har läst den unge Werthers lidanden av den gode Johann och sen kanske Faust.
Inte mycket mer!
Men när jag såg denna tunna volym med den anspråkslösa titeln "Sagan" blev jag nyfiken.
Ja ni, det här är en drogtripp förklädd som saga. Nästan lite i stil med
Valérie och hennes underbara vecka av Vítězslav Nezval.
Surrealistiskt, lite obegripligt men kul!
Inte mycket mer!
Men när jag såg denna tunna volym med den anspråkslösa titeln "Sagan" blev jag nyfiken.
Ja ni, det här är en drogtripp förklädd som saga. Nästan lite i stil med
Valérie och hennes underbara vecka av Vítězslav Nezval.
Surrealistiskt, lite obegripligt men kul!
December 18, 2021
Un relato cargado de simbolismo que pese a que creí entender su significado, luego leí que significaba algo en lo que no había pensado.
Pero bueno, me consuela pensar que una historia puede tener mil y una interpretaciones ¿no?
Pero bueno, me consuela pensar que una historia puede tener mil y una interpretaciones ¿no?
August 3, 2023
I started this review 3 months ago. It was unfinished due to school being torrential until it ended at the last day of June, and I couldn't force myself to gather my thoughts any longer from a piece that needs time and great effort for me to truly understand. Though I'll state here I'd try to explain symbolisms, sadly the brunt of my thoughts has eroded over the months. And so I'll leave the past unrevised and try to conclude it through what's left of me at present, however it gives me guilt to leave a work essentially abandoned.
It is only after a decade or almost two (the references differ largely for some reason) since his first read of Goethe's Fairy Tale that Rudolf Steiner felt it transcendentally transformative, after thorough analysis throughout that time. But at 21 years old (like one of the sources), I haven't felt the same enlightenment as him.
This is a case of me still not considerably changing my liking of a story due to how my initial understanding not coinciding a bit with elaborate interpretations based on Goethe's life experiences, particularly in his productive friendship with Friedrich Schiller and the context of the French Revolution that occurred when Goethe still lived. The lengthy articles about how The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily relates to matters of the soul and achieving its perfection,--that is, its freedom--despite read in full, frustratingly did not make me like the story more :(( The newfound understanding didn't seem to register too deeply because in the first place, the explanations felt rather farfetched, to my ignorant eyes I admit.
But allow my ignorant self to still release his thoughts on Goethe's Fairy Tale.
The fundamental problem which didn't make me budge despite the analyses was perhaps because of how abrupt the executions of character interactions were, their individual relationships and many lines not given time to boil before exploding--yeah it just felt like consecutive fireworks that seemed to lack connection; the pacing was super hasty. How these many characters of highly different backgrounds and kinds even knew each other, even stumbled upon each other, we were never told. Little to any context was presented, which makes the "soul interpretation" which actually also includes principles of alchemy rather alien to me (although I will take it into consideration at times henceforth). Perhaps it hasn't sunk in yet, and further appreciation will only surface from a second read, by the journey of this writeup, and in time.
With that, I'll try my best to understand the Fairy Tale with the resources I currently have.
Symbolism
Decoding the story necessitates uncovering the meaning behind each entity.
River - Has two sides that seem to split two different worlds, which, according to what I've read, were the "Land of the Senses" and "Land of the Spirits" (I didn't understand the dimensions as that specifically). To me, the River, as a holy boundary that retaliates upon the touch of gold and has mystical powers which turned the old Woman's hand to black coal due to her debts and beautified her at the end after the debt has been paid, possesses multiple implications in tandem with the many symbolisms it has. However, I'd like to think of it most as the Stream of spiritual challenges which resembles one of the essences of life as suffering and grace that needs to be united together to achieve a sort of enlightenment. The "debt" might be karma, an equalizer. That it cannot accept gold
Ferryman - An important figure who transports passengers from Lily's land to the Sanctuary land, and never the other way around. The ancient man can only accept fruits of the earth
~~~~
Aaaand it ends there. Looking back, the conceptual ideas cramped in this short story were indeed observably plentiful. However, the lack of space to breathe made it a mouthful, as if you're eating an assorted menu of highly nutritious vegetables and savory desserts and what have you all in one sitting--it doesn't digest well. Again, were I to pace myself and analyze what I'm intaking, it would probably be a different story.
It is only after a decade or almost two (the references differ largely for some reason) since his first read of Goethe's Fairy Tale that Rudolf Steiner felt it transcendentally transformative, after thorough analysis throughout that time. But at 21 years old (like one of the sources), I haven't felt the same enlightenment as him.
This is a case of me still not considerably changing my liking of a story due to how my initial understanding not coinciding a bit with elaborate interpretations based on Goethe's life experiences, particularly in his productive friendship with Friedrich Schiller and the context of the French Revolution that occurred when Goethe still lived. The lengthy articles about how The Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily relates to matters of the soul and achieving its perfection,--that is, its freedom--despite read in full, frustratingly did not make me like the story more :(( The newfound understanding didn't seem to register too deeply because in the first place, the explanations felt rather farfetched, to my ignorant eyes I admit.
But allow my ignorant self to still release his thoughts on Goethe's Fairy Tale.
The fundamental problem which didn't make me budge despite the analyses was perhaps because of how abrupt the executions of character interactions were, their individual relationships and many lines not given time to boil before exploding--yeah it just felt like consecutive fireworks that seemed to lack connection; the pacing was super hasty. How these many characters of highly different backgrounds and kinds even knew each other, even stumbled upon each other, we were never told. Little to any context was presented, which makes the "soul interpretation" which actually also includes principles of alchemy rather alien to me (although I will take it into consideration at times henceforth). Perhaps it hasn't sunk in yet, and further appreciation will only surface from a second read, by the journey of this writeup, and in time.
With that, I'll try my best to understand the Fairy Tale with the resources I currently have.
Symbolism
Decoding the story necessitates uncovering the meaning behind each entity.
River - Has two sides that seem to split two different worlds, which, according to what I've read, were the "Land of the Senses" and "Land of the Spirits" (I didn't understand the dimensions as that specifically). To me, the River, as a holy boundary that retaliates upon the touch of gold and has mystical powers which turned the old Woman's hand to black coal due to her debts and beautified her at the end after the debt has been paid, possesses multiple implications in tandem with the many symbolisms it has. However, I'd like to think of it most as the Stream of spiritual challenges which resembles one of the essences of life as suffering and grace that needs to be united together to achieve a sort of enlightenment. The "debt" might be karma, an equalizer. That it cannot accept gold
Ferryman - An important figure who transports passengers from Lily's land to the Sanctuary land, and never the other way around. The ancient man can only accept fruits of the earth
~~~~
Aaaand it ends there. Looking back, the conceptual ideas cramped in this short story were indeed observably plentiful. However, the lack of space to breathe made it a mouthful, as if you're eating an assorted menu of highly nutritious vegetables and savory desserts and what have you all in one sitting--it doesn't digest well. Again, were I to pace myself and analyze what I'm intaking, it would probably be a different story.
July 11, 2023
This is a lovely fairy tale that I enjoyed reading and took to be a pointer to including the inner or spiritual world in one's everyday awareness, so the 4-star rating is for this edition as it stands.
I came back to it recently after reading Rudolf Steiner's lectures on its origin and meaning. At least in Steiner's view, the tale is encoded with symbols of esoteric Rosicrucian alchemy. Goethe is said to have written it after reading "The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz". On second reading, with this background in mind, I found much more depth and wondered how I missed all the alchemy the first time 'round.
I came back to it recently after reading Rudolf Steiner's lectures on its origin and meaning. At least in Steiner's view, the tale is encoded with symbols of esoteric Rosicrucian alchemy. Goethe is said to have written it after reading "The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz". On second reading, with this background in mind, I found much more depth and wondered how I missed all the alchemy the first time 'round.
February 11, 2018
Un Goethe insolito, un racconto pieno di magia e di simboli di trasformazione e immortalità dall'uroboro al tempio che sorge dalle acque al ringiovanimento di alcuni personaggi. Molto gradevole.
December 22, 2023
Dance of the sugarplum fairy but as a book and german
February 27, 2017
Ame este cuentito, tiene tonos poéticos sencillos, los personajes son entrañables y el final aunque es de esperarse me encanto. Simplemente es un cuento qie se agradece para reanimar la niña interior❤.
Denle una oportunidad a este cuento de transportarlos a un mundo mágico y rico.
Denle una oportunidad a este cuento de transportarlos a un mundo mágico y rico.
January 2, 2017
Da ich nicht genau Bescheid wusste um was es sich hier in diesem Märchen genau handelt, habe ich unter e-Hausaufgaben.de recherchiert. Mit Freude habe ich festgestellt, dass es sich um eine Weissagung Goethes über den von ihm erwarteten Ausgang der französischen Revolution handelt unter Zuhilfenahme von drei Archetypen der Orakelkarten des Tarot de Marseille. Auf diese Weise gelang es Goethe, trotz herrschender Zensur, eine Aussage über das grösste politische Ereignis seiner Zeit zu veröffentlichen. Es lohnt sich diesen ganzen Artikel, von dem ich zitiert habe, zu lesen, wenn man dieses Märchen von Goethe liest.
April 6, 2015
Pequeña historia que en realidad se podría dar para diferentes interpretaciones, y no creería que alguna de ellas estén equivocadas. He visto en muchas historias que la serpiente suele ser aquella que representa todo mal del ser humano, esta vez no me ha dejado esa sensación, ofreciéndome algo completamente distinto.
A pesar de lo corto de la historia, se vuelve dificultoso seguir los conceptos que Goethe busca expresar.
A pesar de lo corto de la historia, se vuelve dificultoso seguir los conceptos que Goethe busca expresar.
April 2, 2022
A gorgeously written allegory. It reads like a slightly mad fairytale at first glance, with very painterly, rich imagery, but if you enjoy reading esoteric works, or studying esoteric art, it is my experience that scenes from this fairytale will pop up out of the depths of your memory at times, and provide the key to a new kind of understanding. It’s truly magical.
September 28, 2024
Un cuento exquisito del gran Goethe. En el relato hay muchas alegorías a la época ilustrada. La rivalidad histórica entre Alemania y Francia.
Es un cuento inolvidable y muy curtido del estilo del romanticismo alemán.
La Serpiente 🐍 se ilumina por el oro que le dan los fuegos fatuos, al igual que la diosa razón iluminó el siglo XVIII.
Es un cuento inolvidable y muy curtido del estilo del romanticismo alemán.
La Serpiente 🐍 se ilumina por el oro que le dan los fuegos fatuos, al igual que la diosa razón iluminó el siglo XVIII.
November 23, 2020
sevmedim.
March 24, 2024
This book was a pick from a free library out in the country and at this point I think that it probably should have stayed there.
First of all the make-up of the book itself is a bit on the deceptive side with the fact that it is set-up to be about the size of a children's storybook while also being illustrated and called a fairy tale, which in my opinion it is not. Once you open the book itself the reader will find that the book is printed in rather small font that allows the story to be printed in double columns on a page thus definitely taking the book itself out of the children literature realm.
The writing starts off rather typical and although not good it wasn't bad. With a few tweaks I may have enjoyed the book as a fantasy type but once all the other characters started getting added the book's plot became confusing, awkward and with more questions than answers such as the beautiful Lily being not a flower as one may have thought with the title but an actual princess.
Secondly the illustrations were brightly colored for the most part but rather abstract with some in many cases making the reader to review them closely to pick-up elements from the book itself. And there were even a few that didn't even resembled the events in the book itself, which contributed to the loathing that I felt for this work.
The book then ends with two sections that combined add an additional ten pages with an Afterword written by Paul M. Allen and a The Character of Goethe's Spirtby Rudolf Steiner. In a sense I felt like these should been included before the story to give the reader a heads-up what type of read this would be and some background information instead of tucked away for the disgusted reader to come across if they should even make it to the end.
All in all this is one book that didn't provide me with an "of nothing and of everything effect" but much rather a nothing effect all around.
First of all the make-up of the book itself is a bit on the deceptive side with the fact that it is set-up to be about the size of a children's storybook while also being illustrated and called a fairy tale, which in my opinion it is not. Once you open the book itself the reader will find that the book is printed in rather small font that allows the story to be printed in double columns on a page thus definitely taking the book itself out of the children literature realm.
The writing starts off rather typical and although not good it wasn't bad. With a few tweaks I may have enjoyed the book as a fantasy type but once all the other characters started getting added the book's plot became confusing, awkward and with more questions than answers such as the beautiful Lily being not a flower as one may have thought with the title but an actual princess.
Secondly the illustrations were brightly colored for the most part but rather abstract with some in many cases making the reader to review them closely to pick-up elements from the book itself. And there were even a few that didn't even resembled the events in the book itself, which contributed to the loathing that I felt for this work.
The book then ends with two sections that combined add an additional ten pages with an Afterword written by Paul M. Allen and a The Character of Goethe's Spirtby Rudolf Steiner. In a sense I felt like these should been included before the story to give the reader a heads-up what type of read this would be and some background information instead of tucked away for the disgusted reader to come across if they should even make it to the end.
All in all this is one book that didn't provide me with an "of nothing and of everything effect" but much rather a nothing effect all around.
December 12, 2020
"[...] Goetheho pokus o mytologický preklad je tak vlastne pokusom o navrátenie istej nevinnosti, ktorá sa už dávno nenávratne stratila. Revolúcie je možné samozrejme kritizovať, ale fakt, že rozmetali mýty, je možné len uznať. Môžeme písať alegórie, no akékoľvek nové mýty budú pôsobiť umelo, nepresvedčivo a – presne ako je to v Rozprávke – napokon aj tak len ako súbory symbolov, ktoré jednoducho treba rozšifrovať. Priamočiarosť mýtov sa nedá zopakovať. Goethe nemôže politické boje a revolúcie bez všetkého skrotiť ani v rozprávkach, nech už napíše čokoľvek.
To však paradoxne neznamená, že Goethe vo svojom pokuse zlyhal – práve naopak. Zmätenosť Goetheho „filozofickej rozprávky“ v otázke vlastnej identity a toho, ako má pôsobiť – či priamo, či ako materiál pre ďalšie analýzy – v podstate v umeleckej podobe verne reprodukuje Schillerovo blúznenie o harmonickom estetickom štádiu. Efektívne a so zručnosťou majstra spisovateľa podáva Schillerovu filozofiu v celom jej zlyhaní. Avšak kým vo filozofii nás argumentačné nedostatky iritujú a neradi ich odpúšťame (naopak, nič nám neposkytuje väčšiu radosť ako odhalenie trhliny vo výklade, vďaka ktorej ho môžeme škodoradostne zboriť celý), v umení zlyhanie nielenže tolerujeme, ale dokonca ho za to aj vyzdvihujeme. Dobré umenie nikdy nevypovie všetko, čo chcel autor povedať, ale zato vypovie – často aj napriek autorovi – mnohé navyše."
Celá recenzia tuto: https://kapital-noviny.sk/ako-vznika-...
To však paradoxne neznamená, že Goethe vo svojom pokuse zlyhal – práve naopak. Zmätenosť Goetheho „filozofickej rozprávky“ v otázke vlastnej identity a toho, ako má pôsobiť – či priamo, či ako materiál pre ďalšie analýzy – v podstate v umeleckej podobe verne reprodukuje Schillerovo blúznenie o harmonickom estetickom štádiu. Efektívne a so zručnosťou majstra spisovateľa podáva Schillerovu filozofiu v celom jej zlyhaní. Avšak kým vo filozofii nás argumentačné nedostatky iritujú a neradi ich odpúšťame (naopak, nič nám neposkytuje väčšiu radosť ako odhalenie trhliny vo výklade, vďaka ktorej ho môžeme škodoradostne zboriť celý), v umení zlyhanie nielenže tolerujeme, ale dokonca ho za to aj vyzdvihujeme. Dobré umenie nikdy nevypovie všetko, čo chcel autor povedať, ale zato vypovie – často aj napriek autorovi – mnohé navyše."
Celá recenzia tuto: https://kapital-noviny.sk/ako-vznika-...
February 3, 2026
This is one of the densest works of the late 18th century ever written. A short tale conjured by the magnanimous Goethe, it speaks of so many aspects of spiritual life within each page that many pseudoscientific societies were inspired by the symbols therein, including the Theosophical movement by Helena Blavatsky, or, more famously, Carl G. Jung and his implementation of alchemical transformations in his psychological theories (To be fair, he took inspiration from all of Goethe's works).
This is not an easy read; I would recommend you drop everything you are doing (study, romance, hygiene, gym, etc.) and just focus on each paragraph until you finish the book. In my opinion, it is his magnum opus and I cannot imagine a book more important to read when life is too robotic and mechanical. The only downside that I found is that all of the English translations of the book do not convey some of the concepts as well as the original German. A word-by-word translation would be really handy when you reach a confusing or convoluted passage. This single work alone makes Goethe nonpareil among all other writers in history; probably only comparable with Moses in storytelling.
This is not an easy read; I would recommend you drop everything you are doing (study, romance, hygiene, gym, etc.) and just focus on each paragraph until you finish the book. In my opinion, it is his magnum opus and I cannot imagine a book more important to read when life is too robotic and mechanical. The only downside that I found is that all of the English translations of the book do not convey some of the concepts as well as the original German. A word-by-word translation would be really handy when you reach a confusing or convoluted passage. This single work alone makes Goethe nonpareil among all other writers in history; probably only comparable with Moses in storytelling.
January 19, 2020
Herhalde bu, okuduğum en kompleks masal. Başlarda, düşsel bir atmosferde birbirine paralel bir sürü fantastik gelişme oluyor ve birbiriyle ilgisiz görünen (insan olan ve olmayan) birçok farklı karakter sahneye çıkıyor. Tam neyin nasıl nereye bağlanacağını kara kara düşünürken, ortalara doğru, hepsinin yolu bir şeklide kesişiyor. Sürükleyici bir okuma, ama Goethe kafamızdaki soruların yanıtını vermiyor. Şifreyi çözmeyi (ya da düşü yorumlamayı) okura bırakıyor.
Kitabın sonunda, Rudolf Steiner’in 1890’larda yazdığı, Goethe’yi ve Schiller’i karşılaştırarak bu masalı yorumladığı bir makale var. Elbette Steiner teozofi öğretisine dayanarak tinsel bir sembolizm aramış; Goethe’nin de simgesel bir içeriğin ipuçlarını verdiği muhakkak, ama Steiner’in yorumladığı kadar sistemli bir sembolizm midir, orasından emin değilim. Yine de Steiner’in masalı anlamak konusunda bir yol açtığı kesin. (Bir de, Jung’un yorumu ne olurdu diye meraklanmaktan kendimi alamadım. ) Son bir not: Aslında bir besteci olan felsefe mezunu çevirmen Yalçın Tura bu masaldan o kadar etkilenmiş ki, bir opera bestelemiş.
Kitabın sonunda, Rudolf Steiner’in 1890’larda yazdığı, Goethe’yi ve Schiller’i karşılaştırarak bu masalı yorumladığı bir makale var. Elbette Steiner teozofi öğretisine dayanarak tinsel bir sembolizm aramış; Goethe’nin de simgesel bir içeriğin ipuçlarını verdiği muhakkak, ama Steiner’in yorumladığı kadar sistemli bir sembolizm midir, orasından emin değilim. Yine de Steiner’in masalı anlamak konusunda bir yol açtığı kesin. (Bir de, Jung’un yorumu ne olurdu diye meraklanmaktan kendimi alamadım. ) Son bir not: Aslında bir besteci olan felsefe mezunu çevirmen Yalçın Tura bu masaldan o kadar etkilenmiş ki, bir opera bestelemiş.
September 7, 2020
Nos encontramos ante un relato difícil de entender, pudiendo, en un principio, sembrar en el lector la duda de si se encuentra ante un cuento fantástico más donde unos personajes se enfrentan a varias pruebas hasta llegar a un final feliz o si, por el contrario, nos hallamos ante un cuento esotérico abierto a múltiples interpretaciones, pudiendo cada uno llevar a su terreno personal la simbología que lo puebla. Y parece que esa era la intención de Goethe, pues en ninguno de sus escritos revela las claves para facilitar la comprensión de la historia que se nos cuenta. Según Schiller, esas claves interpretativas estarían en el mismo relato.
Por tanto, de la lectura de este cuento cada uno podrá extraer sus propias conclusiones. En lo que tal vez coincidamos todos los que nos acerquemos a este universo particular es que, una vez cerrado el circulo de los distintos sucesos loque transcurren entre sus líneas, podemos vislumbrar, tras la destrucción y la muerte, la luz de una vida nueva.
Por tanto, de la lectura de este cuento cada uno podrá extraer sus propias conclusiones. En lo que tal vez coincidamos todos los que nos acerquemos a este universo particular es que, una vez cerrado el circulo de los distintos sucesos loque transcurren entre sus líneas, podemos vislumbrar, tras la destrucción y la muerte, la luz de una vida nueva.
April 20, 2024
Kutkuttava ja unenomainen, jotenkin läpitunkeva pieni taru. Yritin kovasti löytää tästä jotain merkitystä, mutta pääsin vain siihen, että hyviä asioita ei voi saavuttaa ilman uhrauksia ja niin edelleen. Sitten luin lopputekstin - ja petyin. Toivottavasti Rudolf Steiner, niin mahtava henkilö kuin muuten olikin, tulkitsi tämän väärin. Miksi tämän muka pitäisi kuvata ihmismielen pääsyä valaistumisen tilaan tai tietoisuuteen? Valaistuminen on tyhmää. Tietoisuus on tyhmää. Tieto on tyhmää. Salaisuudet ja arvoitukset ovat niitä jotka merkitsevät. Elämä. Muut lajit elävät tässä hetkessä eivätkä tavoittele mitään, joka ehkä sitten onkin valheellista. En halua enää millekään tällaisille arvoituksellisille kertomuksille selityksiä. Haluan vain ottaa vastaan ja löytää uusia kauniita sanoja ja ehkä itse oivaltaa jotakin. Kaunis kirja ja kaikkea joo toivottavasti kuvaisi valoon eikä valaistumiseen pääsyä. Goethe ei itse halunnut selitellä teoksiaan joten miksi muiden pitäisi.
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