Stepmother (The Juniper Tree)

The stepmother is the main psychopathic antagonist in the German fairytale The Juniper Tree written by the Brothers Grimm. The fairytale is considered to be an "R- rated fairytale" on the Internet due to its violent and graphic nature.

The Fairytale
Once upon a time, there lived a wealthy couple who loved each other dearly in their own humble mansion near the forest. Alas, they couldn't bear any child and prayed day and night for God to grant them one.

One winter, the wife went outside in the courtyard and stood underneath a beautiful juniper tree to peel some apples. While peeling the apples, she accidentally cut her finger and drops fell onto the snow. The wife took a deep breath and wished for a child to have skin as white as the snow and cheeks and lips as red as the blood.

Her wish was fulfilled as the wife soon became pregnant and on the day it was time to give birth to her child, she requested her husband to bury her under the juniper tree they had in their courtyard as she knew she was going to die anyday soon. As soon as she gave birth to her son with skin as white as snow and cheeks and lips as red as blood, the wife grew so happy that she died.

Depressed over his wife's untimely death, the husband buried her under the juniper tree as he promised and he cried bitterly everyday at her grave. He couldn't bear to raise his son on his own. Time healed his wounds as the husband found himself a second wife who already had a daughter of her own named Marlene (sometimes Marlinchen or Marleen). After their marriage, the second wife knew that she was in the position of being the stepmother of her husband's son and her hatred grew like weeds everytime she saw her son as she knew that he will be the one to inherit all the family's wealth and she wishes that this will happen to her own daughter instead.

One afternoon, the stepmother stood in a empty room except for a chest of apples lying in the corner and looked out at the window and saw her dreadful stepson come home from school. Suddenly, evil thoughts entered her mind and she thought of a plan to get rid of her son and this was a plan that will soon traumatise anyone who ever heard of it. As soon as the son entered the house, the stepmother called both Marlene and her stepson upstairs into the room that she was in.

She called Marlene first to grab an apple from the chest that was lying in the corner and she delightfully opened the lid for her and Marlene graciously took an apple out and quickly ran off to her own bedroom. Then, she called her stepson to grab another apple from the chest and there was a sinister grin on her face as she held the lid up high for him. As the son bent down to reach for an apple, the stepmother quickly snapped and shut the lid against the boy's neck and this instantly decapitated him.

Relieved that her vermin stepson was dead, the stepmother schemed for a way to cover the murder up and she cleaned up the puddle of blood that leaked out of the chest with a towel. After that, she grabbed a bandage and attached his head ontop of his body and wrapped the bandage around his neck. The stepmother also grabbed a chair and placed her stepson's body onto the chair and placed an apple on his hands. After the elaborate plan was completed, the stepmother called her beloved Marlene to ask her stepbrother for an apple and box him in the ear if he didn't respond or give the apple.

Marlene was unaware of what happened and asked her stepson many times for the apple and as she lost her patience, she boxed him the ear once and suddenly, her stepbrother's head fell off and rolled onto the floor. Screaming and wailing in fear, Marlene apologised to her stepmother for accidentally killing her stepson. Crocodile tears flowed down the stepmother's tears as she comforted her and they both dragged the boy's body downstairs and into the kitchen.

As the stepmother placed her stepson's body onto the countertop, she sternly warned her daughter to not tell anybody about it, not even her stepfather. Marlene reluctantly agreed as she tried to stop crying as her insane stepmother brutally chopped up her stepbrother's body into pieces and placed it in a boiling pot of water. The stepmother added a couple of vegetables into the pot as if she were cooking a stew and Marlene couldn't believe her eyes as she was even stirring it, without any concern or regret.

While the sun sunk below the horizon, Marlene's stepfather arrived home from work just in time for dinner and the stepmother quickly set up the dining table and carefully placed the pot of stew in the middle. He quickly sat down and grabbed a ladle and poured some of the stew into his bowl and declared that it was delcious. His second wife also ate some of the stew and she could only smile as the pot became more empty. Good-natured Marlene was the only one who didn't eat any of the stew.

After the macabre dinner concluded, Marlene gathered the bones from the meal and wrapped it with a handkerchief and went outside in the courtyard. She walked towards the juniper tree and buried the handkerchief and cried bitterly for hours. The next morning, a beautiful bird emerged from the juniper tree and flew across the courtyard, into the forest and eventually into a nearby town.

When it reached to the house of a goldsmith, the bird sung a haunting yet enchanting melody,

"My mother killed me, my father ate me, my sister loved me best of all. She laid her handkerchief over me and took my bones that my lie underneath the juniper tree. Tweet! Tweet! What a beautiful bird am I!"

The goldsmith woke up to the bird's melody and he was fascinated by its voice and he stood on his front porch and ordered it to sing its melody again. However, the bird told him to give it a gold chain if he wants to listen to the melody once more. The goldsmith delightfully offered the bird his gold chain and the bird sung its melody once more. After that, the bird held the gold chain in its left claw and flew to another house.

When it reached to the house of a shoemaker, the bird sung the same melody again,

"My mother killed me, my father ate me, my sister loved me best of all. She laid her handkerchief over me and took my bones that my lie underneath the juniper tree. Tweet! Tweet! What a beautiful bird am I!"

The shoemaker woke up to the bird's melody as well and he was also fascinated by its voice and he went outside and saw the bird on his roof. With his hands covering his eyes from the sun, the shoemaker requested the bird to sing it's melody again but the bird told him to give it a pair of shoes if he wants to listen to the melody once more. The shoemaker delightfully offered the bird its pair of shining, red shoes and the bird sung its melody once more. After that, the bird held the pair of shoes in its right claw and flew to another house.