"The Gold Children," by the Brothers Grimm

A fisherman catches a gold fish, which makes a deal with him: he’ll have a nice big house if he lets the fish go, on the condition he tell no one how he got the house. The man objects: and what’ll I have to eat? The fish says the cupboards will be full.

Back home, his wife, decked out in finery, itches with curiosity, and he eventually tells her, and their house disappears. This happens once more, but on the third time, the fish has the man take the fish home, cut him up, and distribute him, making two gold children, horses, and lilies.

His gold children, itching to leave, are cautioned by their worried father. “I must and will go!”

They come to an inn, where they are jeered at. One returns home and the other goes on. He comes to a forest, which is thick with thieves, and the people warn him. “I must and will go on!”

Both horse and man clothed in bearskin, he ventures into the darkness. Within, he hears voices on either side of a bush, debating whether to rob him, but they allow the seemingly worthless victim to go on.

Out of the forest now, he meets the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and asks her to marry him. She agrees, and they are betrothed. But then her father returns, and seeing Gold Man’s rough accoutrement, he intends to kill him, but his daughter intercedes. Still, he must peek behind the curtain, and the next morning sees a magnificent gold man beside discarded bearskins.

But the happy husband, following a dream, decides to hunt a stag. His worried wife objects. “I must and will go on!”

In the woods again, the stag just escapes his aim, but a curious cottage catches his attention. At the door, a witch asks him what he is doing there so late, and her little dog yips at him incessantly. He threatens it, and she touches him with her forefinger, turning him to stone.

Back home, the other gold man sees the gold lily droop, and he goes out to save his kin. At the cottage, he threatens to shoot the witch, and she touches the statue with her forefinger, returning him to human form. The long-lost brothers embrace and return to their respective homes, and live happily the rest of their lives.

The full video episode:

https://youtu.be/_yr9eluzFtY

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I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.

00:00 Reading of the Grimm’s “The Gold Children”

11:00 The Wife’s Arrogant Restlessness

12:23 The Father-in-Law Doesn’t Kill the Golden Opportunity

13:49 The Gold Fish’s Sacrifice

15:45 The Fisherman, and Adam and Eve

17:30 Similarities and Differences to “The Fisherman and His Wife”

18:08 The Golden Tulips, Horses, & Children

19:23 The Golden Children Go out into the World

20:15 The Golden Brothers Separate

21:15 The Dangerous Journey

21:48 The Bearskin

28:58 The Father’s Proof

30:15 The Golden Fish is the Story’s Throughline

30:41 Losing the Thread

39:00 Dr. Goldchild and Mr. Goldchild

41:15 The Grimm’s Dreams & Immovable Stone

45:00 The Timid Brother’s Boldness