One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes

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One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 130. Andrew Lang included it, as "Little One-eye, Little Two-eyes, and Little Three-eyes", in The Green Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 511.

It is an anomalous fairy tale, in that the heroine is neither the youngest nor an only child, but the middle of three.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A woman had three daughters. The oldest had one eye, in the middle of her forehead; the second two eyes like ordinary people; the third, two eyes like ordinary people and a third in the middle of her forehead. The mother and sisters scorned Two-eyes, because she was like other people. One day when they sent to tend the goat and gave her little to eat, she wept, and a wise woman asked her why. When Two-Eyes explained, the wise woman gave her a charm to say to a goat, that would give her something to eat.

Two-Eyes no longer ate the scraps her mother and sisters left her. One-Eye went to spy on her. Two-Eyes put her to sleep with a song, and ate as before. Then Three-Eyes went to spy on her, and Two-eyes went to put her to sleep, but she charmed only two of Three-Eyes's eyes. The third eye, in her forehead, watched as Two-Eyes got her food. The mother killed the goat at once. Two-Eyes went out to weep, and the wise woman advised her to ask for the entrails and bury them in the yard. When she had, a tree sprung up overnight in the place, with silver leaves and golden fruit. Neither One-Eye, nor Three-Eyes, nor the mother could collect the fruit, only Two-Eyes, but when she did, they took the fruit from her and continued to maltreat her.

One day, a knight rode by. One-Eye and Three-Eyes stuck Two-Eyes in a barrel so she would not embarrass them. The knight said that whoever gave him a branch of that tree would have whatever reward she wished, but One-Eye and Three-Eyes could not pick one still. Two-Eyes rolled the golden apples to the knight, alerting him to her presence, and picked him a branch. At her request, he carried her off and married her. The tree vanished from the cottage and appeared outside the knight's castle.

Many years later, One-Eye and Three-Eyes came to the castle as beggars, and Two-Eyes looked after them.