Once upon a time, there was a girl. Who dreamed of flying through the stars. Who dared to resist injustice. Who lived to a beat and a rhythm that was all her own. Her name was Chloe. Freda. Oprah. Celia Cruz. Josephine. Greta. Ruth. Alice. One day, she wondered, could today be the beginning of something new? This was her one opportunity to do something. Something big. So, that's exactly what she did.
Along the way, she discovered that she wasn't alone. Her body felt strong, her mind sharp. She was prepared to work as hard as it took. Her words were making a real change. And she felt powerful. I'm Gail King. I'm Andrea Day. I'm Diane Gibbons. I'm Lindsay Vaughn. I'm Jameela Jamal. I'm Anita Hill. I'm Brenda Chapman. I'm Alana Glazer. And this is Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or find out more at rebelgirls.com. Hi, my name is Adam Gidwitz.
I'm an author. I'm also a storyteller. I like telling all kinds of stories, but I especially like telling grim fairy tales. You may think you know grim fairy tales, and you may think that they are sweet. And boring. But listen, those tales you heard were the cute, happy, little kid bedtime versions of the grim tales. The original grim fairy tales aren't like that at all. They're weird.
And sometimes gross. And often scary. In other words, they're grim. And I'm about to host a virtual storytelling session and tell one of the original grim, grim tales. to a bunch of kids. Do you want to join me? Do you want to hear a grim fairy tale? I don't know if you said yes or no because I can't hear you. So let me help you decide. On a scale of grim, grimmer and grimmest, this story is grimmer. There is fear and there is evil and there is a whole lot of weird.
If I get to a part of the story and you start to feel scared or uncomfortable, this is what you could do. You could turn down the volume and count to five. Then turn the volume back up. If it still seems like a part you don't want to hear, turn it down and count to five again. You know how much weird and gross and scary you're ready for. You know what you need. Okay. I'm about to join the session. There are kids inside waiting to hear a grim fairy tale. So, are you coming in?
Grim. Grimmer. Grimace. All right, everybody. I think we should start the story. Yay! This is, I promise you, a very, very weird story. Yay! It is indeed. based on a story by Franz Xaver von Schönwurt. Yay. Wait, can I try it? Yes. Can I try it? Go ahead. Franz. beautiful all right well this is a story by that guy however you say his name once upon a time there was a little town by a large lake
The men who lived in the town made their living by fishing, while their wives and daughters did the chores at home. Some of the men fished for trout, some fished for bass, some fished for flounder, and some fished for crab. No one around the Big Lake had much money because there weren't all that many fish in the lake. And there were no other jobs in the town. So they made do with what they had and were grateful for whatever the lake provided. Did they fish for hamsters?
No. No, they didn't. There were no hamsters in the lake. They should've. Hamster. They should've. There is a story that we did called Hamster from the Water, right? Yeah, I know. That's why I'm asking that. Reasonable question. Reasonable question. Now, the crab fisherman, or crabman as he was called, well, he was, in fact, kind of crabby. You see, his wife had passed away many years ago, and he worked hard with his nets and crab trap to eke out a living as a crab man.
But most days, he only brought back one big crab for him and his daughter to share for dinner. Daughter, I'm home! Just one crab again today. Daughter? Daughter! But while the crab man worked hard all day to catch a single crab, his daughter was not at home like she was supposed to be, doing her chores, taking care of the house.
Instead, she was running around, causing trouble, getting her only dress all muddy, playing pranks on people, or sneaking out late at night and running into the bright and sparkling stars. That's me. That's you? Yes. Why is that like you? I'm always getting dirty and playing in mud. I brought back crawdad remains from the lake today. That's super cool. You seem to have a lot in common with the crab man's daughter.
Of all the things the crab man's daughter loved to do, running and playing under the twinkling stars at night was her favorite. But what she really longed to do, more than anything, was to swim. In the large lake. Why didn't she? Good question. You see, it was forbidden. No one was allowed to swim in the lake. No one had ever been allowed to swim in the lake for generations and generations.
Because. Because the crabs and fish would bite and pinch people and pull them to the bottom of the lake and drown them. Whoa, that got really dark really fast. First I was like, yeah, just fish. fish bites, but then, and they're drowned. Any other theories about why they can't swim in the lake?
There's a sea monster in the lake. You think there's a sea monster? Just a monster, not a sea monster, because it's a lake, people. It's not a sea. So it would be a lake monster. Lake monster. Okay, lake monster. Well, no one was allowed to swim in the lake because the townspeople believed that there was a monster who lived in it, and anyone who swam in it would be dragged to the bottom and drowned. The monster never bothered the fishermen in their boats.
But often the fishermen saw strange, sparkling things beneath the surface of the lake. And when they did, they said it was the teeth of the monster. But the crabman's daughter didn't believe in old stories about monsters. She wanted to swim in the lake. Very much. One evening, after a long and very hard day fishing, the crab man sat his daughter down and said, You are of marrying age now.
Why can't you be a nice, well-behaved young woman who cooks and sows and chooses one of the fishermen of the village to marry? It's all I've ever wanted for you. The crab man's daughter was furious. What if that's not all I've ever wanted for myself? This guy is horribly sexist. Why? What do you mean? Because he's like... You're a girl, so you have to cook and clean and support him.
very interesting. She's this free spirit and she doesn't want to go cooking and sewing and marry someone who will always want to spend time with her. Yeah! Who wants to marry someone who spends time with you? Yeah. That's boring. But look, there are some people who don't find cooking and sewing boring at all. Some people, that's what they want to do. But the crab man's daughter? It's not what she wants to do.
You see, every woman in the town by the big lake was a fisherman's wife and kept up the home while her husband tried to catch enough food for their supper. But the crabman's daughter didn't want that. She wanted to explore the world and run under the stars and... to swim. More than anything else, she wanted to swim in the big lake. And so, that very evening, she spread word around to the other young women in the town to meet her by the lake at midnight.
That night, just before midnight, all the young women in the town crept quietly out of their houses and made their way through the empty streets, down to the edge of the lake. As the stars shone brightly down upon them, The other fishermen's daughters rubbed the goosebumps on their arms and wondered why the crabman's daughter had gathered them there. And then they found out. The crabman's daughter said, Tonight!
We swim. What? Are you crazy? said the troutman's daughter. We can't swim in the lake, said the bassman's daughter. What about the monster? The crabman's daughter scoffed. There's no monster. That's just a story the old folks tell. The flounderman's daughter seemed a bit nervous. Can't we just catch fireflies and call it a night? The crabman's daughter cocked her head, gave the young women a salute, turned her back.
and dove into the dark water. The crabman's daughter had never swum before, and yet she took to the water naturally, like she was born to swim. The lake water was deep and dark and silky. It was the perfect temperature, and when she opened her eyes, she felt like she was swimming through the night sky. Stars appeared to twinkle from the depths of the water. She kicked her legs and swam deeper, toward the underwater stars.
And as she swam, the star-like twinkling at the bottom of the lake seemed to blink. Are those eyes? She thought. Knew it. Unafraid, the crab man's daughter kept swimming toward the glowing lights at the bottom of the lake. Meanwhile, on the shore, the other young women began to worry. Oh, shoe buckles! said the troutman's daughter. Nonsense! The monster got her, said the bassman's daughter. Her dad is gonna kill us, said the flounderman's daughter. The young women had nearly broken into tears.
when suddenly they heard a splash. The crab man's daughter had emerged. She was gliding along the surface of the lake with an easy backstroke. She called to the young women, laughing. The young women looked at one another, scared and thrilled by what the crab man's daughter had done. And one by one, the other young women jumped into the lake. And somehow, despite never having been in the water before,
They all swam easily and gracefully. Soon they were doing somersaults and playing water games and laughing gleefully. That is very unfair. What? If they don't know how to swim, they jump in the water. They gracefully glide, and then they're doing somersaults and playing water tag. Yeah. For us, it's boring swim lessons and hard... Yeah. We don't just jump into the water and swim easily. That's a great point. We have to take classes. This is a fairy tale. No complaining. Now, question about that.
If you don't know how to swim, should you jump in water? No. No, definitely no. Especially without parents around or like supervisors. What if you do know how to swim and there are no grown-ups around? No. Correct. The young women were enjoying themselves so much that they completely lost track of time. Before they knew it, the sky had turned pink and the sun was beginning to rise.
Knowing that all their fathers would soon be awake and on their way down to the lake to start their daily fishing, the young women swam to the shore and hurried home. When the crab man's daughter got back to her cottage, she quietly slipped off her shoes and tiptoed into... Where have you been? You scared me. The crab man was standing behind the door with his crab net in his hand.
His daughter said, Nowhere. Your hair and your clothes are soaking wet. You didn't go swimming in the lake, did you? Of course not, father. Just then, a tiny fish fell out of her pocket. Oops. You lied to me! The crab man shouted. His daughter rolled her eyes. It's no big deal. Nothing bad happened. You're lucky you weren't taken by the monster. There is no monster. She shot back. But then she thought about the eyes at the bottom of the lake and...
She was not sure. The crab man went on. I was worried sick. I delayed going out on the lake. And I have to catch twice as many crabs today. The crab man's daughter paused. Confused. Why? Why? Don't you ever think about anyone but yourself? Today is Tribute Day. The King is coming, just as he comes every year to take our tribute of fish. And if I don't catch enough crabs for the tribute, the King can take whatever he wants from us as a tribute instead. Our home, my fishing nets,
Anything! The crabman's daughter had forgotten about Tribute Day. She hung her head in shame. I'm sorry, father. But father crabbly collected his nets and marched off to the lake. Craverly. It's hilarious because he's a crab fisher. I'm glad you think that's hilarious. That day, however, something happened that had never happened before. The crab man...
didn't catch a single crab. The troutman didn't catch one trout. The bassman, not one bass. The flounderman, not one flounder. As far as the fisherman could tell, There was not a single fish in the lake to be caught. Later that evening, the crab man and his daughter gathered in the town square with all the other families of the town, waiting for the king.
to arrive. You cursed us, hissed the crab man at his daughter. You swam in the lake and cursed us all. What will we offer to the king as tribute now? So... He's just blaming it all on his daughter that he didn't catch fish. Good point. Could just be that he's incompetent. Could just be that he's incompetent. Incompetence. Just then, the king and his followers clattered into the square. The king rode in a carriage drawn by four enormous horses, and his men rode on great steeds all around him.
The king got down from his carriage and announced, It is now time for the village by the lake to offer their tribute. The king's men held out their baskets, expecting fish. They waited. And waited. And none of the fishermen had anything to offer them. Nothing? The king asked in disbelief. Not a flounder? Not a single crab? The fishermen hung their heads and glowered at their daughters out of the corners of their eyes. The king followed their gazes and said, Very well.
Then I will take one of your daughters as my wife. Oh, no, no, no, oh, no, no. Just knew it, it will happen. The king turned and pointed at the daughters of the fishermen. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. And who do you think his finger landed on? Crabman's daughter. The crabman's daughter. That's right. The crabman's daughter.
The crab man's daughter cried. No! And the crab man cried. Yes! This is a good thing. You're going to be queen. I'm going to be sick. I'm going to be sick. But the crab man said. Well, you can throw up after the wedding. The crab man turned to the king. She would be honored to marry you. No, I wouldn't, cried the crab man's daughter. Her father pleaded with her. Oh, please be sensible.
You didn't want to be a fisherman's wife. Now you don't have to be. You get to be queen. She doesn't want to be a wife. Did you just hear her? She's like, I will puke. I will be like... Let me help you. Let me help you. I will make the king puke. Then I will make your father puke. Then they will go and join the puke club. I would just be like, I'd rather marry one of those dead crabs than marry him. The crab man's daughter shouted, I won't marry him! And she took off running.
toward the lake. Everyone watched in astonishment as she dove in and disappeared beneath the water. The crab man's daughter swam deeper than she had the night before. She swam toward those glowing, glittering eyes. She swam, and she swam, holding her breath for so long that everyone ashore was certain she had drowned.
After many minutes, she finally resurfaced on the other end of the lake. She took her time swimming back to the shore. And when she finally came out of the water, she was holding two of the largest crabs anyone had ever seen. She threw one crab at her father, and one at the king, and she said, There! Now you have your tribute! Everyone was astonished. But the king said, Well, that was my crab tribute.
But what about all the other fish? The troutman pushed his daughter toward the king. Here, she'll be your queen. Right, sweetie? No. No. The troutman's daughter looked between her father and the king. Suddenly, she went sprinting toward the lake. She jumped into the water and came out holding two giant trout. Then the bassman's daughter did the same, and the flounderman's daughter too. All the fishermen's daughters did.
And at last, the king had to take these tributes and leave the village without a wife. Bam! Boom! Take that evil king! Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run, and grow your business with easy, customizable themes that let you build your brand. Marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.
Did you know that you can listen to Grim Grimmer Grimmest without any ads interrupting the story? Just subscribe to Pinna. Not only will you get to hear me tell these fairy tales straight through the way I tell them to kids, you get access to tons of other awesome original shows and audiobooks all ad-free. Subscribe to PINNA at PINNA.FM. That's P-I-N-N-A dot F-M. And use code GRIM with two M's to get 30% off an annual subscription. And remember, it's not a Smurf.
For the next 12 months, the only people in the town who could catch fish were the young women. And not in their father's boats, either. Neither net nor rod could catch a fish. Only the young women, swimming freely in the lake, could bring back supper for their families. Word spread around the kingdom, and soon people traveled from far and wide to watch the young women catch fish in the small town by the big lake.
They were a marvel. Wow, look at all the fish they're catching. They were famous. I came all the way from two villages over to see this. And they were proud. None was as proud as the crab man's daughter. She was helping, she was working, and she was swimming. And her father, who didn't have to sweat in his little crab boat with his net in his traps, well... he wasn't quite so crabby anymore. It's still hilarious. A year passed, and the king returned to the village once again for tribute day.
The fishermen were ready. Their daughters had caught a huge pile of fish to give to the king. But this time, he didn't want fish. I hate this dude. This time... He had brought kings from many other kingdoms with him. They'd all heard about the marvelous young women of the little town by the big lake, and they all wanted to take one as a wife. Excuse me.
Girls are not just toys. Girls are not toys. They're living beings. You can't just take one and claim them at their waist. We are not items. We are women and we are terrifying. So be afraid. Yeah. The king announced, You all get to be queens. The crab man's daughter shouted, You can't do that! We've offered you fish! I can do that. I'm the king. I can do whatever I want. The king went on. Besides, I'm no fool.
You know what they say. Get a fish's tribute, eat for a night. Marry a fisherman's daughter, eat for a lifetime. The crabman turned to his daughter. Are you sure you don't want to be a queen? It could be good for you, and for the town. His daughter replied, I don't want to be a queen. She turned to the other daughters. Do you? Each daughter shook her head. No. The king said, Well, I'm afraid you don't have a choice.
The king's soldiers hurried forward and tied ropes around each young woman. The fishermen and their wives shouted protests and wrung their hands with worry. The king's men had drawn their weapons, and there was nothing they could do. could do about it a great ceremony was organized right there by the lake where all the kings would marry their new queens at once The young women were given wedding gowns and veils and flowers to carry. There was even a band.
At sunset, the band played Here Comes the Bride, but it sounded very slow and mournful to all the people of the town. Beneath their veils, the fishermen's daughters were all crying. But there was nothing anyone could do. What do you guys think of this wedding ceremony? Terrible. Yeah. I hate it. They're so stupid and mean.
I hope if the monster is real in this fairy style, I hope it just comes up and eats them all. As the crab man's daughter was brought before the king, the king smiled, lifted his bride's veil, and... He screamed. The other kings lifted their bride's veils as well. Each and every one of the fisherman's daughters had scales on their faces.
The scales made rivers down the sides of their noses and down their cheeks, rivers that seemed to follow the tracks of their tears. And as their tears fell, the scales spread across their faces. And then... Something really terrifying happened. Strange cuts seemed to open on the young women's necks. But they weren't cuts. They're getting gills. They were gills. All the kings began to scream and shout. For a moment, there was madness. Pandemonium.
But then the king regained control. Silence! And he declared, These fish women must be... Killed. Killed. Not just killed. Roasted. Like fish! A great bonfire was built out of old driftwood, and the young women were tied to spits like fish to be roasted for dinner and were put over the fire. And the fishermen and their wives wept for their daughters. And the crab man cried the hardest. Crying won't do anything. You can just revolution.
The bonfire was lit, and the flames roared up around the young women. The fishermen and their wives and daughters all cried for mercy. But the king wouldn't listen. He just watched as the sky turned orange from the flames and black from the smoke. The only one from the village who did not cry was the crab man's daughter. She just looked at the lake and waited. The flames began to roast the young women's scales and singe their hair, which was now the color of sea foam, when suddenly...
The big sea monster. The earth began to rumble and tall waves rose up from the lake. and an enormous sea-green mermaid head with eyes that glittered like stars emerge from the water. As she rose, waves came crashing out of the lake, over the shore, and onto the bonfire, extinguishing the flames. What is that thing? The monster! The crab man's daughter gazed at the river because she wanted the mermaid to come.
Maybe so. And then the king and his men and all the other kings and all the townspeople watched in awe as the enormous mermaid opened her mouth and a giant bridge of water rose from her throat. and extended straight onto the pyre. The burnt ropes that had held the young women on the spit fell apart. The crabman's daughter gazed up at the enormous mermaid. and then turned to the other young women. She took a deep breath and said, Shall we? The fishermen's daughters nodded. Together.
They all walked onto the bridge of water as if it were made of stone, and they followed the bridge straight into the enormous mermaid's jaws. Then the mermaid closed her mouth. and descended back into the lake. What are you all thinking about? They got eaten! They got eaten? secret base it's their secret base okay so some people think that they got some people think it's their secret base inside the mermaid let's find out well the kings all ran straight out
And they never came back. Not for fish, not for wives. They wouldn't have come back if you dragged them by the mouth with a fish hook. Yay! The people of the village rushed to the edge of the lake, and there... They wept for the young women. There had been a monster in the lake, after all. And the monster had taken the young women. But had it eaten them? Or saved them?
was like inside of her was like the mermaid land or she was just holding her in her mouth and in their mouth and then when they got to the water Wow. So either inside of the mermaid was a mermaid land, or when she got into the water, they all came out. Interesting idea. The fishermen mourned their daughters for many days.
But last, they had to go back out onto their boats to see if they could catch food for their suppers, for they had nothing to eat. As the prows of their boats cut through the surface of the lake, something very surprising happened. The fish began to jump onto the decks of their boats. They were all so confused. What was going on? Just then, all around the boats, the fishermen saw... Their daughter!
Their daughters. Swimming. But now their daughters' faces were covered with blue scales and their hair was sea foam green. They're mermaids. And the crab man's daughter jumped up onto the bow of her father's boat. and flipped her mermaid tail, and she smiled. From then on, the fishermen of the little town by the large lake would go out every day, and they would bring their wives, too.
and their daughters would throw them fish and lean over the bows of their family's boats and talk or even lounge on their decks and bask in the sun. The young women spent the rest of their lives as mermaids, laughing and splashing and playing tag and swimming through the water that looked just like the sparkling, starry night sky. And they lived happily. Ever after. The end. What's the title? And what's the title? Good question. The title of the original story is The Mermaids.
of the mermaid. I didn't want to give away the craziest thing that happens in that story, which is that a giant mermaid comes out of the water and they all walk into her jaws, which is just the most one thing I've ever heard in my life. I never would have guessed that No, no
You're right. I never would have guessed it either. This is definitely a story from Franz Casablan Shriver. It totally is. That is absolutely a Franz Casablan Shriver detail. Super weird. I could not have made that up if I tried. Not a chance. Grim Grimmer Grimmest is a Pinna Original Production. Created, written, and narrated by me, Adam Gidwitz. Author of A Tale, Dark and Grim. Co-written by Ali Horn. Produced and edited by Ilana Milner. Casting by Paula Gammon Wilson.
Voice direction by Alana Milner and Paula Gammon-Wilson. Sound design and mixing by Beat Street NYC. Executive produced by Anne Richards. Production support by Ashley Beecher and Thaddeus Danqua. Characters voiced by Allison Lee Rosenfeld. Michael Crouch, Mike Pollock, Nicholas Corda, and Rob Moreira. Special thanks to all the kids who joined us for our storytelling sessions. You guys are awesome.
The thing that I fought tooth and nail to bring my son into is Dungeons and Dragons. That is the ultimate solution to parenthood. I'm Alexis Ohanian. In my podcast, Business Dad. I'm hoping to open up the conversation about balancing careers and family. I talked to Rainn Wilson. I wanted to learn more about Rainn's advice to play D&D with your kids. Business Dad is available now. So be sure to listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.