9. Interpretations of Fairy Tales

So he made his preparations. He prepared a large meal from the things he had brought with him. The giants ate and drank until they could eat no more and were out of their minds. But they had made a plan to kill him. He took a pig's bladder, filled it with blood, tied it to his head, and lay down in bed. The giant who was chosen to kill him came and stabbed him, and when the blood flowed out, the giants were very satisfied, for now they were rid of him. And they lay down and slept. Then the tailor got out of bed and killed the sleeping giants one by one. Then he went to the king and told him how he had slain one giant after another. The king kept his word and gave him his daughter in marriage, and the tailor married the king's daughter. The king was very surprised at his son-in-law's strength. But neither the king nor his daughter knew who the stranger really was, whether he was a tailor or a prince. At that time, they did not know. If they have not found out since then, they still do not know today. That is one of the fairy tales we want to look at in principle. But before we go into that, let us look at another one. For if you pick up fairy tales wherever you want, from whatever people you want, and from whatever time you want, fairy tales that are real fairy tales, you will always find that a certain basic set of ideas pulsates through all of them. I would like to point out here that we have already encountered giants who are overcome by cunning. Now jump forward thousands of years and think of Odysseus and the giant Polyphemus in the Odyssey. But let us place another fairy tale alongside this first one.