Jacob Grimm 1785-1863 and his brother Wilhelm 1786-1859 were philologists and folklorists. The brothers rediscovered a host of fairy tales, telling of princes and princesses in their castles, witches in their towers and forests, of giants and dwarfs, of fabulous animals and dark deeds. Together with the well-known tales of ''Rapunzel'', ''The Goose Girl'', Sleeping Beauty'', ''Hansel and Gretel'' and ''Snow White'', there are the darker tales such as ''Death''s Messengers'' which deserve to be better known, and which will appeal not only to all who are interested in the history of folklore, but also to all those who simply love good story-telling.
雅各布·格林和威廉·格林兄弟是德国著名的语言学家,童话作家。他们搜集和编辑的《儿童与家庭童话集》,在全世界享有盛名,在我国通称为《格林童话》。《格林童话》是世界儿童文学的宝贵财富,她与《安徒生童话》《一千零一夜》并称为“世界三大儿童文学经典”。《格林童话》已被翻译成140种文字,在世界各国广泛传播,成为仅次于《圣经》的深受成人和儿童欢迎的德语作品。
2005年,联合国教科文组织把德语版的《格林童话》列为世界文化遗产,称赞它是“欧洲和东方童话传统的划时代汇编作品”。
關於作者:
When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm set out to collect stories in the early 1800s, their goal was not to entertain children but to preserve Germanic folklore and the hard life of European peasants was reflected in the tales they discovered. However, once the brothers saw how the stories entranced young readers, they began softening some of the harsher aspects to make them more suitable for children.