“The Nose Tree.” German Popular Tales, Vol. 61. Brothers Grimm, edited by Edgar Taylor, London: Chatto and Windus, 1868, pp. 256-264.

Tale Summary

Three brothers all camp together, and a small dwarf comes and finds them. As they change watch throughout the night to get enough sleep the dwarf continues to return and grant them each a magical gift. To the first brother, he gives a cloak that grants wishes; to the second brother, he gives a purse that is always full of gold, and to the third brother he gives a horn that always sounds perfect.

Then an evil princess discovers their powerful magical gifts and decides that she wants them. She takes the purse outright and is clever enough to outsmart the brothers and steal the cloak and the horn. The brothers decide that without their magical tools they stand no chance to get their things back. Then the brothers all part ways and go about life as normal. 

The second brother finds a tree that has magical apples that, when eaten, make his nose grow miles long. His brothers encounter his enormous nose in the woods, and decide to follow it to its owner, who they find is their brother. There they encounter the same dwarf from before who tells them all that “whoever eats one of the apples will have his nose grow like yours just now; but if you give him a pear, all will [be] right again.” Then the dwarf recommends that the brothers take some of each of the fruits in order to seek revenge on the princess who stole their things. One of the brothers takes the fruits and sells them to the king’s court, where they are eventually eaten by the princess. Her nose grows to an enormous size, and the king seeks a cure for her: when he does the same brother comes to aid with the pear! And in secret, he tells her ‘If you don’t give back our things I will never cure you.” Immediately her nose is also fixed and changed for the better. From then on, the brothers decide to live happily ever after at home and never venture too far away from their abode again.