Our Lady's Little Glass

KHM 207

Our lady's little glass

This is the Brothers Grimm version of the story and translated into English by Margarate Hunt.

The approximate narration time is 1 minute

Once upon a time a waggoner's cart which was heavily laden with wine had stuck so fast that in spite of all that he could do, he could not get it to move again. Then it chanced that Our Lady just happened to come by that way, and when she perceived the poor man's distress, she said to him, "I am tired and thirsty, give me a glass of wine, and I will set thy cart free for thee."

"Willingly," answered the waggoner, "but I have no glass in which I can give thee the wine." Then Our Lady plucked a little white flower with red stripes, called field bindweed, which looks very like a glass, and gave it to the waggoner. He filled it with wine, and then Our Lady drank it, and in the self-same instant the cart was set free, and the waggoner could drive onwards. The little flower is still always called Our Lady's Little Glass.

KHM: Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales)

Our Lady: the mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary

field bindweed: Convolvulus arvensis, closely related to, resembling, and sometimes called 'Morning Glory'; a pervasive plant and often considered a weed