The Hare's Bride Fairy Tale

The Hare’s Bride

A hare is eating all the cabbages. A young woman needs to chase him away, but instead the hare asks her to come with him…

The Hare’s Bride is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale about a young woman who needs to chase a hare from the garden. The hare asks her three times to come with him and at last she does. Immediately she is tasked with wedding preparations, but she feels lonely and escapes.

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The Hare’s Bride in 2 Minutes

Complete text The Hare’s Bride

The hare asks the young woman to come with him

Once upon a time a woman and her daughter lived in a pretty garden with cabbages.

A little hare visited it and during the winter time ate all the cabbages.

The mother says to the daughter, “Go into the garden, and chase the hare away.”

The girl says to the little hare, “Sh-sh, hare, you are still eating up all our cabbages.”

Answers the hare, “Come, young woman. Seat yourself on my little hare’s tail. Come with me into my little hare’s hut.”

The girl refuses.

Next day the hare comes again and eats the cabbages. The mother says to the daughter, “Go into the garden, and drive the hare away.”

The girl says to the hare, “Sh-sh, little hare, you are still eating all the cabbages.”

The little hare says, “Young woman, seat yourself on my little hare’s tail. Come with me into my little hare’s hut.”

She refuses.

The third day the hare comes again and eats the cabbages. On this the mother says to the daughter, “Go into the garden, and hunt the hare away.”

The girl says, “Sh-sh, little hare, you are still eating all our cabbages.”

Says the little hare, “Come, young woman, seat yourself on my little hare’s tail. Come with me into my little hare’s hut.”

The girl seats herself on the little hare’s tail. The hare takes her far away to his little hut and says, “Now cook green cabbage and millet seed, and I will invite the wedding guests.”

The girl needs to prepare for the wedding

All the wedding guests assembled. (Who were the wedding guests?)

That I can tell you as another told it to me. They were all hares. The crow was there as parson to marry the bride and bridegroom. The fox was there as clerk. The altar was under the rainbow.

The girl was sad, for she was all alone. The little hare comes and says, “Open the doors, open the doors, the wedding guests are enjoying here.”

The bride says nothing, but weeps. The little hare goes away. The little hare comes back and says, “Take off the lid, take off the lid, the wedding guests are hungry.”

The bride again says nothing, and weeps. The little hare goes away. The little hare comes back and says, “Take off the lid, take off the lid, the wedding guests are waiting.”

The bride says nothing. The hare goes away. She dresses a straw doll in her clothes, gives her a spoon to stir with, sets her by the pan with the millet seed, and goes back to her mother.

The little hare comes once more and says, “Take off the lid, take off the lid.” He gets up and strikes the doll on the head so that her cap falls off.

Then the little hare sees that it is not his bride. He goes away, full of sorrow.

Tips for Telling The Hare’s Bride

Storyteller Rudolf Roos
  • So what is the meaning of this fairy tale? Better said, what is this fairy tale about for you? You don’t need to tell it, but is does not hurt to think a little about it.
  • How does this home of the hare look? If you don’t have an image it’s hard for your listeners to imagine. It can help to make a rough sketch.
  • Millet is not so well known, you can always change this to more contemporary food preparations for a wedding.
A reading of The Hare’s Bride

All Questions Answered

Who wrote the story The Hare’s Bride?

This fairy tale was published by the Brothers Grimm in the second edition of their Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Source: a letter from Georg Friedrich Fallenstein who heard it from a farmer near Buckow.

When was The Hare’s Bride written?

The Brothers Grimm included it in the 1819 second edition of their Grimm’s fairy tales.

Is there another name for the fairy tale ‘The Hare’s Bride’?

The fairy tale The Hare’s Bride is also known as “The Rabbit’s Bride”.

More useful information

Fairy tales with a crow

Fairy tales with a fox

Fairy tales with a hare

Photo credits: Mike Lewinski on Unsplash

The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales on this website are based on the authentic translation of Margaret Hunt. They were edited and reformatted for pleasant reading and telling by Storyteller Rudolf Roos.
See the complete list of The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales (link to internationalstoryteller.com).