Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Star-Money

If someone were to ask me which set of fairy tales have inspired me the most, I would likely begin citing the works of L. Frank Baum (Oz) or Garry Kilworth (Welkin Weasels). However, a close third will always be the works of Grimm. There is a treasure trove of wonderful stories hidden in this massive collection. I have read all of them, and I think a good portion of these spotlights will cover them.

Sets of Grimm stories will often follow a certain pattern and relay to the reader a particular moral. Although a bit too long to be called fables, many of them still seem to feel like fables. "The Star-Money" is a good example of a fable-like Grimm story. It is still brief, taking up only about a page. (True fables usually only run a paragraph.)

Here is the synopsis:

A young girl who is not named in the story becomes an orphan after her mother and father die. She was not a wealthy girl and soon finds herself without a home or a bed to sleep on. Her only possessions are the clothes on her back and a bit of bread in hand. The story notes that the only reason she had bread was because someone, having pity on her, gave it to her. It is also noted that this girl is good and pious and, although forsaken by the world, goes forth into the open country trusting in God.

Along her journey, she comes across an poor man who is very hungry. Although hungry herself, she gives the man her bread and asks God to bless him. Further on, she encounters a child who has a cold. The girl gives the child her hood in hopes that it may benefit him. Not long after that, a similar event occurs with another child, and so the girl gives that one her frock.

The girl then enters into a dark forest as it becomes night. She encounters a third child who begs for a shirt. The problem here is that, if the girl gives up her shirt, she will be naked which is indecent behavior even for a beggar such as herself. However, she rationalizes that no one will see her with it being so dark and thusly parts with her shirt anyways.

At this point, the girl has nothing at all and is left naked in the middle of the night. Suddenly, some stars fall from the sky and land at her feet. She finds them and sees they have been transformed into pieces of money. A moment after she realizes this, she soon discovers that she is wearing a new shirt made of the finest linen. The girl takes up the money and is rich all the days of her life. So ends the tale.

This story somewhat reminds me of the book of Job from the Bible. The difference here is that the girl's problems seem circumstantial rather than purposely laid upon her. Nevertheless, her integrity as a human being is tested and ultimately she is proven an honorable person and thereafter rewarded for it.

Now, I have a few concerns that I want you to consider. You will noticed that she had an unusual number of encounters of people wishing to take some very precious items from her. The children all seemed to be begging, but the poor man seemed to passively catch the girl's attention. My suspicion is that the girl was visited by a supernatural entity (perhaps related to God) in the form of a child. This entity targeted the girl after she had a very real encounter with the poor man. This was to see how far she would go.

Another theory is simply that the poor man and the three children were one and the same. If this is the case then I also suspect that the child's parents may have dropped dead from the same entity. This, of course, would put the morality of the entity into question. I greatly lean towards the former explanation of a chance encounter with a legitimate poor man.

The stars turning into money is fascinating. It is a very visible description. Anyone can imagine stars falling to one's feet and becoming money. There is also the grand moment of realizing she is dressed in fine clothing a moment after seeing the money. This is especially lovely because she realizes that her deeds have led to great reward. She basically got what she deserved which is something that does not often happen in a cynical world. Fairy tales often break the rules of cynicism and reward people for being genuinely good. And we can learn from this.

My greatest pleasure of this story is simply that she was ultimately taken care of for who she was and not what she was. Keep in mind that she was tested even though she was a beggar. This means that if she had failed the test, she would have been left a beggar and likely died as a result of it. Some may find that cruel, but being homeless and unloved does not make a person worthy of great things. A rich man can be just as good or evil as a homeless man. God would not have spared his judgement on the girl simply based on her social standing. Social standing is meaningless to God. He expects people to be good no matter who they are and "The Star-Money" is a good way of showing this truth.

On one final note, I believe the entity testing the girl was an angel. The angel was sent by God with specific instructions. The instructions were carried out simply and perfectly. But you may disagree. I'd like to hear what you think on the matter. I welcome discussion.

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