The Changeling
Introduction
'The Changeling' is the 39th tale in Grimm, and it is really one of three short 'elf legends' the Brothers Grimm gathered under a single number — the first being the beloved 'Elves and the Shoemaker,' the second 'The Elves and the Servant Girl,' and this the third. Unlike a fairy tale with a complete plot, it reads more like a folk belief preserved intact: a few sentences, no rising and falling action, yet it records the 'changeling' lore (in German, Wechselbalg) that circulated in Europe for centuries — that elves would steal a healthy baby from the cradle when no one was looking and leave behind a big-headed creature that did nothing but eat, drink, and wail. The mother's method of dealing with it is delightful: no beating, no scolding, but 'boiling water in two eggshells' right before its eyes — and it is this utterly absurd act that makes the ancient imp, who claims to be 'as old as the Wester forest,' forget himself, burst out laughing, and so give himself away. This motif of 'testing a changeling by brewing in eggshells' recurs across British, Irish, and German folk tales as the classic homespun way to unmask one. Read it not for a grand moral, but as a little window pushed open onto how people centuries ago used imagination to explain a world they did not understand.
Vocabulary from "The Changeling"
12 key words from this story with definitions and original context sentences for language learners.
In folklore, a strange child secretly left by elves in place of a stolen human baby.
（民间传说中）精灵偷走人类婴儿后留下的替换儿；换生灵。
A certain mother's child had been taken away out of its cradle by the elves, and a changeling with a large head and staring eyes laid in its place.
一位母亲的孩子被小精灵从摇篮里偷走了，取而代之的是一个大头、瞪着双眼的换生灵。
A small bed for a baby, often one that can be rocked.
摇篮。
A certain mother's child had been taken away out of its cradle by the elves.
一位母亲的孩子被小精灵从摇篮里偷走了。
Looking fixedly with wide-open eyes.
瞪着的；直勾勾盯着的。
A changeling with a large head and staring eyes, which would do nothing but eat and drink, laid in its place.
取而代之的是一个大头、瞪着双眼的换生灵，这个怪物除了吃喝之外，什么也不做。
A person who lives near you.
邻居。
In her trouble she went to her neighbour, and asked her advice.
在困境中，她去找邻居寻求建议。
An opinion offered about what someone should do.
建议；忠告。
In her trouble she went to her neighbour, and asked her advice.
在困境中，她去找邻居寻求建议。
The floor of a fireplace, and the area in front of it.
壁炉；炉床。
She was to carry the changeling into the kitchen, set it down on the hearth, light a fire, and boil some water in two egg-shells.
她应该把换生灵带到厨房，放在炉床边，升起火，然后用两个蛋壳烧水。
To heat a liquid until it bubbles.
煮沸；烧开。
Light a fire, and boil some water in two egg-shells, which would make the changeling laugh.
升起火，然后用两个蛋壳烧水，这样会逗笑换生灵。
The hard outer coverings of eggs.
蛋壳。
When she put the egg-shells with water on the fire, the imp said, "I am as old now as the Wester forest."
当她把装着水的蛋壳放在火上时，那个小怪物开口说道："我活得和西林一样久。"
A small, mischievous devil or magical creature.
小恶魔；小妖精。
The imp said, "I am as old now as the Wester forest, but never yet have I seen any one boil anything in an egg-shell!"
那个小怪物说道："我活得和西林一样久，却从未见过有人用蛋壳烧东西！"
Told or ordered someone to do something (past tense of bid).
吩咐；命令（bid 的过去式）。
The woman did everything that her neighbour bade her.
妇人照着邻居的话做了一切。
Small magical creatures in folk tales, often mischievous.
小精灵；小矮人。
Whilst he was laughing, suddenly came a host of little elves, who brought the right child.
就在他大笑的时候，突然出现了一群小精灵，他们带回了原本的孩子。
A very large number of people or things.
一大群；许多。
Suddenly came a host of little elves, who brought the right child, set it down on the hearth, and took the changeling away with them.
突然出现了一群小精灵，他们带回了原本的孩子，放在炉床上，并把那个换生灵带走了。
Reading Together & Learning More
The Moral
This is a very short folk 'legend' that preserves an old imagining more than it teaches a lesson. If there is wisdom tucked inside it, it is this: faced with a problem that seems to have no solution, meeting it head-on often fails, while an unexpected angle can break it open — the mother does not beat or scold the strange creature, but uses an act as absurd as 'boiling water in eggshells' to make it laugh and give itself away. Sometimes a little cleverness and humour work better than brute force.
Educational Value
Good for talking with children about solving problems with wit: the mother relies not on strength but on an odd little trick (boiling water in eggshells) that strikes the creature as so absurd it can't help laughing — and so gives itself away. It's also a chance to meet the genre of 'legend,' which, unlike an ordinary fairy tale with a full plot arc, is an old way ordinary people imagined an explanation for 'things they couldn't understand.' The question of 'why does an absurd act make it laugh?' is itself a fine thing to puzzle over.
Tips for Parents
Background for parents: the 'changeling' is a folk belief that circulated in Europe for centuries — people believed elves would steal a healthy baby from the cradle and leave a big-headed substitute that only ate and cried constantly. Historians today understand this belief as a (heartbreaking) 'explanation' that people of the past invented when they could not understand why some infants were sick, slow to develop, or born with conditions. So when reading it to a child, keep the focus on the warmth and cleverness of 'a mother using her wits to win her child back.' If an older child asks 'what is a changeling?', it's a gentle opening to talk about how people long ago, lacking medicine, used imagination to explain what they didn't understand — and how today we know that every child, whether ill or different or not, deserves to be loved.
Talk About It
- The mother doesn't beat or scold the creature, but boils water in eggshells right in front of it. Why do you think she does something so strange?
- The changeling claims to be 'as old as the Wester forest,' yet has never seen anyone boil water in eggshells. Why does the very fact that it's 'seen so much' make it laugh at something so absurd?
- The story is very short, with almost no plot — more like 'a legend the old folk believed.' What other old tales have you heard that are 'told by grown-ups but hard to know if true'?
- If the elves had not brought the real child back, do you think this mother would have thought of another plan?
- When you meet a problem that seems to have no solution, 'looking at it from a strange new angle' sometimes works. Can you think of an example from your own life?
