Reading Notes: Lang's European Fairy Tales I Part A

Woods Nymphs from Wikimedia

The Young Man Who Would Have His Eyes Opened

• A boy who was only happy when he had superior knowledge, basically
• Can talk to birds and beasts
• Much happens at night that humans don't see
• Keeps looking for a wizard to open his eyes to the unseeable
• One wizard warns him that this knowledge is useless and will only bring him pain
• One every 7 years, a serpent king hosts a feast. The boy must dip some bread in the serpent king's goat milk and eat it. This will open his eyes.
• Successfully does this, but has a weird and violent dream. Now that he has awoken, he wants to go check out his new.. night vision so to speak.
• He watched wood nymphs.
• He was only able to see them that one night, which made him sick for longing to see them again.
• "Blindness is man's highest good."

Bibliography

The Young Man Who Would Have His Eyes Opened from Lang's European Fairy Tales I