St. Joseph in the Forest (German: Der heilige Joseph im Walde) is a fairy tale collected by The Brothers Grimm.
A mother has three daughters, with the eldest being rude and mean, the middle one being much better (but not perfect), and the youngest a pious and good child. She loves her eldest daughter, but hates her youngest daughter and often sends her into the forest, hoping she will get lost and die.
On one of those occasions, the youngest comes across a cottage in the woods, which is the home of St. Joseph. He welcomes her in, but says that he only has a couple of roots for food, which she must scrape and cook first. When she is finished cooking them into a soup, he asks for a portion of it. She readily gives him the largest portion. When it is time to sleep, he offers to sleep in the hard straw and let her have his feather bed. She says that the straw will be soft enough for her, but he carries her to the bed anyway, while she falls asleep. In the morning, she finds a large sack of gold with her name on it, which she brings home.
The middle daughter wishes to try her luck, and enters the forest. She finds St. Joseph's cottage, and he welcomes her in. When she is finished cooking the roots into a soup, he asks for a portion, and she gives half to him. When he offers to let her sleep in his bed, she tells him to share the bed with her because there is enough room, but again, he carries her to the bed, and she falls asleep. In the morning, she finds a small bag of gold, which she brings home to her mother while keeping two pieces for herself.
Now, the eldest daughter wishes to try. At St. Joseph's cottage, when asked for some of her food, she eats almost all of it, while he has to scrape the bottom of the plate. When offered the bed, she takes it without hesitation and lets him sleep in the straw. In the morning, she looks for the gold, but sees something on the ground that she cannot identify. She bends down to look at it, and it turns out to be a second nose that sticks on to the end of her nose, which she cannot remove. She runs out of the cottage and comes across St. Joseph again, and cries and begs for him to remove it; he does, and gives her two farthings out of pity.
When she gets home, her mother asks her what she received. "A great sack full of money," she says, "but I lost it." The mother goes out with her to find it, but on the way, they are attacked by lizards and snakes. The eldest daughter is stung and bitten to death, while the mother is stung in the foot because she did not raise her child better.
"St. Joseph in the Forest" contains examples of:
- Adapted Out: Some versions leave out the middle daughter.
- Agony of the Feet: The mother is stung in the foot by snakes and lizards, as punishment for raising her eldest child so badly.
- Death of a Child: The eldest daughter is bitten to death by lizards and snakes.
- Greed: After seeing her two younger sisters come home with money that they got from St. Joseph, the eldest daughter desires to try it herself.
- Informed Flaw: The middle daughter is said to have "had her flaws", although nothing she does in the story demonstrates this. Granted, she's not super generous like her younger sister, but she isn't selfish eaither, and had every right to want to share things equally with St. Joseph, instead of letting him take his lions share of the food.
- Karmic Death: After coming home, the eldest daughter lies to her mother that she got a big bag of money, but lost it on the way. The mother takes her out to search for it, and along the way, the eldest daughter gets stung to death by lizards and snakes.
- Nasal Trauma: For being so rude to St. Joseph, the eldest daughter gets a second nose stuck to her own nose, which she cannot remove no matter how hard she tries.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Three sisters, one at a time, enter the woods and discover the cottage of St. Joseph. He lets them stay for a night, asks for a portion of their food, and offers to let them sleep in his feather bed while he sleeps in the hard straw.
- The youngest child (nice) gives him the biggest portion of food despite not having much to begin with, says she will be fine with sleeping in the straw, and gets a big sack of money, which she brings home to her mother.
- The middle child (in-between) shares the food equally with St. Joseph, offers to share the bed with him, and gets a small bag of money, about as long as her hand. She brings it to her mother, but secretly keeps two coins for herself.
- The oldest child (mean) eats almost all the food despite having more than enough to share, readily sleeps in the bed while letting St. Joseph sleep in the straw, and gets stung to death by lizards and snakes.
- Poverty Food: When letting each of the girls stay at his cottage, St. Joseph explains that he only has a few little roots for food, which they must scrape and cook into soup.
- Secret Test of Character: When each of the daughters stays at St. Joseph's cottage, he tests their selflessness by asking for a portion of their food and offering to let them sleep in his featherbed while he sleeps in the straw. The youngest daughter gives him more of the soup than she eats herself and chooses the straw to sleep in so he will be more comfortable (but he carries her to the featherbed anyway). The middle daughter gives him half of the soup and offers to share the featherbed with him (but also gets carried to the featherbed). The eldest daughter eats nearly all the food and only leaves him a little, and takes the featherbed without hesitating.
- Soup of Poverty: The only food St. Joseph has to offer each of the girls is a few small roots, which they must make into soup.
- Spoiled Brat: The mean eldest daughter, who is doted on by her mother. When she wants to go into the forest, her mother gives her many pancakes to take with her, and even bread and cheese.
- Villainous Glutton: When the eldest daughter goes out into the woods, her mother gives her as many pancakes as she wants for the journey, along with some bread and cheese. Even so, she hardly shares any of it with St. Joseph when he asks, eating almost everything and only leaving him the scrapings.
- The Unfavorite: The mother favors her eldest daughter while hating her youngest daughter, and often sends her into the woods, hoping she will get lost and die there.
- Youngest Child Wins: The youngest daughter is the nicest to St. Joseph, and gets a big bag full of money to take home.
