Grimms' Fairy Tales The Three Languages Summary

Summary

An aged count in Switzerland struggles with his only son, who appears unable to learn. Hoping schooling will help, the father sends him successively to three masters for a year each. On returning from the first master the youth reports he has learned what dogs say when they bark; from the second, what the birds say; and from the third, what the frogs croak. Each answer enrages the father more until, after the third return, the count disowns the son and orders him taken into the forest and killed. The men charged with the deed spare him out of pity and bring back the eyes and tongue of a deer as a false token of death.

The youth wanders until he reaches a fortress whose old tower is infested with wild dogs that devour a man at certain hours. He asks to be allowed to spend the night among them and, because he understands dogs, gains their trust and learns they guard a bewitched treasure beneath the tower. Telling the lord of the castle how to free the treasure, he retrieves a chest of gold and the dogs vanish, ending the region's terror. Later he travels to Rome, hears croaking frogs in a marsh and remembers their speech; arriving as the cardinals debate a new pope, two snow-white doves settle on his shoulders—a divinely recognized sign. Though he cannot sing mass, the doves whisper the words into his ears and he is consecrated Pope, fulfilling the frogs' portent.

The story follows the son's low starting point through a sequence of small, peculiar apprenticeships to eventual public and spiritual elevation. Episodes move from family drama to folkloric tests and finally to ecclesiastical recognition, each stage driven by the son's odd gift for animal languages. The narrative emphasizes pity, providence, and the reversal of social expectations through humble talents that appear useless but prove decisive.

Key events

1. Father sends the slow son to three masters; each year the son returns having learned an animal language.
2. After the third return the father orders his son killed; servants spare him and present deer parts as proof.
3. The son reaches a fortress tower haunted by barking wild dogs and offers to sleep among them.
4. Understanding the dogs, he learns they guard a bewitched treasure and retrieves a chest of gold, freeing the region.
5. While traveling to Rome he recalls the frogs' speech; two doves land on him at a papal vacancy.
6. Cardinals accept the doves' token; the son becomes Pope with the doves whispering the mass to him.

Analysis

This tale compresses a rise-from-exile arc into a compact fairy-tale sequence that rewards an unlikely, marginalized protagonist. The son's apparent stupidity becomes the narrative's organizing irony: what his father calls failure (learning animal talk) is actually an uncanny competence that solves social ills and secures divine favor. The story treats languages of animals as secret knowledge that reveals hidden causes (the bewitched treasure) and foretells destiny (the frogs' prophecy). The motif of worthless-seeming gifts proving crucial is common in Grimm tales; here it undercuts patriarchal authority—fatherly judgment is vindictive and shortsighted while the son's humility and curiosity yield communal benefits.

Structurally the tale advances by episodic testing rather than psychological depth; each episode isolates a moral: mercy saves the youth, understanding heals curses, and humility accompanies spiritual elevation. The two snow-white doves function as both symbol (divine endorsement) and practical aid (uttering the mass), blending miracle with folk logic. The narrative voice is matter-of-fact, offering little interiority but clear causal links; this technique foregrounds plot mechanics and moral outcomes over character introspection. Foreshadowing appears when the frogs’ croaking deeply moves the youth, preparing the later papal recognition; likewise, the servants’ pity prefigures the son's eventual salvation. Overall, the tale interrogates what counts as education and wisdom, privileging empathy and an open ear over formal learning.

Important quotes

“‘Father, I have learnt what the dogs say when they bark.’”

his only sonThe son's first report after a year with the first master, provoking his father's dismay.

“‘This man is no longer my son, I drive him forth, and command you to take him out into the forest, and kill him.’”

an aged countThe father's furious repudiation after the son returns having learned the frogs' language.

Characters in The Three Languages

• an aged count
• his only son
• the first master
• the second master
• the third master
• the lord of the castle
• the men who were to kill him
• wild dogs
• the cardinals
• two snow-white doves
• the Pope (deceased)