The Crabman's Daughter (Adam's Secrets Version)

Pina! Hi. To celebrate the new season of Grimm Grimmer Grimmest, I am uploading another Adam's Secrets episode. This is an episode that we put out a couple of years ago, but I re-listened to and sort of took a walk down memory lane remembering how it was recorded, the experience of recording it and some little tidbits about the story and the experience of making this episode. So enjoy this episode and at the end stay tuned for a little director's cut walk down memory lane with me. And don't forget season 5 is going wide on September 18th and if you want to get it ahead of time or you want to hear all the episodes without ads you can subscribe at pinna.fm and use code GRIM with two M's for a discount. I hope you enjoy the episode. Hi, my name is Adam Gidwitz. I'm an author. I'm also a storyteller. I like telling all kinds of stories, but I especially like telling Grimm fairy tales. You may think you know Grimm fairy tales and you may think that they are sweet and boring. But listen, those tales you heard were the cute, happy little kid bedtime versions of the Grimm tales. The original Grimm fairy tales aren't like that at all. They're weird and sometimes gross and often scary. In other words, they're Grimm and I'm about to host a virtual storytelling session until one of the original Grimm Grimm tales to a bunch of kids. Do you want to join me? Do you want to hear a Grimm fairy tale? I don't know if you said yes or no because I can't hear you, so let me help you decide. On a scale of Grimm, Grimmer and Grimmest, this story is Grimmer. There is fear and there is evil and there is a whole lot of weird. If I get to a part of the story and you start to feel scared or uncomfortable, this is what you could do. You could turn down the volume and count to five, then turn the volume back up. If it still seems like a part you don't want to hear, turn it down and count to five again. You know how much weird and gross and scary you're ready for. You know what you need. Okay, I'm about to join the session. There are kids inside waiting to hear a Grimm fairy tale. So, are you coming in? Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest. All right, everybody. I think we should start the story. This is, I promise you, a very, very weird story. Yay! Ooh! And it's by Franz Xaver von Schöhnwurt. Franz Xaver von Schöhnwurt? It is indeed based on a story by Franz Xaver von Schöhnwurt. Yay! Wait, can I try it? Yes. Can I try it? Go ahead. Franz Xav... Franz Xav von Schöhnwurt. Beautiful! All right, well, this is a story by that guy, however you say his name. Once upon a time, there was a little town by a large lake. The men who lived in the town made their living by fishing, while their wives and daughters did the chores at home. Some of the men fished for trout, some fished for bass, some fished for flounder, and some fished for crab. No one around the big lake had much money because there weren't all them any fish in the lake, and there were no other jobs in the town. So they made do with what they had, and were grateful for whatever the lake provided. Did they fish for hamsters? No, no they didn't. There were no hamsters in the lake. Hamster? They should have. There is a story that we did called Hamster from the Water, right? Yeah, I know. That's why I'm asking that. A reasonable question, reasonable question. Now, the crab fisherman, or crabman as he was called, well, he was, in fact, kind of crabby. You see, his wife had passed away many years ago, and he worked hard with his nets and crab trap to eke out a living as a crab man. But most days, he only brought back one big crab for him and his daughter to share for dinner. Daughter, I'm home! Just one crab again today. Daughter, daughter! But while the crab man worked hard all day to catch a single crab, his daughter was not at home like she was supposed to be, doing her chores, taking care of the house. Instead, she was running around, causing trouble, getting her only dress all muddy, playing pranks on people, or sneaking out late at night, and running through the bright and sparkling stars. That's me. That's you? Yes. Why is that like you? I'm always getting dirty and playing in mud. I brought back prod ad remains from the lake today. That's super cool. You seem to have a lot in common with the crab man's daughter. Of all the things the crab man's daughter loved to do, running and playing under the twinkling stars at night was her favorite. But what she really longed to do, more than anything, was to swim in the large lake. Why didn't she? Good question. You see, it was forbidden. No one was allowed to swim in the lake. No one had ever been allowed to swim in the lake for generations and generations. Because... Because the crabs and fish would bite and pinch people and pull them to the bottom of the lake and drown them. Whoa, that got really dark really fast. First I was like, yeah, just fish, fish bite, but then, and they're drowned. Dun dun dun. Any other theories about why they can't swim in the lake? There's a sea monster in the lake. You think there's a sea monster? Just a monster, not a sea monster. Because it's a lake people. It's not a sea. So it would be a lake monster. Lake monster. Okay, lake monster. Well, no one was allowed to swim in the lake because the townspeople believed that there was a monster who lived in it. And anyone who swam in it would be dragged to the bottom and drowned. The monster never bothered the fishermen in their boats, but often the fishermen saw strange, sparkling things beneath the surface of the lake. And when they did, they said it was the teeth of the monster. But the crab man's daughter didn't believe in old stories about monsters. She wanted to swim in the lake. Very much. One evening after a long and very hard day fishing, the crab man sat his daughter down and said, You are of marrying age now. Why can't you be a nice, well-behaved young woman who cooks and sews and chooses one of the fishermen of the village to marry? It's all I've ever wanted for you. The crab man's daughter was furious. What if that's not all I've ever wanted for myself? This guy is horribly sexist. Why? Because he's like, you're a girl, so you have to cook and clean and support him. Very interesting. She's just free spirit, and she just want to go cooking and sewing, and marry someone who always want to spend time with her. Yeah, who wants to marry someone who spends time with you? Yeah, that's boring. But look, there are some people who don't find cooking and sewing boring at all. Some people, that's what they want to do. But the crab man's daughter, it's not what she wants to do. You see, every woman in the town by the big lake was a fisherman's wife, and kept up the home while her husband tried to catch enough food for their supper. But the crab man's daughter didn't want that. She wanted to explore the world, run under the stars, and to swim. More than anything else, she wanted to swim in the big lake. And so, that very evening, she spread word around to the other young women in the town to meet her by the lake at midnight. That night, just before midnight, all the young women in the town crept quietly out of their houses and made their way through the empty streets, down to the edge of the lake. As the stars shone brightly down upon them, the other fisherman's daughters rubbed the goose bumps on their arms and wondered why the crab man's daughter had gathered them there. And then, they found out. The crab man's daughter said, Tonight, we swim. What? Are you crazy? said the trout man's daughter. We can't swim in the lake. said the bass man's daughter. The crab man's daughter scoffed. There's no monster. That's just a story the old folks tell. The flounder man's daughter seemed a bit nervous. Can't we just catch fireflies and call it a night? The crab man's daughter cocked her head, gave the young women a salute, turned her back, and dove into the dark water. The crab man's daughter had never swum before, and yet, she took to the water naturally like she was born to swim. The lake water was deep and dark and silky. It was the perfect temperature, and when she opened her eyes, she felt like she was swimming through the night sky. Stars appeared to twinkle from the depths of the water. She kicked her legs and swam deeper toward the underwater stars. And as she swam, the star-like twinkling at the bottom of the lake seemed to blink. Are those eyes? She thought. Knew it. Unafraid, the crab man's daughter kept swimming toward the glowing lights at the bottom of the lake. Meanwhile, on the shore, the other young women began to worry. Oh, shoebuckles. She drowned. Didn't she? Said the trout man's daughter. Nonsense. The monster got her. Said the bass man's daughter. Her dad is gonna kill us. Said the flounder man's daughter. The young women had nearly broken into tears when suddenly they heard a splash. The crab man's daughter had emerged. She was gliding along the surface of the lake with an easy backstroke. She called to the young women, laughing. Catch any fireflies? The young women looked at one another, scared and thrilled by what the crab man's daughter had done. And one by one, the other young women jumped into the lake. And somehow, despite never having been in the water before, they all swam easily and gracefully. Soon they were doing somersaults and playing water games and laughing gleefully. That is very unfair. What? If they don't know how to swim, they jump in the water, they gracefully glide, and then they're playing, doing somersaults and playing water tag? Yeah. For us, it's boring swim lessons and hard... Yeah. We don't just jump into the water and swim easily. That's a great point. We have to take classes. This is a fairy tale, no complaining. Now, question about that. If you don't know how to swim, should you jump in water? No. No, definitely no. Especially without parents around or like supervisors. What if you do know how to swim and there are no grown-ups around? No. No. Correct. The young women were enjoying themselves so much that they completely lost track of time. Before they knew it, the sky had turned pink and the sun was beginning to rise. Knowing that all their fathers would soon be awake and on their way down to the lake to start their daily fishing, the young women swam to the shore and hurried home. When the crab man's daughter got back to her college, she quietly slipped off her shoes and tiptoed into... Where have you been? The crab man was standing behind the door with his crab net in his hand. His daughter said... Nowhere. Your hair and your clothes are soaking wet. You didn't go swimming in the lake, did you? Of course not, father. Just then, a tiny fish fell out of her pocket. Oops. You lied to me. The crab man shouted. His daughter rolled her eyes. It's no big deal. Nothing bad happened. You're lucky you weren't taken by the monster. There is no monster. She shot back. But then, she thought about the eyes at the bottom of the lake and she was not sure. The crab man went on. I was worried sick. I delayed going out on the lake. And I have to catch twice as many crabs today. The crab man's daughter paused. Confused. Why? Why? Don't you ever think about anyone but yourself? Today is tribute day. The king is coming, just as he comes every year to take our tribute of fish. And if I don't catch enough crabs for the tribute, the king can take whatever he wants from us as a tribute instead. Our home, my fishing nets, anything. The crab man's daughter had forgotten about tribute day. She hung her head in shame. I'm sorry, father. Her father, Crabbley, collected his nets and marched off to the lake. Crabbley is hilarious because he's a crab fisher. I'm glad you think that's hilarious. That day, however, something happened that had never happened before. The crab man didn't catch a single crab. The trout man didn't catch one trout. The bass man, not one bass. The flounder man, not one flounder. As far as the fisherman could tell, there was not a single fish in the lake to be caught. Later that evening, the crab man and his daughter gathered in the town square with all the other families of the town, waiting for the king to arrive. You cursed us. Hissed the crab man at his daughter. You swam in the lake and cursed us all. What will we offer to the king as tribute now? So he's just blaming it all on his daughter that he didn't catch fish? Good point. Could just be that he's incompetent. Could just be that he's incompetent. Incompetent! Just then, the king and his followers clattered into the square. The king rode in a carriage drawn by four enormous horses, and his men rode on great steeds all around him. The king got down from his carriage and announced, It is now time for the village by the lake to offer their tribute. The king's men held out their baskets, expecting fish. They waited and waited, and none of the fishermen had anything to offer them. Nothing! The king asked in disbelief, Not a flounder, not a single crab. The fishermen hung their heads and glowered at their daughters out of the corners of their eyes. The king followed their gazes and said, Very well. Then I will take one of your daughters as my wife. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, just knew it, it will happen. The king turned and pointed at the daughters of the fishermen. E-me, me-me, my-me, mo. And who do you think his finger landed on? Crabman's daughter. The crabman's daughter. That's right, the crabman's daughter. The crabman's daughter cried. No! And the crabman cried. Yes, this is a good thing. You're going to be queen. I'm going to be sick. I'm going to be sick. But the crabman said, Well, you can throw up after the wedding. The crabman turned to the king. She would be honored to marry you. No, I wouldn't. cried the crabman's daughter. Her father pleaded with her. Oh please, be sensible. You didn't want to be a fisherman's wife. Now you don't have to be. You get to be queen. She doesn't want to be a wife. Did you just hear her? She's like, I will puke. I will be like, let me help you. Let me help you. I will make the king puke. Then I will make your father puke. They will go and join the puke club. Yeah, they will. I would just be like, I'd rather marry one of those dead crabs than marry him. The crabman's daughter shouted, I won't marry him. And she took off running toward the lake. Everyone watched in astonishment as she dove in and disappeared beneath the water. The crabman's daughter swam deeper than she had the night before. She swam toward those glowing, glittering eyes. She swam and she swam, holding her breath for so long that everyone ashore was certain she had drowned. After many minutes, she finally resurfaced on the other end of the lake. She took her time swimming back to the shore. And when she finally came out of the water, she was holding two of the largest crabs anyone had ever seen. She threw one crab at her father and one at the king. And she said, There! Now you have your tribute! Everyone back suffered for their families. Words spread around the kingdom and soon people traveled from far and wide to watch the young women catch fish in the small town by the big lake. They were a marvel. Wow! Look at all the fish they're catching! They were famous. I came all the way from two villages over to see this. And they were proud. None was as proud as the crabman's daughter. She was helping, she was working, and she was swimming. And her father, who didn't have to sweat in his little crab boat with his net in his traps, well, he wasn't quite so crabby anymore. It's still hilarious. A year passed and the king returned to the village once again for tribute day. The fisherman were ready. Their daughters had caught a huge pile of fish to give to the king. But this time, he didn't want fish. I need this dude. This time, he had brought kings from many other kingdoms with him. They'd all heard about the marvelous young women of the little town by the big lake. And they all wanted to take one as a wife. Excuse me. Girls are not just toys. Girls are not toys. They're living beings. You can't just take one and claim them at this with. We are not items. We are women and we are terrifying. So be afraid. The king announced, You all get to be queens. The crabman's daughter shouted, You can't do that. We've offered you fish. I can do that. I'm the king. I can do whatever I want. The king went on. Besides, I'm no fool. You know what they say. Get a fish's tribute. Eat for a night. Marry a fisherman's daughter. Eat for a lifetime. The crabman turned to his daughter. Are you sure you don't want to be a queen? It could be good for you and for the town. His daughter replied, I don't want to be a queen. She turned to the other daughters. Do you? Each daughter shook her head. No. The king said, Well, I'm afraid you don't have a choice. The king's soldiers hurried forward and tied ropes around each young woman. The fishermen and their wives shouted protests and rung their hands with worry. The king's men had drawn their weapons and there was nothing they could do about it. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at shopify.com slash setup. And each day, you try to get 5 for 5 right on those trivia topics and hopefully learn something new along the way. Is a shark a fish or a mammal? Which spell does Harry Potter use most often? You can answer those questions and more on 5 for 5 trivia. So if you're ready to challenge yourself and give yourself a big high 5 for the things you know, be sure to check out 5 for 5 trivia available wherever you listen to your podcasts. The fishermen's daughters were all crying but there was nothing anyone could do. What do you guys think of this wedding ceremony? Parable. Yeah. They're so stupid and mean. I hope if the monster is real in this fairy tale, I hope it just comes up in each of them all. As the crab man's daughter was brought before the king, the king smiled, lifted his bride's veil and he was the king. And he screamed. Fist! The other kings lifted their bride's veils as well. Each and every one of the fisherman's daughters had scales on their faces. The scales made rivers down the sides of their noses and down their cheeks, rivers that seemed to follow the tracks of their tears. And as their tears fell, the scales spread across their faces. And then something really terrifying happened. Strange cuts seemed to open on the young women's necks. But they weren't cuts. They're getting gills. They were gills. All the kings began to scream and shout. Monsters! They're monsters! For a moment, there was madness, pandemonium. But then the king regained control. Silence! And he declared, These fish women must be Killed. Not just killed. Roasted like fish. A great bonfire was built out of old driftwood and the young women were tied to spits like fish to be roasted for dinner and were put over the fire. And the fishermen and their wives wept for their daughters. And crab man cried the hardest. Crying won't do anything. You can just revolution. The bonfire was lit and the flames roared up around the young women. The fishermen and their wives and daughters all cried for mercy. But the king wouldn't listen. He just watched as the sky turned orange from the flames and black from the smoke. The only one from the village who did not cry was the crab man's daughter. She just looked at the lake and waited. The flames began to roast the young women's scales and singe their hair, which was now the color of sea foam, when suddenly The big sea monster! The earth began to rumble and tall waves rose up from the lake and an enormous sea green mermaid head with eyes that glittered like stars emerged from the water. As she rose waves came crashing out of the lake over the shore and onto the bonfire extinguishing the flames. What is that thing? The monster! Maybe the crab man's daughter gazed out the river because she wanted the mermaid to come. Maybe so. And then the king and his men and all the other kings and all the townspeople watched in awe as the enormous mermaid opened her mouth and a giant purge of water rose from her throat and extended straight onto the pyre. The burnt ropes that had held the young women on the spit fell apart. The crab man's daughter gazed up at the enormous mermaid and then turned to the other young women. She took a deep breath and said Shall we? The fisherman's daughters nodded. Together they all walked onto the bridge of water as if it were made of stone and they followed the bridge straight into the enormous mermaid's jaws. Then the mermaid closed her mouth and descended back into the lake. What are you all thinking about? They got eaten! They got eaten? They just got eaten! It's their secret base. It's their secret base? Okay, so some people think that they got eaten. Some people think it's their secret base inside the mermaid. Let's find out. Well, the kings all ran straight out of that little village and they never came back. Not for fish, not for wives. They wouldn't have come back if you'd dragged them by the mouth with a fish hook. Yay! The people of the village rushed to the edge of the lake and there they wept for the young women. There had been a monster in the lake after all and the monster had taken the young women. But had it eaten them or saved them? Well, either the mermaid was like inside of her was like the mermaid land or she was just holding her in her mouth and in their mouth and then when they got to the water they'd be like, Wow! So either inside of the mermaid was a mermaid land or when she got into the water they all came out. Interesting idea. The fishermen mourned their daughters for many days. But last they had to go back out onto the boats to see if they could catch food for their suppers for they had nothing to eat. As the prowls of their boats cut through the surface of the lake something very surprising happened. Fish began to jump onto the decks of their boats. They were all so confused. What was going on? Just then all around the boats the fishermen saw their daughters. Swimming. But now their daughters faces were covered with blue scales and their hair was sea foamed green. They're mermaids. And the crab man's daughter jumped up onto the bow of her father's boat and flipped for mermaid tail and she smiled. From then on the fishermen of the little town by the large lake would go out every day and they would bring their wives too and their daughters would throw them fish and lean over the bow of their family's boats and talk or even lounge on their decks and bask in the sun. The young women spent the rest of their lives as mermaids laughing and splashing and playing tag and swimming through the water that looked just like the sparkling starry night sky. And they lived happily ever after. The end. What's the title? And what's the title? Good question. The title of the original story is The mermaids. The Jaws of the Mermaid. Why didn't you say that at the first one? Because I didn't want to give away the craziest thing that happens in that story which is that a giant mermaid comes out of the water and they all walk into her jaws, which is just the most one Schoenberg thing I've ever heard in my life. I would never would have guessed that. No, no. You're right. I never would have guessed it either. This is definitely a story from Franz Kasselman Schubert. It totally is. That is absolutely a Franz Kasselman Schubert teacher. That's weird. I could not have made that up if I tried. Not a chance. Okay, this is really one of my favorite episodes. I mean, I guess I've been saying that about all of these Adam's secrets episodes and that's why I'm choosing my favorite, so that makes sense. This is one of my favorites for a few reasons. First of all, the discovery of Franz Kasselman Schubert and the weird stuff that he does is just, was a revelation to me. And when I came across this story, and I think it was so I work sometimes with a close friend of mine and a writer friend of mine named Allie Horn, and I said to her, take a look at this book. What looks good to you? And I think she might have showed me this story. When at the end of the story, the giant mer person rises out of the water and a bridge of water goes from his or her mouth. I'll explain that in a minute. On to the fire and the girls all walk into the mouth and then sink in at sea. I was like, that's like the craziest movie that has ever been made. How does no one know this story? Oh my gosh, we have to adapt it immediately. So first of all, just the craziness of it. Now I said his or her. Okay. So the original fairy tale is actually called The Jaws of the Merman. I know, I know. I changed it to mermaid because in the telling of the story, in part thanks to Allie Horn, the person I wrote it with, and especially thanks to the kids who were listening, this episode became the most amazing anthem of feminism, of being a strong girl or a strong woman. I didn't anticipate that though as Allie wrote it, it was clear that that theme was coming out. But then the specific group of kids I was telling it to, it just exploded out of them. You know, I think I noticed that it was starting to connect with these kids. So let me, let me back up. These kids that I was telling it to seasons three and four, because of the pandemic were recorded over zoom. And you can kind of hear the sound quality is not so great. When I'm talking to the kids, which I'm sorry about, I wish we'd used a better technology, but that's what we had at the time. So the kids I'm talking to are mostly in the United States, though there is one kid recorded who is actually from Montreal. And if you listen carefully, you can hear her French-Canadian accent, which I love. I love in my episodes to have kids who have different sounding voices, both so you can kind of tell them apart and get to know them. And also because it just creates a really interesting soundscape in your ears. So the French-Canadian girl has this great accent. It's subtle, but she says her T's a little differently. I think she says duh instead of the, listen carefully again and you'll hear her. So she was on there. There were some other kids. There was a girl, I think she was from Arizona. She was the one who said, just today I brought back crawdad remains from the river. And so they started, that girl started it like really connecting with the crab man's daughter in a really personal way. And so when they were going to be forced to marry the king and these other men, they just became enraged and they wanted to just fight. And at one point when one of the girls shouts, we are women and we are terrifying. I was like, oh my gosh, that's one of the just coolest things that's happened on one of these episodes. Because it was not at all planned. They just felt this stuff. So that's another reason it's one of my favorite stories. A, because of the crazy head coming out of the lake. And yes, it was a man. I went into a merman's jaws, the jaws of the merman in the original story. And I changed it to a mermaid just so it could be like an all women community down there under the lake. It felt like that's what my listeners needed in that moment when I was telling the story live. And so I love the head coming out. I love that they were turning into fish. I think I added the detail about like the cuts on their necks turning into gills and someone shouts, they're getting gills. So I like that Allie or I added that detail and the tracks of their tears making fish scales. We made that up too. But it's all very much in the spirit of the original Franz Xavavon Schoenberg story that as he wrote it, it's actually one of his stories that makes the most sense. It's very short in his version, but it's not weird. It's super weird, excuse me, but it makes sense. Like the whole thing sounds like a story, so we didn't have to change that much. We just added a lot of details to it and we elongated the girls journey from like always wanting to swim in the lake. That's not in the original and her swimming under the stars. That's stuff that we added to. So this episode isn't maybe quite as funny as some of the other ones because the emotions of it were so intense from the original story in writing it, but especially in interacting with the kids who were listening to it. Yeah, Crab Man's Daughter will always be deep in my heart as one of my favorite Grim Grimmer Grimist episodes. I hope you liked it. Grim Grimmer Grimist is a Pina original production created, written and narrated by me Adam Gidwitz, author of A Tale Dark and Grim, co-written by Ali Horn, produced and edited by Ilana Milner, casting by Paula Gammon Wilson, voice direction by Ilana Milner and Paula Gammon Wilson, sound design and mixing by Beat Street NYC, executive produced by Anne Richards, production support by Ashley Beecher and Thaddeus Dankwa, characters voiced by Allison Lee Rosenfeld, Baron Bass, Billy Bob Thompson, Kat Pritano, Sinofia Mitchell, Colin Ryan, Dylan Jones, Erica Schroeder, Kailin Clinton, Kylie Claxton, Lori Himes, Michael Crouch, Mike Pollock, Nicholas Corder and Rob Morera. Special thanks to all the kids who joined us for our storytelling sessions. You guys are awesome. Did it work? Is this thing on? Okay, good. Hi! My name is Carly Q and if you're anything like me, you may have noticed that there are a lot of big questions out there that need answers. Like, is the Loch Ness Monster real? What's going on in the Bermuda Triangle? And who ate my pie? Okay, well maybe the last one hasn't occurred to you, but on Who When Wow Mystery Edition, I'm solving all of life's mysteries. Well, at least some of them. Join me as I travel through space and time to investigate history's most famous mysteries all during my lunch break. Some things can't be explained, but they can be explored. Listen to episodes of Who When Wow Mystery Edition wherever you get your podcasts. Buckle up for Don't Break the Rules, the hilarious improv comedy game show where amazing voice actors become wacky characters based on kids' wild prompts. They make up lines on the spot, pushing each other to be the last one standing without breaking the rules. Every episode is packed with laughter, silly sounds, and maybe even a unicorn or two. Hosted by the awesome Carly Sharaki, this parent's choice-recommended award winner is guaranteed to tickle your kid's funny bones. Don't Break the Rules. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.