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Original poster

Does anyone remember a fairy tale about a girl whose fingers are cut off

30 replies

Roseau18 · 30/11/2024 16:16

Does anyone remember being told a fairy tale in which a girl (possibly a princess) has her fingers cut off (possibly by her father) and the fingers are then buried along side the carrots in the garden?

l can remember being terrified by the story. I can't remember the ending or why the fingees were cut off and I would like to read it as an adult to know what was really going on (and to see if it was actually a suitable story for a young child).

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BrownOwlknowsbest · 19/03/2025 14:32

Roseau18 · 30/11/2024 16:16

Does anyone remember being told a fairy tale in which a girl (possibly a princess) has her fingers cut off (possibly by her father) and the fingers are then buried along side the carrots in the garden?

l can remember being terrified by the story. I can't remember the ending or why the fingees were cut off and I would like to read it as an adult to know what was really going on (and to see if it was actually a suitable story for a young child).

Could it have been the Inuit creation story of Sedna? See my post above

BrownOwlknowsbest · 14/03/2025 15:54

The only story I know that involves fingers being cut of is the Inuit creation story of Sedna. See here for a summary https://www.storymuseum.org.uk/1001-stories/the-ten-fingers-of-sedna No carrots involved though

The Ten Fingers of Sedna

https://www.storymuseum.org.uk/1001-stories/the-ten-fingers-of-sedna

Ezzee · 31/01/2025 19:57

The Robber Bridegroom the Brothers Grimm, but only 1 finger chopped off.
The Maiden without Hands by the Brothers Grimm,

Latenightreader · 31/01/2025 19:19

Nikitaspearlearring · 30/11/2024 22:12

I've just had a Google and AI says that fingers buried with carrots is part of a Russian fairy tale called Vasilisa The Beautiful. It could've made this up though!

Don't trust AI for story solutions - I tried it with the same plot for a book I've been trying to find and it gave me three different books, two of which were completely (and obviously) different from mine and the third didn't exist!

Original poster
Roseau18 · 01/12/2024 07:39

DontReallyCareBear · 30/11/2024 21:51

PS are you in France? Only asking because of the accents in your last post!

I currently live in France but I am British and grew up in the UK with British parents who couldn't speak French. So while it could be a French story it is equally likely to be from another European country.

OP posts:
Nikitaspearlearring · 30/11/2024 23:01

Moglet4 · 30/11/2024 22:18

Stupid auto correct 🙄

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I read through a resume of the story and couldn't see anything relevant to this either. But it seems to be the title one in a collection of stories ( on Amazon) so maybe it's one of the others.

MsCactus · 30/11/2024 22:44

The fingers and carrots in garden sounds very familiar to me

bifurCAT · 30/11/2024 22:20

Could also be Cinderella. In the original. The ugly stepsisters cut their toes off so they'd fit the glass slipper.

Moglet4 · 30/11/2024 22:18

Moglet4 · 30/11/2024 22:18

I’ve never read a version with chopped off hands. Might be an interesting variant though. Basilica is basically Cinderella and Baba Yaga rolled into one.

Show quote history

Stupid auto correct 🙄

Moglet4 · 30/11/2024 22:18

Nikitaspearlearring · 30/11/2024 22:12

I've just had a Google and AI says that fingers buried with carrots is part of a Russian fairy tale called Vasilisa The Beautiful. It could've made this up though!

I’ve never read a version with chopped off hands. Might be an interesting variant though. Basilica is basically Cinderella and Baba Yaga rolled into one.

Moglet4 · 30/11/2024 22:13

It’s a story from Italy (Basile) called ‘Penta of the Chopped off Hands’ which the Grimm brothers put in their collection. They called it ‘The Girl Without Hands’ though there are many variations of it.

Nikitaspearlearring · 30/11/2024 22:12

I've just had a Google and AI says that fingers buried with carrots is part of a Russian fairy tale called Vasilisa The Beautiful. It could've made this up though!

steponacrackbreakyourmothersback · 30/11/2024 22:12

Not helpful but does anyone remember The babes in the woods? Two young children who are left in the woods to die.

Why was this my bed time story as a child??!!

Nikitaspearlearring · 30/11/2024 22:03

Fingers being buried with the carrots rings a very faint bell with me. Sorry, not very helpful.

niadainud · 30/11/2024 22:00

I'm assuming from your username and all the accents that you have French connections. Could it be something by Perrault or La Fontaine?

StickyStones · 30/11/2024 21:53

My DD borrowed a Grimm's fairytale book from the library and she wanted me to read it to her the other day, the title 'the girl with no hands' caught her imagination 😂

It's a horrific story, but thankfully her hands grow back towards and end and she's reunited with her true love!

DontReallyCareBear · 30/11/2024 21:51

PS are you in France? Only asking because of the accents in your last post!

DontReallyCareBear · 30/11/2024 21:50

Roseau18 · 30/11/2024 21:19

My father used to tell it to me (despite my protests that I didn't want to hear it).

It's not the réd shoes or the boy who sucked his thumb (which I had in books later). It can't be The Last Slice of Raibow as the publication date is too récent.

And it was definitely fingers not hands and they were buried because towars the end someone pulls one up instead of à carrot (although suppose it could have been à différent root vegetable).

I was just coming back to say, it wasn't the Last Slice Of Rainbow! That does however feature a boy whose body starts turning to glass when he tells lies, and a girl whose hair becomes infested with spiders after she is cruel to a spider...

Original poster
Roseau18 · 30/11/2024 21:19

My father used to tell it to me (despite my protests that I didn't want to hear it).

It's not the réd shoes or the boy who sucked his thumb (which I had in books later). It can't be The Last Slice of Raibow as the publication date is too récent.

And it was definitely fingers not hands and they were buried because towars the end someone pulls one up instead of à carrot (although suppose it could have been à différent root vegetable).

OP posts:
FiveStoryFire · 30/11/2024 17:53

No, but I remember being traumatised by The Little Match Girl.

Enoughofthisnow · 30/11/2024 16:39

Just looking through the Grimms titles - the girl without hands? No mention of carrots though!

Does anyone remember a fairy tale about a girl whose fingers are cut off
DontReallyCareBear · 30/11/2024 16:38

It vaguely sounds like something from the Last Slice Of Rainbow by Joan Aiken, but I'd need to go and find our copy out later to check.

Did you read it (or have it read to you) from a book? Or was it just a tale you heard someone tell?

Wonderingpigeon · 30/11/2024 16:25

StellaOlivetti · 30/11/2024 16:20

There’s a Hans Christian Andersen story where a girl has her feet cut off in her shoes … but now you’ve mentioned it, the details of the burial beside the carrots does ring a faint bell!

Yes the red shoes..or something. I had an illustrated book. Looking back so morbid for a kid 😂 the last page had a wonderful picture of her on her deathbed and angels at the window to carry her away 😅

purplespink · 30/11/2024 16:25

Probably no help but my DD watched A Tale Dark and Grimm on Netflix about Hansel and Gretel and Gretel cuts off a finger to use the bone as a key to open a door.

Pieceofpurplesky · 30/11/2024 16:23

As well as the sucking finger boy above there is an
Italian fairy tale about a princess who cuts her hands off? Punta?