Yesterday, I decided to read, “The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was,” from Household Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. This is the lengthy story of a boy who wished that he could learn “to shudder.” Whatever event to which he was subjected, he fluffed it off and went on his way. He could not become afraid to the point of shuddering.
The tale has an abrupt and surprising ending.
The one line I’ve taken away from the story is this profound one: “He who wants to be a sickle must bend himself sometimes.”
To me, the sentence speaks volumes. Aren’t we all, who are living, in the process of transforming ourselves into something that we are currently not? Doesn’t that take energy, as in bending and crafting metal into a different shape? Doesn’t the wish to achieve a goal require us to bend ourselves, mold our wills, and forge our determination?
Perhaps I’m more sensitive to nuances of language than some other people. To me, words counts. Those few words, “He who wants to be a sickle must bend himself sometimes,” is a set of words that speak of an intended transformation, and moreover, the desire to change.
We can learn so much from the wisdom of stories supposedly written for children.
Patricia Cummings
