Friday, May 2, 2008

Once upon a time there were two friends...

Earlier on in my posts I'd mentioned Vuk Karadžić (Vook KA-ra-jeech) 1787-1864, a language scholar and the father of Serbian folk literature who reformed the Cyrillic alphabet for Serbian use, and created one of the simplest and most logical spelling systems. Vuk also wrote down many folk tales and proverbs that up until then had only been passed on orally. His German friend, Jacob Grimm (1785–1863), liked these tales so much that he learned Serbian in order to read them as well as Serbian epic poetry in the original. He then translated them into German, and they were so popular in his homeland that they sold out as quickly as they were published. This street sign reads "Brothers Grimm street," named for him as well as his brother (who never learned Serbian, but who helped his brother preserve some great fairy tales...)

7 comments:

Chuck Pefley said...

Well I'll just have to take your word for the sign saying Grimm Street -:) Interesting text and history.

Anonymous said...

This is great; the story behind the story and a street number ! I see by th clock you are nine hours ahead of me. Like the White Rabbit, I carry a pocket watch, but now it's digital.
Richard (SAN)

Neva said...

I had heard this before but I love the sign! Glad you like where you are!

Louis la Vache said...

Interesting story, Bibi! Louis enjoys these little snippets of history!

Thérèse said...

I learnt something about the brothers Grimm. Interesting of course. I am following your blog for a while now...

Anonymous said...

This is a neat narrative and sign. I guess it does say Grimm Street.

Jane Hards Photography said...

Fascinating! I loved The Brothers Grimm Fairytales so much as a youngster. To learn of the stories true heritage is well, another interesting tale in itself.

SPRING FASHION

 This is a post that would be better in color, but maybe not. These colors were soooo pale.