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

Summary

Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest – "The Crabman’s Daughter (Adam’s Secrets Version)"

Host: Adam Gidwitz
Date: September 17, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this special "Adam’s Secrets" edition of Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest, bestselling author and storyteller Adam Gidwitz retells “The Crabman’s Daughter,” adapted from a bizarre old fairy tale attributed to Franz Ksaver von Schönwerth. Gidwitz, joined by a lively group of child listeners, explores themes of rebellion, gender roles, community, and transformation—all delivered in the show’s trademark blend of wit, interactivity, and just the right amount of spookiness. A “director’s cut” segment at the end gives listeners behind-the-scenes insights into the creation and adaptation of this unique tale.

Spookiness Level: Grimmer (as rated by Adam Gidwitz)

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Story Breakdown & Key Themes

1. Setting the Scene [03:45–06:25]

• Small Fishing Village: On the shore of a large lake, the men fish and the women and daughters handle chores. Special emphasis on the “crabman” and his rebellious daughter.

• Introduction of the Crabman: A hardworking, gruff widower, eking out a living by catching crabs.

  • “He was in fact, kind of crabby.” – Adam Gidwitz [05:13]

• The Daughter’s Independence: She shuns traditional roles, prefers running wild, playing pranks, and dreams of swimming in the forbidden lake.

2. Challenging Authority & Traditions [06:25–08:33]

• Forbidden Waters: Swimming in the lake is strictly prohibited due to legends about a monster that drowns swimmers.

• Skeptical Daughter: She dismisses the monster myth, yearning to swim despite the taboo.

• Sexism in Fairy Tales:

  • Crabman urges daughter into domestic roles and marriage. The kids react sharply:
    • “This guy is horribly sexist.” – Child Listener [08:05]
    • “She’s this free spirit and she doesn’t want to go cooking and sewing and marrying someone who will always want to spend time with her.” – Child Listener [08:16]

3. The Midnight Swim [08:38–12:09]

• Defying the Ban: The daughter rallies the village girls for a midnight swim.

• Swimming Revelations: All discover an innate talent for swimming; the daughter glimpses strange, twinkling eyes beneath the water—foreshadowing the lake’s secret.

• Real-World Comparison:

  • “That is very unfair. What if they don’t know how to swim? …for us it's boring swim lessons and hard.” – Child Listener [11:47]
  • Group agrees: Don’t try this in real life; never swim unsupervised! [12:18]

4. Consequences & Sacrifice [12:35–17:27]

• Tribute Day Catastrophe: The day after the midnight swim, no fish are caught—unprecedented for the village.

• The King Arrives: With no tribute, he demands a daughter as a wife. The crabman’s daughter is chosen.

  • “You have your tribute.” – The crabman's daughter, after emerging with giant crabs [18:43]

• Rebellion and Outrage:

  • “Girls are not toys. They are living beings. You can’t just take one and claim them—we are women, and we are terrifying. So be afraid.” – Child Listener [19:58]
  • Much laughter and solidarity among the kids, openly critiquing outdated gender dynamics.

5. The Forced Wedding and Transformation [23:37–28:15]

• Mass Wedding: Kings from afar come to marry village daughters.

• Horrific Transformation: During the ceremony, daughters sprout scales and gills, revealing their new mermaid identities.

  • “They’re getting gills.” – Child Listener [25:04]
  • “These fish women must be killed. Roasted like fish.” – King [25:23, 25:32]

• Sea Monster’s Rescue: A giant mermaid emerges, extinguishes the pyre, and offers a watery bridge into her jaws, saving the girls.

• Speculation and Imagination:

  • “They just got eaten. It’s a secret base.” – Child Listener [28:19, 28:20]

6. Epilogue: New Lives, Reversal of Power [28:31–30:47]

• Kings’ Defeat: Humiliated and terrified, the kings flee and never return.
• Mermaid Reunion: Daughters, now mermaids, help their families from the lake, bringing prosperity and joy to the entire village.
  • “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 they lived happily ever after.” – Adam Gidwitz [30:02–30:47]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Gender Roles:

  • “She doesn’t want to be a wife. Yeah, did you just hear her? … I’d rather marry one of those dead crabs!” – Child Listener [17:27]

• On Feminism:

  • “Girls are not toys. … We are women, and we are terrifying. So be afraid.” – Child Listener [19:58]

• On Adaptation Creativity:

  • “That’s one of the just coolest things that’s happened on one of these episodes. Cause it was not at all planned. They just felt this stuff.” – Adam Gidwitz [36:54]

• On the Story's Weirdness:

  • “A giant mermaid comes out of the water and they all walk into her jaws, which is just the most von Schönwerth thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” – Adam Gidwitz [31:10]

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Director’s Cut & Behind the Scenes [31:36–37:12]

Adam reflects on why this is one of his favorite episodes:

• Original Tale vs. Adaptation:

  • Original story called “The Jaws of the Merman.” Changed to mermaid for a feminist twist, inspired by both his co-writer (Ali Horne) and the strong reactions of the child listeners.

• Pandemic Production:

  • Episodes were recorded over Zoom with kids from across the US and even Canada—distinct voices added richness.
  • Special appreciation for the girl who “brought back crawdad remains from the river,” and the spontaneous feminist responses.
  • “They just became enraged and they wanted to fight…When one of the girls shouts ‘we are women and we are terrifying,’ I was like, oh my gosh. That’s one of the coolest things that’s happened...” [36:58]

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Highlights by Timestamp

• 03:45–06:25: Introduction of setting, characters, and taboo
• 08:38–12:09: Girl-power midnight swim, subverting village rules
• 15:15–17:27: The king’s ultimatum; daughter’s dilemma
• 19:45–21:09: The kings’ arrival, attempted forced marriages, daughters' resistance
• 25:04–28:15: Spectacular transformation and dramatic rescue by the mermaid
• 30:02–30:47: Uplifting epilogue—mermaids, family unity
• 31:36–37:12: Adam’s heartfelt “director's cut”: adaptation decisions, kid input, and what makes this story special

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Tone, Style, and Takeaways

• Lively & Interactive: Full of spontaneous kid commentary, laughter, and dialogue.
• Empowering & Subversive: The story is an unexpected anthem for independence and defiance against oppression, with the children quick to call out injustice and celebrate the heroine’s courage.
• Classic “Grimmer” Vibe: Weird, dark, funny, and ultimately triumphant—true to the original Grimm spirit, with a modern edge.

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Final Thoughts

The Crabman’s Daughter stands out as an episode where tradition is both honored and thoroughly upended. It’s an invitation for listeners (young and old) to embrace curiosity, champion equality, and recognize the strange and wonderful power of both classic tales and collective storytelling.

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“We are women, and we are terrifying. So be afraid.” — Child Listener [19:58]

Transcript

[Child Listener]

Pinna.

[Podcast Announcer]

The Boar Knight, a fantasy musical podcast suitable for all ages. Brought to you by fool and Scholar Productions. Follow Nathaniel the Boar Knight and the friends he meets along his journey as he's bitten by a wereman and must break the curse before the full moon. Listen to the Boar Knight wherever you get your podcasts or learn [e-mail] we're chicken daring.

[Child Listener]

Chicken Daring. Now tonight, here comes the Boar Knight.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Hi. To celebrate the new season of Grim.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

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 five 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.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 grim 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 grim. And I'm about to host a virtual storytelling session and tell one of the original grim grim tales to a bunch of kids. Do you want to join me? Do you want to hear a grim 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 Grim, Grimmer and Grimmest. But 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 grim fairy tale.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

So are you coming in?

[Adam Gidwitz]

Grim Grimmer Grimace.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

All right, everybody, I think we should start the story.

[Child Listener]

Yay.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

This is, I promise you, a very, very weird story.

[Child Listener]

Yay. Frank Sava von Scharva.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

It is indeed based on a story by Franz.

[Child Listener]

Yay. Wait, can I try it? Can I try it?

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Go ahead.

[Child Listener]

Franz von Schoenvert.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Beautiful. All right. Well, this is a story by that guy, however you say his name.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 that many fish in the lake and there.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

Were no other jobs in the town.

[Adam Gidwitz]

So they made do with what they had and were grateful for whatever the lake provided.

[Child Listener]

Did they fish for hamsters?

[Adam Gidwitz]

No.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

No, they didn't. There were no hamsters in the lake.

[Child Listener]

Hamster. They should have.

[Adam Gidwitz]

There is a story that we did called Hamster from the water.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Right. So.

[Child Listener]

Yeah, I know. That's why I'm asking that.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Reasonable question. Reasonable question.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Now, the crab fisherman, or crabman, as he was called, well, he was in.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

Fact, kind of crabby.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 crabman. But most days he only brought back one big crab for him and his daughter to share for dinner. Daughter, I'm home.

[Crabman (Character)]

Just one crab again today. Daughter.

[Child Listener]

Daughter.

[Adam Gidwitz]

But while the crab man worked hard.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

All day to catch a single crab.

[Adam Gidwitz]

His daughter was not at home like she was supposed to be, doing her chores and 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 under the bright and sparkling stars.

[Child Listener]

That's me.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

That's you?

[Child Listener]

Yes.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Why is that?

[Child Listener]

Like you, I'm always getting dirty and playing in mud. I brought back crawdad remains from the lake today.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

That's super cool.

[Adam Gidwitz]

You seem to have a lot in.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Common with the crabman's daughter.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Of all the things the crabman'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.

[Other Child Listener]

Why didn't she?

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Good question.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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.

[Child Listener]

Because the crabs and fish would bite and pinch people and pull them to the bottom of the lake and drowned them.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Whoa. That got really dark really fast.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

First I was like, yeah, just fish.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Fish bites. But then. And they're drowned, I'm gone.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Any other theories about why they can't.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Swim in the lake?

[Child Listener]

There's a sea monster in the lake.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

You think there's a sea monster?

[Child Listener]

Just a monster. Not a sea monster. Because it's a lake, people. It's a sea.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

So it would be a lake monster.

[Child Listener]

Lake monster.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Okay, lake monster.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 crabman's daughter didn't believe in.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

Old stories about monsters.

[Adam Gidwitz]

She wanted to swim in the lake very much. One evening, after a long and very hard day fishing, the crabman sat his daughter down and said, you are of marrying age now.

[Crabman (Character)]

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.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman's daughter was furious.

[Other Child Listener]

What if that's not all I've ever wanted for myself?

[Child Listener]

This guy is horribly sexist.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Why?

[Child Listener]

Because he's like, you're a girl so you have to cook and clean and support him.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Very interesting.

[Child Listener]

She's this free spirit and she doesn't want to go cooking and sewing and marrying someone who will always want to spend time with her.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Yeah. Who wants to marry someone who spends time with you?

[Child Listener]

Yeah. That's boring.

[Adam Gidwitz]

And look, there are some people who.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

Don'T find cooking and sewing boring at all.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Some people, that's what they want to do. But the crabman's daughter, it's not what she wants to do.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 crabman's daughter didn't want that. She wanted to explore the world and 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 fishermen's daughters rubbed the goosebumps on their arms and wondered why the crabman's daughter had gathered them. And then they found out. The crabman's daughter said, tonight we swim.

[Child Listener]

What are you crazy?

[Adam Gidwitz]

Said the troutman's daughter.

[Other Child Listener]

We can't swim in the lake, said.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

The bass man's daughter.

[Other Child Listener]

What about the monster?

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman's daughter scoffed.

[Other Child Listener]

There's no monster. That's just a story the old folks tell.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The flounderman's daughter seemed a bit nervous.

[Child Listener]

Can't we just catch fireflies and call it a night?

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman's daughter cocked her head, gave the young women a salute, turned her back and dove into the dark water. The crabman'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.

[Other Child Listener]

Are those eyes?

[Adam Gidwitz]

She thought, knew it. Unafraid, the crabman'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.

[Child Listener]

Oh, shoebuckles. She drowned, didn't she?

[Adam Gidwitz]

Said the troutman's daughter.

[Other Child Listener]

Nonsense.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The monster got her, said the bass man's daughter. Her dad is gonna kill us, said the flounderman's daughter. The young women had nearly broken into tears when suddenly they heard a splash. The crabman'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 woman 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.

[Child Listener]

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 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 start swim easily.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

That's a great point.

[Child Listener]

I need to take classes. This is a fairy tale. No complaining.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Now, question about that. If you don't know how to swim, should you jump in water?

[Child Listener]

No. No, no. Definitely no. Especially without parents around or like, supervisors.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

What if you do know how to swim and there are no grownups around?

[Child Listener]

No. No.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Correct.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 crabman's daughter got back to her cottage, she quietly slipped off her shoes and tiptoed into.

[Crabman (Character)]

Where have you been?

[Child Listener]

You scared me.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman was standing behind the door with his crab net in his hand. His daughter said, nowhere.

[Crabman (Character)]

Your hair and your clothes are soaking wet. You didn't go swimming in the lake, did you?

[Other Child Listener]

Of course not, Father.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Just then, a tiny fish fell out of her pocket.

[Other Child Listener]

Oops.

[Crabman (Character)]

You lied to me.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman shouted. His daughter rolled her eyes.

[Other Child Listener]

It's no big deal. Nothing bad happened.

[Crabman (Character)]

You're lucky you weren't taken by the monster.

[Other Child Listener]

There is no monster.

[Adam Gidwitz]

She shot back. But then she thought about the eyes at the bottom of the lake, and she was not sure. The crabman went on, I was worried sick.

[Crabman (Character)]

I delayed going out on the lake, and I have to catch twice as many crabs today.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman's daughter paused, confused.

[Other Child Listener]

Why?

[Crabman (Character)]

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.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crab man's daughter had forgotten about Tribute Day. She hung her head in shame.

[Other Child Listener]

I'm sorry, Father.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Her father crabbily collected his nets and marched off to the lake.

[Child Listener]

Crabberly is hilarious because he's a crab fisher.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

I'm glad you think that's hilarious.

[Adam Gidwitz]

That day, however, something happened that had never happened before. The crabman didn't catch a single crab. The Troutman didn't catch one trout. The bass man, not one bass. The flounderman, 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 crabman and his daughter gathered in the town square with all the other families of the town, waiting for the king to arrive.

[Crabman (Character)]

You cursed us.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Hissed the crab man at his daughter.

[Crabman (Character)]

You swam in the lake and cursed us all. What will we offer to the king as tribute now?

[Child Listener]

So he's just blaming it all on his daughter that he didn't catch fish?

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Good point.

[Child Listener]

It could just be that he's incompetent.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

It could just be that he's incompetent.

[Child Listener]

Incompetence.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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.

[King (Character)]

And announced, it is now time for the village by the lake to offer their tribute.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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.

[King (Character)]

Not a flounder. Not a single crab.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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.

[King (Character)]

I will take one of your daughters as my wife.

[Child Listener]

Oh, no, no, no. Oh, no, no. Just knew it. It will happen.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The king turned and pointed at the daughters of the fishermen.

[Child Listener]

Eemy Mimi.

[King (Character)]

Mimi Mo.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

And who do you think his finger landed on?

[Child Listener]

Crabman's daughter. Crabman's daughter.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

That's right.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

The crab man's daughter.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman's daughter cried, no. And the crabman cried, yes.

[Crabman (Character)]

This is a good thing. You're going to be queen.

[Other Child Listener]

I'm going to be sick.

[Child Listener]

I'm going to be sick.

[Adam Gidwitz]

But the crabman said, well, you can.

[Crabman (Character)]

Throw up after the wedding.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman turned to the king.

[Crabman (Character)]

She would be honored to marry you.

[Other Child Listener]

No, I wouldn't.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Cried the crabman's daughter. Her father pleaded with her.

[Crabman (Character)]

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.

[Child Listener]

She doesn't want to be a wife. Yeah. 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 A puke club. I would just be like, I'd rather marry one of those dead crabs than marry.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crab. Man'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. 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.

[Other Child Listener]

You have your tribute.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Everyone packs supper for their family. Word 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.

[King (Character)]

I came all the way from two villages over to see this.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 and his traps, well, he wasn't quite so crabby anymore.

[Child Listener]

It's still hilarious.

[Adam Gidwitz]

A year passed, and the king returned to the village once again for tribute day. The fishermen were ready. Their daughters had caught a huge pile of fish to give to the king. But this time, he didn't want fish.

[Child Listener]

I hate this dude.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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.

[Child Listener]

Excuse me. Girls are not just toys. Girls are not toys. They are living beings. You can't just take one and claim them at we are not items. We are women, and we are terrifying. So be afraid.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The king announced.

[King (Character)]

You all get to be queens.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman's daughter shouted, you can't do that.

[Other Child Listener]

We've offered you fish.

[King (Character)]

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.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The crabman turned to his daughter.

[Crabman (Character)]

Are you sure you don't want to be a queen. It could be good for you and.

[Adam Gidwitz]

For the town, his daughter replied.

[Other Child Listener]

I don't want to be a queen.

[Adam Gidwitz]

She turned to the other daughters.

[Other Child Listener]

Do you?

[Adam Gidwitz]

Each daughter shook her head no. The king said.

[King (Character)]

Well, I'm afraid you don't have a choice.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The king's soldiers hurried forward and tied ropes around each young woman. The fishermen and their wives shouted protests and wrung their hands with worry. The king's men had drawn their weapons and there was nothing they could do about it.

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[Adam Gidwitz]

Did.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

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[Adam Gidwitz]

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[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

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[Adam Gidwitz]

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[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

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[Adam Gidwitz]

A great ceremony was organized right there by the lake where all the kings would marry their new queens at once. The Young women were given wedding gowns and veils and flowers to carry. There was even a band. At sunset, the band played Here Comes the Bride, but it sounded very slow and mournful to all the people of the town. Beneath their veils, the fishermen's daughters were all crossed, crying. But there was nothing anyone could do.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

What do you guys think of this wedding ceremony?

[Child Listener]

Terrible.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Yeah, I hate it.

[Child Listener]

They're so stupid and mean. I hope if the monster is real in this fairy tale, I hope it just comes up and eats them all.

[Adam Gidwitz]

As the crab man's daughter was brought before the king, the king smiled, lifted his bride's veil, and he screamed, feast. The other kings lifted their bride's veils as well. Each and every one of the fishermen'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.

[Child Listener]

They're getting gills.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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. The king regained control.

[Crabman (Character)]

Silence.

[Adam Gidwitz]

And he declared, these fish women must be killed.

[Child Listener]

Killed?

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Not just killed.

[King (Character)]

Roasted like fish.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 the crabman cried the hardest.

[Child Listener]

Crying won't do anything. You can just revolution.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The bonfire was lit and the flames roared up around the young women. The fishermen and their wives and daughters all cried for mercy.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

But the king wouldn't listen.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 crabman'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.

[Child Listener]

Is that thing the monster? Whoa. Maybe the crab man's daughter gazed at the river because she wanted the mermaid to Come.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Maybe so.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 bridge of water rose from her feet and extended straight onto the pyre. The burnt ropes that had held the young women on the spit fell apart. The crabman'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 walk 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.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

What are you all thinking about?

[Child Listener]

They got eaten.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

They got eaten.

[Child Listener]

They just got eaten. It's a secret base.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

It's their secret base. Okay, so some people think that they got it, some people think it's their secret base inside the mermaid. Let's find out.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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 dragged them by the mouth with a fish hook.

[Child Listener]

Yay.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The people of the village rushed to the edge of the lake. And there they wept. 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?

[Child Listener]

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.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

Water, it'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.

[Adam Gidwitz]

The fishermen mourned their daughters for many days. But last they had to go back out into their boats to see if they could catch food for their suppers, for they had nothing to eat. As the prows of their boats cut through the surface of the lake, something very surprising happened. Fish began to jump onto the 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, their daughters swimming. But now their daughters faces were covered with blue scales and their hair was sea foam green.

[Child Listener]

They're mermaids.

[Adam Gidwitz]

And the crabman's daughter jumped up onto the bow of her father's boat and flipped her 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 bows of their families boats and talk. Or even lounge on their decks and.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

Bask in the sun.

[Adam Gidwitz]

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.

[Child Listener]

What's the title?

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

And what's the title? Good question. The title of the original story is the Mermaids the Jaws of the Mermaid.

[Child Listener]

Why didn't you say that the first time?

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

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 von Schoenvert thing I've.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

Ever heard in my life.

[Child Listener]

I never would have guessed that.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

No, no, you're right. I never would have guessed it either.

[Child Listener]

This is definitely a story from Franz Kassela von Schubert.

[Co-Host/Interviewer]

It totally is that. It's absolutely a Franz Kalamun scheduled dj. Super weird. I could not have made that up if I tried. Not a chance.

[Adam Gidwitz (Host/Commentator)]

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 while 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 Ksava von Schoenvuth 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 Ali Horne. 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. Onto the fire and the girls all walk into the mouth and then sink in at the 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 this story, in part thanks to Allie Horne, 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 Ali 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 had 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 gonna 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. Cause 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. They go into a merman's jaws, the jaws of the merman in the original story. And I changed it to a mermaid just to so it could be like an. 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 the. 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 liked 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 Ksava von Schoenvert story that as. 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 girl's journey from like, always wanting to swim in the lake that's not in the original and her swimming under the stars, that 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. Crabman's daughter will always be deep in my heart as one of my favorite Grim Grimmer Grimmest episodes. I hope you liked it.

[Adam Gidwitz]

Grim Grimmer Grimmest is a Pinna original production created, written and narrated by me, Adam Gidwitz, author of A Tale Dark and Grim co written by Ali Horne. Produced and edited by Ilana Milner Casting by Paula Gammon Wilson Voice direction written by Ilana Milner and Paula Gammon Wilson Sound design and mixing by Beat street nyc Executive produced by Ann Richards. Production support by Ashley Beecher and Thaddeus Dankwa. Characters voiced by Alison Lee Rosenfeld, Baron Bass, Billy Bob Thompson, Kat Prittano, Sanofia Mitchell, Colin Ryan, Dylan Jones, Erica Schroeder, Kaelyn Clinton, Kylie Claxton, Lori Hyams, Michael Crouch, Mike Pollock, Nicholas Korda and Rob Morera. Special thanks to all the kids who joined us for our storytelling sessions. You guys are awesome.