The Enchanted Grouse

Jay Van Everen created this woodblock abstract more than a hundred years ago to illustrate a Finnish fairy tale, The Enchanted Grouse.

The story follows Helli, a henpecked but kind husband and farmer. One day while hunting, Helli spares a Grouse’s life after it begs three times by saying, “Don’t shoot me, brother! Take me home alive.”

Three years of grouse-feeding (despite his wife’s complaints) and three precious feather gifts later (copper, then silver, then gold), the Grouse repays Helli with a journey across the Ocean and a visit to his three mysterious sisters, with the ultimate reward of a locked box with no key.

The Grouse’s instructions to Helli are simple: drop the box wherever you want to spend the rest of your life. The Grouse tempted Helli with mountains. Lakes. Fertile valleys. Helli said no each time. In fact, Helli didn’t drop the box until he and the Grouse touched down at his modest farm. When it cracked open, Helli’s farmhouse turned into a magnificent castle.

Bonus: Helli’s wife stopped scolding because, as the story puts it, when you’re happy you haven’t anything to scold about.