Fairy tales about greed

The Dog and Its Reflection is the quickest way into this theme. A dog carrying a piece of meat sees a bigger piece in the stream, snaps at it and loses his own. Even three-year-olds can spot the mistake, and the fable takes two minutes.

In Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves greed has a face: Cassim, the rich brother, wants the cave and the magic words for himself and sets off with ten mules. It ends badly for him, and the tale is long and violent enough to suit eight and up.

Frau Holle sets two sisters side by side. One works hard and comes home covered in gold, while the lazy one jumps down the well only for the reward and comes home covered in pitch. Children like being asked which sister they would rather be.

In The Wishing Table the greedy one is an innkeeper who swaps a magic table and a donkey that drops gold for ordinary ones. The third brother wins both back with a cudgel in a sack, and young listeners soon shout “Cudgel, out of the sack!” along with him.