Oh, If I Could but Shiver!

Written by Brothers Grimm

Narrated by Cheryl Bassett

“Oh, If I Could But Shiver!” is a German folktale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 4 in the collection. It was also included by Andrew Lang in The Blue Fairy Book (1889).

The Grimms' first, 1812 edition contained a much shorter version, “Good Bowling and Card Playing”. It is classified as its own Aarne–Thompson index type 326 of a male protagonist's unsuccessful attempts to learn fear, which eventually leads to his awareness of mortality.

A father had two sons. The younger, when asked by his father what he would like to learn to support himself, said he would like to learn to shudder. A sexton told the father that he could teach the boy. After teaching him to ring the church bell, he sent him one midnight to ring it and came after him, dressed as a ghost. The boy demanded an explanation. When the sexton did not answer, the boy, unafraid, pushed him down the stairs, breaking his leg...

• Language: English
• Publisher: British Literature Audiobooks
• Release date: Jan 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9783990851173

Brothers Grimm

Wilhelm Grimm and his brother Jacob are famous for their classical collection of folk songs and folktales, especially for Children’s and Household Tales, generally known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales.