- Hanina finds his parents sick and on the edge of death
Father tells Hanina to mourn them for seven days, then on the eve of Passover, go to the market and buy the first thing that is offered to him
Hanina purchases a casket for a thousand gold pieces
Casket contains a smaller casket, in which a frog hops out
The frog grows gigantic and grants wishes- gives the family food, Hanina learns the lore of man from the frog
Frog takes them to the woods, gives them jewels and herbs/roots to heal the sick
Frog turns out to be son of Adam, shrinks to normal size and hops away
Hanina/wife becomes famous for their wealth, wisdom, and charity; live happily ever after
Rabbi was looking to hire a servant
Everyone’s afraid of him, so he builds one (mechanical woman)
Puts a magic paper in her mouth to bring it to life
Woman does many chores/errands, but can’t speak
While rabbi is gone, woman leaves to play/build fire for kids
Fire goes out of control, burns down many houses/her
King threatens rabbi to make another one, or he will kill rabbi and kick everyone out of city
Rabbi makes a man, and while the king wants to take it, rabbi promises it will not work on Sabbath/go crazy
Man wants to become a soldier for the King, Rabbi forbids it
Mechanical man tries to destroy Holy scrolls so he can build army of mechanical people to fight for the King/kill the Jews
Rabbi removes paper from his mouth to kill him; man turns into pile of wood, springs, glue
Man’s remains is used as an “exhibit” in the synagogue
Source: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919)
Image of Hanina and his wife following the Fairy Frog, via the Untextbook
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