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"The Turnip" (German: die Rübe) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales (KHM 146).^[1]

It is of Aarne-Thompson type 1960D ("The Giant Vegetable") and of type 1689A ("Two Presents for the King"), with an episode of type 1737 ("Trading Places with the Trickster in a Sack").^[1]

Two brothers, one rich, one poor, serve as soldiers, but the poor one has to become a farmer to escape his poverty. One of his turnips grows to an enormous size, and he gives it to the king. The king gives him rich presents in return. The rich brother gives the king many great presents, and the king gives him the turnip in return. Angry, the rich brother hires murderers and lures his brother on a path, but when the murderers are going to hang the poor brother, they hear someone approaching who is singing. So they throw the poor brother into a sack and hang it, before running off. The poor brother makes a hole in the sack and sees the singer, a student. He tells him that he is in the Sack of Knowledge, and he is learning marvelous things in it. The student asks to change places with him. The poor brother agrees and hefts him up, telling him that he is learning something already, but after an hour, he sends someone to let the student down.

• The Gigantic Turnip

• Ziolkowski, Jan M. (2003). "The 'Rapularius' and 'The Turnip' in 'Grimms' Fairy Tales': A Comparative Study with Translations". The Journal of Medieval Latin. 13: 61–126. doi:10.1484/J.JML.2.304194. JSTOR 45019572.
• Ziolkowski, Jan M. (2007). "The Wonder of The Turnip Tale (ca. 1200)". Fairy Tales from Before Fairy Tales: The Medieval Latin Past of Wonderful Lies. University of Michigan Press. pp. 164–199. doi:10.3998/mpub.105158. ISBN 978-0-472-11568-6. JSTOR 10.3998/mpub.105158.10.

• Works related to The Turnip at Wikisource
• The complete set of Grimms' Fairy Tales, including The Turnip at Standard Ebooks