Das kleine Gespenst (1966)

The Little Ghost is a 1966 children's book written by Otfried Preußler with illustrations from Franz Josef Tripp. It was published by Thielemann publisher and was translated to 44 languages. It is one of the most famous books of the German children and youth literature.

Plot summary

The Little Ghost lives in Eulenstein, a former castle now converted into a museum overlooking the city of Eulenberg. Its best friend is an eagle owl named Mr. Schuhu, who lives in a hollow tree on the castle grounds. The Little Ghost becomes increasingly curious about the world in the waking hours, and just once wants to see it in bright daylight. However, all its tries to stay awake after the witching hour fail, and Mr. Schuhu also discourages this notion due to personal bad experience.

One day, after the Little Ghost has given up all hope, it suddenly awakes at noon and not at midnight. While exploring the day-lit castle, it suddenly encounters a school class. While it tries to flee from them, it gets hit by a sunbeam and suddenly changes its color from white to black. Afterwards, it jumps into the castle well and escapes to the sewer system of Eulenburg. Due to the large amount of pipes of the channel system, it cannot find its way back home to the castle, although it opens every channel output and causes a lot of panic among the inhabitants of Eulenberg, who start to call the Little Ghost Schwarzer Unbekannter ("Black Stranger").

Finally, after two weeks of vain searching, the Little Ghost causes a disaster during the 325th anniversary of the siege of Eulenberg by a Swedish army under the command of General Torstenson, believing that the General came back after the Little Ghost had frightened him away so long ago. After plunging the festival into chaos, it sleeps in the cellar of an apothecary, where it overhears the pharmacist's children talking about the busted festival the next day. Upon realizing its mistake, the Little Ghost asks the children for help, whereupon the three go to Castle Eulenstein to speak with Mr. Schuhu. After some deliberation, Mr. Schuhu blames the town hall clock for the unfortunate coincidence, as every ghost has to obey the chime of a specific clock, and concludes that there must have been some work done on it, causing it to sound twelve hours late from its normal schedule.

After the Little Ghost and the children have sent a letter of apology to the mayor of Eulenberg and the town's master watchmaker has adjusted the clock back to its former cycle, the Little Ghost finally wakes up at night and is able to return home. While reuniting with Mr. Schuhu, it gets hit by a moon beam and finally its color changes back to white, sending it dancing happily around the castle's walls.

Characters

The Little Ghost – The Little Ghost is a friendly night ghost and the story's main protagonist. During the day it sleeps in an oak coffer in the attic of Castle Eulenstein. Normally, The Little Ghost is very peaceful and does not harm anybody, except if somebody annoys it, like the Swedish General Torsten Torstenson. Otherwise, the Little Ghost is very helpful, curious and friendly. It owns a ring of thirteen keys which, when brandished, open any door it wishes to open.

Mister Schuhu – Mr. Schuhu, an eagle-owl, is the best friend of the Little Ghost and lives in a hollow oak on the castle hill. As an old and wise bird, the eagle-owl insists that everybody should talk respectfully to it and it always has some good advice for the Little Ghost. Both the Little Ghost and Mr. Schuhu spend their time telling stories to each other.

General Torsten Torstenson – The Swedish general Torsten Torstenson (who is based on Lennart Torstensson) besieged the castle and the city of Eulenberg 325 years ago. As the Little Ghost could not sleep during the day due to the loud noise of the Swedish cannons, it frightened the general so badly that he terminated the siege and left the castle and the city with his army the next day. A portrait of Torstenson still remains in the knight hall of the castle, as a reminder of his siege, and once in a while the Little Ghost speaks to it. Furthermore, the siege is remembered annually in Eulenberg with a huge festival.

The Children of the Pharmacist – Eleven-year-old Herbert and his siblings, nine-year-old twins Jutta and Günther, end up befriending the Little Ghost and helping it to find its way back home to the castle after it ruins the 325th anniversary festival of the Swedish siege.

Kriminaloberwachtmeister Holzinger - A member of the Eulenberg police force (with his rank roughly translating as "Criminal Police Senior Watch Master"), and the closest thing the Little Ghost has as an antagonist in the story. Holzinger is repeatedly tasked with investigating the Little Ghost's antics, especially during its time as the Schwarze Unbekannte, but due to his inexperience in dealing with ghosts, he never succeeds in capturing it.

Origin

When Otfried Preußler was a child, his grandmother Dora told him stories very often. One of these stories was about a White Lady who predicted births and deaths in the family of her descendants and who moreover protected her home very often. Once, the white lady closed away the Swedish General Torsten Torstenson from the castle of her father, by shooing him out of his bed, giving him a telling off, while he was only wearing his night clothes and begging for mercy. Preußler always kept this scene in mind, and while he was writing the book of the history of the white lady, the white lady converted to the Little Ghost.

Editions

The original Thienemann edition was later published with different front pages and with different publishers, like the German Bücherbund, the Büchergilde Gutenberg, Bertelsmann Lesering (RM book and media) and with its successor Club Bertelsmann.