Type a tale from its first line to the first turn of the story.
WPMType each word and press space after it. The clock starts on your first key.Onceuponatimeinthemiddleofwinter,whentheflakesofsnowwerefallinglikefeathersfromthesky,aqueensatatawindowsewing,andtheframeofthewindowwasmadeofblackebony.Andwhilstshewassewingandlookingoutofthewindowatthesnow,sheprickedherfingerwiththeneedle,andthreedropsofbloodfelluponthesnow.Andtheredlookedprettyuponthewhitesnow,andshethoughttoherself,"WouldthatIhadachildaswhiteassnow,asredasblood,andasblackasthewoodofthewindow-frame."
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1 minute of typing. Words per minute is correct characters divided by five; accuracy is correct keystrokes out of all keystrokes.
This fairy tales typing test sets the openings of 24 tales from the Brothers Grimm, in Margaret Hunt's English of 1884.
Read the full guide
Tales are told in talk
As a typing test online, fairy tale openings are heavy on punctuation: speech marks in twenty of the twenty-four, often with a comma before them. Hans in Luck opens and closes speech eleven times in 247 words; The Elves has none at all. The translation keeps thee, thou and thy, and to-morrow with a hyphen.
Where each opening stops
At the end of a sentence, before the tale turns cruel. Sweet Porridge, The Star-Money and The Golden Key are short enough to type whole. The shortest opening, The Bremen Town-Musicians, is 404 characters, 81 standard words, so it takes about 81 WPM to finish it inside a minute.
Questions and answers
Is this the fairytale typing test from another site?
No. These openings are this page's own choice from one translation, so a passage set by a course or a test site will read differently: each English translator words the tales in a different way.
Which fairy tales are in the typing test?
They include Little Snow-white, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Briar-Rose, Hans in Luck, The Golden Goose and The Frog-King. The titles are the translation's own: Little Red-Cap is the tale also known as Little Red Riding Hood.
Are Grimm's fairy tales in the public domain?
This translation is, in the United States. Margaret Hunt's Grimm's Household Tales came out in London in 1884, and a work published before 1931 is in the public domain there.
All 24 tales
Short: under 120 words 6
The Bremen Town-MusiciansTale 27, cut where the donkey sets out for Bremen. The shortest passage on the page: two semicolons, one thought in speech marks, and the long word indefatigably in the first sentence.
CinderellaTale 21, the first paragraph, from the mother's blessing to the spring when the father takes another wife. One line of speech, with thee three times; the rest is plain narration.
The Hare and the HedgehogTale 187, the first paragraph: a storyteller's promise that the tale is true, then a Sunday morning at harvest time. The last sentence is one long list held together by commas, and stubble-fields takes a hyphen.
Little Snow-whiteTale 53, the first paragraph: the queen sewing at the ebony window, and her wish. One line of speech, and window-frame takes a hyphen. The tale is the one now called Snow White.
RumpelstiltskinTale 55, the first paragraph: the miller's boast and the King's reply. To-morrow keeps its old hyphen, and each line of speech opens after a comma.
The Shoes That Were Danced to PiecesTale 133, its first three sentences: twelve daughters, a locked door and shoes worn out by morning. No speech and no semicolon, so it is the plainest passage to type.
Show all 24 tales (18 more)
Medium: 120 to 229 words 10
Briar-RoseTale 50, as far as the Wise Women's gifts at the feast. Wise Women takes two capitals each time, well-disposed a hyphen, and there are thirteen of them to twelve golden plates.
The Golden GooseTale 64, as far as the eldest son refusing the little grey-haired old man. Dummling is spelt with two m's, and good-day and grey-haired are hyphenated.
The Golden KeyTale 200, the last before the children's legends, typed whole: it stops before the box is opened. One exclamation mark, inside the boy's thought.
Little Red-CapTale 26, as far as the meeting with the wolf. The mother's speech holds 'Good-morning,' in single quotation marks inside the double ones. The tale is also known as Little Red Riding Hood.
The MoonTale 175, the first paragraph: a land where the moon never rose, and a kingdom that hangs one on an oak-tree. The countryman's answer is the only speech, and the coin is spelt thaler.
The Mouse, the Bird, and the SausageTale 23, the first two paragraphs: three housemates and how they share the work. There is no speech at all, and the sentences are long ones broken only by commas.
Snow-White and Rose-RedTale 161, the first paragraph: the widow, the two rose-trees and the two sisters. The girls' names are typed Snow-white and Rose-red, with a small letter after the hyphen.
The Three BrothersTale 124, the first two paragraphs: one house, three sons and three trades. Fencing-master has a hyphen, and the father's offer is the only line of speech.
The Three FeathersTale 63, as far as the third feather falling to the ground. Simpleton is a name here and takes a capital, and the King speaks twice.
ThumblingTale 37, the first two paragraphs: the wish for a child, and the child no longer than a thumb. Span is the old past tense of spin, and one line of speech ends with a semicolon inside the speech marks.
Long: 230 words or more 8
The ElvesTale 39, the first of its three stories, as far as the shoemaker's good fortune. No speech at all: long sentences carried on commas, with two semicolons.
The Frog-King, or Iron HenryTale 1, as far as the frog's bargain. The frog and the King's daughter say thee, thou and thy, with weepest and wilt; one dash follows said she and another falls inside the frog's speech, and play-fellow and water-splasher take hyphens.
The Golden BirdTale 57, as far as the King's demand for the whole bird. Five semicolons and one exclamation mark; pleasure-garden takes a hyphen and twelve o'clock an apostrophe.
Hans in LuckTale 83, as far as the swap of the gold for a horse. It is mostly talk: speech marks open and close eleven times, and the master's line carries a semicolon inside them.
RapunzelTale 12, as far as the first handful of rampion. The plant's German name stands in brackets after it, and the husband asks What aileth thee, dear wife?
The Star-MoneyTale 153, typed whole. The girl's speech and thought use thee, thou and thy: thou canst very well give thy little shirt away. The stars fall as hard smooth pieces of money.
Sweet PorridgeTale 103, typed whole. The two commands, Cook, little pot, cook and Stop, little pot, come twice each, with the commas inside the speech marks.
The Valiant Little TailorTale 20, as far as the jam spread on the bread. The street cry Good jams, cheap! comes twice, and a semicolon sits inside the speech marks after health and strength.
How this list was compiled: The openings of twenty-four tales from Grimm's Household Tales, the collection of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm translated from the German and edited by Margaret Hunt, with an introduction by Andrew Lang, in two volumes (London: George Bell and Sons, 1884). The translator, year and publisher are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Raine_Hunt and the tale numbers, 1 to 200, from the list at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimms%27_Fairy_Tales (both checked 2026-10-07). Each passage is one unbroken run from the first word of the tale, cut at the end of a sentence where the story first turns; Sweet Porridge, The Star-Money and The Golden Key are short enough to stand whole. The titles are the ones the translation prints, so Little Red-Cap, Briar-Rose and Little Snow-white keep its spelling. These changes only were made to the text: lines were joined, paragraphs were run together, curly quotation marks were set straight, and each long dash was set as two hyphens. The old forms (thee, thou, aileth, to-morrow) are the translation's own. The openings were chosen to be fit for any reader: each stops before a tale turns cruel, and tales that open on a killing were left out. A translation first published in 1884 is in the public domain in the United States (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_in_the_United_States). Characters divided by five give standard words (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_per_minute). Notes and grouping are own work. Licence: Public domain in the United States: a translation first published in 1884 (London: George Bell and Sons), before 1931 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_in_the_United_States). Notes and grouping are own work.