Grimes' Fairytales


A LION HAS BEEN ILL-FATED FOR WHAT SEEMS FOREVER. A WOLF TAKES A RING THAT BELONGS TO THE LION. THE HERO, LION, DEFEATS THE VILLAIN, WOLF, WITH A SPELL. THE HERO, LION, THUS IS ABLE TO GET HIS POSSESSION BACK.



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Grimes' Fairytales are based on an early folk-tale generating computer program
by Joseph E. Grimes dated 1963. They have some claim to be the earliest
computer written prose fiction.

It seems the program is lost. Only one output survives:

'A LION HAS BEEN IN TROUBLE FOR A LONG TIME. A DOG STEALS SOMETHING THAT
BELONGS TO THE LION. THE HERO, LION, KILLS THE VILLAIN, DOG, WITHOUT A
FIGHT. THE HERO, LION, THUS IS ABLE TO GET HIS POSSESSION BACK'.


James Ryan reproduces this text in his Conference Paper: 'Grimes' Fairy Tales: A 1960s Story Generator'.

As we have only one output, and we lack the program, I have invented a version
using the published example as a template.

Grimes abandoned the original project: 'The thing I never
put my finger on was that my computer's stories...were all boring.'

The code is here

Wayne Clements. June 2022


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