The Sorcerer's Apprentice

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is a poem featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1797. The poem is a ballad in fourteen stanzas.

Traditional Plot
The poem begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving his apprentice with chores to perform. Tired of fetching water by pail, the apprentice enchants a broom to do the work for him – using magic in which he is not yet fully trained. The floor is soon awash with water, and the apprentice realizes that he cannot stop the broom because he does not know how.

The apprentice splits the broom in two with an axe, but each of the pieces becomes a whole new broom and takes up a pail and continues fetching water, now at twice the speed. When all seems lost, the old sorcerer returns, quickly breaks the spell and saves the day. The poem finishes with the old sorcerer's statement that powerful spirits should only be called by the master himself.

Characters Featured

 * The Apprentice
 * The Old Sorcerer (Mentionned)

Items Featured

 * Enchanted Broom