"The Nightingale" was the first fairy tale I though of for the letter N. It was written by Hans Christian Anderson and published in 1844.
"Something, it appears, may be learnt from books.”
"The Nightingale" tells the story of a Chinese Emperor who learns from a book about his land that there is a bird in the woods just outside his garden who sings so beautifully it is truly the treasure of the kingdom. When he orders a nightingale brought to him, a kitchen maid leads the court to where the bird is found. On the way, the courtiers hear a cow and frogs, and the girl has to tell them those are neither is the song of the nightingale. When asked, the nightingale agrees to appear at court. The Emperor is so delighted with the bird's song that he keeps the nightingale at court in its own golden cage. It is let out occasionally, but can only fly with ribbons attached...
I've written about Hansel and Grethel before, but it was five years ago and it's the perfect fairy tale for the letter H.
I'm sure there are several versions of the story, but this Hansel and Grethel is from Grimm's Fairy Stories by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm. I knew the basics, but had forgotten some of the details.
There is a poor woodcutter who lives with his wife and two children from a former marriage. The family has next to nothing to eat and the wife's solution is to leave the kids deep in the woods, alone, and then there will be two less mouths to feed. The father doesn't want to do it, doesn't want his children killed by wild animals, but eventually agrees. Can you imagine? The father agrees to leave his kids to die!
Well, the first time, they manage to find their way home thanks to pebbles Hansel left on the path for them to follow back, but...
"Bluebeard" was included in Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book. Lang in turn gives his source as Charles Perrault who first published the story in 1697.
Bluebeard was a very rich man who was considered ugly due to his blue beard, an unnatural color. He has a neighbor with two beautiful daughters, but neither will marry him, not only because of his blue beard, but also because he has been married several times before and no one knew what had become of the women.
Bluebeard takes the two young women, their mother and several of their friends to his country house for a week, where they did nothing but have parties, hunt, fish, dance and eat. It was a delightful week and the younger of the sisters decided that perhaps Bluebeard was nice man and did marry him.
Not long after being married, Bluebeard has to leave home for several weeks to attend to business affairs, but he tells his wife to feel free...
Cinderella is a lovely movie. Cinderella is told by her dying mother to have courage and be kind, and that's the motto she lives by, even after her dad dies and her step-mother and step-sisters are just horrible to her. At least her reason for hanging around makes some sense. It's pretty faithful to the 1950s cartoon version, which on the one hand is nice. It's a sweet story with a happy ending, but I would have liked to see a little something different. I guess I've become used to re-tellings that twist the stories a bit.
Lily James is a nice choice for Cinderella. She's not a tough girl, but she's strong, she keeps going no matter what life throws at her and tries to be positive. Yes, she talks to animals. And I loved her first meeting with the prince. They were both sweet and kind and smiling. Cate Blanchett is perfect as the evil step-mother. She's nasty, but at...
I'm feeling a bit lazy today, so how about a quick fable? This is one of Aesop's.
The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner
A trumpeter, bravely leading on the soldiers, was captured by the enemy. He cried out to his captors: “Pray spare me, and do not take my life without cause or without inquiry. I have not slain a single man of your troop. I have no arms, and carry nothing but this one brass trumpet.”
“That is the very reason for which you should be put to death,” they said; “for while you do not fight yourself, your loud trumpet stirs up all the other soldiers to battle.”
Moral: He who incites strife is as guilty as they who strive.
Good point. Just because he didn't actually kill people, he was still as much a part of the battle as the soldiers.
And a bit about Aesop from Wikipedia. The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned in passing that "Aesop the fable writer" was a slave who lived in...
"The White Doe" was written by Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy. Andrew Lang included it in The Orange Fairy Book, 1906. Marie-Catherine was born in Barneville-la-Bertran, a member of the noble family of Le Jumel de Barneville. In 1666, she was given at the age of sixteen in an arranged marriage to a Parisian thirty years older—François de la Motte, Baron d'Aulnoy. The baron was a freethinker and a known gambler. Over the next three years, the couple had three children. In 1669, the Baron d'Aulnoy was accused of treason but the accusations, in which Madame d'Aulnoy appeared to be involved, proved to be false, but two men implicated in the accusation were executed. Marie-Catherine's mother fled the country as she was also allegedly involved, however it is not known if the Comtesse d'Aulnoy herself had anything to do with the charges. She had three more children and discontinued involvement in the Paris social scene for twenty years. She later said that during...