I wanted to share one of Aesop's fables today.
An Ass once found a Lion's skin which the hunters had left out in the sun to dry. He put it on and went towards his native village. All fled at his approach, both men and animals, and he was a proud Ass that day. In his delight he lifted up his voice and brayed, but then every one knew him, and his owner came up and gave him a sound cudgelling for the fright he had caused. And shortly afterwards a Fox came up to him and said: "Ah, I knew you by your voice."
Fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool.
True enough, wouldn't you say. And I can certainly think of some people I know who are all dressed up, but still manage to sound like idiots.
Thursday’s Tales is a weekly event here at Carol’s Notebook. Fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, even re-tellings, I love them all....
I'm still looking at some of the Favorite Fairy Tale characters whose stories I haven't read yet. Today's character is the ballerina girl from "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" by Hans Christian Andersen. Many of Andersen's tales are beautifully written but so sad, like this one.
On his birthday, a boy receives a set of 25 toy soldiers and arrays them on a table top. One soldier stands on a single leg, having been the last one cast from an old tin spoon. Nearby, he spies a paper lady with a tinsel rose on her dress in front of a cardboard castle. She is a ballerina and is standing on one leg too. The soldier promptly falls in love. That night, when the people are alseep, al the toys wake up, speaking and moving on their own, except the soldier and the ballerina who are both silent and stay in their poses. A goblin pops out of a box and angrily warns the soldier...
Sleeping Beauty is certainly one of the classic fairy tales and I'm not sure why I haven't looked at it until now. Maybe I've been a little worred. It's such a romantic story, the sleeping princess wakened by a kiss and finding true love. I didn't want it ruined. So many of the fairy tales are much meaner or disturbing than they were in my head, I was afraid Sleeping Beauty would be too. Today, I'm discussing Perrault's version of the story. Some other time, I'll talk about Basile's Sun, Moon and Talia, a very similar story but rather more unsavory.
So, Sleeping Beauty. The first half is very similar to the story I know. At the christening of a king and queen's long-wished-for child, seven fairies are invited to be godmothers to the infant princess. After dinner, the fairies then offer their gifts: beauty, wit, grace, dance, song and ability of musical instruments. An old wicked fairy then places the princess under an...
The sister from the Grimms' story, "The Six Swans," was mentioned several weeks ago as another favorite character, and I can understand why. This girl is of course beautiful, but she's also strong, loyal, dedicated, honest.
In the beginning of the story, the girl is the daughter of a King and has six brothers. Their mother is dead and the king is tricked into marrying the daughter of a witch, a lovely woman on the outside, but even the King knows she is evil. The King sends the children to live in a secluded castle, but the evil step mother discovers where they are. She turns the six boys into swans and they fly away. They can only turn back into their human forem for fifteen minutes each night, but during the second evening of their curse, one tells the sister how she can break the spell. She must not speak or laugh for six years and during that time must sew six shirts...
Shrek was one of the favorite fairy tale characters mentioned a few weeks ago, so off I went to the library to meet Shrek, not the Shrek I know and love from the movies, but from the original story, Shrek! by William Steig.
Shrek is an odious, ugly creature who stinks and spits flames. I will say though that he is very self-confident. He is kicked out by his parents and goes off into the wide world, repulsing everyone who crosses his path. He eventually meets a witch who tells his fortune, that he will meet a donkey who will take him to a knight. He will defeat the knight and win the hand of a princess even uglier than himself. So, he does defeat a dragon, ride the donkey to the castle, and eventually marries the princess. "And they lived horribly ever after, scaring the socks off all who fell afoul of them."
I have to admit, I like the loveable...
I always knew today's tale as "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," but the version I found most easily on-line was "The Pied Piper" by Joseph Jacobs. It seems that there are several versions of this story taking place in different towns. Wikipedia states the earliest mention of the story seems to be on a stained glass window in the Church of Hamelin around 1300. Reportedly, the window showed a colorful figure of the Pied Piper and several children dressed in white. It is believed the window was in memory of an actual, tragic, historical event experienced by the town. The town chronicles also have an entry from 1384 stating, "It is 100 years since our children left." What happened to the children is not clear. Was it a plague or natural catastrophe? Did the children leave as part of a military campaign or pilgrimage? In whatever case, the rats weren't added to the story until approximately 1559.
And those rats are...
