Image credit: SurLaLune Fairy Tales
When I think of fairy tales, the Grimms immediately pop into my head. Today, I read a story that I've heard before but never realized it was one of theirs.
A fisherman and his wife live in a run-down shack by the sea. Everyday the man went out fishing, and one clear day he catches an amazing flounder. The flounder explains that he is in fact an enchanted prince and that the fisherman should let him go. The fisherman replies that he's a talking fish, of course he'll let him go, the fact that he may or may not be a prince is irrelevant.
The fisherman goes home and tells his wife about the fish. Now the pair become a typical fairy tale couple - the husband turns out to be a wimp, and the wife is domineering and greedy. She tells the fisherman that he should have wished for something, that the flounder would surely have granted...
Jack the Giant Chaser is actually my first introduction to the Appalachian Jack Tales. Granted the Jack stories began in Europe, like "Jack and the Beanstalk," but, "like so many of the cultural preservations in the Appalachian Mountains, they were packed into the minds of the earliest emigrants and carried across the sea and up into the highlands of the New World. Here they have steadfastly remained." ("Wonder Tales in Appalachia" by Grace Toney Edwards) Maybe not as uniquely American as the Tall Tales, the Jack stories have been shaped the mountains, by the people who have told the stories from generation to generation.
This picture book is an abbreviated version of one of the Jack Tales, pitting Jack against only one giant instead of a family. The story opens with Jack returning to his hometown, bragging about his adventures. Thinking Jack is a great fighter, the mayor asks him to get rid of the giant that's been bothering them for...
Last week, I looked at Nekane, a Red Riding Hood like character. Sticking with that theme, this week we watched Hoodwinked Too! starring none other than Red, this time a wise-cracking kung fu fighting smart girl.
Now I liked the first one, how the same story was told through several points of view, but this sequel was just okay. Red's training with the Sisters of the Hood when she is called back to the HEA (Happily Ever After Agency). Granny's been kidnapped along with two children, so Red and Wolf are paired to save her.
The plot line's goofy, it revolves around a magical truffle that can make a person unstoppable. But I do like the villains, a pair we usually consider helpless victims who barely survive their fairy tale. Here they are not innocent helpless children lured into a mistake. They are the masterminds, luring Granny into their grasp.
It wasn't an outstanding movie, but it was fun enough. Thank goodness we...
Nekane, the Lamiña & the Bear is a retelling of a classic Basque tale. The Basque are an ethnic group that live in a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France. This basics of the story will be familiar but the Basque version is certainly unique.
A young girl, Nekane, is sent to her Uncle's house with a basket of fish and olive oil, but of course has to travel through the deep, dark woods to get there. Her mother warns her about the lamiña, a forest spirit who loves olive oil and will try to take it by taking any shape it wishes. Her mother tells her though, that the spirit is limited by the shape it takes, so if it takes the shape of a bird it can fly but won't be able to breathe underwater. Also, it...
Image source: SurLaLune Fairy Tales
"Bluebeard's Ghost," written by William Makepeace Thackeray in 1843, picks up where the original "Bluebeard" left off. Mrs. Bluebeard, Fatima, is a widow, but a very rich one, having inherited Bluebeard's entire estate. Funny how a nice inheritance can make you forget all of the dead's faults. She's even convinced herself that the previous wives were not killed, after all, Bluebeard had written in the family Bible what had happened to each of them, like the one woman who died of a sore throat, and the one who had a complaint about the head and shoulder. After they were dead, he just couldn't bear to be parted from them.
Finally, Mrs. Bluebeard decides that it is just too difficult to live in the country home, too many memories of her beloved husband, so she and her sister go to her town home. Once in town, she first refuses all social engagements, only allowing the vicar into her...
Image source: SaruDama
This tale from Japan has really caught my imagination. A prince had in his household a beautiful woman, O Toyo, who was his favorite. After spending the day in the garden, the couple was unknowingly followed into the house by a large cat, a very scary cat. That night, O Toyo was wakened by the cat who grabbed the woman's next in its teeth and killed her. It then buried the body in a grave it had scratched out in the garden. Finally, the cat transformsitself, taking the form of O Toyo.
The prince is of course clueless that his beautiful mistress is actually draining his blood every night. As he gets weaker and weaker, his counselors set a watch around his bedside each night to see who is harming the prince, but each night all the watchers succumb to sleep. Finally a wise old priest finds a dedicated, loyal soldier, Itô Sôda. The soldier spends the night with...