The original fairy tales of Charles Perrault (1628-1703) before they were bastardized or sanitized (depending on your view) by Disney. Perrault, however, did not invent most of these stories himself. He also based some of them on existing French folklores. Perrault was said to be the one who laid the foundations for a new literary genre: the fairy tale. Many of Perrault’s stories were rewritten by the Brothers Grimm, continue to be printed and have been adapted to opera, ballet (such as Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty), theatre, and film. What I liked about this book was that I was able to read the original versions of the tales that I heard or saw when I was a young boy. I did not know that those goody-goody versions were sanitized. The original versions in this 1697 first published book were sometimes gory and gruesome that I wondered how they could have passed as children’s stories. For example, Little Red Riding Hood is eaten alive by a wolf, seven girls were knifed by their father to death or an ogress demanding to eat two poor captured kids.Here are the stories and my reactions upon reading them:The Little Red Riding-Hood. Stupid girl. How she could not have noticed that the wolf was not her grandma? Well, in “The Moral,” Perrault seems to say that this exactly is the moral of the story: the young pretty people are easy to deceive so they have to watch out for wolf in sheep’s clothing. – 4 STARSThe Fairy. Would not that be painful? I mean flowers and jewels coming out from your mouth when you speak? No wonder, I have not seen any movie adaptation of this story. The morals, according to Perrault: the manner we speak is more important that wealth and good behaviors pay in the end when we least expect it – 3 STARSBlue Beard. If only Perrault knew that time will come blue beard would no longer be scary. Why there is even green hair now, hah! The morals according to Perrault: Curiosity kills a cat and a very little share of common sense can save your dear life. – 2 STARSThe Sleeping Beauty in the Wood. I remember the first half of the story but it’s my first time to hear the 2nd half that happens after the prince kisses the sleeping princess. There is a ogress (a queen that eats small children) and the tub full of different kinds of serpents. This part is new to me. I don’t remember that there was an ogress character in the Disney movie. As to the moral of the story according to me: be careful in creating your guest list. – 5 STARSThe Master Cat; or, Puss in Boots Clever, clever cat. If a cat will be as useful as this, I know my wife would agree for us to have a cat in the house. She hates the odor of cat’s feces. However, in the story the youngest child gets the cat as inheritance from his poor father. Then the clever cat turns him into Marquis de Carabas. Morals: Be thankful for the inheritance that you get and also be careful with cunning people. The cat deceived the ogre to turn into a mouse so the cat could eat him hahaha. My first time to read this story. Funny! – 4 STARS.Cinderilla; or, The Little Glass Slipper. Exactly as what is in the Disney movie except the spelling. Take note that this is Cinderilla and not Cinderella. But there are somethings in Perrault’s writing that made me read the whole text. Not just making sure that there are nothing Disney removed or was not able to capture. The forgiveness that Cinderilla gave to her odious sisters; it’s heartfelt. Well written, I should say. Besides, who does not love Cinderilla? You have not been a child if you never heard of her. – 5 STARSRiquet with the Turf. There is a fairy here who gives either wit or beauty to the newborn children of royalties. However, if you equate it in the real world, it is just the power of words that seem to work here. When the beautiful but dumb princess utters that the ugly prince be given wit, it is actually her love for him that makes this possible. In short, the moral of the story, according to me, is that we have to be happy for other people that we speak positively of them and wish them good things instead of talking negatively behind their backs and wish them ill. Those are very unchristian especially if the person is not around; don’t talk ill of that person because he is not there to defend himself. – 4 STARSLittle Thumb. There is a family that is so poor that the couple decides to bring and lost their 7 small children in the forest. The youngest of the 7 is Little Thumb who is born, because they are so poor her mama has no more nutrients in her body, as big as a thumb (that’s why the name). However, Little Thumb is very smart. His intelligence is far more than the intelligence of his six big brothers’ put together. Again, there is an ogre (third in this collection, yes I am counting) that Little Thumb is able to deceive that the poor ogre kills his seven daughters instead of Little Thumb and his six brothers. Little Thumb also does a dugo-dugo by fooling the ogre’s wife into giving all their riches to him. I know I read or heard this story before when I was a small boy but I forgot the gist of it. I have always associated the throwing of stones to come back home to Hansel and Gretel and not in this Perrault’s story. I enjoyed every minute of reading or re-reading this. – 4 STARSThe Ridiculous Wishes. A man is complaining that he is so poor and he envies people whose wishes are easily granted. Jupiter, yes the god in the Olympus, hears him so the god says he can have 3 wishes and Jupiter will grant them. However, the man has this habit of saying I wish… without really meaning those things and that habit almost gets him and his wife in bigger misery. Nothing really extraordinary here. – 2 STARSThe Donkey-skin. A princess asks for the skin of a precious donkey in their stable expecting that her father, the King, would not be able to kill the poor donkey. This is part of the series of impossible demands that the princess is asking the king hoping that one of them will not be granted and so she’ll be left by the king and not make her his wife. Had not heard this tale before but it is quite typical. I liked it though. – 3 STARSVery good classic collection of the original fairy tales. To think that Charles Perrault invented the fairy tales as a genre is a strong testament of his brilliance as a writer and storyteller.
In addition to the usual list of difficulties encountered when learning any foreign language, French has a few specific wrinkles of its own. In particular, there are certain verb tenses that have fallen into disuse, so that they are no longer used when speaking, but may still be encountered in written French, particularly in older texts.Most intermediate French students will have seen at least one of these, the so-called "simple past tense", or passé simple. Although it has been completely replaced by the perfect tense, the passé composé , in spoken French, it is still reasonably common in modern texts, though it can come across as being slightly pompous. Given that it's still used in modern writing, inclusion of the passé simple as part of the curriculum seems entirely reasonable.But the passé simple is not the only French "literary tense". No, indeed, there are four others: the passé antérieur (now replaced by the plus-que-parfait, or pluperfect), the imperfect subjunctive (now replaced by the present subjunctive), the pluperfect subjunctive (now replaced by the past subjunctive), and the so-called second form of the conditional past (something clearly dreamed up solely for the purpose of making life more interesting back in the days before television and video games).This past week, in my French class, we read part of Perrault's "Comtes", as a way of introducing us to the whole morass of French literary tenses. So I was moved to go out and buy my own copy, which I've been reading over the weekend, and enjoying thoroughly. Many of your favorite Disney tales are included: "Sleeping Beauty", "Cinderella", "Tom Thumb", "Puss in Boots" (oh wait, wasn't he in "Shrek"?), as well as "Little Red Riding Hood", "Bluebeard", and a handful of others. But don't necessarily expect those Disney happy endings. The Perrault version of these tales errs heavily on the side of cruelty and brutality. There's more than one's fair share of incest, cannibalism, and good old-fashioned gore. For instance, that hunter or woodsman who arrives to save Little Red Riding Hood and her grandma at the end of the Brothers Grimm version? Completely absent from Perrault. In his view of the world, wander from the path to chase butterflies or talk to wolves and you'll come to a grisly ending. The illustrations are the original drawings by Gustav Dore, and are terrific. Finally, on the topic of "Little Red Riding Hood", I came across the following photo, which dates from the winter of 1968, my first term at boarding school, and which I present, in all its horrifying detail, without further commentary. The psychic scars run too deep*. But can you guess which of the characters depicted is now one of Ireland's best-known architects, a figure of international renown? *: For instance, I was forced to sing, in my adorable boy soprano voice, to the tune of "Just a Song at Twilight"I am getting loooone-lyfor Red Riding HoodTHE HORROR! THE HORROR!
What do You think about Perrault's Fairy Tales (1969)?
Eu adoro estes livrinhos de bolso da Europa-América.São baratos, com uma diversidade de títulos que satisfaz qualquer leitor mais exigente e, na minha opinião, de boa qualidade. O único senão é a letrinha quase microscópica que me custa tanto ler, principalmente à noite.É curioso que a versão que eu conhecia e a original aqui retratada neste livro sejam tão diferentes.Por exemplo, a história do Capuchinho Vermelho foi bastante alterada, assim como o Polegarzinho. Mas outras mantiveram-se intactas ao longo dos séculos.Depois houve contos que, confesso vergonhosamente, não conhecia - Pele de Burro (que tem um fundo de quase incesto terrível e nada apropriado a crianças); Riquet, o da Poupa; as Fadas; o Barba Azul.Além disso, este pequenino livro ainda vem com muitas e maravilhosas ilustrações da autoria de Gustave Doré, ilustrador do século XIX, famoso por ter ilustrado A Divina Comédia, de Dante Alighieri.
—Sandra
This was a disappointing book, but that isn't the fault of Angela Carter... I've wanted to read Carter for a long time, ever since a writer I admire recommended her to me. Unfortunately I chose the wrong Carter to begin with. That's because this book isn't really Carter at all, but her own adjusted translations of a set of fairy tales written by Charles Perrault.I've never really been a fan of fairy tales, and I didn't even enjoy Calvino's collection of Italian folk tales (and Calvino is my favourite author) so Carter never really stood a chance with me. Having said that, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the stories themselves. It's just that I found them boring...The worst aspect of this book is also not Carter's fault. It's the pompous introduction by Jack Zipes in which he fawns all over Carter, then attacks her for simplifying the irony of Perrault's original tales, then defends her for bringing a feminist sensibility to her translation, then accuses her of bad faith in ignoring the fact that Perrault wasn't a feminist! At one point he even makes the claim that the story 'Little Red Riding Hood' is about rape. No, it's not. It's about a wolf that eats a little girl. Boris Vian's *J'irai cracher sur vos tombes* is about rape.
—Rhys
The magical tales of Perrault have been an inspiration for many movies and books, and it is easy to see why! Perrault transports us into a world where princesses are in distress, princes save the day and evil beings strive to undermine the good wills of protagonists.There would be some tales one is bound to recognize, such as Cinderella or Puss in Boots. If you are reading the version which is illustrated by Gustave Dore, then the enjoyment is doubled as one gets to look at the woodcuts and follow along in the text.However, some of the tales are quite wordy and the antiquity of the language may sometimes prove a challenge.
—Ian Hu
