Sleeping Beauty

At the christening of a king and queen's long-wished-for child, seven fairies are invited to be godmothers to the infant princess. At the banquet back at the palace, the fairies seat themselves with a golden casket containing golden jeweled utensils laid before them. However, a wicked fairy who was overlooked, having been within a certain tower for many years and thought to be either dead or enchanted enters and is offered a seating, but not a golden casket since only seven were made. The fairies then offer their gifts of beauty, wit, grace, dance, song and ability of musical instruments. The old fairy then places the princess under an enchantment as her gift: the princess will prick her hand on a spindle and die. One last fairy has yet to give her gift and uses it to partially reverse the wicked fairy's curse, proclaiming that the princess will instead fall into a deep sleep for 100 years and be awoken by a king's son. The king forbids spinning on spinning-wheels or spindles, or the possession of one, throughout the kingdom, upon pain of death. When the princess is fifteen or sixteen and her parents are away on pleasure bent, she wanders through the palace rooms going up and down and then chances upon an old woman who is spinning with her distaff in the garret of a tower and had not heard of the king's decree against spinning wheels. The princess asks to try the unfamiliar task and the inevitable happens: the curse is fulfilled. The old woman cries for help and attempts are made to revive her, but to no avail. The king attributes this to fate and has the princess carried to the finest room in the palace and placed upon a bed of gold-and-silver-embroidered fabric. The good fairy who altered the evil prophecy is summoned by a dwarf wearing seven-league boots and returns in a chariot of fire drawn by dragons. Having great powers of foresight, the good fairy sees that the princess will be distressed to find herself alone and so puts everyone in the castle to sleep. The king and queen kiss their daughter goodbye and depart, proclaiming the entrance to be forbidden. The good fairy's magic also summons a forest of trees, brambles and thorns that spring up around the castle, shielding it from the outside world and preventing anyone from disturbing the princess.

A hundred years pass and a prince from another family spies the hidden castle during a hunting expedition. His attendants tell him differing stories regarding the happenings in the castle until an old man recounts his father's words: within the castle lies a beautiful princess who is doomed to sleep for a hundred years, whereupon a king's son is to come and awaken her. The prince then braves the tall tress, brambles and thorns which part at his approach, and enters the castle. He passes the sleeping castle folk and comes across the chamber where the princess lies asleep on the bed. Trembling at the radiant beauty before him, he falls on his knees before her. The enchantment comes to an end and the princess awakens and converses with the prince for a long time. Meanwhile, the rest of the castle awakes and go about their business. The prince and princess head over to the hall of mirrors to dine and are later married by the chaplain in the castle chapel. After having been secretly wed by the reawakened Royal almoner, the Prince continued to visit the Princess, who bore him two children, L'Aurore (Dawn) and Le Jour (Day), which he kept secret from his step-mother, who was of an ogre lineage. Once he had ascended the throne, he brought his wife and the talabutte ("Count of the Mount").

The Ogress Queen Mother sent the young Queen and the children to a house secluded in the woods, and directed her cook there to prepare the boy for her dinner, with a sauce Robert. The humane cook substituted a lamb, which satisfied the Queen Mother, who then demanded the girl, but was satisfied with a young goat prepared in the same excellent sauce. When the Ogress demanded that he serve up the young Queen, the latter offered her throat to be slit, so that she might join the children she imagined were dead. There was a tearful secret reunion in the cook's little house, while the Queen Mother was satisfied with a hind prepared with sauce Robert. Soon she discovered the trick and prepared a tub in the courtyard filled with vipers and other noxious creatures. The King returned in the nick of time and the Ogress, being discovered, threw herself into the pit she had prepared and was consumed, and everyone else lived happily ever after.

Tom Thumb

In the days of King Arthur, old Thomas of the Mountain, a plowman and a member of the King's Council, wants nothing more than a son, even if he is no bigger than his thumb. He sends his wife to consult with Merlin and in three months time she gives birth to the diminutive Tom Thumb. The "Queene of Fayres" and her attendants act as midwives. She provides Tom with an oak leaf hat, a shirt of cobweb, a doublet of thistledown, stockings of apple rind, and shoes of mouse's skin. Tom cheats at games with other boys, and, because of his many tricks, the boys will not associate with him. Tom retaliates by using magic to hang his mother's pots and glasses from a sunbeam, and, when his fellows try the same, their pots and glasses fall and are broken. Thereafter, Tom stays home under his mother's supervision. At Christmas, she makes puddings, but Tom falls into the batter, and is boiled into one of them. When a tinker comes begging, Tom's mother inadvertently gives him the pudding containing her son. The tinker farts while crossing a stile but Tom calls out about the farting and the frightened tinker drops the pudding. Tom eats himself free and returns home to tell his mother and father of his adventure. His mother thereafter keeps a closer watch upon him, but one day he accompanies her to the field to milk the cows. He sits under a thistle but a red cow swallows him. The cow is given a laxative and Tom passes from her in a "cowturd". He is taken home and cleaned. Another day, he accompanies his father for the seed sowing and rides in the horse's ear. Tom is set down in the field to play the scarecrow but a raven carries him away. His parents search for him but are unable to find him.

The raven drops Tom at the castle of a giant. The cruel giant swallows the tiny boy like a pill. Tom thrashes about so much in the giant's stomach that he is vomited into the sea. There, he is eaten once more, this time by a fish, which is caught for King Arthur's supper. The cook is astonished to see the little man emerge from the fish. Tom then becomes King Arthur's Dwarf. Tom becomes a favourite at court, especially among the ladies. There is revelry; Tom joins the jousting and dances in the palm of a Maid of Honour. He goes home briefly to see his parents, taking some money from the treasury with the king's permission, then returns to court. The Queene of Fayres finds him asleep on a rose and leaves him several gifts: an enchanted hat of knowledge, a ring of invisibility, a shape-changing girdle, and shoes to take him anywhere in a moment. Tom falls seriously ill when a lady blows her nose, but is cured by the physician to King Twaddell of the Pygmies. He takes a rides in his walnut shell coach and meets Garagantua. Each boasts of his many powers, but when Garagantua threatens to harm Tom, he is cast under an enchantment and Tom hurries home to safety. King Arthur listens with amazement to Tom's many adventures.

Ruslan and Ludmila : A Russian Fairy tale

In days long since past, Prince Vladimir of Kiev held a magnificent feast in honor of the marriage of his daughter Ludmila and the knight Ruslan. Three jealous suitors looked on - Rogday, Farlaf, and Ratmir. The festivities lasted for hours and when they were over, Ruslan led his beautiful young bride to the waiting nuptial bed. Suddenly a light flashed through the night sky and a clap of thunder shook the ground. A strange mist appeared and from somewhere inside it a strange voice spoke. Ruslan turned to embrace his bride, but she had vanished without a trace. After learning of her disappearance, Prince Vladimir was angry and sick with worry. He immediately annulled the marriage and offered Ludmila's hand to anyone who could find her and bring her home. Without delay, Ruslan, Rogday, Farlaf, and Ratmir mounted their spirited horses to search for the kidnapped maiden. For a while, the four rode together, but eventually they separated. Rogday was rather high-strung and could be heard muttering under his breath, "I'll murder the kidnapper. I'll kill him!" Once he thought he had found the guilty man and pursued him as he fled on horseback. In no time at all he chased him down and threw him into a ditch. To his disappointment, he discovered that it was his rival Farlaf whom he had caught. He left the scene without saying a word. Farlaf, the most cowardly of the four knights, was counting his blessings in the ditch when he was met by a wicked old witch named Naina. She told him to let one of the others rescue Ludmila. Then, when they were returning home, Farlaf could snatch her from the rival. Ratmir, meanwhile, was taking a southern route in his search and one evening came across a castle inhabited by beautiful, attentive maidens. He was never heard from again! Ruslan was making the most progress in the quest to find the beautiful Ludmila. Early in his search he found a cave where he met an old wizard who said that he had become a wizard to win the love of a beautiful girl he knew when he was a youth in his native country of Finland. With the aid of magic, he finally won her heart many years later, but by then she was evil, decrepit, and hunchbacked. (In fact, this old woman was none other than the wicked witch Naina.) Since that time, the Finn had lived in solitude. The wizard said that the wicked sorcerer Chernomor was the one who stole Ruslan's bride, but he gave Ruslan his assurance that everything would work out in the end. Encouraged by this, Ruslan took to the road again. Soon he ran into his jealous rival Rogday and was forced into a battle with him. On horseback, the two fought each other tooth-and-nail for some time. Finally, Ruslan managed to throw Rogday off his horse and to his death into the raging waters of the Dnieper River. A short while later, Ruslan found a giant head in his path! With mad laughter, the head would blow at Ruslan, creating a powerful gust of wind that almost toppled both Ruslan and his horse. But the mighty knight managed to thrust a spear into the head's tongue, taking away its powerful breath, and then knocked it on its side with his heavy glove. Ruslan was ready to deliver the final blow with a shining sword he found underneath his foe, when the head surrendered completely and promised to be obedient to Ruslan. It happened that the head knew Ludmila's abductor, Chernomor, very well - he was his brother. The sorcerer had cut off his head in a dispute over the shining sword that Ruslan had just found. The head told the knight that all of Chernomor's power was contained in his beard. Cut off Chernomor's beard and his power would be gone as well. Ruslan went on his way again, leaving the head in peace. Where was Ludmila all this time? Indeed, she had been abducted by the evil Chernomor, who wanted her for himself. He took her to his castle where she could live comfortably. Outside her room, she could walk freely in an enchanted garden amid fantastic trees and fairy birds. But she missed Ruslan and could never be happy there. At one point, Ludmila repelled Chernomor's amorous advances and, in the process, took his hat, which she discovered made her invisible when she wore it backwards. Naturally, she kept wearing the magic hat so that Chernomor didn't know where she was! But the evil sorcerer was relentless in his pursuit of the beautiful maiden and changed his form to disguise himself as Ruslan. When Ludmila saw him, she took off the hat and rushed into his arms. Realizing she had been tricked, she fell to the ground, unconscious. An instant later, the real Ruslan arrived and the showdown began. Chernomor put the hat back on Ludmila so that she would be invisible and Ruslan could not find her. Then for two days Ruslan and Chernomor battled. Chernomor used the magical powers of his beard to force the fight hundreds of feet in the air. But Ruslan hung on and finally sliced off the sorcerer's beard with the shining sword. The two descended back to earth since Chernomor had lost all his powers with his beard gone. He was now no match for the mighty Ruslan. After subduing Chernomor, Ruslan frantically searched the grounds for his young bride. Suddenly, a chance swing of his sword dislodged Ludmila's hat, exposing the pretty maiden, who was still unconscious. In his head Ruslan heard the voice of the old Finn wizard who said that Ludmila would awaken once they were back in Kiev. On the journey back, they met the giant head, now near death from the wounds suffered in his earlier struggle with Ruslan. After seeing that Ruslan had emerged victorious over his brother, the head took one last breath in peace, content that justice had been done. Leaving the head and drawing closer to Kiev, Ruslan and the others set up camp for the night. While they were sleeping, the cowardly and evil Farlaf, aided by the ugly witch Naina, plunged a sword three times into Ruslan, leaving our hero there to die. If only the old Finn wizard was there to do his magic now... Farlaf then carried Ludmila back to Kiev himself and was greeted with much jubilation by the people there. Ludmila, however, remained unconscious. Not only that, the city of Kiev itself was besieged by enemy nomads. But as the battle for Kiev raged on, a powerful warrior was seen in the distance cutting down everyone in his path. It was Ruslan! The wizard had discovered him earlier at death's door and magically brought him back to life using special "life and death" waters. In no time at all, Ruslan practically singlehandedly managed to defeat the enemy attackers and save the city. It was now time for him to see about his lovely but still unconscious Ludmila. Ruslan went to her room and tried to wake her with a magical ring given to him by the wizard. After a few anxious moments, Ludmila finally opened her eyes, and Marveled at the long night.Suddenly she beheld the sight of her knight. Ruslan she faced and passionately embraced her hero

. Ruslan and Ludmila were together again and lived happily for the rest of their lives.

Russian Fairy Tale "By the Pike's Wish"

By the Pike's Wish

In a small village in Russia there lived three brothers. The two elder brothers were married. They were merchants. The youngest brother was a fool named Emelya. One day the elder brothers went to the market far away and asked him to take care of their wives. Emelya stayed home and slept on the warm stove. The next morning his sisters-in-law asked him to bring some water from the river. He mumbled, "Leave me in peace. I want to sleep. Go yourself." The women persuaded him kindly and promised him a new red jacket and new red hat. They knew that Emelya liked red outfits. He jumped from the stove and went to the river. He took some water in his pails, then saw a pike in the ice-hole and caught it. "The pike pie will be delicious," he thought. But the pike begged him in a human voice, "Let me go free, Emelya. I will grant you anything you wish. You just need to say, 'By the pike's wish, at my command,' and everything will be done."

Emelya let it free and said in a loud voice: "By the pike's wish, at my command, pails, go home by yourselves." His sisters-in-law were very surprised to see pails full of water coming home by themselves. And Emelya jumped onto the stove and went back to sleep. Another day the two women planned to bake pancakes, but there was not enough firewood. They persuaded him to go to the forest and promised to make him pancakes, which he liked a lot. Emelya went to the yard, sat down in a sledge and whispered, "By the pike's wish, at my command, sledge, go to the forest." His sledge almost flew there! There, Emelya let the axe do its job. Unfortunately on the way back he had to go through the town, and many people were hit by his sledge. After he returned home, he jumped again onto the stove and fell asleep. The tsar heard about the incident in the town and sent his officer to find Emelya and bring him to the palace. The officer found Emelya's house, entered and shouted, "Emelya, come here. You must go with me to the tsar's palace!" From the stove Emelya mumbled, "Why? I am warm here. Leave me in peace." When the officer dragged him down, Emelya became angry and shouted, "By the pike's wish, at my command, cudgel, come and greet the tsar's officer." The cudgel appeared and beat the officer hard. Then the tsar sent another officer to Emelya. This officer was smarter; he brought raisins, prunes, and gingerbread and came to persuade Emelya to come to the tsar's palace. Emelya finished eating the sweets and finally agreed to go to the palace. He took his old jacket with a fancy pattern and said in loud voice, "By the pike's wish, at my command, stove, go straight to the tsar's palace!". When Emelya, riding on the stove, appeared in the tsar's courtyard, everybody was watching from the steps, anxious to see him. It happened that the tsar's daughter was among them. When Emelya saw her, he liked her and whispered, "By the pike's wish, at my command, I want this beautiful girl to fall in love with me." And he told the stove to take him back home. The tsar's daughter longed for him and asked her father to let her marry him. The Tsar became sad, but there was nothing that could be done, so he sent another officer to bring Emelya to the palace again. The officer bought a lot of sweets and came to Emelya's house. When Emelya finished all the treats, he got tired and fell asleep. The officer brought him to the tsar. Then he and the princess were placed in a big barrel and were thrown into the sea. When Emelya awoke, he found himself in the barrel with a beautiful girl. Sobbing, she explained what had happened to them. Emelya said, "By the pike's wish, at my command, I want the waves to roll the barrel to shore." In a moment they were saved and found themselves on a beautiful island. "My sweetheart, Emelya, where will we live? Could you build a small hut for us?" asked the princess. Emelya agreed and said loudly, "At the pike's wish, by my command, build me here the best palace in the world!" Immediately, a wonderful marble palace with many servants appeared. Then the princess asked him, "My dear Emelya, could you be more handsome?" Instantly he turned into a handsome and intelligent young man. They lived happily for a while as rulers of the island. One day the tsar came to the island and saw an amazing palace. When Emelya greeted him, the tsar did not recognize him. Inside the tsar found his own daughter and she told him everything that happened to her and Emelya. The tsar wept and asked their forgiveness. Then they held a great wedding ceremony and invited Emelya's brothers. After that everybody lived in peace and love. prev | next

Cinderella

Oliver Herford illustrated the fairy godmother inspired by the Perrault version Once upon a time, there was a widower who married a proud and haughty woman as his second wife. She had two daughters, who were equally vain. By his first wife, he'd had a beautiful young daughter, a girl of unparalleled goodness and sweet temper. The Stepmother and her daughters forced the first daughter into servitude, where she was made to work day and night in menial chores. After the girl's chores were done for the day, she would retire to the barren and cold room given to her, and would curl up near the fireplace in an effort to stay warm. She would often arise covered in cinders, giving rise to the mocking nickname "Cinderella". Cinderella bears the abuse patiently and dares not tell her father, since his wife controls him entirely. One day, the Prince invites all the young ladies in the land to a ball, planning to choose a wife from amongst them. The two Stepsisters gleefully planned their wardrobes for the ball, and taunted Cinderella by telling her maids were not invited to the ball.

As the sisters depart to the ball, Cinderella cries in despair. Her Fairy Godmother magically appears and immediately begins to transform Cinderella from house servant to the young lady she was by birth, all in the effort to get Cinderella to the ball. She turns a pumpkin into a golden carriage, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen. She then turns Cinderella's rags into a beautiful jeweled gown, complete with a delicate pair of glass slippers. The Godmother tells her to enjoy the ball, but warned that she had to return before midnight, when the spells would be broken. At the ball, the entire court is entranced by Cinderella, most especially the Prince. At this first ball, Cinderella remembers to leave before midnight. Back home, Cinderella graciously thanks her Godmother. She then greets the stepsisters, who had not recognized her earlier and talked of nothing but the beautiful girl at the ball. Another ball is held the next evening, and Cinderella again attends with her Godmother's help. The Prince has become even more entranced, and Cinderella in turn becomes so enchanted by him she loses track of time and leaves only at the final stroke of midnight, losing one of her glass slippers on the steps of the palace in her haste. The Prince chases her, but outside the palace, the guards watch only a simple country wench leave. The Prince pockets the slipper and vows to find and marry the girl to whom it belonged. Meanwhile, Cinderella keeps the other slipper, which did not disappear when the spell was broken. The Prince tries the slipper on all the women in the kingdom. When the Prince arrives at Cinderella's villa, the stepsisters try in vain to win over the prince. Cinderella asks if she might try, while the stepsisters taunt her. Naturally, the slipper fits perfectly, and Cinderella produces the other slipper for good measure. The stepsisters both plead for forgiveness, and Cinderella forgives them for their cruelties. Cinderella marries the Prince, and the stepsisters also marry two lords. The first moral of the story is that beauty is a treasure, but graciousness is priceless. Without it, nothing is possible; with it, one can do anything. However, the second moral of the story mitigates the first one and reveals the criticism that Perrault is aiming at: "Another moral: Without doubt it is a great advantage to have intelligence, courage, good breeding, and common sense. These, and similar talents come only from heaven, and it is good to have them. However, even these may fail to bring you success, without the blessing of a godfather or a godmother."