Fairy Tales...

Fairy Tales

Who doesn’t like fairy tales? Each and every one of us would have heard fairy tales in our childhood either from our parents or from our grand parents. Fairy tales are stories, which may not necessarily be real stories but are very imaginative and informative. Many of these stories have deep morals for the children to learn and inculcate in themselves. Some fairy tales are very famous and are well known by every child across the world. Such stories are usually fiction but make the children think a lot and inculcate reasoning and creative skills.

There are many fairy tale books available in the market with the Arabian Nights being one of the famous books. Its unique 1001 fables make for a very good reading especially during the night, before going to bed. Such has been the influence of fairy tales that some children have to hear a story read out to them before they go to sleep.

It’s a kind of lullaby without which the child is unable to sleep. Fairy tales are also known as bedtime story books as they are usually read out to the children during nighttime, before going to sleep. The fairy tales are so named as most the stories have a fairy with magical powers. She is able to perform magic and makes things happen as per her wish.

The fairies are depicted as angels who have extra ordinary powers and use it for the betterment of others.

There are many fairy tales that have been written over the years. New stories are being written everyday, but there are some older classics, which are very hard to forget. The famous ones are the Cinderella fairy tale, the Jack and the Bean Stalk fairy tale, Hansel and Gratel fairy tale, and so on. There are also fairy tales with themes like the Wedding fairy tale, Princess fairy tale, Grimms fairy tales, toys fairy tale, art fairy tale, dress fairy tale, etc. These fairy tales provide a thinking platform for the child’s mind so that he/she is able to relate to the world better. It helps in the child relating it to the real world to develop the reasoning, logic and imaginative skills.

There are also many regional fairy tales like the Russian fairy tales, German fairy tales, Japanese fairy tales, French fairy tales, and so on.

The regional fairy tales sometimes have regional heroes or idols so that the children get required knowledge about the sacrifices done by their ancestors. It also inculcates a sense of understanding about local problems and tunes them to understand their surroundings better.

Fairy tales are becoming less and less popular because of growing urbanization where the parents do not have enough time to devote to their children. As a result, children are not able to enjoy the wonderful stories during bedtime. The rise in internet penetration has also been a bane for the fairy tales are children are hooked online most of the time and devote either lesser or no time towards reading.

Fairy tales are stories that are etched forever in your heart. They have adorable main characters who have hearts of gold and villains who are very selfish. When we were young these fairy tales appealed to our childish innocence. But somewhere we lost touch with this culturally rich tales. Most fairy tales invariably had a beautiful princess, a prince charming and a witch perhaps to try to keep them away from each other. It is this factor that attracts kids to fairy tales; they are written lucidly and have a very simple-to-understand plot.

Fairy tales have always featured mythical characters which have never existed such as fairies, goblins, giants and elves etc. One of the most popular kinds of characters in fairytale are the talking animals. These animals portray human emotions. These emotions are so natural and elementary that young children are able to relate it with ease.

Fairy tales are very popular among young children since it gives flight to a young minds fantasies and creativity. If a child refuses to sleep then a narration of his favorite fairy tale is sure to tuck the restless mind to sleep. Fairy tales have been used by generations much before us to get restless young kids to sleep.

The most immortal of fairy tales are perhaps the Cinderella Fairy Tale, Red Riding Hood tales and such. These stories are forever embedded in our minds and we have read them over and over again. The fairy tale character such as Cinderella is so popular among kids that they have been converted into animated characters which are shown on television. This show that even today, no matter how many generations have passed the young mind will always love the colorful, innocent lives of the fairy tale characters.All cultures have done their own original work to create fairy tales. This is why a wide variety of folklore and cultural diversity can be found in fairy tales. Russian fairy tales, German fairy tales and Japanese fairy tales are perhaps the most read and popular fairy tales. Each of these fairy tales has a different tone in narration and totally different characters. While some fairy tales may only use animal characters another may make use of wise kings and handsome knights.

Grimm’s tales are a collection of fabled German fairy tales. These fairy tales were orally narrated as per tradition but no one really made any tangible preservation of these tales. The first to make efforts to this end were the Grimm brothers. They collected all traditional fairy tales and made a tangible record for future generations. The book having a collection of the German fairy tales collected by the Grimm brothers is called Grimm’s tales.

Today, for all our costume parties or Halloween celebrations more often than not, these lovable fairy tale characters become our inspiration. We see elves, vampires, witches and the like at most costume parties. And the fairy tale princess in her sparkling white wedding gown marrying the love of her life is still the most sought after dream for many women.

The Story of Disney's Cinderella

Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl called Cinderella and she had two ugly step sisters who were very unkind who made her do all the hard work. She had to sweep the floors, do all the dishes, while they dressed up in fine clothes and went to lots of parties.One day a special invitation arrived at Cinderella's house. It was from the royal palace. The king's only son was a truly handsome prince was going to have a grand ball. Three girls were invited to come. Cinderella knew she wouldn't be allowed to go to the ball. But the ugly sisters, ho ho ho, they were excited. They couldn't talk about anything else.

Cinderella Story

When the day of the ball came, they made such a fuss. Poor Cinderella had to rush about upstairs and downstairs. She fixed their hair in fancy waves and curls. She helped them put on their expensive new dresses. And she arranged their jewels just so. As soon as they had gone, Cinderella sat down by the fire and she said. "Oh I do wish I could go to the ball". The next moment, standing beside her was a lovely old lady with a silver wand in here hand.

"Cinderella, she said " I am your fairy godmother and you shall go to the ball. But first you must go into the garden and pick a golden pumpkin, then bring me six mice from the mousetraps, a whiskered rat from the rat trap, and six lizards. You'll find the lizards behind the watering can.

So Cinderella fetched a golden pumpkin, six grey mice, a whiskered rate, six lizards. The fairy godmother touched them with her wand and the pumpkin became a golden coach, the mice became six grey horses, the rat became a coachman with the most enormous moustache, and the lizards became six footmen dressed in green and yellow, then the fairy godmother touched Cinderella with the wand and her old dress became a golden dress sparkling with jewels while on her feet was the prettiest pair of glass slippers ever seen. Remember said the fairy godmother you must leave the ball before the clock strikes twelve because at midnight the magic ends. "Thank you fairy godmother" said Cinderella and she climbed into the coach.

When Cinderella arrived at the ball she looked so beautiful that everyone wondered who she was! Even the ugly sisters. The Prince of course asked here to dance with him and they danced all evening. He would not dance with anyone else.

Now Cinderella was enjoying the ball so much that she forgot her fairy godmothers warning until it was almost midnight and the clock began to strike. One. Two. Three. She hurried out of the ballroom. Four. Five. Six. As she ran down the palace steps one of her glass slippers fell off. Seven. Eight. Nine. She ran on toward the golden coach. Ten Eleven Twelve. Then there was Cinderella in her old dress. The golden pumpkin lay in her feet. And scampering down off down the road were six grey mice, a whiskered rat and six green lizards..

 So Cinderella had to walk home and by the time the ugly sisters returned home was sitting quietly by the fire.

Now when Cinderella ran from the palace, the prince tried to follow her and he found the glass slipper. He said, "I shall marry the beautiful girl whose foot fits this slipper and only her. IN the morning the prince went from house to house with the glass slipper and every young lady tried to squeeze her foot into it. But it didn't' fit any of them.At last the prince came to Cinderella's house. First one ugly sister tried to squash her foot into the slipper. But her foot was too wide and fat. Then the other ugly sister tried but her foot was too long and thin. Please said Cinderella, let me try. "The slipper won't fit you", said the ugly sisters.

"You didn't go to the ball!" But Cinderella slipped her foot into the glass slipper and it fit perfectly. The next moment standing beside her was the fairy godmother. She touched Cinderella with the wand and there she was in a golden dress sparkling with jewels and on her feet was the prettiest pair of glass slippers ever seen. The ugly sisters were so surprised that, for once they couldn't think of anything to say. But the Prince knew what to say. He asked Cinderella to marry him.

And then there was a happy wedding. Everyone who had gone to the ball was invited, even the ugly sisters. There was wonderful food, lots of music and dancing. And the Prince of course danced every dance with Cinderella. He would not dance with anyone else.

Sleeping Beauty (Little Briar Rose)

A long time ago there were a king and queen who were unhappy because they were childless. But it happened that once when the queen was bathing, a frog crept out of the water on to the land, and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled, before a year has gone by, you shall have a daughter."sleeping beauty What the frog had said came true, and the queen had a little girl who was so pretty that the king could not contain himself for joy, and ordered a great feast. He invited not only his kindred, friends and acquaintances, but also the wise women, in order that they might be kind and well disposed towards the child.

There were thirteen of them in his kingdom, but, as he had only twelve golden plates for them to eat out of, one of them had to be left at home.

The feast was held with all manner of splendor and when it came to an end the wise women bestowed their magic gifts upon the baby - one gave virtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so on with everything in the world that one can wish for. When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the thirteenth came in.

She wished to avenge herself for not having been invited, and without greeting, or even looking at anyone, she cried with a loud voice, "The king's daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself with a spindle, and fall down dead." And, without saying a word more, she turned round and left the room.

They were all shocked, but the twelfth, whose good wish still remained unspoken, came forward, and as she could not undo the evil sentence, but only soften it, she said, it shall not be death, but a deep sleep of a hundred years, into which the princess shall fall. The king, who would fain keep his dear child from the misfortune, gave orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burnt. Meanwhile the gifts of the wise women were plenteously fulfilled on the young girl, for she was so beautiful, modest, good-natured, and wise, that everyone who saw her was bound to love her. It happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old, the king and queen were not at home, and the maiden was left in the palace quite alone. So she went round into all sorts of places, looked into rooms and bed-chambers just as she liked, and at last came to an old tower. She climbed up the narrow winding staircase, and reached a little door. A rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it the door sprang open, and there in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax.

"Good day, old mother," said the king's daughter, "what are you doing there?"

"I am spinning," said the old woman, and nodded her head. "What sort of thing is that, that rattles round so merrily," said the girl, and she took the spindle and wanted to spin too. But scarcely had she touched the spindle when the magic decree was fulfilled, and she pricked her finger with it.

And, in the very moment when she felt the prick, she fell down upon the bed that stood there, and lay in a deep sleep. And this sleep extended over the whole palace, the king and queen who had just come home, and had entered the great hall, began to go to sleep, and the whole of the court with them. The horses, too, went to sleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the pigeons upon the roof, the flies on the wall, even the fire that was flaming on the hearth became quiet and slept, the roast meat left off frizzling, and the cook, who was just going to pull the hair of the scullery boy, because he had forgotten something, let him go, and went to sleep. And the wind fell, and on the trees before the castle not a leaf moved again. But round about the castle there began to grow a hedge of thorns, which every year became higher, and at last grew close up round the castle and all over it, so that there was nothing of it to be seen, not even the flag upon the roof. But the story of the beautiful sleeping Briar Rose, for so the princess was named, went about the country, so that from time to time kings' sons came and tried to get through the thorny hedge into the castle. But they found it impossible, for the thorns held fast together, as if they had hands, and the youths were caught in them, could not get loose again, and died a miserable death. After long, long years a king's son came again to that country, and heard an old man talking about the thorn hedge, and that a castle was said to stand behind it in which a wonderfully beautiful princess, named Briar Rose, had been asleep for a hundred years, and that the king and queen and the whole court were asleep likewise.

He had heard, too, from his grandfather, that many kings, sons had already come, and had tried to get through the thorny hedge, but they had remained sticking fast in it, and had died a pitiful death. Then the youth said, "I am not afraid, I will go and see the beautiful Briar Rose."

The good old man might dissuade him as he would, he did not listen to his words.

But by this time the hundred years had just passed, and the day had come when Briar Rose was to awake again. When the king's son came near to the thorn hedge, it was nothing but large and beautiful flowers, which parted from each other of their own accord, and let him pass unhurt, then they closed again behind him like a hedge. In the castle yard he saw the horses and the spotted hounds lying asleep, on the roof sat the pigeons with their heads under their wings. And when he entered the house, the flies were asleep upon the wall, the cook in the kitchen was still holding out his hand to seize the boy, and the maid was sitting by the black hen which she was going to pluck. He went on farther, and in the great hall he saw the whole of the court lying asleep, and up by the throne lay the king and queen. Then he went on still farther, and all was so quiet that a breath could be heard, and at last he came to the tower, and opened the door into the little room where Briar Rose was sleeping. There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away, and he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But as soon as he kissed her, Briar Rose opened her eyes and awoke, and looked at him quite sweetly.

Then they went down together, and the king awoke, and the queen, and the whole court, and looked at each other in great astonishment. And the horses in the courtyard stood up and shook themselves, the hounds jumped up and wagged their tails, the pigeons upon the roof pulled out their heads from under their wings, looked round, and flew into the open country, the flies on the wall crept again, the fire in the kitchen burned up and flickered and cooked the meat, the joint began to turn and sizzle again, and the cook gave the boy such a box on the ear that he screamed, and the maid finished plucking the fowl.

And then the marriage of the king's son with Briar Rose was celebrated with all splendor, and they lived contented to the end of their days.