The New Blue Fairy Book Part 1: Fairy Tales 1 to 6
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The New Blue Fairy Book
Part 1: Fairy Tales 1 to 6
Edited by Laird Stevens
The New Blue Fairy Book Part 1: Fairy Tales 1 to 6
Edited by Laird Stevens
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Copyright 2014 by Laird Stevens
eBook edition ISBN: 978-0-9867066-8-4
Preface
The great beauty of Andrew Lang’s Blue Fairy Book, originally published in 1889, is that it brought together many different fairy tale traditions. There are stories written by Charles Perrault and Mme d’Aulnoy, collected by the Grimm brothers and Asbjornsen and Moe, and translated from the Arabian Nights. It is a very rich collection of fairy tales.
However, the stories are written in a language that is outdated and in places inaccessible to modern American children (and even their parents). To remedy this problem, I have thoroughly edited half of the stories contained in Lang`s book, keeping the stories as intact as possible, while revising every sentence so the stories can once again be read with pleasure by children.
Table of Contents
Toads and Diamonds
Beauty and the Beast
Snow-white and Rose-red
Why the Sea is Salty
Felicia and the Pot of Carnations
Hansel and Grettel
TOADS AND DIAMONDS
Once upon a time there lived a widow with two daughters. The older of the two was just like her mother: she was always frowning, and her mouth was full of mean words. They were both so arrogant and rude that even animals avoided them, and birds refused to sing in their garden.
The younger child was quite the opposite. She was like her father, who had been a kind and honest man. As well, she was as beautiful a girl as one could ever imagine.
People tend to admire others who are mirrors of themselves, so the mother loved her older daughter very much, but hated the younger one intensely. She made her eat in the kitchen, and work the whole day long.
One of the girl’s duties was fetching water from a fountain a mile and a half away. One day, she was filling her jug when a woman in beggar’s rags approached, asking permission to drink.
“Of course!” said the girl. “I’ll get some water at once.” She dipped her jug in the clearest part of the fountain. “It’s a little heavy,” she said, “so let me hold it up while you drink.”
When the woman had drunk her fill, she thanked the girl heartily.
“You are such a pretty girl,” she said, “and so kind and so caring. You simply must allow me to give you a gift.” For the woman was really a fairy, and she had dressed in rags to see if the girl would be kind even to a beggar. “This is your present,” she said. “Whenever you speak, a flower or a jewel will come out of your mouth.”
When the girl arrived home, her mother scolded her for being so long at the fountain.
“I’m sorry, mother,” said the girl. “I’ll go more quickly next time.”
As she said these words, two roses, two pearls, and two diamonds came out of her mouth.
Her mother’s eyes opened wide. “What are those things coming out of your mouth?” she cried. “They look like pearls and diamonds! Daughter? Explain!”
Never before had she called the girl her daughter.
The innocent child recounted the whole story, and all the while diamonds tumbled out of her mouth.
The mother gawked at the girl, and the corners of her mouth began to twitch. “Really?” she said. Then she glanced around the yard. “Where is that daughter of mine? Porgi!” she called. “Porgi-pie! Come and see what your sister’s got in her mouth! Wouldn’t you like to be able to do that? And all you have to do is wait by the fountain till a woman in beggar’s rags asks for a drink! You give her the drink, and hey presto, your cheeks are full of jewels!”
“Mother!” replied Porgi, looking all the way down her nose. “Surely you don’t want me to fetch water from the fountain!”
“Surely I do!” said her mother. “And I want you to leave this instant!”
So Porgi left at once, and took the nicest silver jug in the house, but she grumbled and grouched all the way to the fountain. Hardly had she arrived when out of the woods came a woman dressed like a queen. It was the same fairy who had begged water from her sister, and she was testing Porgi as well: would she speak rudely even to royalty? The fairy asked if she could have a drink of water.
“Do you think I walked all the way here just to get you something to drink?” Porgi sneered in disbelief. “Oh, that’s right! I brought this beautiful silver jug just so Madam could wet her lips!” Porgi put the falsest smile imaginable on her face. “I don’t think so! But there’s plenty of room on the ground. Feel free to lie down, and have a little drink.”
“You’re not a very polite girl, are you?” said the fairy in a voice that was calm and detached. “Very well. Because you are so unkind, I will give you a little gift. Whenever you speak, a toad or a snake will come out of your mouth.”
As soon as her mother saw her approaching, she cried, “Well? How did it go?”
Porgi aped her mother sarcastically. “Well? How did it go?” And as she spoke, two snakes and then two toads came out of her mouth.
“My goodness,” cried the mother. “How awful! That sister of yours is behind this, I’m sure! Well, she’ll pay!” She grabbed a paddle and went to beat the girl. But the child ran away and hid in the forest.
A young prince was coming from the hunt when he saw her crouching behind a tree. He was taken by her beauty, and asked what she was doing all alone in the forest, and why she was crying.
“My mother threw me out of the house,” she said.
As she spoke, five or six pearls came out of her mouth, and as many diamonds followed. The prince asked her where they came from, and she told him the whole story. Then the prince fell in love with her, and asked her to marry him, and she agreed. There was no need of a dowry, of course, so the prince took her to the palace of his father the king, and there they married.
As for the sister, she was so rude that her mother finally chased her out of the house as well. But she found no one to take her in, and she died alone in the forest.