The Tales of Mother Goose: As First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696Perrault, Charles
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The Tales of Mother Goose: As First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696
Perrault, Charles
Children's stories, French -- Translations into English; Fairy tales; Fairy tales -- France
A modest, faithful child will be strengthened in his good qualities;
while one lacking these will have them aroused, to some extent at any
rate, by following Cinderella in her career. Arrogance and selfishness
come to unhappy straits in this fancy world, and they are likely to
fare the same in the real world; so it would be better to part company
with them, and take up with gentleness and kindliness and faithfulness
instead. And every one may be of some help to others if he be only of
the right mind. The brother who thought himself faring badly with only a
cat for a legacy learns betimes that even so small and apparently
helpless a creature may be of much service when he is rightly disposed.
A person might think little Thumb could accomplish nothing of value to
any one, but he again teaches the child that all depends on the
willingness to be of assistance, the good-heartedness, the
fellow-feeling which one has for others.
In making this version anew the translator has endeavored to retain the
characteristics of the style of the early chap-book versions, while
evading the pompous, stilted language and Johnsonian phraseology so
fashionable when they were first translated.
M.V. O'SHEA.
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.
The Tales of Mother Goose.
CINDERELLA, OR THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER.
Once upon a time there was a gentleman who married, for his second wife,
the proudest and most haughty woman that ever was seen. She had two
daughters of her own, who were, indeed, exactly like her in all things.
The gentleman had also a young daughter, of rare goodness and sweetness
of temper, which she took from her mother, who was the best creature in
the world.
The wedding was scarcely over, when the stepmother's bad temper began to
show itself. She could not bear the goodness of this young girl, because
it made her own daughters appear the more odious. The stepmother gave
her the meanest work in the house to do; she had to scour the dishes,
tables, etc., and to scrub the floors and clean out the bedrooms. The
poor girl had to sleep in the garret, upon a wretched straw bed, while
her sisters lay in fine rooms with inlaid floors, upon beds of the very
newest fashion, and where they had looking-glasses so large that they
might see themselves at their full length. The poor girl bore all
patiently, and dared not complain to her father, who would have scolded
her if she had done so, for his wife governed him entirely.
When she had done her work, she used to go into the chimney corner, and
sit down among the cinders, hence she was called Cinderwench. The
younger sister of the two, who was not so rude and uncivil as the elder,
called her Cinderella. However, Cinderella, in spite of her mean
apparel, was a hundred times more handsome than her sisters, though they
were always richly dressed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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