Old French Fairy Tales. Comtesse de Ségur
and therefore can appear separately in many different origins.
Some folklorists prefer to use the German term Märchen or ‘wonder tale’ to refer to the genre over fairy tale, a practice given weight by the definition of Thompson in his 1977 edition of The Folktale. He described it as ‘a tale of some length involving a succession of motifs or episodes. It moves in an unreal world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvellous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry princesses.’ The genre was first marked out by writers of the Renaissance, such as Giovanni Francesco Straparola and Giambattista Basile, and stabilized through the works of later collectors such as Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. The oral tradition of the fairy tale came long before the written page however.
Tales were told or enacted dramatically, rather than written down, and handed from generation to generation. Because of this, the history of their development is necessarily obscure. Many fairy tales appear in written literature throughout different cultures, as in The Golden Ass, which includes Cupid and Psyche (Roman, 100–200 AD), or the Panchatantra (India 3rd century BCE). However it is still unknown to what extent these reflect the actual folk tales even of their own time. The fairy tale itself became popular among the French nobility and among the tales told in that time were the ones of La Fontaine and the Contes of Charles Perrault (1697), who fixed the forms of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Cinderella.’ Perrault largely laid the foundations for this new literary genre, with some of the best of his works being ‘Puss in Boots’ and ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’
The first collectors to attempt to preserve not only the plot and characters of the tale, but also the style in which they were told were the Brothers Grimm, who collected German fairy tales. The Brothers Grimm rejected several tales for their collection, though told by Germans, because the tales derived from Perrault and they concluded they were thereby French and not German tales. An oral version of ‘Bluebeard’ was thus rejected, and the tale of ‘Little Briar Rose’, clearly related to Perrault’s ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ was included only because Jacob Grimm convinced his brother that the figure of Brynhildr, from much earlier Norse mythology, proved that the sleeping princess was authentically German folklore. The Grimm Brothers remain some of the best-known story-tellers of folk tales though, popularising ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Rapunzel’, ‘Rumplestiltskin’ and ‘Snow White’.
The work of the Brothers Grimm influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe, in a spirit of romantic nationalism, that the fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of it (ignoring cross-cultural references). Among those influenced were the Russian Alexander Afanasyev (first published in 1866), the Norwegian Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and the Englishman, Joseph Jacobs (first published in 1890). Simultaneously to such developments, writers such as Hans Christian Andersen and George MacDonald continued the tradition of literary fairy tales. Andersen’s work sometimes drew on old folktales, but more often deployed fairytale motifs and plots in new tales; for instance in ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes.’ Fairy tales are still written in the present day, attesting to their enormous popularity and cultural longevity. We hope the current reader, whether old or young – enjoys this book.
Rosalie saw before her eyes a tree of marvellous beauty
THE STORY OF BLONDINE, BONNE-BICHE,
AND BEAU-MINON
BLONDINE
There was once a king called Benin. He was good and all the world loved him; he was just and the wicked feared him. His wife, the Queen Doucette, was also good, and much beloved.
This happy pair had a daughter called the Princess Blondine, because of her superb fair hair, and she was as amiable and charming as her father the king and her mother the queen.
Unfortunately, the poor queen died a short time after the birth of Blondine and for a long time the king wept bitterly at his great loss. Blondine was too young to understand her mother’s death: she did not weep but continued to laugh, to play and to sleep peacefully. The king loved her tenderly and she loved him more than all the world. He gave his little daughter the most beautiful jewels, the finest bonbons, and the most rare and delicious fruits. Blondine was very happy.
One day it was announced to the king, that all his subjects demanded that he should marry again in order to have a son who should reign after him. He refused at first but finally yielded to the pressing desires of his people and said to his minister Leger:—
“My dear friend, my subjects wish me to marry again but my heart is so sad because of the death of my cherished queen Doucette that I cannot undertake the task of seeking another wife. Go, then, my good Leger and find me a princess who will make my sweet Blondine happy. Go; I ask for nothing more. When you have found a perfect woman, you will demand her hand in marriage and conduct her to my court.”
Leger set off immediately, visited many courts and saw innumerable princesses—ugly, humpbacked and wicked.
At last he arrived at the kingdom of the monarch Turbulent, who had a lovely daughter, bright, winning and apparently good. Leger found her so charming, that he asked her hand in marriage for his king Benin, without sufficiently inquiring into her real character.
Leger meets the wicked princess, Fourbette
Turbulent was enchanted at the prospect of getting rid of his daughter who was jealous, proud and wicked. Also, her presence often interfered with his excursions for pleasure, with the chase and with his various entertainments at the palace.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he acceded to the Prime Minister’s request, and he returned with the princess to the kingdom of the good king Benin.
The princess Fourbette was accompanied by four thousand mules, loaded with the jewels and wardrobe of the charming bride.
King Benin had been apprised of their approach by a courier and went forward to receive the princess Fourbette. He found her beautiful but he noted the absence of the mild and attractive expression of the poor lost Doucette.
When Fourbette’s eyes fell upon Blondine her glance was so cruel, so wicked, that the poor child, who was now three years old, was greatly terrified and began to weep bitterly.
“What is the matter?” said the king. “Why does my sweet and sensible Blondine weep like a bad little girl?”
“Papa! dear papa!” cried Blondine, throwing herself into the arms of the king, “do not give me into the hands of this princess. I am afraid of her—her eyes are cruel!”
The king was much surprised. He turned so suddenly towards the princess Fourbette that she had no time to control herself and he perceived the terrible glance with which she regarded the little Blondine.
Benin immediately resolved that Blondine should be wholly separated from the new queen and remain as before under the exclusive protection of the nurse who had taken care of her and who loved her tenderly.
The queen thus saw Blondine rarely, and when she met her by chance she could not wholly dissimulate the hatred she felt for her.
About a year from that time a daughter was born to the queen Fourbette. She was named Brunette, because of her dark hair which was black as the raven’s wing.
Brunette was pretty but not