490
GRIMM'S HOUSEHOLD TALES.
- Bluebeard (La Barbe bleue). In German, see No. 46, Fitcher's Bird, but it is rather different; there is nothing like it in Italian.
- Little Red-riding-hood (Le petit Chaperon Rouge). German, No. 26.
- Puss in Boots (Le Chat botté). See Gagliuso, 2. 4, in the Pentamerone, Straparola, 11, 1. Fragment, No. 4.
- Cinderella (Cendrillon). This is flatter than in the Pentamerone, 1. 6, and in the German, No. 21; and how important is the incident, which is altogether absent in the French version, of the King's son being for a short time deceived by the two wicked sisters, who have shortened their feet by force in order to be able to wear their shoes, but are betrayed by the pigeons.
- Riquet with the Tuft (à la houpe). At first sight this might be considered a mere invention. It has nothing in it, but that an ugly but clever man can impart his wit to a girl, and a beautiful but stupid girl can give beauty to a deformed man, if they love each other. Here, too, witty epigrammatic turns are to be found, and the dialogue is very pointed. There is not anything like it either in Italian or German.
- Little Thumb (Le petit Poucet). For the most part the German story of Hänsel, No. 15. In the Pentamerone, see 5, 8. The Thumbling himself has not so much character here as in the two German stories, Nos. 37 and 45.
These eight stories were first (?) published by Perrault, in 1697, in Paris, in 12mo., under an old title, borrowed from a Fabliau, of Contes de ma mère l'oye, and there was a second, Histoire ou contes du temps passé. In the following editions three more stories were added.[1]
- The Ass's Skin (Peau d'âne). In the Pentamerone, the She-bear (2, 6); in German, Allerleirauh (No. 65).
- The Clever Princess (L'adroite Princesse). In the Pentamerone, Sapia Liccarda (3, 4).
- The Foolish Wishes (Les Souhaits ridicides), in verse. Contains the last part of the German story, The Poor Man and the Rich One, No. 87.
- ↑ In some editions there was a fourth as well, viz., Griseldis, in verse. In the magnificent edition of Paris, 1782, in 12mo, and in the Cabinet des Fées, 1., there are, therefore, twelve pieces. Griseldis, however, is not a story, but a well-known novella from "Boccaccio," and is, on that account, properly omitted in other editions. Nicheron, in his Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des hommes illustres, 33, 287, accepts as a fact that Perrault was born in the year 1626, and mentions Griseldis, nouvelle avec le conte de Peau d'âsne et celui des Souhaits ridicules, 2nd edition, Paris, 1694, 12mo., with the remark that all are composed in verse.
