“The Fairy.” Histories orTales of Past Times Written for Children Told By Mother Goose with Morals, Charles Perrault, edited by J. Saxon Childers,London: The Nonesuch Press., 1925, pp. 24-29.
![The Fairy](/projects/fairy-tales/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/article-image/0032_1.jpg?itok=rQf9QwPE)
Tale Summary
Once upon a time, there was a very disagreeable widow with two daughters. The eldest was much like her, but the youngest was more like her father and was very beautiful and sweet of temper, and her mother disliked her very much. She made her work constantly and had to twice a day draw water a mile and a half from the house, and bring home a pitcher full. One day, as she was doing this chore, a poor woman came to her and begged her for a drink. The girl agreed, and the woman revealed herself as a fairy, and gave her a gift: for every word she spoke, out of her mouth would come out either a flower or a jewel. When the girl got home and her mother scolded her for being so long, she apologized, and two roses, two pearls, and two diamonds came out of her mouth. She explains what happened, and the mother tells her older daughter to go to the fountain and do the same. The fairy appears to the sister there, this time as a princess, to see how far the girl’s rudeness would go. The girl is very unpleasant, and the fairy gives her this gift: for every word she speaks, out of her mouth will come outa snake or a toad. The mother is enraged and goes to punish the younger daughter, who flees into the forest, where she runs into the King’s son. She tells him all which has happened and he falls in love and decides to marry her because of her valuable gift. Her older sister became so hated that her own mother abandoned her, and died alone in the woods.
Fairy Tale Title
The Fairy
Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)
Charles Perrault, J. Saxon Childers
Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)
None listed
Common Tale Type
The Kind and the Unkind Girls
Tale Classification
ATU 480
Page Range of Tale
pp. 24-29
Full Citation of Tale
“The Fairy.” Histories orTales of Past Times Written for Children Told By Mother Goose with Morals, Charles Perrault, edited by J. Saxon Childers,London: The Nonesuch Press., 1925, pp. 24-29.
Original Source of the Tale
Charles Perrault
Tale Notes
This tale gives two morals:
“Money and Jewels still we find
Stamp strong Impressions on the Mind;
However, sweet Discourse does yet much more,
Of greater Value is, and greater Pow’r.”
“Civil Behaviour costs indeed some Pains,
Requires of Complaisance some little share;
But soon or late its due Reward it gains,
And meets it often when we’re not aware.”
Research and Curation
Kaeli Waggener, 2022
Book Title
Histories or Tales of Past Times Written for Children Told By Mother Goose with Morals
Book Author/Editor(s)
Charles Perrault, J. Saxon Childers
Illustrator(s)
None listed
Publisher
The Nonesuch Press
Date Published
1925
Decade Published
1920-1929
Publisher City
London
Publisher Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Rights
Public Domain
Digital Copy
Book Notes
This book includes morals at the end of each tale.