Brothers Grimm (LibriVox)
Part A: Favorites
The Frog Prince
The ending of this story bothered me. A princess loses her little golden ball in a spring and a frog offers to retrieve it if she will let him live with her. The princess is shallow and agrees but really has no intention of letting the frog live with her. But he outsmarts her showing up at her palace so she is obliged to house him. After he lives with her three days, he turns into a handsome prince, revealing that he has been a cursed prince all along. The princess and the prince marry and live happily ever after. I did not like that the princess seems to be rewarded for acting shallow.
Rapunzel
This is pretty much the typical story I know of Rapunzel - a girl taken from her parents and kept in a tower alone with long hair that can be used as a ladder (her hair is not magical as Disney would have you believe). The only real difference between this story and my previous knowledge of this story is the end part about Rapunzel living in exile with her children until the prince come and rescues her. I guess most versions of this story wish to keep a chaste image of Rapunzel and leave the part about her giving birth to children out of the story.
The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean
This was a funny little story. I like how it involves the personification of objects rather than animals - it is pretty common to see talking animals in fairytales, but no so much inanimate objects so that was a nice change. This story also gives a little etiology for the black-eyed pea as the bean in the story laughs at the misfortune of her new friends the straw and the coal who have drowned and she explodes. Luckily for her, a man comes along who is able to sew her together, but since he uses black thread, the bean now has a black stitch holding together the two brown halves.
The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage
This story I believe is a warning about the importance in realizing that everyone has their place. When these three friends try to do each other's job, each meets his demise. All it takes is a little word from some of the bird's other peers for him to think that he is bigger and more important than his position. From then, the set way of living of the three friends is changed and eventually all three die as a result. It is a good lesson in understanding that while every job may not be glamorous every job is important and specialized.
Briar Rose
Briar Rose is basically the story of sleeping beauty. This is interesting because in the Disney adaptation of Sleeping Beauty, Arora is given the alias Briar Rose while she is in hiding. This makes me curious as to why these stories are listed separately.
Part B: Favorites
The Queen Bee
This story seems to give a lesson in the importance of treating others with respect because you never know when people will come back into your life and how they will be able to help or hurt you. This is illustrated by the behavior of three brothers as they journey throughout the world. They come upon several situations in which a smaller or lesser being can be taken advantage of but the youngest of the three brothers alone stands up for these defenseless creatures. In return, later in his travels, all the creatures that the younger brother spared come back to help him when he is in need and are even able to bring him happiness by enabling to marry.
The Twelve Huntsmen
This story was very interesting as it involved the use of deception in order to obtain love. It also combined aspects of different stories with which I am familiar, for example, the Princess and the Pea. The overall message of the story was not one that I necessarily agreed with because it made it seem as though it is okay to break vows or given word. This idea is manifest in the young prince who scorns his love in favor of a princess that his father has picked out for him but then turns back and scorns this woman as well in favor of his old love. There is also, however, something to be said in this story about the power of true love and fate as the two loves end up finding each other in the end despite all odds.
Jorinda and Jorindel
This is another story that seems to illustrate the power of true love. Here we see two lovers separated and one who will not rest until his love is returned to him. The story does have a happy ending which I believe serves as a positive message about the reward perseverance and tenacity will bring.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
This happens to be one of my favorite fairy tales. A man has to find out the secret of where 12 princesses go to dance at night (for their chamber is locked up at night). The man is able to trick the princesses into leading him straight into their secret world. I think my favorite type of fairytale is one that involves the tricking of a party that believes itself too clever to be tricked. It is always fun to see the unflappable outsmarted.
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