Three bears
One fairytale continues to enchant me is none other than the fascinating “Goldilocks – and the Three Bears. This tale is about a little girl named Goldilocks, who once capers into a dense forest. There she slips into a tiny house and finds three different sized bowls kept on the table. She gulps in a spoonful of porridge from the big bowl, only to get her tongue scalded. She then tries the medium-sized one and finds it too hot. Finally, she tastes the porridge from the small-sized bowl and wipes it clean. Next, she enters the sitting room. sits comfily on the tiny chair, which gives away under her weight and she falls down with a thud. She finally enters the bedroom and decides to take a short nap. She jumps on the itsy-bitsy bed and snuggles into the sheets. Meanwhile, the bears who live in the house return and they are shocked to see that they are home’s a mess. The baby bear weeps on seeing her chair splintered. The mama bear groans on seeing the bed sheets strewn across the room. The baby bear is surprised when she finds a girl fast asleep in her bed. As Goldilocks wakes up, she gasps on seeing the family and runs away. The tale itself is very comical and that’s how it made a lasting impression on me.
Pinocchio
“The Adventures of Pinocchio” is a fairytale that created a lasting impression on me because of two reasons. Firstly, it teaches us that if you strive for something and work as hard as possible to get it, it will be yours. Secondly, what goes around comes around. If you do good, good will happen to you, and if you do bad, bad will happen to you. Pinnochio, a wooden boy, got into so much trouble to be a real boy. He tried to take shortcuts: telling lies (every time he told a lie, his nose grew longer), hanging out with a bad crowd for fun, and not listening to his kind father. But what he actually needed to become a real boy was bravery, honesty, and selflessness. When Pinocchio saved his father’s life, it fulfilled all these conditions. He became a real boy. This magical story by Carlo Collidi has important life lessons, which will stay with me forever.
A rags-to-riches story
Beside studying, I love reading books. I have read many fairy tales but the book “Cinderella: An Illustrated Classic Fairytale for Kids” by Charles Perrault has created a lasting impression on me. The protagonist is a young woman living in forsaken circumstances that are suddenly changed when she marries a prince. This is the only book that I love to read anytime, anywhere. The story shows us the meaning of a noble character, true love, forgiveness and judgment. The moral of the story is that one should be kind to all: forgive others for doing wrong and never let bad things ruin your heart. The themes of the story are good versus evil and luck changing your life. I like stories that are simple, yet profound.
The ‘rat’ which taught me a lesson!
The fairytale which left a lasting impact on me was “The Rat’s Marriage”, which is a story from “Panchatantra”, written by Vishnu Sharma. The story is about a sage who transforms a rat into a girl and raises her on his own. When the girl grows up, the sage starts looking for a suitable match for her. He summons the Sun God as a prospective groom, but the girl does not accept him. So, the sage calls the cloud, the wind and the mountain, but she turns them all down. At last, the girl notices a rat and chooses him as she feels that the rat is powerful than the mountain because it can dig holes through it. The sage agrees to the match.
There are two values which I learnt from this story. First, people don’t forget their true selves. I also liked that the sage chose a groom for his daughter with her consent. I like this story out of all the other fairy tales because the more we understand the story, the more we gain from it.
Believe in who you are
When we think about fairytales, some of the things that comes to our minds are gleaming glass slippers, elegant flowing gowns, flying boys and pudgy dwarves. However, a fairytale that created a lasting impression on me, because of the values it imparts, is “The Ugly Duckling” written by the prolific writer, Hans Christian Andersen. The fairytale ronicles the transition of the duckling from a peculiar grey fledgling to a graceful pearl-white swan. The duckling is often excluded by his friends because of his looks. He laments about his repulsive features. It is only years later that he becomes the beautiful bird he is meant to be. As we go on a journey of self-discovery with the duckling, we understand the importance of overcoming all the challenges that shroud our path to our destiny, with aplomb. “The Ugly Duckling” conveys that we have to accept ourselves for what we truly are.
Not a Cinderella story
Fairytales are loved by all. We grow up listening to them right from our childhood. However, most of the fairytales all have a similar ending with the prince and the female protagonist getting married. But the book “Whatever After: If the Shoe Fits” written by Sarah Mlynowski, gave me a different perspective on fairy tales. The story is a twist on the popular fairy tale “Cinderella”. In the original version of the story, Cinderella marries the prince and lives happily married ever after. But “Whatever After: If the Shoe Fits” offers a different take on the story. Abby and Jonah are two siblings who not-so accidentally land into Floom, the place where Cinderella lives. They advise Cinderella to start her own business selling crownies (which are like brownies) so she doesn’t have to live with her step mom. In the process, Cinderella becomes financially independent and no longer wants to marry the prince. Finally, the prince ends up marrying Kayla, one of Cinderella’s step sisters (who wasn’t actually that stone hearted like her sister – Beatrice and her mom – Betty.) This fairytale has created a lasting impression on me, as it made me believe that fairy tales can change too!
Taking a leap of faith
A fairytale that created a lasting impact on me is “The Little Mermaid”. This is such a good story. It teaches us a very good moral that we should always be brave enough to step into a life that is different from our others in order to get what our heart longs for.
When the Pootham calls
My grandmother often told me bedtime stories of the Pootham and the Unni It is a folklore of a mother who is coaxing her child. Unni to eat, She shows him the flora and fauna in their neighbourhood to get him to eat. She dotes on her child and does everything she can including calling crows and cats to entertain him and make sure he eats his meals. Thus, Unni has an enviable life. One day, a Pootham appears and possess Unni. I was terrified at the way my grandmother described the Pootham. She said that Pootham, appears before travelers as a beautiful angel and offer them betel nut. Once they accept it. the Pootham sweeps them away to the top of the palm tree where it eats the travellers. While observing the life of the mother and Unni, Pootham feels a longing for motherhood and it skillfully abducts Unni while he goes to school, When Unni doesn’t return from school, his mother gets worried and begins searching for him. When the mother finds out that the Pootham has stolen her child, it tries to frighten her and even bribe her with heaps of gold, diamonds and ornaments. The mother prays to Pootham to return her child and even scorches her eyes as an offering. The Pootham tries to trick the mother by giving her a fake child. But even though the mother can no longer see, she understands that it is not her child merely by touching it. The mother gets angry and curses the Pootham. Seeing the fire in her eyes, the Pootham returns the child to her. During the summer harvesting festival, a village performing artist visits all the homes dressed as a Pootham. I feel that the Pootham is a fascinating combination of beauty and terror.
“Twelve Dancing Princesses”
The fairytale that created a lasting impression on me is “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” written by Ellen Miles. In this story, there are twelve princesses that are under a spell. The king sends a message saying that anyone – prince, peasant or king – can visit the palace and find out where the princesses dance. A boy called Julian goes on a quest to find out about the princesses’ dancing time. On the way he meets an old lady who gives him two trees which grant him a wish when they grow to his height. He asks to become invisible and the trees give him a flower. He then takes the costume of a prince and visits the palace. He frees the princesses from the spell and gives the information to the king. Julian then marries Jessamine, one of the princesses and they live happily ever after. In this story, I liked Julian the most as he was very smart. This story will remain in my mind forever as I liked the suspense and imaginary factors of this story.
Perfectly imperfect
The fairy tale that inspired me the most was “Ricky of the Tuft”. The story is about a boy. Ricky, who is born ugly. A fairy godmother gives him wisdom to compensate for his looks. A few years later, a princess is born in the land. She is dull minded but the same fairy godmother gives her beauty. In the story they meet each other in an enchanted forest. They are kind to each other in spite of their flaws they see and soon fall in love. From this story, I learnt that we all have something which others may not have and only with love and kindness can we can each be complete.
Off to see the Wizard.
I love fairy tales and my is “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. In the story, Dorothy is transported to a new land when a storm hits Kansas. She wants to go back to her home desperately, but she helps everybody she meets on the way. She helps Tin-Man get some oil, helps the scarecrow get back on his feet. makes a lion overcome his fears and many more. It’s such a pleasure to read about her travels. Some people might think fairy tales are for kids and for that reason, they don’t read fairy tales. But this is not true. Anybody can relish fairy tales and this is why I like them.
A cautionary tale
A fairytale that created a lasting impression on me is the “Little Red Riding Hood”. In this stor Little Red Riding Hood meets a wolf on her way to her grandma’s house and tells him her address. She is not aware of the wolfs evil intentions. The wolf hurries over to grandma’s house and shuts the old woman in a cupboard. Then he dresses up like her grandmother and tries to eat Little Red Riding Hood. She calls out for help and soon a woodcutter comes in and kills the wolf. The incident teaches Little Red Riding Hood an important lesson in her life. This fairytale is my favourite because I learnt about important safety measures. I learnt how to behave with strangers and the importance of keeping my personal information a secret. I will never forget the morals in this story.
A tale of bravery
The movie “Brave”, which is the Pixar’s first fairytale, is my favourite and it created a lasting impression on me. Princess Merida, with her orange curly hair, is the main character. She wants to enjoy her life freely. Her hobby is archery and horse riding. But Merida’s mother wants her to follow all royal rules because she is in line to be the queen. Merida doesn’t like these rules and wants freedom. She goes to the forest and asks a magical lady to change her mothers mind. But the lady changes her mother into a bear. Merida is heartbroken. She tries to look after the kingdom in her mother’s place. Her mother feels proud. Merida learns to understand her mother better. In the end, she puts her mother’s picture back in the family photo and that magically cures her mother and she changed back into a human.
The legend of Cinderella
Fairytales can include magic talking animals and a touch of realism. They often teach us about the consequences of our actions and values such as kindness and patience. “Cinderella” is a timeless fairy tale character, which has been adapted into many films and books over the years. My favourite is the animated version of this fairytale. “Cinderella” is is a magical story that inspires us to not settle for anything less than our dreams. It is the story of a kind hearted young woman who is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. Despite their cruelty, Cinderella remains kind and humble. As Cinderella puts it, “Be kind, have the courage and always believe in a little magic.” Her dream is to live a long happy life. She believes that “good things happen to good people”. Her quotes will make you believe in the wonders of life. Cinderella teaches us how to behave in the world, how to be a better person, also teaches us the importance of kindness and forgiveness, and never letting bad things ruin our heart. This is a wonderful story.
Picture Credit : Google
