Tales of Mother Goose by Charles Perrault summary. “Tales of my Mother Goose, or Stories and tales of bygone times with teachings. Biography of Charles Perrault

fr. Charles Perrault. Les Contes de ma mère l"Oye· 1697

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Donkey skin

The poetic tale begins with a description of the happy life of the brilliant king, his beautiful and faithful wife and their lovely little daughter. They lived in magnificent palace, in a rich and prosperous country. In the royal stable, next to the frisky horses, “a fat donkey hung his ears peacefully.” “The Lord made his womb so good that if he sometimes shit, it was with gold and silver.”

But “in the prime of her magnificent years, the ruler’s wife was suddenly struck down by illness.” Dying, she asks her husband to “go down the aisle a second time only with that chosen one who will finally be more beautiful and worthy than me.” The husband “swore to her through a river of mad tears about everything she was waiting for... Among the widowers, he was one of the noisiest! I cried so much, I sobbed so much...” However, “less than a year has passed, there is shameless talk about matchmaking.” But the deceased is surpassed in beauty only by her own daughter, and the father, inflamed with a criminal passion, decides to marry the princess. She, in despair, goes to her godmother - the good fairy who lives “in the depths of the forests, in the darkness of a cave, between shells, corals, mother-of-pearl.” To upset the terrible wedding, the godmother advises the girl to demand from her father a wedding dress in the shade of clear days. “The task is tricky and in no way possible.” But the king of the tailors called the craftsmen and ordered from the high throne chairs that the gift should be ready by tomorrow, otherwise how could he not have hung them up in an hour! And in the morning the tailors bring “a wonderful gift.” Then the fairy advises her goddaughter to demand silk “lunar, unusual - he won’t be able to get it.” The king calls the goldsmith - and four days later the dress is ready. The princess almost submits to her father with delight, but, “compelled by her godmother,” she asks for an outfit of “wonderful sunny flowers.” The king threatens the jeweler with terrible torture - and in less than a week he creates “porphyry from porphyry.” - What a surprise - new clothes! - the fairy whispers contemptuously and orders to demand the skin of a precious donkey from the sovereign. But the king's passion is stronger than stinginess - and the skin is immediately brought to the princess.

Here “the stern godmother found that disgust is inappropriate on the paths of good,” and on the advice of the fairy, the princess promises the king to marry him, and she, throwing a vile skin over her shoulders and smearing her face with soot, runs from the palace. The girl puts wonderful dresses in the box. The fairy gives her goddaughter a magic twig: “As long as you have it in your hand, the box will crawl behind you in the distance, like a mole hiding underground.”

Royal messengers search in vain throughout the country for the fugitive. The courtiers are in despair: “no wedding, which means no feasts, no cakes, which means no pastries... The chaplain was more upset than anyone: he didn’t have time to have a snack in the morning and said goodbye to the wedding treat.”

And the princess, dressed as a beggar, wanders along the road, looking for “even a place as a poultry keeper, even a swineherd.” But the beggars themselves spit after the slob.” Finally, the unfortunate woman is taken on as a servant by a farmer - “to clean the pig stalls and wash greasy rags. Now in the closet behind the kitchen is the princess’s yard.” The impudent villagers and the “men are disgustingly bothering her,” and even mocking the poor thing. Her only joy is to lock herself in her closet on Sunday, wash herself, dress up in one or another marvelous dress and twirl in front of the mirror. "Oh, moonlight It makes her look a little pale, and the sun makes her look a little fuller... A blue dress is the best of all!”

And in these parts “a luxurious and omnipotent king kept a brilliant poultry yard.” The prince and a crowd of courtiers often visited this park. “The princess has already fallen in love with him from afar.” Oh, if only he loved girls in donkey skin! - the beauty sighed. And the prince - “a heroic look, a fighting spirit” - somehow came across a poor hut at dawn and saw through a crack a beautiful princess in a marvelous outfit. Struck by her noble appearance, the young man did not dare to enter the hut, but, returning to the palace, “he did not eat, did not drink, did not dance; he lost interest in hunting, opera, fun and girlfriends” - and thought only about the mysterious beauty. He was told that a dirty beggar named Donkey Skin lived in a squalid hut. The prince doesn't believe it. “He cries bitterly, he sobs” - and demands that Donkey Skin bake him a pie. A loving queen mother will not contradict her son, and the princess, “hearing this news,” hurries to knead the dough. “They say: working extraordinarily, she... completely, completely by accident! “I dropped my ring into the dough.” But “my opinion is that this was her calculation.” After all, she saw how the prince looked at her through the crack!

Having received the pie, the patient “devoured it with such greedy passion that, truly, it seems like a fair amount of luck that he did not swallow the ring.” Since the young man in those days “was losing terribly weight... the doctors decided unanimously: the prince was dying of love.” Everyone begs him to marry - but he agrees to take as his wife only the one who can put a tiny ring with an emerald on her finger. All the girls and widows begin to thin their fingers.

However, the ring did not suit either noble noblewomen, or cute grisettes, or cooks and farm laborers. But then “from under the donkey’s skin appeared a fist that looked like a lily.” The laughter stops. Everyone is shocked. The princess goes to change clothes - and an hour later she appears in the palace, resplendent with dazzling beauty and luxurious attire. The king and queen are happy, the prince is happy. Rulers from all over the world are called to the wedding. The princess's come to his senses, seeing his daughter, cries with joy. The prince is delighted: “what a lucky chance that his father-in-law is such a powerful ruler.” “Sudden thunder... The fairy queen, witness to the misfortunes of the past, descends to her goddaughter to glorify virtue forever...”

Moral: “It is better to endure terrible suffering than to betray a duty of honor.” After all, “youth can be satisfied with a crust of bread and water, while she keeps her outfit in a golden box.”

Bluebeard

Once upon a time there lived a very rich man who had a blue beard. She disfigured him so much that, seeing this man, all the women ran away in fear. His neighbor, a noble lady, had two daughters of wondrous beauty. He asked any of these girls to marry him. But none of them wanted to have a spouse with a blue beard. They also didn’t like the fact that this man had already been married several times and no one knew what fate befell his wives.

Bluebeard invited the girls, their mother, friends and girlfriends to one of his luxurious country houses, where they had fun for a whole week. And so it began to seem to the youngest daughter that the owner of the house’s beard was not so blue, and that he himself was a very respectable man. Soon the wedding was decided.

A month later, Bluebeard told his wife that he was leaving on business for six weeks. He asked her not to be bored, to have fun, to call her friends, gave her the keys to all the chambers, storerooms, caskets and chests - and forbade her to enter only one small room.

His wife promised to obey him, and he left. Immediately, without waiting for the messengers, the girlfriends came running. They were eager to see all the riches of Bluebeard, but they were afraid to come in front of him. Now, admiring the house full of priceless treasures, the guests enviously extolled the happiness of the newlywed, but she could only think about the small room...

Finally, the woman abandoned her guests and rushed headlong down the secret staircase, almost breaking her neck. Curiosity overcame fear - and the beauty unlocked the door with trepidation... In the dark room, the floor was covered with dried blood, and on the walls hung the bodies of Bluebeard's former wives, whom he had killed. Out of horror, the newlywed dropped the key. Picking it up, she locked the door and, trembling, rushed to her room. There the woman noticed that the key was stained with blood. The unfortunate woman took a long time to clean the stain, but the key was magic, and the blood, wiped off on one side, appeared on the other...

That same evening Bluebeard returned. His wife greeted him with ostentatious delight. The next day he demanded the keys from the poor girl. Her hands were shaking so much that he immediately guessed everything and asked: “Where is the key to the small room?” After various excuses, I had to bring the dirty key. “Why is he bleeding? - inquired Bluebeard. -Did you enter the small room? Well, madam, that’s where you’ll stay now.”

The woman, sobbing, threw herself at her husband’s feet. Beautiful and sad, she would have pitied even a stone, but Bluebeard had a heart harder than stone. “Allow me to at least pray before I die,” the poor thing asked.” “I give you seven minutes!” - answered the villain. Left alone, the woman called her sister and said to her: “Sister Anna, look if my brothers are coming? They promised to visit me today." The girl climbed the tower and from time to time said to the unfortunate woman: “You can’t see anything, only the sun is scorching and the grass is glistening in the sun.” And Bluebeard, clutching a large knife in his hand, shouted: “Come here!” - “Just a minute!” - answered the poor thing and kept asking sister Anna if the brothers were visible? The girl noticed clouds of dust in the distance - but it was a herd of sheep. Finally she saw two horsemen on the horizon...

Then Bluebeard roared throughout the whole house. The trembling wife came out to him, and he, grabbing her by the hair, was about to cut off her head, but at that moment a dragoon and a musketeer burst into the house. Snatching their swords, they rushed at the villain. He tried to escape, but the beauty’s brothers pierced him with steel blades.

The wife inherited all of Bluebeard's wealth. She gave a dowry to her sister Anna when she married a young nobleman who had loved her for a long time; the young widow helped each of the brothers achieve the rank of captain, and then she herself married good person, who helped her forget about the horrors of her first marriage.

Moral: “Yes, curiosity is a scourge. It confuses everyone; it was born on the mountain of mortals.”

Rike with a tuft

One queen gave birth to such an ugly son that the courtiers doubted for a long time whether he was human. But the good fairy assured that he would be very smart and would be able to impart his intelligence to the person he loved. Indeed, as soon as he learned to babble, the child began to say the sweetest things. He had a small tuft on his head, which is why the prince was nicknamed Rike with the tuft.

Seven years later, the queen of a neighboring country gave birth to two daughters; When she saw the first one - beautiful as day - the mother was so happy that she almost felt bad, but the second girl turned out to be extremely ugly. But the same fairy predicted that the ugly girl would be very smart, and the beauty would be stupid and awkward, but she would be able to bestow beauty on whoever she liked.

The girls grew up - and the beauty always had much less success than her smart sister. And then one day in the forest, where the silly girl went to mourn her bitter lot, the unfortunate woman met the ugly Rike. Having fallen in love with her from the portraits, he came to the neighboring kingdom... The girl told Rika about her misfortune, and he said that if the princess decided to marry him in a year, she would immediately become wiser. The beauty foolishly agreed - and immediately spoke so witty and gracefully that Riquet wondered if he had given her more intelligence than he had left for himself?..

The girl returned to the palace, amazed everyone with her intelligence and soon became her father’s main adviser; All fans turned away from her ugly sister, and the fame of the beautiful and wise princess thundered throughout the world. Many princes wooed the beauty, but she made fun of them all, until finally one rich, handsome and smart prince appeared...

Walking through the forest and thinking about choosing a groom, the girl suddenly heard a dull noise under her feet. At that same moment, the earth opened up, and the princess saw people preparing a luxurious feast. “This is for Rike, tomorrow is his wedding,” they explained to the beauty. And then the shocked princess remembered that exactly a year had passed since the day she met the freak.

And soon Rike himself appeared in a magnificent wedding dress. However, the wiser princess flatly refused to marry such an ugly man. And then Rike revealed to her that she could endow her chosen one with beauty. The princess sincerely wished that Rike would become the most wonderful and amiable prince in the world - and a miracle happened!

True, others argue that it is not a matter of magic, but of love. The princess, admiring the intelligence and loyalty of her admirer, stopped noticing his ugliness. The hump began to give special importance to the prince’s posture, the terrible limp turned into a manner of leaning slightly to one side, the slanting eyes acquired a captivating languor, and the big red nose seemed mysterious and even heroic.

The king gladly agreed to marry his daughter to such a wise prince, and the next day they celebrated a wedding, for which the smart Rike already had everything ready.

Retold

Where: Moscow, st. Vozdvizhenka, 3/5, Russian State Library, Book Museum
When: April 7 - May 16, 2017

Who is the author of the fairy tales “Cinderella”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Little Red Riding Hood”? A funny question, you say: every child knows that he wrote them great storyteller, children's writer Charles Perrault. But behind the pages of “Fairy Tales of My Mother Goose” are hidden secrets and mysteries: the name of Charles Perrault on the cover of “Fairy Tales...” first appeared only 27 years after the release of the first edition of the book, and they were not intended for children’s reading at all. And Charles Perrault was never a children's writer.

Fairy tale detective

The 320th anniversary of the publication of the first book, which brought fashion to fairy tales and raised them to the heights of great literature - “Stories and Tales of Bygone Times with Instructions” (“Tales of My Mother Goose”) - is dedicated to a mini-exhibition, which is now taking place at the Museum of Books Russian State Library.

Charles Perrault (French Charles Perrault; January 12, 1628, Paris - May 16, 1703, Paris) was a famous poet in France during the time of the “Sun King” Louis XIV, a critic of the era of classicism, a member of the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Medals (Academy of Inscriptions and Fine Letters ), academician of the French Academy, public figure and... author of fairy tales. True, these fairy tales - “Griselda”, “Funny Desires” and “Donkey Skin” - were in verse, and Charles Perrault did not hide his authorship. But he never called himself the author of “Tales of My Mother Goose.” In 1796, they were presented to Princess Louise Elizabeth of Orleans by Pierre Darmancourt, son of Charles Perrault, on his own behalf.

Was the nineteen-year-old boy the author of these tales? Each of the eight stories - "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "Ricky with the Tuft", "Puss in Boots", "Tom Thumb", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Bluebeard", "Fairy Gifts" - was accompanied by two moral teachings explaining the moral contained in the fairy tale. And researchers believe that the young man could not have written such moral teachings. For example, the moral teaching for the fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood (by the way, in the original the fairy tale did not have a happy ending: the wolf simply ate the gullible and overly talkative girl) sounded like this: “When a beautiful and young girl willingly listens to everyone, she will soon be deceived. And then, in the same way, what is written in this fairy tale may soon happen: that the wolf will eat her; for wolves are not all wild; there are many kinds of them. They seduce many pretty and trusting girls with their affectionate words, trying to please them with their politeness and cheerful appearance in front of other girls. They accompany them to their very homes, and sometimes to their beds. Such caresses, such hypocrites should be removed more than others, unless someone wants to be deceived.” (Tales of sorceresses: With moral teachings / Translated from French [by Lev Voinov]. - St. Petersburg: Senate. typ., 1781).

Charles Perrault. Puss in Boots: A Fairy Tale for Children / with painted pictures. - M.: chromolite. A. V. Morozova, type. Bakhmeteva, 1873 (region 1872). - 6 p., 6 l. color ill.

There is an opinion that Charles Perrault, by giving his book to Pierre, helped his son make a career at court, take a place in the retinue of the Princess of Orange - and this was a great way to draw attention to young man. Other experts believe that Pierre Darmancourt himself wrote down the fairy tales that his nurse told him, and his father only helped him with advice and literary adaptation. Another option - a classicist, an “immortal” academician, a respected literary figure could not stoop to the low genre that was the folk tale, and acted under the name of someone who has nothing to lose.

Be that as it may, in 1697, “Tales of My Mother Goose” was published - first in France, and then in Holland. The book was so popular that within a year the publisher repeated the print run three times! The fairy tale became fashionable, burst into the literary salons of high society and ceased to be a low genre. However, the secret of the real author of fairy tales remained a secret. Pierre Darmancourt died in 1699, his father died in 1703, but never once, when listing his works, did Charles Perrault mention “Stories and tales of bygone times with teachings.”

Publishers began to include in the collection “Donkey Skin” and “Griselda” by Perrault, tales of followers and imitators (for example, “Beauty and the Beast” by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbeau de Villeneuve or her in the version of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont). The book instantly spread around the world, translated into many languages. Often the author was not indicated at all - just as his name was not on the very first edition of 1697. And in 1727, the name of Charles Perrault was firmly established on the covers - and it is he who we, without a doubt, call the author of our favorite fairy tales from childhood.

Charles Perrault. Puss in Boots: A Fairy Tale for Children / with painted pictures. - M.: chromolite. A. V. Morozova, type. Bakhmeteva, 1873 (region 1872). - 6 p., 6 l. color ill.

Not trifles at all!

The head of the sector of museum and exhibition work of the scientific research department of rare books (Museum of Books), curator of the exhibition Maria Borisovna Zolotova says: “The point of our exhibition is to recall this wonderful date and show how diverse these fairy tales were in different editions and how they looked different in different times. We wanted to show the book in all shapes, types and forms - editions for adults, for older children and for toddlers." The mini-exhibition also included scientific editions of fairy tales with comments and prefaces by literary scholars, as well as toy books. Various translations, various publishers and publishing houses, pre-revolutionary publications, publications of the Soviet period and recent times... And all of these are rarities, each of which is interesting in its own way and beautiful in its own way.

“Tales...” were first translated into Russian in 1768. You will not see the first edition at the exhibition; unfortunately, it is not in the collections of the Russian State Library. But you will see the second: “Tales of sorceresses: With moral teachings / Translated from French [by Lev Voinov]. — St. Petersburg: Senate. typ., 1781". This collection includes nine fairy tales: “Tale 1. About a girl in a red cap”, “Tale 2. About enchanted maidens”, “Tale 3. About a certain man with a blue beard”, “Tale 4. About a beauty sleeping in the forest”, “ Tale 5. About Father the Cat in Spurs and Boots”, “Tale 6. About the Tavern in which Ash is Contained”, “Tale 7. Ricket in a Braid”, “Tale 8. About a Boy with a Thumb”, “Tale 9. From the Skillful princess letter to Countess Murat" (author of the last fairy tale - Marie-Jeanne Leritier de Villandon).

There is no author's name on the 1781 edition. But the collection of 1825 is signed: “Fairy tales, or a pleasant activity when you have nothing to do. / Op. Perolta; From which the operas and ballets presented at the imperial theaters are taken; Translated from the French Imperial Moscow Theater by actor Baranov. - Moscow: In the printing house of August Semyon, 1825." Take a closer look at this book monument: paper self made, hand set, illustrations with hand coloring.

Charles Perrault. Puss in Boots: A Fairy Tale for Children / with painted pictures. - M.: chromolite. A. V. Morozova, type. Bakhmeteva, 1873 (region 1872). - 6 p., 6 l. color ill.

On one showcase - “Six Tales. A Gift to Good Children”, edition of 1845 (“Cinderella” is called in this collection very funny - “Chumichka”) and the famous 1867 edition of the printing house of Matvey Osipovich Wolf “Perrault’s Magic Tales”. The translator of the fairy tales was Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, he also wrote the preface to the publication, and the illustrations were based on the magnificent engravings of Gustav Dore.

This is what Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev writes in the preface: “Perrault’s fairy tales deserve an honorable place in children’s literature. They are cheerful, entertaining, relaxed, not burdened with either unnecessary morality or authorial pretension; the spirit of folk poetry that once created them is still felt in them; they contain precisely that mixture of the incomprehensibly miraculous and the everyday-simple, the sublime and the funny, which constitutes the hallmark of real fairy-tale fiction.”

This book is addressed, rather, to adults, like the serious, scientifically commentary publication of 1936 by the Leningrad publishing house Academia. But there are more children’s books at the exhibition “Not Trinkets at All” - toy books, fairy tales with illustrations by Vladimir Mikhailovich Konashevich, Pyotr Aleksandrovich Alyakrinsky, Georgy, Alexander and Valery Traugotov, signed “G. A. V. Traugot." And the book “Puss in Boots and Eight Others” published in 1996 by the Vedo publishing house fairy tales Charles Perrault" is interesting because it was illustrated by children - studio members of the Volgograd Children's Art Gallery.

The title of the exhibition is taken from Charles Perrault's statement about fairy tales. That's what this one said great man, which gave impetus to the development of literature for children: “... These trinkets are not trinkets at all, but contain a useful moral, and [...] the playful nature of the narrative was chosen only so that they would act on the reader’s mind with greater pleasantness, together both teaching and entertaining."

Charles Perrault. Little Red Riding Hood / Perrault S. - Baku: People's Commissariat of Education of the AzSSR, 1940. - p.: ill.

Little Red Riding Hood: / [toy book based on the fairy tale by C. Perrault]. - [M.: T-va I. D. Sytin, beginning of the 20th century]. - l. : ill.

“Little Red Riding Hood, come on, my friend,
Bring a pie to our grandmother!”

The girl immediately took the basket,
I went cheerfully to my grandmother through the forest.

Suddenly a wolf runs towards her,
Narrowing his eyes sweetly, he says:

“Dear baby, how far is it, my friend?” —
“You see, I’m bringing a pie to grandma!”

“Pull the string,” she hears.
“Poor grandma! What's wrong with her?

He reaches out to his grandmother with all his strength,
Then the wolf swallowed her, poor thing.

He ate the grandmother and devoured the granddaughter
Oh, you shameless, impudent impudent person!

Fortunately, everything turned out well.
The granddaughter got off very easily
Grandma even laughed later,
The wolf was punished, and rightly so.

Hunters walked past from the forest,
The grandmother and child were saved from death.
They killed the beast with an axe,
Then they cut open his belly.

Little Red Riding Hood is alive again
She promises her mother
Never go to the forest without her,
Don't talk to a deceiver wolf.

Tales of Perrault / From fig. A. P. Apsita. - M.: V. M. Sablin, 1916. - , 152 p.: ill., 4 p. ill.

Charles Perrault

“Tales of My Mother Goose, or Stories and Tales of Bygone Times with Teachings”

Donkey skin

The poetic tale begins with a description of the happy life of the brilliant king, his beautiful and faithful wife and their lovely little daughter. They lived in a magnificent palace, in a rich and prosperous country. In the royal stable, next to the frisky horses, “a fat donkey hung his ears peacefully.” “The Lord made his womb so good that if he sometimes shit, it was with gold and silver.”

But “in the prime of her magnificent years, the ruler’s wife was suddenly struck down by illness.” Dying, she asks her husband to “go down the aisle a second time only with that chosen one who will finally be more beautiful and worthy than me.” The husband “swore to her through a river of mad tears about everything she was waiting for... Among the widowers, he was one of the noisiest! I cried so much, I sobbed so much...” However, “less than a year has passed, there is shameless talk about matchmaking.” But the deceased is surpassed in beauty only by her own daughter, and the father, inflamed with a criminal passion, decides to marry the princess. She, in despair, goes to her godmother - the good fairy who lives “in the depths of the forests, in the darkness of a cave, between shells, corals, mother-of-pearl.” To upset the terrible wedding, the godmother advises the girl to demand from her father a wedding dress in the shade of clear days. “It’s a tricky task, but it’s not achievable.” But the king of the tailors called the craftsmen and ordered from the high throne chairs that the gift should be ready by tomorrow - otherwise how could he not have hung them up in an hour! And in the morning the tailors bring “a wonderful gift.” Then the fairy advises her goddaughter to demand silk “lunar, unusual - he won’t be able to get it.” The king calls the gold seamstress - and four days later the dress is ready. The princess almost submits to her father with delight, but, “compelled by her godmother,” she asks for an outfit of “wonderful sunny flowers.” The king threatens the jeweler with terrible torture - and in less than a week he creates “porphyry from porphyry.” - What a surprise - new clothes! - the fairy whispers contemptuously and orders you to demand the skin of a precious donkey from the sovereign. But the king’s passion is stronger than stinginess - and the skin is immediately brought to the princess.

Royal messengers search in vain throughout the country for the fugitive. The courtiers are in despair: “no wedding, which means no feasts, no cakes, which means no pastries... The chaplain was most upset of all: he didn’t have time to have a snack in the morning and said goodbye to the wedding treat.”

And the princess, dressed as a beggar, wanders along the road, looking for “even a place as a poultry keeper, even a swineherd.” But the beggars themselves spit after the slob.” Finally, the unfortunate woman is taken on as a servant by a farmer - “to clean the pig stalls and wash greasy rags. Now in the closet behind the kitchen there is the princess’s yard.” The impudent villagers and the “men are disgustingly bothering her,” and even mocking the poor thing. Her only joy is to lock herself in her closet on Sunday, wash herself, dress up in one or another marvelous dress and twirl in front of the mirror. “Ah, moonlight makes her look a little pale, and sunny light makes her look a little fuller... A blue dress is the best of all!”

And in these parts “a luxurious and omnipotent king kept a brilliant poultry yard.” The prince and a crowd of courtiers often visited this park. “The princess has already fallen in love with him from afar.” Oh, if only he loved girls in donkey skin! - the beauty sighed. And the prince - “a heroic look, a fighting spirit” - somehow came across a poor hut at dawn and saw through a crack a beautiful princess in a marvelous outfit. Struck by her noble appearance, the young man did not dare to enter the hut, but, returning to the palace, “he did not eat, did not drink, did not dance; he lost interest in hunting, opera, fun and girlfriends” - and thought only about the mysterious beauty. He was told that a dirty beggar named Donkey Skin lived in a squalid hut. The prince doesn't believe it. “He weeps bitterly, he sobs” - and demands that Donkey Skin bake him a pie. A loving queen mother will not contradict her son, and the princess, “hearing this news,” hurries to knead the dough. “They say: working extraordinarily, she... completely, completely by accident! “I dropped my ring into the dough.” But “my opinion is that this was her calculation.” After all, she saw how the prince looked at her through the crack!

Having received the pie, the patient “devoured it with such greedy passion that, truly, it seems like a fair amount of luck that he did not swallow the ring.” Since the young man in those days “was losing terribly weight... the doctors decided unanimously: the prince was dying of love.” Everyone begs him to marry, but he agrees to take as his wife only the one who can put a tiny ring with an emerald on her finger. All the girls and widows begin to thin their fingers.

Bluebeard

Finally, the woman abandoned her guests and rushed headlong down the secret staircase, almost breaking her neck. Curiosity overcame fear - and the beauty opened the door with trepidation... In the dark room, the floor was covered with dried blood, and on the walls hung the bodies of Bluebeard's former wives, whom he had killed. Out of horror, the newlywed dropped the key. Picking it up, she locked the door and, trembling, rushed to her room. There the woman noticed that the key was stained with blood. The unfortunate woman took a long time to clean the stain, but the key was magic, and the blood, wiped off on one side, appeared on the other...

That same evening Bluebeard returned. His wife greeted him with ostentatious delight. The next day he demanded the keys from the poor girl. Her hands were shaking so much that he immediately guessed everything and asked: “Where is the key to the small room?” After various excuses, I had to bring the dirty key. “Why is he bleeding? - inquired Bluebeard. — Did you enter the small room? Well, madam, that’s where you’ll stay now.”

The woman, sobbing, threw herself at her husband’s feet. Beautiful and sad, she would have pitied even a stone, but Bluebeard had a heart harder than stone. “At least allow me to pray before I die,” the poor thing asked.” “I give you seven minutes!” - answered the villain. Left alone, the woman called her sister and said to her: “Sister Anna, look if my brothers are coming? They promised to visit me today." The girl climbed the tower and from time to time said to the unfortunate woman: “You can’t see anything, only the sun is scorching and the grass is glistening in the sun.” And Bluebeard, clutching a large knife in his hand, shouted: “Come here!” - “Just a minute!” - answered the poor thing and kept asking sister Anna if the brothers were visible? The girl noticed clouds of dust in the distance - but it was a herd of sheep. Finally she saw two horsemen on the horizon...

The wife inherited all of Bluebeard's wealth. She gave a dowry to her sister Anna when she married a young nobleman who had loved her for a long time; The young widow helped each of the brothers achieve the rank of captain, and then she herself married a good man who helped her forget about the horrors of her first marriage.

Moral: “Yes, curiosity is a scourge. It confuses everyone; it was born on the mountain of mortals.”

Rike with a tuft

Seven years later, the queen of a neighboring country gave birth to two daughters; Seeing the first one - beautiful as day - the mother was so happy that she almost felt bad, but the second girl turned out to be extremely ugly. But the same fairy predicted that the ugly girl would be very smart, and the beauty would be stupid and awkward, but she would be able to bestow beauty on whoever she liked.

The girls grew up - and the beauty always had much less success than her smart sister. And then one day in the forest, where the silly girl went to mourn her bitter lot, the unfortunate woman met the ugly Rike. Having fallen in love with her from the portraits, he came to the neighboring kingdom... The girl told Rika about her misfortune, and he said that if the princess decided to marry him in a year, she would immediately become wiser. The beauty foolishly agreed - and immediately spoke so witty and graceful that Riquet wondered if he had given her more intelligence than he had left for himself?..

The king gladly agreed to marry his daughter to such a wise prince, and the next day they celebrated a wedding, for which the smart Rike already had everything ready.

Donkey skin. In a rich kingdom, where even a donkey spoiled gold and silver, the queen died. Before her death, she took an oath that the king would only marry a girl more beautiful than the queen. This turned out to be the daughter of the king and queen himself. The king intends to marry his own daughter. The princess, in despair, turns to her fairy godmother and she advises her to give impossible tasks to the king, but the king was able to complete everything and presented her with an outfit in the shade of a clear day, made of moon silk and solar flowers, as well as the skin of a precious donkey. The princess assures her father that she will get married, but puts her outfits in a box, hides under the skin and, smearing her face with soot, runs away. The princess gets a job cleaning pigsties and washing rags. Sometimes she takes out her dresses and dresses up. One day the prince spied her dressing up in a fairytale outfit and fell in love.

The prince in love wanted the girl to bake him a pie. The princess, while carrying out an errand, dropped her ring into the pie. The prince found it and vowed to marry the owner of the ring. The women of the kingdom were unable to pull the tiny ring onto their fingers and the ring only fit a donkey skin. The princess put on a precious outfit and came to the palace. The prince, his parents and the princess's father were happy on the lovers' wedding day.

Bluebeard. Next door to a lady who had beautiful daughters lived a rich widower with a blue beard. He had been married before, but no one knew where his wife was now. He decided to marry again and came to the lady to woo her daughters, and in order to convince one of the beauties to become his wife, he invited them to live with him.

Soon Bluebeard's wedding took place with his neighbor's youngest daughter. And a month later, Bluebeard left and, leaving the keys to all the halls and chambers, demanded that his wife never enter one of the rooms.

Immediately, relatives, friends and girlfriends came to visit the newlywed, but she, struck by curiosity, left them and went to inspect the forbidden room. Opening it, she dropped the key on the floor, covered in the blood of her previous wives. No matter how much she cleaned the key, the blood stains did not leave it. Returning home, Bluebeard, seeing blood on the key, realized that his wife had disobeyed him and, grabbing her, tried to cut off her head, but his wife’s brothers ran into the house and stabbed him with sharp blades.

The wife inherited all the wealth, provided for her family, and she herself remarried a kind man.

Rike with a tuft. In the kingdoms, two queens had children. One queen gave birth to a boy, but her son was so ugly that for a long time they did not believe that it was a child. And the other queen gave birth to two daughters. The first girl was as charming as an angel, but the second was terribly ugly. The good fairy, having visited both queens, assured that children born scary would be extremely smart, and the beauty would be stupid and extremely awkward. And so it happened. Boy Rike and the ugly princess were as smart as the beautiful princess was stupid. One day the silly girl ran into the forest, where she cried over her fate. There she met Rike. Rike invited her to become his wife in a year, and in return he would share his mind with the princess. She agrees. At that very moment, the beauty became wiser and, having returned to the palace, the clever girl was appointed by the king as the main adviser.

Rumors about the smart and beautiful princess spread all over the world and suitors began to arrive. The princess even chose one of them as her husband, when she suddenly saw that many people had come to prepare the wedding feast. It turned out that a year had already passed. Rike himself arrived, but the princess refused to marry the freak. Then Rike said that just as he shared his intelligence, the princess could give him beauty. The smart princess agreed and after the wedding, Rike became a handsome prince.

I don’t think there is a person in the world who has not heard of Mother Goose songs. I don’t think there is a person in the world to whom these fairy tales would not seem the height of absurdity, delirium, and madness. With the exception, of course, of those for whom these fairy tales are as natural, understandable and unquestioning as for you and me “Ryaba Hen”, for example - also absolutely delusional and absurd.

But, I think, most of us have only heard about Mother Goose fairy tales and seen cover pictures - in American films. And some of us are familiar with the names of some of the heroes of these fairy tales and with some of the images from them - without even knowing where these images and heroic characters came from.
Songs of Mother Goose is a completely folk, folklore work; it is a collection of poems for children, first published in England in the second half of the 18th century by John Newbery.
The history of the book is full of mysteries, starting from the year of publication. the fact is that the very first did not survive to us - the oldest surviving edition dates back to 1791, although it is known for sure that there were earlier editions and the very first one is dated by historians to 1765.

The second mystery is the true authorship of the works included in the collection. the fact is that modern historians doubt that all the texts were folk, that is, that the publishers did not know the names of at least some of the authors. For example, there is an opinion. that some of the poems were written by Oliver Goldsmith, the first compiler of the collection. This version personally seems to me quite reliable, although it remains just a version.

The title of the book, by the way, is borrowed from Charles Perrault, the same great storyteller who, strange as it may seem, composed, recorded and published many wonderful fairy tales, and not just “Cinderella”

Perrault's book was published in 1697, called "Tales of Mother Goose." And you have to understand that mother goose is not a bird with a red beak from the cinquefoil family, but simply an English traditional name that could be translated as “old gossip,” for example.

By the way, the collection "Songs of Mother Goose" is not the first collection of children's poems and fairy tales published in England.
In 1744, the collection “The Wonderful Songbook of Thumb Thumb” was published in two volumes!
All these collections included riddles, counting rhymes, songs, sayings, pieces of ballads and songs.

We can safely say that it was these collections that became the forerunner, basis, foundation for all the literature of nonsense and absurdity for which England is so famous.
The Cow that jumped over the Moon, the Prankster Thrush who bit off the maid's nose, the Old Lady in a Shoe who splashes her many children at night and other cute, amusing, funny characters - the obvious ancestors of the characters, without whom it is impossible to imagine the work of many children's and other authors, including Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, Samuil Marshak and Korney Chukovsky.

The information was taken from the “Book of Nonsense” by Grigory Kruzhkov (I love this book, I love it!).
The verses below are given in his own translation. I also present to your attention scans of this wonderful book published by the Labyrinth publishing house.

Old lady in a shoe

Once upon a time there lived an old lady
In a holey shoe,
She had children
What grains are in a spikelet?
She gave them all
Sip some stew
And clapping loudly,
I put her to bed.

And here is another version of the translation with an illustration from the wonderful Scott Gustafson, found:

And one more option, from here http://www.labirint.ru/screenshot/goods/130247/7/:

Cow and musician

The musician bought a cow,
But he couldn’t feed him;
When she was hungry
He took the bow.

The cow listened to him
And she said: “Ah!
How wonderful! And now -
Play about bran."

A beetle marries a wasp

Trin-diri-di!
Trin-diri-di!
Mouse, let's dance
Come out to us!
Barn cat
He carries a violin
Pig with a tail
Shakes deftly.
Sing, dance,
Rejoice everyone -
Getting married, getting married
Beetle on a wasp!

On a gray filly

They rode on a gray filly,
Gallop, gallop, hop,
Pretty Jane with her hubby
Gallop, gallop, gallop!

But the raven cawed, flapping his wing,
Gallop, gallop, hop,
The mare stumbled and everything went topsy-turvy,
Gallop, gallop, clap,

And the ugly raven flew away laughing.
Gallop, gallop, hop,
“I won’t do such things to you yet!”
Gallop, gallop, clap!

Robin from Bobbin

Robin from Bobbin
Got the onion
Aimed at the dove -
Killed Galka.

Robin from Bobbin
Small and bold:
Aimed at the duck -
I hit my aunt.

Song for a Halfpenny

Here's a halfpenny song
I'm ready to sing it:
The pie baked into a pie
Two dozen blackbirds.

The pie was barely delivered
And they began to cut lengthwise,
How all the blackbirds sang:
"Long live the king!"

The king is then in the basement
Counted my treasury
And the queen is in the bedroom
I was getting ready for bed.

Maid near the castle
I planted a rose bush;
The thrush came rushing, the fidgety thrush,
And he bit her nose off!

And another version of the translation with an illustration by Scott Gustafson from the previously mentioned source:

good boy

Jackie's friend
I took the pie
I stuck my finger in it,
Ate the raisin
And he sang loudly:
"What a good boy I am!"

Mystery

Along the summer meadow
Walking at lunchtime
I found some object.

Neither fish nor meat
Lying in the grass
He lay, lay,
And then he ran.

(If you can’t guess it yourself, just ask and I’ll answer! :)))

And in addition, a few more songs in pictures:

from here http://www.labirint.ru/screenshot/goods/255639/28/

from here http://www.labirint.ru/screenshot/goods/255639/20/

from here http://www.labirint.ru/screenshot/goods/130247/31/

This section is dedicated to the writer Charles Perrault and his fairy tales for children.

Read Tales of Charles Perrault

Life story of Charles Perrault

Charles Perrault was born in Paris in 1628 big family and was the youngest son. His family was already known at that time. Charles's father worked in parliament and was an eminent lawyer; his three older brothers also distinguished themselves, some in jurisprudence and some in architecture. At the age of 9, Charles Perrault was sent to college. Throughout his studies, he was an exemplary student both in behavior and grades, but still he dropped out of the college where he studied and began self-education. Charles Perrault's soul was not in the law and, although he worked as a lawyer, his practice did not last long. Charles turned to his brother for help and he hired him as his secretary, but Pierrot had already written several works by that time and, with his head in the clouds, did not stay with his brother for long. Fortunately, the poems he published in 1659 brought him success. His career began to take off, Charles was even allowed to join Louis 14th with his poems.

In 1663, it so happened that Charles was hired by the Minister of Finance for the same position of secretary. After 8 years, Perrault was already at the French Academy of the Royal Palace. Charles was interested in cultural social life, he continued to write actively and for a long time. Soon future famous writer met a girl named Marie and married her. Marie bore him three sons, but died during the last birth. This was a deep shock for Charles; he never married again, but raised and raised his sons himself.

The year 1683 was significant and turning point for Charles Perrault. That year he quit his job and was given an excellent pension, on which he could live comfortably until the end of his days.

Having received so much free time, Perrault began to write. This period can be called the heyday of his creativity. His works are poems in verse and short stories. And one day the idea came to him to state some folk tales literary language, in such a way that they attract adults, too, and not just children. Sleeping Beauty was the first to be born, and already in 1697 his collection of fairy tales, Tales of Mother Goose, was published. All fairy tales are folk tales, except one, Rike - Khokholok, which he wrote himself. The rest were simply written down by him, but at the same time they brought unprecedented fame to the writer himself and popularity to the genre of fairy tales in general. Charles Perrault's fairy tales are pleasant and easy to read, because they are written in excellent literary language, which raised the level of perception of fairy tales to a higher level.

Interesting fact: The fairy tales of Charles Perrault were published under the name of his son and there were disputes about authorship for a long time, but the most likely state of affairs still remains familiar to us.

The works of Charles Perrault

We know Charles Perrault as a writer and storyteller, but during his life he was better known as a poet and academician of the French Academy (at that time this was very honorable). They were even published scientific works Charles.

In part, Charles Perrault was lucky to begin writing at a time when fairy tales were becoming a popular genre. Many sought to record folk art, to preserve it, transport it in written form and thereby make it accessible to many. Please note that in those days such a concept in literature as fairy tales for children did not exist at all. Mostly these were stories of grandmothers, nannies, and some understood philosophical reflections as a fairy tale.

It was Charles Perrault who wrote down several fairy tale plots in such a way that they were eventually transferred to the genres of high literature. Only this author could write in simple language serious thoughts, add humorous notes and put into the work all the talent of a true master writer. As mentioned earlier, Charles Perrault published a collection of fairy tales under the name of his son. The explanation for this is simple: if the academician of the French Academy Perrault published a collection of fairy tales, he could be considered frivolous and frivolous and he could lose a lot.

Charles's amazing life brought him fame as a lawyer, poet and storyteller. This man was talented in everything.