Cinderella / Sleeping Beauty
Cinderella:
This is the translation of a European folk story on the theme “Cendrillon.” It regards a certain typical stepchild and is told by Charles Perrault. Cendrillon means ‘being covered with ashes’ and refers to one who always sits and works in front of the furnace in the kitchen.
In the story, Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsister maltreat her. However, she never has a grudge against them. Her good heart makes her get a lucky break; that is, she gets married to the prince.
The author erases numerous cruel scenes in the original fairly tale in his telling, but he concludes the story with a happy ending:
Cinderella forgives her two stepsisters and arranges for each of them to marry a nobleman.
Sleeping Beauty:
This is a story about a princess who sleeps for one hundred years due to the sorcery of an uninvited spirit.
The beautiful princess is confined in a palace which is covered all over with thorny bushes. The problem of freeing her from this witchcraft must be solved when a prince comes. This fairy tale has fantasy with a curious undercurrent of romance, and it is read even today while other fairy tales in general are more likely to be forgotten.
