"Once upon a time ..." is a phrase we all recognize from fairy tales we heard as children. These stories occur in every culture, and a number of themes are familiar to us all.
The Jataka Tales, ancient Indian stories taken from Buddhist writings, tell of animal and human kindness. Their theme is goodness contrasted with evil. The same theme underlies the story of Cinderella. Her fairy godmother represents good, and evil ¡s personified in the wicked step-mother and stepsisters. In the Chí¬nese version of this tale, the fairy god-mother's role is played by a talking fish, but the slipper, the prince, and the wedding are all there. In the Algonquin Indian version, the gods, rather than the prince, search for the true Cinderella. One collector of fairy tales estimates that there may be almost 300 different versions of the Cinderella story.
Read more »
No comments:
Post a Comment