This is a fairy tale story from Charles Perrault. This story is collected from his famous fairy tales story collection, named "The Tales of Mother Goose", published in 1696.
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| Little Red Riding-Hood |
Little Red Riding-Hood
A Fairy tale by Charles Perrault
Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl. She was the prettiest creature that ever was seen. Her mother was very fond of her, and her grandmother loved her still more. This good woman made for her a little red riding-hood, which became the girl so well that everybody called her Little Red Riding-hood.
One day her mother, having made some custard and said to her, "Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother does, for I hear she has been very ill; carry her some custard and this little pot of butter."
Little Red Riding-hood set out immediately to go to her grandmother's house, who lived in another village.
As she was going through the wood, she met Gaffer Wolf, who had a very great mind to eat her up. But he did not dared to do this because of some fagot-makers hard by in the forest. He asked her whither she was going.
The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay there and hear a wolf’s talk. She said to him, "I am going to see my grandmother, and carry her some custard and a little pot of butter from my mamma."
"Does she live far off?" said the Wolf.
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author and poet. He was born in Odense April 2, 1805. Hans Christian Andersen's own life was like a fairy tale. He was born the son of a poor cobbler and he died a rich and famous man, celebrated around the world, the intimate of kings and queens. Although today Hans Christian Andersen is generally known as a writer of stories for children, but during his lifetime he was also celebrated for his other literary works- including six novels, five travel journals, three autobiographies and for many poems and plays.
When Hans Christian Andersen was 11, his father died. He was leaving the family more destitute than ever, and he was sent off to factory work. In 1819, at the age of 14, he left home and traveling alone to Copenhagen to make his fame and fortune. In his early days, Hans Christian Andersen wanted to become an opera singer. For this reason, he went to Copenhagen to become an opera singer. His voice was too weak. For this, he was accepted as a dance student at the Royal Theater. The Director of the Royal Theater took him under his shelter and remained his friend until the end of his life.
Fairy tales are a type of folk tales and almost always engage some elements of magic and a conquest over evil force. The fairy tale has its origin from the ancient times. A very significant literature type, fairy tales are present in all cultures and nations worldwide. A fairy tale is one type of story that typically features fantasy characters, such as fairies, evil spirits, witches, demons, giants, mermaids, talking animals, midgets, knights and heroes, and usually magic or fascinations.
In every culture demons and witches were recognized as real elements in ancient times. In generally, a fairy tale is a story with fantasy and magic, along with few unbelievable characters and in the end, there will a happy ending. It is similar like folk tales, but it contains more fantasy and totally based on the imaginations. Fairy tales may merge into legends, where the description may be is grounded in a historical truth. Like legends or epics, they usually do not contain more than superficial references to religion and actual places, people, and events; they take place once upon a time rather than in actual times. Some times a fairy tale is constructed by the author’s imagination only; there is no historical ground for that.
Generally fables are close to the imaginative atmosphere of fairy tales about animals. Observing the life and characteristics of animals, the fabulists makes a comparison between them and the moral characteristics of men.
The images of animals have a parabolic meaning. The donkey is use to express the characteristics of a hard working and stupid man, the sheep - of the gentle and harmless, the snake - of the evil, wicked and unkind, and the wolf exposes the nature of an evil and cruel man.
In that sense Aesop reviews the essential morals of his time, giving them a humorous evaluation. Aesop often relates people with animals and plants. This particular sense of expression has been combined with Aesop's fables throughout the centuries. This was started from ancient Greece, going into Rome, Byzantium and reaching the civilizations to civilizations and surviving until today. Since the time of Aesop, the fable was a powerful tool to expose and ridicule our characteristics and vices as people and as a society.
In ancient Greek and Roman education, the fable was one of the exercises in prose composition and public speaking—wherein students would be asked to learn fables, increase upon them, formulate their own and finally use them as convincing examples in their speeches. Plato wrote in "Phaedo" that Socrates whiled away his jail time turning some of Aesop's fables "which he knew" into verses.
Aesop's fables may be short, but it offers a wise lesson in the end. It helps us to discover ourselves. It helps us to find out the hidden lesson behind the images presented by the author.
