Saturday, October 25, 2014

Storytelling: Diamonds and Toads/Mother Hulda (fairy tale)

This one is another old favorite.  If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of fairy tales (you know you want to) this one is an Aarne-Thompson 480; "Kind and Unkind Girls" which should be subtitled "Who Get What They Richly Deserve."

The two classic versions are known as Diamonds and Toads and Mother Hulda, respectively.

In Diamonds and Toads, the youngest daughter of a widow is the only nice one in the family, and thus gets the short end of the stick, doing all the work.  She's out at the well one day, and kindly draws extra water for an old beggar lady, who (of course) is a great fairy in disguise, and who blesses her for her kindness by decreeing that diamonds, pearls, and roses will fall from her lips every time she speaks.  Despite the awkward nature of this gift, it's a lovely thought, and the girl's nasty mother thinks so as well.  She sends the older, nastier sister out as well, but the girl is an idiot as well as mean, so the fairy curses her to drop toads and vipers from her mouth instead.

Mother Hulda is a bit more complicated.  Instead of helping the beggar by the well, our virtuous heroine (this time a stepdaughter) jumps down the well after a fallen spindle, and ends up in a magical country where she finds everything in disarray, and industriously helps a lady sort things out.  The lady is (of course) the fairy ruler of that realm, who covers her in gold and pops her back up the well back home, but the family can't remove the gold to steal it.  So, stepmother shoves stepsister down the well, but the lazy girl doesn't bother to help (in some versions even actively opposes the lady just to be a brat), so the lady rolls her in pitch (tar) and returns her back home as well.

There's a delightful cajun-flavored version by the delightful duo of Robert D. San Souci and Jerry Pinkney, called The Talking Eggs, where it's set down in creole country, with a family of poor black women.  The fairy lady now owns a strange farmstead out in the woods, and the wondrous items (that fall at the good girl's feet, not from her lips) are gained from magical eggs who kindly indicate their use, despite their appearances.

This one makes the list mainly because there is evidence of this tale being adapted by southerners, but what makes me most happy is that, again, this is a story of clever people (especially clever women) who are clever AND kind and generous, and who get rewarded for those qualities, while the less-smart, less-kind, and less-generous representatives ALSO get what's coming to them, but it's no-one's fault but their own.

I also like the idea, as in Little Gold Star, that bad behavior gets made physically obvious on the person, either permanently, or until they repent and behave better.

Finally, this one is another where there is no supernatural evil or "villain" to conquer, just an exploration of human nature and the consequences of selfish or hurtful behavior.  

References:

Online:
Toads and Diamonds, via Project Gutenberg (from the Blue Fairy Book, collected/edited by Andrew Lang)
Annotated Diamonds and Toads via SurLaLune

Mother Hulda (Frau Holle) via SurLaLune

Mother Holle, via Project Gutenberg (from Fairy Tales, by the Brothers Grimm)


Picture Books:
Toads and Diamonds
Charlotte Huck, illustrated by Anita Lobel
ISBN: 9780688136802

The Talking Eggs
Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
ISBN: 9780803706194


Others:
Toads and Diamonds
Heather Tomlinson
ISBN: 9780805089684
(Juvenile/Middle-Grade fiction, set in India)










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