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)
Showing posts with label Diamonds and Toads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diamonds and Toads. Show all posts
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Storytelling: Little Gold Star, Robert D. San Souci & Sergio Martinez
Little Gold Star: A Spanish-American Cinderella Tale
Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Sergio Martinez
ISBN: 9780688147808
Re-read September 19 for storytelling development.
I think I'll be adding this one to my collection of titles - I love the way the story flows, and the way that the Virgin Mary and the Holy Family seamlessly (mostly) fall into place as the beneficial "godmother" or "dead mother's spirit" of the basic Cinderella that most Americans are familiar with.
Teresa is a good daughter, but her stepmother and stepsisters are hateful to her. When her father gives her a little white lamb, they slaughter it and force her to wash the fleece. A fish steals it away (oddly enough) and a beautiful lady dressed in blue appears to offer help for a price. Teresa does her tasks as requested with a good attitude, and the Virgin blesses her, evidenced by a gold star appearing where she was touched by the Mother of God.
Stepmom and sisters are jealous, and the two sisters are sent out to get the same blessing (shades of Mother Hulda/Diamonds and Toads) but they of course are useless and bad, so they get cursed with horns and donkey ears respectively - stepmother is too wise to even try.
After the local plantation owner sees Teresa and her star at church, he decides to host a festival, and the family attends - he dances with Teresa, but custom dictates that they dance looking at the floor. Teresa's stepmom, seething with jealousy, pounces and shames her into running away while he's busy dancing.
He stops by the family's house the next day, the family cat alerts him to where Teresa has been hidden away, and he asks for Teresa's hand. Stepmother can't say no to the landowner, but does set 3 impossible tasks for Teresa - here the tasks are a barrier for marriage where in usual Cinderella the tasks are for denying permission to attend the initial party. Teresa tries all day to achieve them, then relies on a miracle from the Holy Mother to save the day.
An interesting coda has the stepmother and daughters becoming less hateful as they are influenced by Teresa and her noble husband, and slowly losing the horns and donkey ears as they become kind and selfless themselves.
As always for actual published books, I'll need to find other examples of this particular variation, so that the story I tell doesn't rely too much on one author's language and cadence. There are several reasons for this, but the most important is that the printed and published version here is subject to copyright, and as a performer and an author and an artist, I want to be respectful of intellectual ownership and rights. Other reasons are less prosaic: the more examples I have, the more rich the story becomes, the more language options I have available, and the more I can add to or synthesize in to make it a powerful tale that stands alone as an oral tradition, not requiring illustrations to enhance the story. (Although I have to say, these illustrations enhance so beautifully!)
Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Sergio Martinez
ISBN: 9780688147808
Re-read September 19 for storytelling development.
I think I'll be adding this one to my collection of titles - I love the way the story flows, and the way that the Virgin Mary and the Holy Family seamlessly (mostly) fall into place as the beneficial "godmother" or "dead mother's spirit" of the basic Cinderella that most Americans are familiar with.
Teresa is a good daughter, but her stepmother and stepsisters are hateful to her. When her father gives her a little white lamb, they slaughter it and force her to wash the fleece. A fish steals it away (oddly enough) and a beautiful lady dressed in blue appears to offer help for a price. Teresa does her tasks as requested with a good attitude, and the Virgin blesses her, evidenced by a gold star appearing where she was touched by the Mother of God.
Stepmom and sisters are jealous, and the two sisters are sent out to get the same blessing (shades of Mother Hulda/Diamonds and Toads) but they of course are useless and bad, so they get cursed with horns and donkey ears respectively - stepmother is too wise to even try.
After the local plantation owner sees Teresa and her star at church, he decides to host a festival, and the family attends - he dances with Teresa, but custom dictates that they dance looking at the floor. Teresa's stepmom, seething with jealousy, pounces and shames her into running away while he's busy dancing.
He stops by the family's house the next day, the family cat alerts him to where Teresa has been hidden away, and he asks for Teresa's hand. Stepmother can't say no to the landowner, but does set 3 impossible tasks for Teresa - here the tasks are a barrier for marriage where in usual Cinderella the tasks are for denying permission to attend the initial party. Teresa tries all day to achieve them, then relies on a miracle from the Holy Mother to save the day.
An interesting coda has the stepmother and daughters becoming less hateful as they are influenced by Teresa and her noble husband, and slowly losing the horns and donkey ears as they become kind and selfless themselves.
As always for actual published books, I'll need to find other examples of this particular variation, so that the story I tell doesn't rely too much on one author's language and cadence. There are several reasons for this, but the most important is that the printed and published version here is subject to copyright, and as a performer and an author and an artist, I want to be respectful of intellectual ownership and rights. Other reasons are less prosaic: the more examples I have, the more rich the story becomes, the more language options I have available, and the more I can add to or synthesize in to make it a powerful tale that stands alone as an oral tradition, not requiring illustrations to enhance the story. (Although I have to say, these illustrations enhance so beautifully!)
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