Angela Carter's Book Of Fairy Tales

by Angela Carter

  ‘What are you talking about?’ retorted his sister. ‘Have you forgotten that you yourself were a lion and were then tamed into a human being? Is it true that old people lose their memory?’

  The boy grew up with the children. But when he reached the age of herding, he would go and bleed the children by turn and suck blood from their bodies. He would tell them not to speak, and that if they said anything to their elders, he would kill them and eat them. The children would come home with wounds, and when asked, would say their wounds were from thorny trees.

  But the lion did not believe them. He would tell them to stop lying and tell the truth, but they would not.

  One day he went ahead of them and hid on top of the tree under which they usually spent the day. He saw the lion-child bleed the children and suck their blood. Right there, he speared him. The child died.

  He then turned to the children and asked why they had hidden the truth for so long. The children explained how they had been threatened by the lion-child. Then he went and explained to his sister, Diirawic, what he had done.

  THE MIRROR

  (JAPANESE)

  here is a pretty Japanese tale of a small farmer who bought his young wife a mirror. She was surprised and delighted to know that it reflected her face, and cherished her mirror above all her possessions. She gave birth to one daughter, and died young; and the farmer put the mirror away in a press, where it lay for long years.

  The daughter grew up the very image of her mother; and one day, when she was almost a woman, her father took her aside, and told her of her mother, and of the mirror which had reflected her beauty. The girl was devoured with curiosity, unearthed the mirror from the old press, and looked into it.

  ‘Father!’ she cried. ‘See! Here is mother’s face!’

  It was her own face she saw; but her father said nothing.

  The tears were streaming down his cheeks, and the words would not come.

  THE FROG MAIDEN

  (BURMESE)

  n old couple was childless, and the husband and the wife longed for a child. So when the wife found that she was with child, they were overjoyed; but to their great disappointment, the wife gave birth not to a human child, but to a little she-frog. However, as the little frog spoke and behaved as a human child, not only the parents but also the neighbours came to love her and called her affectionately ‘Little Miss Frog’.

  Some years later the woman died, and the man decided to marry again. The woman he chose was a widow with two ugly daughters and they were very jealous of Little Miss Frog’s popularity with the neighbours. All three took a delight in ill-treating Little Miss Frog.

  One day the youngest of the king’s four sons announced that he would perform the hair-washing ceremony on a certain date and he invited all young ladies to join in the ceremony, as he would choose at the end of the ceremony one of them to be his princess.

  On the morning of the appointed day the two ugly sisters dressed themselves in fine raiment, and with great hopes of being chosen by the prince they started for the palace. Little Miss Frog ran after them, and pleaded, ‘Sisters, please let me come with you.’

  The sisters laughed and said mockingly, ‘What, the little frog wants to come? The invitation is to young ladies and not to young frogs.’ Little Miss Frog walked along with them towards the palace, pleading for permission to come. But the sisters were adamant, and so at the palace gates she was left behind. However, she spoke so sweetly to the guards that they allowed her to go in. Little Miss Frog found hundreds of young ladies gathered round the pool full of lilies in the palace grounds; and she took her place among them and waited for the prince.

  The prince now appeared, and washed his hair in the pool. The ladies also let down their hair and joined in the ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, the prince declared that as the ladies were all beautiful, he did not know whom to choose and so he would throw a posy of jasmines into the air; and the lady on whose head the posy fell would be his princess. The prince then threw the posy into the air, and all the ladies present looked up expectantly. The posy, however, fell on Little Miss Frog’s head, to the great annoyance of the ladies, especially the two stepsisters. The prince also was disappointed, but he felt that he should keep his word. So Little Miss Frog was married to the prince, and she became Little Princess Frog.

  Some time later, the old king called his four sons to him and said, ‘My sons, I am now too old to rule the country, and I want to retire to the forest and become a hermit. So I must appoint one of you as my successor. As I love you all alike, I will give you a task to perform, and he who performs it successfully shall be king in my place. The task is, bring me a golden deer at sunrise on the seventh day from now.’

  The youngest prince went home to Little Princess Frog and told her about the task. ‘What, only a golden deer!’ exclaimed Princess Frog. ‘Eat as usual, my prince, and on the appointed day I will give you a golden deer.’

  So the youngest prince stayed at home, while the three elder princes went into the forest in search of the deer.

  On the seventh day before sunrise, Little Princess Frog woke up her husband and said, ‘Go to the palace, prince, and here is your golden deer.’

  The young prince looked, then rubbed his eyes, and looked again. There was no mistake about it; the deer which Little Princess Frog was holding by a lead was really of pure gold. So he went to the palace, and to the great annoyance of the elder princes who brought ordinary deers, he was declared to be the heir by the king. The elder princes, however, pleaded for a second chance, and the king reluctantly agreed.

  ‘Then perform this second task,’ said the king. ‘On the seventh day from now at sunrise, you must bring me the rice that never becomes stale, and the meat that is ever fresh.’

  The youngest prince went home and told Princess Frog about the new task. ‘Don’t you worry, sweet prince,’ said Princess Frog. ‘Eat as usual, sleep as usual, and on the appointed day I will give you the rice and meat.’

  So the youngest prince stayed at home, while the three elder princes went in search of the rice and meat.

  On the seventh day at sunrise, Little Princess Frog woke up her husband and said, ‘My Lord, go to the palace now, and here is your rice and meat.’

  The youngest prince took the rice and meat, and went to the palace, and to the great annoyance of the elder princes who brought only well-cooked rice and meat, he was again declared to be the heir. But the two elder princes again pleaded for one more chance, and the king said, ‘This is positively the last task. On the seventh day from now at sunrise, bring me the most beautiful woman on this earth.’

  ‘Ho, ho!’ said the three elder princes to themselves in great joy. ‘Our wives are very beautiful, and we will bring them. One of us is sure to be declared heir, and our good-for-nothing brother will be nowhere this time.’

  The youngest prince overheard their remark, and felt sad, for his wife was a frog and ugly. When he reached home, he said to his wife, ‘Dear Princess, I must go and look for the most beautiful woman on this earth. My brothers will bring their wives, for they are really beautiful, but I will find someone who is more beautiful.’

  ‘Don’t you fret, my prince,’ replied Princess Frog. ‘Eat as usual, sleep as usual, and you can take me to the palace on the appointed day; surely I shall be declared to be the most beautiful woman’.

  The youngest prince looked at the princess in surprise; but he did not want to hurt her feelings, and he said gently, ‘All right, Princess, I will take you with me on the appointed day.’

  On the seventh day at dawn, Little Princess Frog woke up the prince and said, ‘My Lord, I must make myself beautiful. So please wait outside and call me when it is nearly time to go.’ The prince left the room as requested. After some moments, the prince shouted from outside, ‘Princess, it is time for us to go.’

  ‘Please wait, my Lord,’ replied the princess, ‘I am just powdering my face.’

  After some moments the prince shouted, ‘P
rincess, we must go now.’

  ‘All right, my Lord,’ replied the princess, ‘please open the door for me.

  The prince thought to himself, ‘Perhaps, just as she was able to obtain the golden deer and the wonderful rice and meat, she is able to make herself beautiful,’ and he expectantly opened the door, but he was disappointed to see Little Princess Frog still a frog and as ugly as ever. However, so as not to hurt her feelings, the prince said nothing and took her along to the palace. When the prince entered the audience chamber with his Frog Princess the three elder princes with their wives were already there. The king looked at the prince in surprise and said, ‘Where is your beautiful maiden?’

  ‘I will answer for the prince, my king,’ said the Frog Princess. ‘I am his beautiful maiden.’ She then took off her frog skin and stood a beautiful maiden dressed in silk and satin. The king declared her to be the most beautiful maiden in the world, and selected the prince as his successor on the throne.

  The prince asked his princess never to put on the ugly frog skin again, and the Frog Princess, to accede to his request, threw the skin into the fire.

  THE SLEEPING PRINCE

  (SURINAMESE)

  father had a daughter, but the child loved nothing so much as the field of grass which her father had planted. Only that she loved. Every morning her nurse took her to look at the grass. One morning when they went, the horses were feeding on the grass. Then they fought and fought, and blood fell on the grass. The girl said, ‘My nurse, look how the horses are eating my grass till they fight. But look how nice the red is on the earth.’

  At once a voice answered her, it said, ‘Look how nice the red is on top of the earth. Well, if you were to see the Sleeping Prince! But the one who said the thing must come before eight days are up, and she will see the Sleeping Prince. And she will see a fan, and she should fan the prince until the prince shall awaken. Then she should kiss the prince. And she will see a bottle of water, and she shall sprinkle all the sticks which she sees.’

  But, when she went she took her clothes, and she had a black doll and a broken razor. Then she took them and carried them there, too. Then she saw the prince, and she took the fan and began to fan the prince. She fanned so till . . . an old woman sat by at the side. She was a witch. Then she asked her, she said, if she was not tired of fanning? But she said, ‘No, no.’

  Not long after, the old woman came back, and she asked her, she said, ‘Don’t you want to go and urinate?’ And so at once she got up to go and urinate.

  The old woman took up the fan and began to fan. And so, before the girl came back, the prince awakened, and the old woman kissed the prince. And so the old woman had to marry the prince, because the law was that the one who kissed the prince should be the one to marry him.

  But when they were already married, then the woman made her look after the fowls. She was very sad, because in her father’s country she was a princess, and here she had to look after the fowls. They built a nice little house for her to live in. Then at night when she returned from her work, she put on her fine clothes, and she played a singing box. But when she finished playing, then she took up the black doll and the razor, and she asked it, she said, ‘My black doll, my black doll, tell me if that is justice, or I will cut off your neck.’ Then she put them back and she went to sleep.

  But a soldier passed one night. Then he heard how sweetly the singing box played. He hid at the side of the house, and he heard everything the girl asked the black doll. And so he went and told the king that the girl who looked after the chickens did thus.

  The selfsame night the king went to listen. Just as the woman asked the black doll if that was justice, the king knocked on the door that she open the door at once. As the door opened the king saw the woman and at once he fainted, because he did not know that this woman was a princess. She was wearing her fine clothes. And when the king came to himself, he called the woman and said he would call a big audience, and she must explain what made her ask that of the black doll.

  When they came to the audience, she said before all the important people, ‘Yes, in my father’s country I was a princess, and here I must look after the fowls.’ And she related everything that had happened between her and the old woman, and she had acted towards her, to cause her (the witch) to marry the prince. And so they found her in the right, and they killed the old woman.

  From her bones they made a stepladder to climb to the top of her bed. And from the skin of the old woman she made a carpet to spread on the ground. And from the head she made a wash-basin in which to wash her face.

  And so she came to marry the prince later. It was her destiny.

  THE ORPHAN

  (AFRICAN: MALAWI)

  long time ago a certain man married. His wife gave birth to a baby girl whom they named Diminga. When Diminga’s mother died, her father married again, and his new wife bore him several more children.

  Although her husband asked her to care for Diminga, the stepmother cursed the child and would not treat her as her own. She would not bathe her, she fed her only husks, and made her sleep in a kraal. So Diminga looked a dirty miserable little girl, a skeleton dressed in rags. All she longed for was to die so that she might join her real mother.

  One night Diminga dreamed that her mother was calling her: Diminga! Diminga my child! You need not starve,’ said the voice. ‘Tomorrow at noon, when you are grazing the cattle, take your big cow Chincheya and tell her to do what I have asked.’

  The next day Diminga took her cattle into the fields as usual. When midday came and her hunger was at its worst, she remembered her dream. She went to Chincheya, patted her back, and said, ‘Chincheya. Do what my mother told you.’

  No sooner had she said this than many plates of food appeared before her. There was rice, beef, chicken, tea and much more. Diminga ate until she was full – and still there was food left over. She made the surplus disappear, and returned home that day so satisfied that she surprised her stepmother by refusing to eat the husks which were offered for her supper. ‘Have them yourself,’ she said.

  Now this happened many times as each day Chincheya produced food for Diminga when they were alone in the fields. As Diminga grew fatter, her stepmother grew more suspicious, asking, ‘Why are you growing fat even though you refuse to eat at home? What do you eat?’

  But Diminga would not tell her secret and at last the stepmother insisted that her own daughter must accompany Diminga when she grazed her cattle the next day. Diminga was reluctant to take the girl, but she had no choice. When the time came for the midday meal, she told her stepsister to say nothing of what she was about to see.

  The girl watched as Diminga took Chincheya aside and spoke to her. She was amazed when suddenly there was food everywhere. Her mouth watered; she tasted all the dishes, then she hid a bit of each under her fingernails before Diminga made the remains vanish.

  That night after Diminga had gone to sleep, the girl told her mother to fetch plates, and when these were brought she heaped upon them all the food that she had hidden, saying, ‘This food comes from that cow, Chincheya. Abundant and delicious food appears when Diminga speaks to her.’

  The old woman was thunderstruck. She gobbled up the food and set about making plans to get all the rest that was still inside the cow. A few days later, she told her husband that she was feeling unwell. Now, for this reason a traditional dance was held and during this dance the stepmother seemed to fall into a trance. She cried out, ‘The spirits demand the sacrifice of the cow Chincheya.’

  Diminga was furious. She refused to allow the killing. Her stepmother pleaded with her husband, ‘Should I die because of your daughter’s infatuation with a cow?’

  And her husband pleaded with his daughter, but Diminga was determined that Chincheya should not be killed. Then as she slept, one night she heard her mother’s voice again. It said, ‘My daughter Diminga, let them slaughter Chincheya. But do not eat the meat yourself. Take the stomach. Bury it on an island. You will see what wil
l happen.’

  So Diminga allowed the sacrifice to take place. The stepmother was sadly disappointed to find not even a single grain of rice inside the cow, indeed the meat itself was tasteless. Diminga wept at Chincheya’s death; but she followed her mother’s instructions and planted the cow’s stomach on an island.

  Where the stomach was planted a golden tree grew. Its leaves were pound notes and its fruits were coins: pennies, shillings, sixpences and florins. The tree glittered and dazzled the eyes of anyone who dared to look at it.

  One day a ship passed the island. When the owner saw the golden tree he ordered his men to go ashore and collect the money. They shook the tree and tried to pick off the money, but they could not move it. The owner asked the local chief to shake the tree, then each of his villagers in turn to do the same. Still no one was successful in harvesting the money.

  Then the ship’s owner, who was a European, asked the chief, ‘Is there anyone who has not tried to shake the tree? Go and search your village in case you have left anyone behind.’

  The search took place, and the one remaining person who had not tried to shake the tree was found – a ragged dirty girl with sad eyes. It was Diminga. Everyone laughed when she was taken to the tree. ‘Can this miserable girl succeed when we have failed!’

  ‘Let her try,’ said the European.

  The tree swayed as Diminga approached. As she touched it, the tree began to shake, and when she held it, coins and notes showered to the ground in great piles, enough to fill several bags.

  Instant marriage was arranged between Diminga and the European, and they went to live at his house. When she had bathed, dressed in new clothes and perfumed herself, Diminga was unrecognisably beautiful. And she was happy with her new life.