Happy almost Mother's Day!  The semester is almost over and I may have time for something other than studying.  Huzzah!  One of my classes was a Lit Survey class.  We were allowed to choose a topic and pursue it for the entire semester.  It was a sometimes frustrating but ultimately rewarding experience.  My topic was a fairy tale - "The Tale of the Kind and the Unkind Girl".  I'm guessing most folks have not heard of it - though you may have read it without realizing that is what you were reading.  I am going to publish my cumulative project here on my blog - a bit at a time so it doesn't overwhelm folks.  

And so here we go!

Once Upon a Time, There Was a Widow

Who Had Two Daughters….

The journey begins with one story - “The Talking Eggs” as retold by Robert D. San Souci.  It is a tale with a hopeful message - be kind and you are rewarded; be mean and you are punished. It has familiar themes - a wicked stepmother, a cruel stepsister, and a kind younger sister who is made to do all the work.  But it is not a Cinderella tale; it’s something different.  It is a version of a moderately obscure tale known as “The Kind and The Unkind Girls.”  As it turns out, this tale is one of the most widespread folktales, told and retold all over the world, with over one thousand different versions.  Eventually it ended up as a fairy tale when it was written down by Giambattista Basile in the early 1600’s in his Pentamerone.  But what exactly makes it a fairy tale? Are all the versions the same or do they have differences?  Is there some reason for its longevity?  These - and other questions - will be addressed in this paper.  

More tomorrow!