The first fairy stories were never intended for children

Re:The first fairy stories were never intended for children by tasha0663 on Wednesday January 19, 2022 @06:45PM (#30002138)

I think we just didn't pull our punches, even if the story was for children, and sometimes that's a great disservice. Take the end of Little Red Riding Hood as recorded by Perrault (SPOILERS):

> "Grand-mamma, what great teeth you have got!"

> "That is to eat thee up."

> And, saying these words, this wicked Wolf fell upon poor Little Red Riding-Hood, and ate her all up.

THE END

The tension builds and then the bottom drops out because the protagonist is dead. The ending is jarring. The wolf is so dangerous that he doesn't just kill Red, he kills the whole story.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The first fairy stories were never intended for children by germinalphrase on Wednesday January 19, 2022 @06:50PM (#30002187)

Yea - well, the little brat should have just listened to her mother rather than picking flowers and dawdling.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The first fairy stories were never intended for children by taneq on Wednesday January 19, 2022 @06:53PM (#30002221)

Life was much more dangerous back then. Telling small children they could be eaten by a sneaky wolf might save them from actually being eaten by one.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The first fairy stories were never intended for children by dustintrex on Wednesday January 19, 2022 @10:12PM (#30004011)

Likewise, Japanese kids were taught that kappa lurked in bodies of water and under bridges, and would snatch and drown them if they got too close -- so they didn't, and avoided drowning.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The first fairy stories were never intended for children by labster on Wednesday January 19, 2022 @07:45PM (#30002704)

And now we live in a world where this anti-wolf propaganda costs lives through degraded ecosystems and deer overpopulation causing more car accidents.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The first fairy stories were never intended for children by tasha0663 on Wednesday January 19, 2022 @07:03PM (#30002328)

See also the Three Little Pigs, wherein we note that a pig will eat anything, including a wolf that is still digesting the pig's brothers.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The first fairy stories were never intended for children by kragen on Wednesday January 19, 2022 @10:10PM (#30003998)

Yup. Lots of farm kids' lives could have been saved by paying more attention to that fact.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The first fairy stories were never intended for children by kgran on Thursday January 20, 2022 @05:35AM (#30007121)

Now we need to adapt and tell fairy tales about big bad cars that gonna kill you once you step into their territory.

[ Parent | on HN ]