The foolish desires

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Illustration by Harry Clarke in The fairy tales of Charles Perrault , 1922

The foolish wishes (French original title: Les Souhaits ridicules ) is a fairy tale by Charles Perrault . It appeared in verse in 1693, then in 1695 with a new preface together with Griseldis and Eselshaut , and later in prose with his other fairy tales in the Contes de ma Mère l'Oye collection .

content

A poor old woodcutter complains that he has no wish in life. Jupiter wants to give him three, he should just think carefully about what will make him happy and content. The woodcutter's wife suggests how clever they should be. With wine and a warm fire, he inadvertently wants a long blood sausage that creeps up like a snake. The woman is frightened and scolds him for his stupidity and lost riches, until, in anger, he wishes the sausage on her nose. He is still considering making himself king with his last wish, but she prefers to be beautiful again. The narrator concludes that common people cannot use heaven's gifts.

Explanations

Doris Distelmaier-Haas notes the skillful development of the ancient story. Cf. Philemon and Baucis , Johann Peter Hebels Three Wishes , in Grimm's fairy tale The Poor and the Rich , in Bechstein The Three Wishes .

literature

  • Doris Distelmaier-Haas (Ed.): Charles Perrault. All fairy tales. Reclam, Ditzingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-15-008355-0 , pp. 49–52, 136 (translation by Doris Distelmaier-Haas after Charles Perrault: Contes de ma mère l'Oye. Texts établi, annoté et précédé d ' un avant-propos par André Cœuroy, Editions de Cluny, Paris 1948).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Doris Distelmaier-Haas (Ed.): Charles Perrault. All fairy tales. Reclam, Ditzingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-15-008355-0 , pp. 49–52, 136 (translation by Doris Distelmaier-Haas after Charles Perrault: Contes de ma mère l'Oye. Texts établi, annoté et précédé d ' un avant-propos par André Cœuroy, Editions de Cluny, Paris 1948).

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