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“If you can see the magic in a fairytale, you can face the future.”
—Danielle Steel
Who have not read fairytales? We all have had the experience of reveling in
the beauty and innocence of fairytales. May it be Cinderella or Sleeping
Beauty... fairytale is a word which cannot be new to us. But have you ever
traveled ages back to the earliest of times and uncovered the fascinating facts
about these stories? Well, if not, then here are some mystical finds I
discovered when I undertook this journey.
A fairytale or fairy story is a fictional tale that usually features
folkloric characters (such as fairies, talking animals) and enchantments, often
involving a far-fetched sequence of events. A fairytale often stars transformed
princes, princesses, animals, as in “fairytale ending” where the humble but
heroic princes defeat the wicked enemies or as in “fairytale romance” where
after much ado the beautiful princesses marry their Prince Charming. One
distinct feature of fairytales is that, they take place “once upon a time”.
The history of the fairytale is particularly difficult to trace. The oral
tradition of the fairytale came long before the written page. The oldest known
fairytales stem from ancient Egypt around 1,300 B.C and now, after travelling
through various periods of time, they have grown and matured in various aspects
and have become the most popular genre of stories for young children.
The characters and motifs of fairytales are recurring and simple:
Princesses and goose girls, youngest sons and gallant princes, ogres, giants,
wicked stepmothers, fairy godmothers, talking animals, glass mountains, witches,
castles, meadows and the like. The tale goes into an unreal world and in this
never-never land humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms and marry
the ever-beautiful princesses. W.H Auden said “The way to read a fairytale is to
throw yourself in.” It is very true indeed. Unless the drama... the suspense...
the thrill... the magic vibrates within us, we will not be able to feel the
ecstasy of reading a fairytale. So whenever you read a fairytale, imagine you
are the hero/heroine and try to invoke the feel of the dramatized series of
happenings, and you will be carried to a mystical land where everything will be
as you want.
The most famous authors of fairytales are the Grimm Brothers whose works
include Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
and many more; Hans Christian Anderson who wrote Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling,
The Little Mermaid to mention only a few, and Charles Perrault who wrote
Puss-in-Boots, Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard amongst many others. The Grimm
Brothers collected their tales from farmers and edited them to suit their
audience; most of Perrault’s stories are retellings of old tales. But whatever
may the form be, fairytales are after all fairytales!
G. K. Chesterton said, “Fairytales do not tell children the dragons exist;
they tell the dragons can be killed.” This quote has great weight. Every child
believes in fairies, dragons, etc. They do not need fairytales to tell them
that. Instead fairytales tell that good always succeed over evil. So fairytales
are necessary for young minds.
Friends, as we grow up we cease to believe in these fantasy-based
characters. But as we read in the famous story Pandora and the Hope Fairy, there
are loads of evil, treacheries, malevolence in this world but there also lives a
fairy called Hope, because of whom we are able to survive these anxieties of
life.
Fairytales are narrated to children when they are young. This is very
essential indeed, for if in the beginning of our lives our minds are touched by
the beauty, innocence and the morals in these tales, we will be able to trace
the optimistic side of happenings. The fairies are like our wildest dreams,
which seem unreachable but we can make them plausible . Friends, in life,
sometimes, believing in such mystics can lead to supreme happiness.
Well, I don’t know about you, but I do believe in fairies... and who knows,
I may someday meet one because, after all, believing is just the beginning! And
as J.M.Barrie said, “When you say I don’t believe in fairies, a fairy somewhere
drops dead.” And I wouldn’t want anyone dead on my account, would you?
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发表于 2016-7-10 11:39:27