Fairy tale Story

         Based on Wikipedia, fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features folkloric fantasy characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants, mermaids, or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. Our favorite fairy tales are Cinderella and The Ugly Duckling. I choose both of these fairy tales because the moral values in both of these stories is good for learning.

               

             There are many version of Cinderella stories such as Vietnam version, Korean version and et cetera. Our story is taken from Perrault. Basically, the summary of Cinderella story is about a girl who lost her mom when she was born. Then, her father married a proud and haughty woman as his second wife. She had two daughters, who were equally vain and selfish. By his first wife, he'd had a beautiful young daughter, a girl of unparalleled goodness and sweet temper. The Stepmother and her daughters forced the first daughter into servitude, where she was made to work day and night in menial chores. She would often arise covered in cinders, giving rise to the mocking nickname "Cinderella". One day, the Prince invited all the young ladies in the land to a ball, planning to choose a wife from among them. The two Stepsisters gleefully planned their wardrobes for the ball, and taunted Cinderella by telling her that maids were not invited to the ball. As the sister went to the ball for party, she cried in despair. Her Fairy Godmother magically appeared and immediately began to transform Cinderella from house servant to the young lady she was by birth, all in the effort to get Cinderella to the ball. 

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She turned a pumpkin into a golden carriage, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen. She then turned Cinderella's rags into a beautiful jeweled gown, complete with a tenuous pair of glass slippers. The Godmother told her to enjoy the ball, but warned that she had to return before 12 midnight, when the spells would be broken. At the ball, all eyes are on Cinderella especially the Prince. The Prince had become even more infatuated, and Cinderella in turn became so enchanted by him she lost track of time and left only at the final stroke of midnight, losing one of her glass slippers on the steps of the palace in her haste. The Prince chased her, but outside the palace, the guards saw only a simple country girl leave. The Prince takes the slipper and vows to find and marry the girl to whom it belonged. Meanwhile, Cinderella kept the other slipper, which did not disappear when the spell was broken. The Prince tried the slipper on all the women in the kingdom. When the Prince arrives at Cinderella's villa, the stepsisters tried in vain to win over the prince. Cinderella asked if she might try, while the stepsisters taunted her. The slipper fitted perfectly, and Cinderella tried the other pairs for good measure. The Prince married Cinderella and both her stepsisters ask for her forgiveness.

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                First of the moral in Cinderella story is beauty is a treasure, but graciousness is priceless. Without it, nothing is possible but with it, one can do anything. Second moral is without doubt it is a great advantage to have intelligence, courage, good breeding, and common sense. These, and similar talents come only from heaven, and it is good to have them. Other moral is when we are patient, one day we can get happy ending.

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           The other fairy tale that we choose are The Ugly Duckling story. As what we have read when we still a little child, we know that the story is about one ugly duckling which is actually a swan misplaced and live with family of geese. After all the eggs have been hatched, one of the ducklings is ugly and bigger than others. The mother itself cannot accept that it was hers. All of his brothers did not want to play with him. He felt very sad and lonely but his mother does her best to console him. One day, he ran away from the farm. Then, he saw a flight of beautiful birds’ wing overhead. White, with long slender necks, yellow beaks and large wings, they were migrating south. However, by the spring, he grown so big and he were set free by the pond. That was the time when ugly duckling saw himself mirrored in the water. It is also the time he realize that he was one of the beautiful swan and he was the finest among them all.

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                          Some of the moral values in the story are such as do not judge a book by its cover. The duckling was ugly at first but grown up as a beautiful swan. So, we cannot judge something by its appearance. Though it was ugly, but maybe he was one of the finest when he grown up. Next moral value is believed in yourself. Even though you are not beautiful, you must believe in yourself. Be confident and proud in yourself.