The Philosophy of Fairy Tales..............................

I believe that Walter met Hans, not Douglas Letty. Something told me that he had, and would pipe in. Wink

Maybe I can be an oracle...

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Actually, I didn't really meet Walter - he sat on the far right site of a table in front of me, if I remember correctly. (I don't think, he even asked me something.)

My sister had had Douglas on a card game and on a poster. Does that count?

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Now we have a fairy tale happening.

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Hansel and Gretel
The parents have no money and are running out of food. The mother insists they take the children in the woods and lose them. The whipped husband reluctantly goes along with it. After the children are successfully lost they find this unbelievable sweet house, then get captured by the resident, a witch, who wants to eat them. Gretel tricks the witch into the oven and the children loot the home of precious stones and soon make their way home. The wicked mother is dead and the grieving good father gets the children and the wealth.
A few lessons in there.

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Oh, my word. Sorry, Walter. Well, if hebba were here he could be Hans Christian Anderson. Clever way you turned that, Walter.

Do you know that the Grimm Brothers wrote a tale called The Raven? It was about a recalcitrant child whose mother turned HER into a raven. (hey we can make it a him). guess who we'll make the raven?

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In that tale, I'd assume you would be the lawyer, edgar. Wink

That would make a great rewrite of a classic...

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Ah, we'll make edgar the good father. Damn. I'll have to be the witch.

Deb can be the sleeping beauty. What time is it in Australia?

And since lash made me Mrs. Howell, I'm gonna make her the wicked step mother. Twisted Evil

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What was the trod on a load story about? I never heard that one.

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Rather grim story, rufio, by Hans, though. <smile>

It's about a child who purchased a loaf of bread and on her way home faced a tremendous puddle.

She decided to put the loaf of bread in the puddle, and use it as a stepping stone. Upon doing this, she daintily stepped on the crusty top and quickly began to sink beneath the surface where unholy things started to claw at her body. I have forgotten the ending, but it was a strange fairy tale and one that marks the darker side of HC Anderson.

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Yikes. Now I see why Anderson's tales were meant to admonish children. I just looked up the story which I was recalling from memory. Having read that thing at the age of six or seven, I only focused on the image in my mind.

Of course, that is not you, rufio.

http://hca.gilead.org.il/girl_who.html

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Might be interesting: The Complete Anderson is now online:

"The Complete Andersen is a rather extensive collection of Andersen's tales -- and this is the most comprehensive edition of Andersen's fairy tales in English (American) on the internet. Collection, translated by Danish actor Jean Hersholt, is searchable (in Danish as well as English)."

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My word, Walter. Thanks for that link. Jean Hersholt? Where have I heard that name before?

When I have time, I'll check out Hans' complete list.

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The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is an "Oscar" :wink:

From wiki:

Quote:

Jean Hersholt (July 12, 1886 - June 2, 1956) was an Danish actor.

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Hersholt would become a well-known actor in the United States. He was also a Hans Christian Andersen enthusiast who assembled a large collection of books related to that writer (now in the Library of Congress). His translations of Andersen's Tales are considered the best English version in existence.

He died in Hollywood, California and was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

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Walter, do you know if he was ever on radio? I guess we'll have to consult with Hebba.

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Yes, he has been on radio, like here
BABY SNOOKS
CBS PROMOTIONAL SKIT - Mid 40's CBS Promo for DR. CHRISTIAN with Jean Hersholt.

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Dr. Christian. That's the one my sister told me of. I think Earl Hamner may have written for that show. Are you familiar with The Waltons, Walter? Well, Hamner created that with his first book Spencer's Mountain.

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Re: The Philosophy of Fairy Tales...........................

Letty wrote:

Everyone here has read his share of Grimm and Anderson. Of all the stories that we have read, what particular one does contain a deep and meaningful philosophy of life for you?

I can't say that fairy tales ever made much of an impression upon me. At least not the classic ones. Things like cinderalla, snow white, little red, et al have never seemed all that profound or inciteful.

This isn't to say that children's tales are devoid and without value. I think that the animorphs series of stories by K.A. Applegate are exceptionally deep and something I would want any hypothetical children of mine to grow up reading.

I'm just not a huge fan of the brothers grimm.

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antibuddah, You are somewhat of a fairy tale to me.

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Letty wrote:

antibuddah, You are somewhat of a fairy tale to me.

...

For once I am speechless. I have no idea whatsoever how to reply to that.

P.S. No idea if I'm spelling speechless correctly, it looks wrong every way I type it.

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Re: The Philosophy of Fairy Tales...........................

Letty wrote:

Of all the stories that we have read, what particular one does contain a deep and meaningful philosophy of life for you?

Andersen's "The emperor's new clothes". Ever since I've heard this fairy tale, I must have been playing the role of the child in it about a thousand times. (Including maybe a hundred times where the emperor actually did turn out to have his clothes on.) I owe much of my own philosophy of life to this fairy tale.

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The Philosophy of Fairy Tales..............................

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