Diamonds and Toads (Fairy tale)

Author: Charles Perrault

Time Period: 1501 CE–1700 CE

Country or Culture: France

Genre: Fairy Tale

PLOT SUMMARY

A widow has two daughters. The elder daughter, named Fanny, is a mirror image of her mother, and people often mistake the two. They are also similar in their mean-spirited dispositions. The younger daughter resembles her father. She is beautiful and always kindhearted, unlike her older sister. The widow adores her elder daughter, but she dislikes the younger daughter, gives her many chores to do, and forces her to eat in the kitchen, away from herself and Fanny.

One of the younger daughter’s most difficult chore is to draw water from a fountain a great distance from the house, which she has to do twice a day. One day, a poor old woman walks up to the fountain and begs the younger daughter for a drink of water. She is glad to show the old woman some kindness and happily holds the pitcher up to the woman’s mouth. After having quenched her thirst, the old woman praises the girl for her good manners and kindness. This old woman turns out to be a fairy, and she gives the girl a gift, stating that every time that the girl speaks, either a flower or a jewel will come out of her mouth.

The girl returns home and is scolded by her mother for being away at the fountain for so long. The girl apologizes for her delay, and when she speaks, two roses, two pearls, and two diamonds come from her mouth. The mother is shocked and demands the girl tell her how this has come to be. As more flowers and jewels fall from her mouth, the girl tells her mother about the old woman at the fountain.

The mother calls for Fanny to witness the miraculous flowers and jewels as they come from her sister’s mouth. Then she instructs Fanny to go to the fountain and generously give the old woman some water so that she too can summon riches. At first, Fanny refuses to perform such a menial chore as fetching water, but then the mother berates her into going.

Shortly after Fanny arrives, an attractively dressed woman walks out of the woods. She comes up to Fanny and asks her for a drink of water. This is the same fairy that rewarded the younger daughter for her kindness, but she is now disguised with the air and attire of a princess. In a sassy, proud tone, Fanny mocks the woman but states she can drink some water if she truly wishes. Because of Fanny’s rude behavior, the fairy gives her a gift similar to that of the younger daughter, but when Fanny opens her mouth, a snake or a toad will come from it.

Fanny returns to her mother, and when Fanny greets her, two vipers and two frogs spring from Fanny’s mouth. Blaming the younger daughter for this trickery, the mother runs to beat her. The younger daughter runs into the woods and hides. There, the king’s son, returning from a hunting trip, finds her and is immediately taken with her beauty. She tells him of her plight and of how the fairy has gifted her with jewels and flowers. While she tells the prince this story, he falls in love with her and takes her back to his father’s palace, where they are wed.

As for Fanny, she is disowned by her mother and dies alone in a corner of the woods.

SIGNIFICANCE

“Diamonds and Toads” was written in 1697 by French author Charles Perrault. Perrault is considered the founding father of the modern fairy-tale genre. His works were derived from preexisting folk and fairy tales that he imbued with his own subtexts and subject matter. Some of his most influential fairy tales have become timeless classics, including “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Cinderella,” and “Puss in Boots.”

His story “Diamonds and Toads” contains common folkloric and fairy-tale motifs, such as that of the kind and unkind girls, which can be found in tales from Russia and Scandinavia and throughout western Europe. It is a simple moral theme in which one girl, usually a daughter, is rewarded for her kindness and generosity, while another, usually her sister or stepsister, is punished in some way for her insolence or cruelty. The story varies depending on the culture in which it is told.

Another common motif found in “Diamonds and Toads” and throughout world folklore is the magical benefactor who provides an unlucky girl with a means of escaping her harsh reality. In this case, the magical being is the fairy, but in other stories, these benefactors appear as elves, ogres, and other fantasy beings. By providing the younger sister with the gift of creating flowers and jewels, the fairy helps her out of her unhappy life with her mother and older sister. Moreover, the girl goes on to become a princess, while the unkind Fanny dies alone in the woods. The appearance of magical beings like the fairy also helps infuse such tales with an appealing sense of enchantment.

The moral of the blessing and the curse bestowed by the fairy in the story has been interpreted as having the same meaning as the familiar maxim “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.” The younger sister speaks kindly to the disguised fairy, so she is rewarded. Fanny, on the other hand, is rude and she mocks the fairy. She is then cursed to have snakes and toads come out of her mouth whenever she speaks.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Vintage, 2010. Print.

Birkhäuser-Oeri, Sibylle. The Mother: Archetypal Image in Fairy Tales. Toronto: Inner City, 1988. Print.

Lang, Andrew, ed. “Toads and Diamonds.” The Blue Fairy Book. New York: Dover, 1965. Print.

Perrault, Charles. The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault. Trans. Neil Philip and Nicoletta Simborowski. New York: Clarion, 1993. Print.

Roberts, Warren Everett. The Tale of the Kind and the Unkind Girls: AA-TH 480 and Related Titles. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1994. Print.