As I was searching for a book to read that started with the letter "U" for the A to Z Alphabet Reading Challenge, I came across the free original and uncensored version of "Andersen's Fairy Tales" (c1925), at: http://read.gov/books/ugly_duckling.html which included the "The Ugly Duckling", (first 16 pages), originally published in 1843 in Denmark by Hans Christian Andersen. The other stories included in this book are "The Tin Soldier", "The Princess on the Pea", and "The Fir Tree". I have never heard of these stories before but didn't care for them too much.

The Ugly Duckling is a great little story of persevering through all the ugliness the world has to offer. Except today, with everyone being so darn sensitive, some of the story may not pass muster. At one point when mother duck brings her little ducklings around the barn to introduce them to the other ducks, she tells them to be sure and bow their heads to the oldest duck who was the grandest of them all. The book reads, "She has Spanish blood in her, that is why she is so fat." (ha ha...too funny!)

The only version I ever knew about was Walt Disney's Little Golden Books: The Ugly Duckling, now considered vintage, which I had bought for my kids when they were young. I don't remember if they had "improved" upon the story by then, or not. But, I'm pretty sure you won't find that comment in any of today's versions. ( )

beautifully illustrated

Discarded 8/27/2021

I think that every Christian interested in books should read Plato’s Republic and Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales, or at least one or the other. I say Christians because some Christians still look askance, out of misconceived loyalty, to every book not a book of sermons or the Bible, but there are books with a sense of say love or justice with a different lineage. People alienated from the church for whatever reason might also discover love or justice in these books upon which something holy has breathed, and discover that intelligent and/or kind sort of teacher, which the schoolboy bully Christian has perhaps led them to believe is the enemy of the church.

I loved “The Little Mermaid”, is I think the one, a fine sad old love story that does not end in a marriage and cannot even begin to be reduced to a romcom flick. This is a story on which the gospel has breathed…. It is all for love; it is all to win your soul; it is not necessarily for the rewards of this life; it is not for us to revenge ourselves with petty, blood-soiled hands. Rather patience and deeds of love and faith cause us to be regenerate. It’s a holy story, no less pretty than a dialogue of Plato and no less worthy of careful and studious attention than the moral philosophy of Socrates. Amen amen, love is wise.

…. I remember the one story about the animated soldier toy and the animated ballerina toy dying together, because they loved each other; when I was a real femme mystique-r, (and afraid of anyone named “Christian”—and he is very Christian, you know; he’s the romantic Christian), I would have been afraid of the whole separation thing, war vs the arts, soldiery vs ballet, and it’s true that say the ‘princess and the pea’ story, although good background/historical folklore to be aware of, has surely been put to bad use…. But really, there are feminine things in life and masculine things, and sometimes men and women too, and you don’t always have to be matchy-matchy, you know, just, burn with love, even unto death.

…. Second after-note: I haven’t watched the animated Disney adaption closely, and it was long ago; the People magazine edition with the interview with the Black girl from the live action remake lies unread somewhere, although I haven’t seen that, either. There was a time when I was very sure of things, I don’t know how else to say it; I liked the //classic// fairy tale where the girl fights for her soul, and not just to get married, and I didn’t feel I understood how to deal with our post-classic world where people aren’t earnest and don’t care about their souls, you know. Although, in retrospect, I have to admit that “losing your voice” to “gain your soul” isn’t really any better than peddling it away to get a man to the altar, you know. Neither the one nor the other is, how shall I say this, Coco Chanel, you know. Not that bloody murder is, either, but that’s the sorta false choice that everything rests on. Bloody murder, sacrifice for love, sacrifice for the faith…. “Some of them wanted us to die for Ireland, and some of them wanted us to die for the Faith, and I wondered if there were any among them, who wanted us to live.” (Angela’s Ashes).

It’s still a nice thing to have read once. It’s certainly not coarse, though it hawks a high price for that, you know.

It’s beautiful and I love fairy tales. This is one of my favorite collections of these tales. ( )