Chapter 2: Le Cabinet des Fées / Or Recreative Readings Arr…

Georges Gérard opens his 1858 collection with a preface detailing the pedagogical reasons for choosing fairy tales by Charles Perrault and Madame de Beaumont for American students learning French. He argues that traditional intermediate texts like Telemachus are too formidable for beginners, while simple fables lack sufficient scope. Fairy tales provide engaging material, pure linguistic models, and accessible vocabulary supported by targeted notes and judicious expurgation. Following the introductory remarks and a table of contents, the volume presents several classic tales, beginning with Little Red Riding Hood, who is deceived by a cunning wolf in the forest. The wolf devours her grandmother before trapping and eating the young girl, illustrating the moral danger of trusting deceptive flatterers. The narrative continues with Puss in Boots, where a youngest son inherits only a cat from his miller father. Using a pair of boots and a clever sack, the resourceful feline secures game for the king, invents the wealthy persona of the Marquis of Carabas, and orchestrates an encounter by a river. The cat then threatens local mowers and reapers to claim the land as his master's property and tricks a wealthy ogre into transforming into a mouse before devouring him. Consequently, the king is deeply impressed by the vast estate, leading to a royal marriage between the disguised miller's son and the princess. The final tale introduces Cinderella, a kind-hearted young woman relegated to grueling household chores and ash-clearing by her haughty stepmother and stepsisters. When the king's son invites all persons of quality to a grand ball, Cinderella helps her stepsisters prepare before being left behind in tears. Promptly visited by her fairy godmother, Cinderella is provided with a magnificent coach transformed from a pumpkin, horses from mice, footmen from lizards, and radiant garments accompanied by delicate glass slippers. Attending the ball in secret, she captivates the prince with her beauty and grace, though she must flee before midnight to prevent the magical spell from wearing off. Cinderella's royal triumph and awakening sleeping beauties Following her flight from the palace, Cinderella returns home in her ragged clothes with only a single glass slipper remaining as proof of her magical evening. Shortly after, the king's son proclaims that he will marry the maiden whose foot perfectly fits the recovered slipper. After noblewomen and her proud stepsisters fail to make it fit, Cinderella tries on the slipper and produces its matching pair, whereupon her fairy godmother transforms her garments into magnificent attire. Recognizing her as the mysterious princess, her repentant stepsisters beg for forgiveness, and Cinderella happily marries the prince while welcoming her family into the royal palace. The collection then transitions to Sleeping Beauty, recounting a royal baptism where offended by a neglected old fairy's curse that a spindle will cause the princess's death, a young fairy modifies the doom into a hundred-year slumber. Despite the king banning spindles, a curious princess pricks her hand on a distaff in a secluded tower and falls into a deep sleep alongside the entire castle, which becomes enclosed by an impenetrable forest. A century later, a young prince breaches the overgrown thicket, awakens the princess with a tender encounter, and marries her. Although the prince later conceals his marriage from his ogre mother, her homicidal attempts to devour her daughter-in-law and grandchildren are ultimately foiled by a compassionate steward, leading the wicked queen to destroy herself in a vat of venomous creatures. The volume concludes with the beginning of Riquet with the Tuft, introducing an exceptionally ugly prince born with a tuft of hair and the magical ability to bestow his own great intelligence upon the person he loves most. Meanwhile, a neighboring queen gives birth to a breathtakingly beautiful princess who lacks any wit, followed by a clever but exceptionally homely sister. As the eldest princess grows increasingly distressed by her own profound stupidity and clumsiness, she encounters Riquet in a secluded forest. The prince offers to grant her brilliant intelligence on the condition that she agrees to marry him within a year, leaving the overwhelmed princess to ponder his unexpected proposal. Riquet and the magical transformation Following a promise made a year prior, the eldest princess feels a sudden and incredible transformation in her eloquence after agreeing to marry Riquet to the Tuft. Stunned by her newfound brilliance, her family and the court celebrate her transformation, though her younger sister is left feeling overshadowed. While pondering marriage proposals from various princes, the princess wanders into a forest and discovers a subterranean kitchen preparing a grand feast for Riquet's upcoming wedding. Confronted by Riquet, she admits she still cannot bring herself to marry him, arguing that her enhanced intellect makes her even more hesitant. In response, Riquet reveals that the same fairy granted her the power to make the person she loves most as handsome as desired. Wishing with all her heart for him to become the most attractive man in the world, the princess triggers a transformation, and they happily marry with her father's blessing. The narrative then shifts to Little Hop o My Thumb, detailing a desperately poor woodcutter and his wife who decide to abandon their seven sons in the forest due to famine. The youngest son, a remarkably clever and tiny boy known as little Poucet, overhears the plan and fills his pockets with white pebbles, which he drops along the path to guide his brothers safely back home. After a brief respite provided by a sudden payment of old debts, the family plunges back into poverty, forcing the parents to abandon the boys a second time. This time, little Poucet uses breadcrumbs, which are eaten by birds, leaving the brothers utterly lost in the dark forest. Seeking shelter, the children approach a remote cottage, only to discover it belongs to a fierce ogre who eats young children. The ogre's wife hides the brothers under the bed, but the ogre discovers them upon returning home. That night, little Poucet cleverly swaps the gold crowns of the ogre's seven daughters with his brothers' nightcaps while the ogre sleeps. Mistaking his own daughters for the boys in the dark, the ogre slaughters them in their sleep. Seizing the opportunity, the brothers flee while little Poucet steals the ogre's magical seven-league boots. Using the boots to secure wealth and prestige at court, little Poucet returns home a hero and secures a prosperous and comfortable life for his entire family. The text consists entirely of concluding footnotes detailing alternative source accounts and definitions related to the previous narrative about little Poucet. These notes explain expressions such as all what he is worth and clarify that certain details regarding his theft from the ogre come from reliable local sources who frequented the woodcutter's home. Other versions suggest that instead of stealing from the ogre's wife, little Poucet used his seven-league boots to carry messages for the king and wealthy courtiers, earning a substantial fortune that allowed him to establish his father and brothers in comfortable new offices.