User blog:NibiruMul/The other fairy tales of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont

We all know the story of Beauty and the Beast, which was written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. (Technically, it was Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve who wrote the original version, but Beaumont's version is more widely read today and the one Disney based their version on.) But what many people don't realize is that Beaumont wrote a number of other fairy tales as well. I'm going to share them with you.

Prince Desir
This one is best known through Andrew Lang's version, titled Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess. It's about a prince who is cursed to have a long nose, but he doesn't realize how long it is. He falls in love with a princess, but when he tries to kiss her, his nose gets in the way. At the end his nose shrinks to normal size and he marries the princess.

Prince Cheri
Also known as Prince Darling, this is my favorite of Beaumont's stories. The story is about a prince who is given a ring by a fairy. The ring pricks him whenever he does bad. He starts out fine, but then he constantly misbehaves, and soon gets rid of the ring. Eventually, Cheri becomes unmanageable and is punished by the fairy, who turns him into a monster. He must work on regaining his human form by being kind. The story ends happily. I based my OC Xavier Cheri on this story.

Aurore and Aimee
This one is about two sisters, Aurore and Aimee. The older, Aurore, is good, while Aimee, the younger, is evil. When Aurore is sixteen, she is sent away and ends up living with a shepherdess. Aurore gains injuries and loses her beauty, but that doesn't prevent a prince named Ingenu from falling in love with her. Ingenu brings Aurore to his older brother, King Fourbin. Fourbin, seeing Aurore's face, lets Aurore marry Ingenu, but drives them away from court. Later, Fourbin marries Aimee. Later, Aurore has a son, Beaujour, while Ingenu enters the service of another king and gains a victory in battle. Fourbin later dies, Aimee is driven away, and Aurore, Ingenu, and Beaujour live happily ever after.

The Widow and Her Two Daughters
Now we're getting to more obscure ones. I found this one in the same book that I found the stories of Henriette-Julie de Murat. This story is about a widow with two daughters, Blanche and Vermeille. Blanche marries a king, while Vermeille marries a farmer. However, Blanche becomes miserable in her luxurious life while Vermeille finds happiness in her simple life. Eventually, Blanche's husband divorces her and marries another woman, while Blanche moves in with her sister. I love this story a lot because of the theme that money can't buy happiness - something you don't see too often in fairy tales.

Prince Fatal and Prince Fortune
I found this one in the same book as the above. It's about twin princes named Fatal and Fortune. Fatal, the older one, is cursed to have a miserable life for twenty-five years, while Fortune, the younger one, is blessed with a perfect life for twenty-five years. Fatal is abandoned and faces all sorts of hardships, but he learns discipline and maturity, while Fortune lives in the palace and grows up sheltered and spoiled. Fatal becomes a soldier, while Fortune cannot defend himself. Fatal enters the service of the king of another kingdom and fights against Fortune's troops. Since the twenty-five years is up, Fatal achieves victory, while Fortune is killed.

Prince Charming
Yes, there's a story called Prince Charming, and it's by Beaumont. (It's called Prince Charmant in French.) It actually involves two princes, Charming and Absolute. Charming falls in love with an immortal princess named True Glory, but must become the greatest monarch in the world to win her. He must compete with an evil prince named Absolute. But True Glory has a sister named False Glory, who looks like True Glory, but False Glory's true form is hideous. Charming eventually wins True Glory, while Absolute ends up bound to False Glory.

The Three Wishes
This is the only one that I don't care for since I found it kinda boring. It's about a couple who are given three wishes by a fairy.

Prince Tity
This is Beaumont's longest tale. It's about a prince named Tity and his page, Eveille (or Wakeful in the translation I read). The first part focuses on Tity, while the second part mostly focuses on Wakeful winning over a princess.

Prince Spirituel
Another prince story. It's about a prince named Spirituel, who is hideous but very intelligent. He falls in love with an unintelligent princess named Astre, but the evil fairy Fury wants her to marry her stupid son Charmant. (who is called Enchanting in the English version to differentiate him from the other Charming)

Joliette
This story's really sad. It's about a nosy girl named Joliette. Joliette is the daughter of a noble couple. Fairies give Joliette gifts such as beauty and grace, but the queen of fairies curses Joliette with muteness until she is twenty. Joliette's father predicts that she will become hated by everyone. Joliette communicates through gestures. She grows up intelligent, but also very nosy and.a real tattletale. She becomes despised for eavesdropping on others. When Joliette is twenty, she can finally speak, but the queen of the fairies shows her the problems she's caused. Through eavesdropping, Joliette had reduced a merchant to poverty, caused an innocent man's death by spreading the rumor that he was involved with a married woman, and landed a man in jail. Joliette feels bad for what she did and agrees to change her ways. She moves to a city and marries a man. One day, her husband spoke of dishonorable men in the city. While at a party, Joliette tells another woman that her husband was dishonorable, and rold that her own husband had told her that. Unfortunately, this whole thing ends up getting Joliette's husband killed. Joliette grieves at this and impales herself on her husband's sword.

This is the only one of her stories that does not end happily.

Belote and Laidronette
This story is about twin girls, the beautiful Belote and the plain Laidronette. (Strangely, these are similar to the names of the twin sisters from Madame d'Aulnoy's The Green Serpent, although the birth order is reversed.) The two sisters are close. Despite Belote's advantages over Laidronette (Belote marries a prince while Laidronette marries his much older minister), Laidronette is supportive of her sister. But when Belote loses her beauty and her husband ignores her, the sisters must find a way to get Belote's husband to love her again.

Conclusion
I thought it was pretty interesting to read these stories since I got to see the full extent of Beaumont's genius. The stories can be a little preachy at times (after all, she did write these for kids), but I found them enjoyable and worth reading. I just wish that these stories were easier to find in English, since I think they're awesome.