The sleeping beauty and other fairy tales from the old French

About this book

Quiller-Couch retells four old French fairy tales in English for readers of traditional wonder stories, including “Sleeping Beauty,” “Blue Beard,” “Cinderella,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” At the sleeping court, a minister arrives late and avoids the fairy’s spell, then guesses what has happened from the clerks asleep at their desks. Cinderella’s stepsisters fret over gowns, underskirts, and the cost of dressing for a ball. Their practical vanity gives the tale a dry domestic humor amid its magic.