Ann's Blog

Foolish Animals, By Jean de La Fontaine.  Translated by W.T. Larned.  I am glad I noticed this author on the list of European works. I am a French major, so I am familiar with some of Fontaine's original work. I googled the original version of this fable, to refresh my memory. Having read the original helps me better appreciate this translation. Larned did a good job of preserving the story content and creating new rhymes in English. I think he is inspiring.  The original poem in French is so much fun to read out loud, and Larned kept that aspect of it. The English version is fun too.  I enjoyed all of the poems but decided to focus on the first one, The Hare and the Tortoise. In the poem the hare challenges the tortoise to a race knowing he will win, however, he plays around too much and the tortoise ends up beating him. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race.  (Image Information: Tortoise and Hare, Blogspot)

The Little Mermaid , by Hans Christian Anderson This classic story varies a lot from its Disney version but remains a great (though admittedly long) bedtime story. The plot is mostly the same as the Disney movie. In this original version, Princess Ariel rescues the prince when his ship wrecks. She becomes obsessed with him and humans. She seeks out a witch to help her become human. The witch tells her it will bring her great pain and suffering, but it is possible.  "Your tail will then disappear and shrink up into what mankind calls legs, and you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through you. But all who see you will say that you are the prettiest little human being they ever saw. You will still have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly, but at every step you take, it will feel as if you were treading upon sharp knives and that the blood must flow. If you will bear all this, I will help you.” (Image Information...