The Grey Fairy Book

As a kid, I checked out all of the Andrew Lang Fairy Books from the library.

It was interesting learning new fairy tales that weren't the normal ones, but honestly, I think I just checked these books out because I had read almost every single book in the kid's section of the Westminster Public Library and these were left, so. . . .

A Fall from the Sky
This myth was about a mortal named Daedalus who killed his nephew/apprentice after he grew jealous of his skills. After he killed him he fled, and had a son of his own who was killed in a similar manner to his nephew. I enjoyed the many themes that applied to life throughout the myth.
The Goat Faced Girl
Masaniello was the father of 12 daughters. One day he met a lizard who asked for his youngest daughter in return for money. He agreed, and the lizard took great care of the daughter. A kind aked for Renzolla’s hand in marriage and when she left to go with him she did not thank the lizard. In return the lizard turned her into a goat face. The king treated her very poorly, because of what she looked like. Finally, one show more day a man madeher realize what she had done. The hyperbole was the fact that her face was turned into a goat as a consequence of not saying thank you.This book was good, because of the obvious causes and affects throughout the plot.
Sunchild
This book is about a childless woman who gets a daughter from the sun named Letiko. She has to promise to send her back when she is 12. When she didn’t the sun took her back which caused sadness, which eventually cause the sun to return her to her mother. This book was very short, but had a string message. show less

Various tales in this collection have their own entry on GR so have their own separate reviews, rest of the reviews can be found in this one for stories that don't have their own entry. Complete list of stories at the end.

"The Goblin Pony" *** A goblin pony runs off with a few kids and they're never seen again. More of a sad/cautionary tale.

The Story of Dschemil and Dschemila *** Two people are betrothed but the girl is kidnapped by an ogre so naturally her fiancé needs to rescue her.

Janni and the Draken *** A curious tale. A boy is born and he and his sister go out in the world, a draken woos and marries his sister under his nose. the Drakos conspires to kill the brother but Jammi kills the other draken that are sent after him and show more overcomes evil. This story could have used some more explanation, but oh well.

The Partnership of the Thief and the Liar ***** The title was enough to draw me on. And yes, that's quite a pair of clever bastards. But of course, such a partnership is bound to turn sour... and all for a relatively small sum of money. Damn, bro.

Fortunatus and his Purse **** At least Fortunatus wasn't an idiot like some of the other MCs who lose whatever magical object they've been entrusted with.

The Goat-faced Girl" *** A spoiled girl learns a lesson, but in tis case, a big part of the fault lies with the fairy who raised (and spoiled) her.

What came of picking Flowers *** The monster who kidnapped the youngest girl reminded me of Koschei the Deathless with his emerald heart.

The Story of Bensurdatu ** Another tale of the main character being a hero and overcoming treachery. Eh.

The Magician's Horse *** Fairly run of the mill, not a bad tale. The princess is saved and taken to wife in the end.

The Little Gray Man ***** Quite fitting for the Grey Fairy Book, eh? Little gray asshole abuses the generosity of his hosts over and over. You can be sure they get sick of this shit even as they're afraid of him. And hey, the nun gets a happy ending, too.

Herr Lazarus and the Draken **** I do enjoy the stories where the main character uses cleverness to outwit a villain.

Bobino **** A young man learns the language of animals, which turns out to be more useful than human languages like he'd been supposed to learn in the first place.

The Dog and the Sparrow **** Hoo boy, accidents happen, but sometimes people are just assholes and need to be punished, and the sparrow avenges her poor doggy friend well against someone who ran over him on purpose.

The Bear *** Quite reminiscent of Donkeyskin and Princess Furball.

The Sunchild *** at least the child's feelings are actually considered here, even if the sunball could have been a better guardian.

The Daughter of Buk Ettemsuch ** Weird story.

Laughing Eye and Weeping Eye, or the Limping Fox ** Honestly, the fox deserved better.

The Unlooked for Prince *** A prince was unwittingly promised to a magic man, but manages to escape this fate.

The Simpleton *** I am reminded of an earlier tale in another Color Fairy book where the main character collected a motley gang with a variety of abilities almost identical to the group here.

The Street Musicians ***** Bravo, bravo to this clever troupe of animals who were discarded by their former masters and chose to make a better fate for themselves.

The Twin Brothers *** The beginning of the story is similar to a few others. In the end everyone gets their happily ever after.

Prunella *** Ok... yeah, you shouldn't judge someone just because of who their parent is, but trying to demand favors (kisses) from someone who has more important things on their mind is cheeky. At least he didn't force his kisses on her.

_____

"Donkey Skin"
"The Goblin Pony"
"An Impossible Enchantment"
"The Story of Dschemil and Dschemila"
"Janni and the Draken"
"The Partnership of the Thief and the Liar"
"Fortunatus and his Purse"
"The Goat-faced Girl"
"What came of picking Flowers"
"The Story of Bensurdatu"
"The Magician's Horse"
"The Little Gray Man"
"Herr Lazarus and the Draken"
"The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles"
"Udea and her Seven Brothers"
"The White Wolf"
"Mohammed with the Magic Finger"
"Bobino"
"The Dog and the Sparrow"
"The Story of the Three Sons of Hali"
"The Story of the Fair Circassians"
"The Jackal and the Spring"
"The Bear"
"The Sunchild"
"The Daughter of Buk Ettemsuch"
"Laughing Eye and Weeping Eye, or the Limping Fox"
"The Unlooked for Prince"
"The Simpleton"
"The Street Musicians"
"The Twin Brothers"
"Cannetella"
"The Ogre"
"A Fairy's Blunder"
"Long, Broad, and Quickeye"
"Prunella" show less

To avoid overabundance of information re persons responsible for translations and/or adaptation, please refer to Lang's Preface. Unabridged Replication of Longman & Green's 1900 edition.

Contents: "Donkey Skin", "The Goblin Pony", "An Impossible Enchantment", "The Story of Dschemil and Dschemila", "Janni and the Draken", "The Partnership of the Thief and the Liar",
"Fortunatus and his Purse", "The Goat-faced Girl", "What came of picking Flowers", "The Story of Bensurdatu", "The Magician's Horse", "The Little Gray Man", "Herr Lazarus and the Draken",
"The Story of the Queen of the Flowery Isles", "Udea and her Seven Brothers", "The White Wolf", "Mohammed with the Magic Finger", "Bobino", "The Dog and the Sparrow", "The Story of the Three show more Sons of Hali", "The Story of the Fair Circassians", "The Jackal and the Spring",
"The Bear", "The Sunchild", "The Daughter of Buk Ettemsuch", "Laughing Eye and Weeping Eye, or the Limping Fox", "The Unlooked for Prince", "The Simpleton", "The Street Musicians", "The Twin Brothers", "Cannetella", "The Ogre", "A Fairy's Blunder", "Long, Broad, and Quickeye", "Prunella" show less

This is the 6th Book in the Andrew Lang Color Fairy Tale Series

A collection of thirty-five fairy tales from the folklore of Lithuania, Africa, Germany, Greece, and France Source: LOC