Parsillette

Rapunzel and Other Maiden in the Tower Tales From Around the World: Fairy Tales, Myths, Legends and Other Tales About Maidens in Towers is receiving positive feedback from readers.  Thank you for that! 

I thought I would share a little more about the collection, namely one of my favorite tales of the collection, Parsillette, an obscure French tale from 1891 which I translated. Here's the ending:

She [the godmother] climbed to the top of the tower and saw Parsillette running away on the arm of the prince. In anger, the good woman struck out with her wand, making Parsillette as ugly as she was once beautiful. All of the fairy gifts she had received also disappeared. The young man seeing her thus changed didn’t know what to say.

Seeing herself, Parsillette said to him, “I cannot go further because I see my godmother is very angry. I must go back and ask for her forgiveness.”

At the moment she said this, the prince was struck dead so she returned to her godmother and asked for her pardon.

Her godmother forgave her and returned all of the fairy gifts to her. And so Parsillette returned to live in her tower. Much later she was married to a very rich prince but she never knew her parents.

Rather throws the usual 'women against women' structure of many popular fairy tales out the door, doesn't it?  I laughed the first time I read it and am still tickled whenever I think of it. 

Or, if you prefer, it's an excellent case of Stockholm Syndrome combined with the desire to be beautiful over marrying a prince.  You choose.  That's the beauty of it all...