These tales are familiar to everyone from childhood. Some, especially loved ones, we even know almost by heart! And all because they are fascinating, romantic and always with a good ending. However, if you find the original sources of these stories, they can be truly shocking. Let's find out what kind of stories the good fairy tales so beloved by us had from the very beginning.
1. Cinderella
In the original fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the envious sisters of Cinderella were so eager to squeeze into the cherished crystal shoe that they went to extreme measures: one of them chopped off her toe, and the other cut off her heel. However, the prince was warned by the pigeons and the deception was exposed. As a result, during the wedding of Cinderella, these same pigeons pecked out the eyes of the sisters.
2. Snow White
In the original version of the tale, the queen not only orders the hunter to kill Snow White, but also intends to eat her liver and lungs. And in the finale of the story, the evil queen is forced to dance at Snow White's wedding in red-hot iron shoes until she dies of burns.
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3. Rapunzel
In the original version of the tale, Rapunzel secretly met with a prince who climbed the tower through her long hair. As a result of these dates, the long-haired beauty became pregnant. When the witch who lived with Rapunzel found out about this, she cut off her hair and drove her into the desert. But this was not enough for the witch, she decided to play a trick on the prince, letting her cut hair down from the tower. Rising and seeing the witch instead of his beloved, the prince jumped from the tower to commit suicide, but fell into the thorny bushes, which gouged out his eyes. The tale ended with the fact that seven years later, Rapunzel and the twins she gave birth to, met the blind prince and Rapunzel healed his blindness with her tears.
4. Pinocchio
In the very first version of the tale, Pinocchio constantly teases old man Gepetto. When he, angry, chases Pinocchio, he goes to prison for allegedly offending the boy. Back home, Pinocchio meets a talking centenarian cricket who is trying to teach him obedience. The wooden boy throws a hammer at the cricket and kills him. And in the finale of the story, Pinocchio dies of suffocation.
5. The Little Mermaid
In the original version written by Andersen, the little mermaid must convince the prince to marry her, or she will turn into sea foam. But since the little mermaid does not know how to talk, the prince, who is not particularly interested in her, marries another. As a result, the little mermaid must kill the prince or turn into sea foam. Since she still loves the prince, she chooses the latter option.
6. Mulan
In the original Mulan tale, the ending isn't happy at all. When the brave warrior returns home, she learns that her father is dead, her mother has married another, and the khan offers her to become his concubine. Desperate, Mulan commits suicide.
7. Sleeping Beauty
In the initial version of the tale, one king, passing by and seeing the Sleeping Beauty, transfers her to the bed and shamelessly uses her position. As a result, Sleeping Beauty, without waking up, gave birth to twins, one of whom woke her up. The king drove by again, and finding offspring, decided to marry the beautiful woman. The only hindrance was that the king had a jealous wife, whom he had to kill …
8. Three little pigs
In early versions of this English tale, the wolf freely devours the first two brothers. The insatiable creature gets close to the stone house of the only remaining pig and tries to lure out its prey. However, the cunning pork does not want to leave the shelter. The predator climbs onto the roof, squeezes into the chimney. Piglet, barely hearing the grinding of tiles, fanned the fire and put on a huge cauldron. While the wolf was puffing in the narrow pipe, the water had reached its boiling point. As a result, the pig remembered the brothers who had died suddenly with a rich wolf broth.
9. Peter Pan
James Barry's children's books cover much deeper topics than we are used to thinking. Have you ever wondered why children in Neverland never grow up ?! Because they are all dead! At the time of the author, child labor was widely used, and only a few survived to adulthood even among the highest nobility (the statistics of mortality from influenza and measles is simply amazing).
10. Wolf and seven kids
Having swallowed six of the seven kids, the predator lay down to rest. The goat found out about the tragedy, grabbed the scissors and ripped open the gray belly. The horned ones jumped out of the stomach and began to sing at the mother's feet (this is another reason to thoroughly chew food). The goat, not otherwise than at the behest of the fiends of the hellish abyss, filled the wolf's stomach with stones and carefully sewed up the incision. Finally, the shaggy one released anesthesia, he decided to drink some water. The severity outweighed, he fell into the river and with lightning speed went to the bottom.