"Souhaites Ridicules." Griselidis Nouvelle avec le conte de peau d’asne, et celuy des souhaits ridicules, Charles Perrault, Quatrième édition, Paris, Jean-Baptists Coignard, 1695, pp. 1-12.
Tale Summary
A woodcutter, Blaise, is disappointed with his lot in life, and in the forest, one day, complains to himself out loud that not one of his wishes has ever come true. Jupiter appears thunderbolt in hand, and grants him three wishes, urging him to wish carefully. He tells his wife, Fanchon, and she too urges reflection. That night, drinking wine in front of the fire, he innocently wishes he had a nice sausage to go with it, and the sausage arrives. His wife is furious and screams at him for wasting a wish, at which point he wishes that the sausage would hang from the end of her nose. It is soon attached. With one wish left, he imagines asking to become the King, but sees his once-beautiful wife being crowned Queen with a sausage hanging from her nose, and realizes he must use his final wish to remove the sausage. Perrault concludes that few men are capable to put to good use the gifts that the heavens offer them.
Fairy Tale Title
Souhaits ridicules
Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)
Charles Perrault
Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)
None
Common Tale Type
Foolish wishes
Tale Classification
Page Range of Tale
pp. 1-12
Full Citation of Tale
"Souhaites Ridicules." Griselidis Nouvelle avec le conte de peau d’asne, et celuy des souhaits ridicules, Charles Perrault, Quatrième édition, Paris, Jean-Baptists Coignard, 1695, pp. 1-12.
Original Source of the Tale
Tale Notes
Les Souhaites ridicules is in verse. It is dedicated to Mademoiselle de la C... and begins by saying that he can tell her this story because she recognizes that the beauty of a tale is not in the content, but in how it is told. Jupiter is present in the story.
Research and Curation
Sara Fischer, 2020
Book Title
Griselidis Nouvelle
Book Author/Editor(s)
Charles Perrault
Illustrator(s)
None
Publisher
Jean-Baptists Coignard
Date Published
1695
Decade Published
1690-1699
Publisher City
Paris
Publisher Country
France
Language
French
Rights
Public Domain
Digital Copy
Available at the CU Digital Library
Book Notes
None