“The Blue Bird.” Old French Fairy Tales, D’Aulnoy, Madame, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1899, pp. 138-172.

Tale Summary

A widowed king with a daughter named Flora remarries a widowed queen with her own daughter named Troutina. Flora is beautiful and amiable, while Troutina is ugly and mean. When both daughters are of age to be married, the queen declares that her daughter be married first to the next prince that visits the palace. King/Prince Charming is such a prince, but he falls in love with Flora and not Troutina. This infuriates the queen and her daughter, who devise many plans to keep the two lovers apart. After many unsuccessful attempts to force King Charming to marry Troutina, her fairy godmother, Soussio, transforms King Charming into a bluebird for seven years. The king flies to Flora’s bedroom window, where they spend the next two years conversing every night. The queen and Troutina eventually become suspicious of Flora, and place sharp knives in the tree that King Charming resides in, wounding him severely. He believes that Flora conspired with the queen to hurt him, and returns to his own castle with his friend, the enchanter. Next, Flora’s father, the king, dies, and Flora takes the throne. Flora goes on a journey to find King Charming, during which she meets a fairy who gives her four magic eggs. These eggs help her reach Charming’s castle and stay many nights in the bedchamber below his. King Charming regained his human form in an agreement with Soussio sometime prior to Flora’s arrival and is due to marry Troutina as part of the contract. When he hears Flora speaking to him through the floor, they are reunited. The combined magic from Flora’s fairy friend and the enchanter prevent Soussio from reinstating the curse, and Flora and King Charming wed without the threat of transformation.