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"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.

Screenshot of first page of the tale, text only (French), "Les Souhaites Ridicules".

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)Ìý

None

Common Tale Type

Foolish wishes

Tale Classification

Ìý

Page Range of TaleÌý

pp. 1-12

Full Citation of TaleÌý

"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

Ìý

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.

AVÃûʪ and Curation

Sara Fischer, 2020

Book TitleÌý

Griselidis Nouvelle

Book Author/Editor(s)Ìý

Charles Perrault

Illustrator(s)

None

Publisher

Jean-Baptists Coignard

Date Published

1695

Decade PublishedÌý

1690-1699

Publisher City

Paris

Publisher Country

France

Language

French

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Book Notes

None