The Tales of Beedle the Bard
There鈥檚 no such thing as new fairy tales. Or so a friend 鈥� just back from a teacher鈥檚 conference 鈥� explained to me. Children can鈥檛 be taught to write them, the theory goes, because fairy tales are formed from the slushy undercurrents of a culture鈥檚 subconscious and so it takes years for a 鈥渙nce upon a time鈥� to fully form.
I wonder what those theorists will make of J.K. Rowling鈥檚 slim new The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
First mentioned in 鈥�Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,鈥� the five tales were initially limited to seven handmade, jewel-bedecked copies that Rowling auctioned to raise money for a children鈥檚 charity.
Those of us who could never afford to raise a paddle at Sotheby鈥檚 now get our chance to delve 鈥� sans emeralds 鈥� into 鈥淭he Wizard and the Hopping Pot鈥� and 鈥淏abbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump.鈥� The 鈥渘ew translations,鈥� courtesy of Hermione Granger, are accompanied by scholarly commentary by the late Albus Dumbledore and illustrations by Rowling herself.
Such stories are very similar to Muggle fairy tales, Rowling explains, except that the main characters can perform magic themselves and aren鈥檛 prone to 鈥渢aking a prolonged nap or waiting for someone to return a lost shoe.鈥�
The stories range from the humorous 鈥淗opping Pot,鈥� which forces its wizard owner to be nice to his Muggle neighbors, to the bloody 鈥淭he Warlock鈥檚 Hairy Heart,鈥� my least favorite.
The book is a bit short to justify its $13 price tag. Three or four more tales would make it feel聽 more complete, but fans should find it good fun.
Different from the Muggle world, the commentary here is perhaps more delightful than the stories. So don鈥檛 skip the footnotes.
Dumbledore offers historical context and throws in tidbits such as excerpts from the treacly adaptations of Beatrix Bloxam.
While most Muggle parents will probably find the bard鈥檚 stories mercifully tame, Mrs. Bloxam聽 worried about 鈥渢heir unhealthy preoccupation with the most horrid subjects, such as death, disease, bloodshed, wicked magic, unwholesome characters, and bodily effusions and eruptions of the most disgusting kind.鈥�
If that weren鈥檛 enough to send kids running for a copy, all the profits go to help needy children.
Yvonne Zipp regularly reviews fiction for the Monitor.
