Stories

The sweet tooth kids

The tiny boy

The red girl

There are numerous versions of this folk tale, with the most renowned adaptations credited to Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. Widely recognized as “Little Red Riding Hood” or simply “Red Riding Hood,” it also goes by the title “Little Red Cap.” Across these narratives, the distinctive red garment remains a constant motif. Speculation arises about potential ancient origins, with Greek authors referencing figures like Pyrrha, meaning “fire,” and a man with a name suggesting “wolf,” hinting at potential connections to earlier sources.

The ashen girl

Probably one of the most famous stories ever told, Cinderella got her nickname from her evil step-sisters. In most languages, it is derived from the word ash (or some synonym like cinder or ember). In Portuguese, Persian, Hebrew, Arabic, and Maltese the English word is adapted to phonetics. The case of Azerbaijani is very interesting: Küllücə, is the local name, Zoluşka comes from Russian and Sindirella, from English. However, in some other languages, the name is very different but still connected somehow. In Catalan, among other names, the most famous is ventafocs (literally fan-fire, is a fire fan or a maid ), in Wallon, Cropecinde (an andiron or firedog, metal support for logs) and in Polish, Kopciuszek, comes from kopeć (soot, the black powder from burning).

A glass slipper?

This object used to identify the heroine is different in each version: anklet, a ring, a bracelet. The most memorable is the glass slipper, which appears in Perrault’s tale as “pantoufle de verre” (slipper of glass). However, some scholars have argued that it might have been confused with pantoufle de vair (slipper of squirrel fur). Oh là là! Anyways the story would lose the intensity of Cinderella’s shoe breaking and losing any possibility of being recognized.