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Dear reader,
You might ask yourself, what exactly a fairytale is. I had the same question in mind. It turns out, and I tell you this after going through a lot of research, a fairytale is a story that fairies tell between them to pass the time. What most fairies won't tell you is that almost every fairytale, started as a story made up by a man. The prideful creatures they are, fairies don't enjoy admitting that they sometimes eavesdrop on people's thoughts and dreams, and they certainly would never admit that some of those dreams are more amazing and strange than anything that happens in fairy land.
And as you might know, fairies have a deep love for fairy tales. Almost every fairy keeps books in their house, and it's a known fact that in almost every forest, you can find a fairy library, where shelves upon shelves of fairytale books are kept. In there, you can find a story from anywhere and everywhere, from Greenland to Kenya and from Peru to Taiwan as there's literally a story about every imaginable thing in them (the books never seem to go out of pages to turn!) and fairies from all around the woods gather to study and record more tales. I myself, during my research for this book, tried to visit one but I was sadly informed by the librarian that access was prohibited to normal people.
As I walked away from the library disappointed, suddenly a tiny fairy with green hair stepped out of a tree and greeted me. I was surprised to meet a fairy, but I was even more surprised that she wasn't as shy as most of them are. Of course, I was excited, as most people don't get to meet even a single fairy in their lives, let alone talk to one. The fairy started chatting me up and eventually invited me into her treehouse.
There, she offered me some strange kind of delicious tea and upon hearing that I was in the forest to visit the library she gave me the chance to have a look at the collection of books that she kept. As I looked around her bookshelves, I couldn't help but notice that, however beautiful and kind to me that fairy was, she wasn't very tidy. The books themselves seemed extremely old, the pages a yellowy orange, and every shelf and book was completely covered with dust. Well, of course, not just any kind of dust, it was fairy dust, a substance so magical to us, but quite annoying and tricky to get rid off for fairies.
I quickly browsed through the books and the variety startled me. I just couldn't pick. I picked as many books as I could carry and sat down to study them. I opened them, and eagerly started taking notes for my book.
Here you will in no way find a comprehensive study of all fairytales. That would be a far too arduous task, and also human books hold only so many pages. You will not even find the exact tales that I read in those books. I will not try to explain or analyze everything, look for symbolisms, break down the tales' structure. That, you can do for yourself if you so wish. What I will provide here, is a collection of some fairytales, to be used preferably as fairies themselves use them. As something to read to yourself to pass the time. And perhaps, if you long for more fairytales, you can go for a walk into the nearest forest holding your favourite book. If by some strange twist of luck a fairy notices your love for stories and offers you some tea, make sure you take her up on that offer!
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