My Dad brought me back the complete volume of Grimms Fairy tales from New York a while ago and it makes for interesting reading. It has fairytales in their original folk form, which are often gory or violent. In Cinderella the step-sisters cut off parts of their feet so they fit the shoe. Both nearly marry the Prince until a friendly pair of doves point out to him they have blood pouring out of their shoe. He obviously wasn't the sharpest tack in the box.
My favourite story is one called 'The Princess in Disguise' about a princess who runs away from the castle to avoid being forced to marry her father. She disguises herself as a kitchen maid but every evening attends a party at another castle she has escaped to, by taking a different dress each night out of a walnut shell she brought with her. The first night she wears a dress as golden as the sun, the second as silver as the moon, and the third as if she were wearing stars. Its a very pretty story, however another one called Fitcher's Bird is about a wizard who kidnaps young girls and then kills them. Delightful. However its interesting reading fairy tales as they were originally, and not Disney-fied.
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