Episodi
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Hans Christian Andersen relates a story close to home for all those who still enjoy the scent and feel of a live Christmas tree during the holidays. But this story speaks to the pain of youth and the cost of wanting only what is in front oneself. It is a story, too, of our failing as humans to regard all life as something with value in and of itself.
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This podcast series of The World's Best Fairy Tales are stories read from the same titled Reader's Digest Anthology edited by Belle Becker Sideman with illustrations by Fritz Kredel ©1967. When I was a child, my mother improved her English by reading to me from this book. Soundtracks and SFX come mainly from Story Blocks and more recently Epidemic Sound. Recorded using the Blue Yeti and edited entirely on open source Audacity. This is dedicated to my mother, Helga.
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Episodi mancanti?
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The Grimm Brothers' tale of how costly life's mistakes can be involves a step-queen's envy and jealousy that grows out of an unhealthy fixation with self-image, and Snow White's fault in being too trusting and not following the advice of elders not matter their size. The truth of this tale is dark indeed and Disney's version all but eliminates the lessons it holds.
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Originally from Scandinavia, this story's message might align with the old adage "To Each His Own". A recent episode of The Nature of Things showed how city-dwelling is far more stressful than country dwelling, which suits the story's conclusion.
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This story carries strange, supernatural elements in it. A talking horse, a handkerchief with a mother's blood on it to protect her child, and a power to will the wind to blow. How to explain its meaning? It is story about the fear of death if one breaks their oath to keep secret their true identity and that of their imposter. It also a tale about the wisdom of elders and how their experience allows them to see more clearly the truth of others.
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Andrew Lang and his wife Leonora Blanche Alleyne translated and published 798 stories from 1889-1913. This tale from the Punjab encourages wisdom passed on from a village guru to ensure a long and prosperous life, portraying characters in the story as stereotypes of a bygone era whose traits are thankfully not acceptable by most cultures today.
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Hans Christian Andersen's personal plight of unrequited love echoes in this story as it does in so many of his. The intangibility of his female characters, their loss of place, overcoming the desires of undeserving others, and their final arrival at a truth not of their own making are the hallmarks of Andersen's central characters.
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Sometimes we are faced with the challenge to remain humble in the face of what we perceive is stupidity. But with humility comes rewards that have a value far beyond the fleeting feeling of being superior.
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Japanese culture and stories have a deeply ingrained connection to nature. It is by no small measure then that this story is told through the eyes of two frogs. However, in anthropomorphizing them, we learn that if we do not focus on what is ahead of us in life, and instead look back, we may very well end up where we started without the new knowledge we sought in our journeys.
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What remains is our inner self, our own true nature, which is perfectly imperfect, unique and original not only to the world but to what we see in our own reflection.
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Although the story begins with an act of kindness on the part of a youngest son of three named Simpleton (or from a more direct German-to-English translation "Dummling" - little dummy), it is about want turning into greed and persistence, for the right reasons, turning into reward.
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Hans Christian Andersen is credited with this tale set in the far east. First published in 1843, the story explores what happens when we begin to value the virtual world more than real life. Artificial things are more easily understood, but pale in comparison to rich variety that real life has to offer.
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The smallest things in life often become the things we treasure most, even when we sometimes lose their worth along the way.
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It is still amazing how easily an event or a half-joking remark can turn into a rumour that has exaggerated the truth into extinction. Perhaps we need to be mindful our own words and what we choose to "pass on".
