Belle-Belle or Le Chevalier Fortuné

Title: Belle-Belle or Le Chevalier Fortuné

Sources:
D'Aulnoy, Marie Catherine Baronne. The Fairy Tales of Madame D'Aulnoy. Miss Annie Macdonell and Miss Lee, translators. Clinton Peters, illustrator. London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1892.

Summary: 
Once upon a time there was a king who's reign was ended by an emperor. This emperor was building an army and demanded that one child from each noble household become a soldier or the family would face a heavy fine. An old nobleman with three daughters was distressed at the news. His oldest daughter offered to go and she set off but she stopped, seeing a shepherdess whose sheep were in a ditch. The daughter told the shepherdess that she pitied her and the woman thanked her calling her a beautiful girl which made the daughter shameful because she could be recognized easily, so she went home. 
The middle daughter then said that she would go and when she did she found the same shepherdess and scolded her for her mistake. The shepherdess thanked her, calling the second daughter a lovely girl, which promoted that daughter to go home. 
It was then that the youngest daughter offered to take her place and when she came upon the shepherdess she helped her get the sheep out of the ditch. The shepherdess revealed herself as a fairy and admitted to the youngest daughter that she had punished her sisters for not helping her by calling them women so they would have to go back home. She rewarded the youngest daughter with armor, a new horse and a magical box. The fairy told the youngest daughter to call herself Fortuné. 
The horse, who gave good advice, told Fortuné how to open her magical box without a key. He also advised her on what men to take into her service: a woodcutter who cut down many trees, a hunter who tied one foot to his prey so they couldn't escape, and many other men with great abilities. She asked them to keep their strengths a secret. 
When Fortuné gets to the king, she finds that many of the ladies of the court fall in love with her, and she is embarrassed. But she also finds that she loves the king. The queen had also fallen in love with Fortuné, and when she was refused she volunteered her to fight a dragon. Luckily, Fortuné had the help of many gifted soldiers to fight, and she was victorious. When the queen again tries to ruin Fortuné's reputation, it is revealed that she is a woman and the queen is in disgrace. The king marries her. 

Cultural Origins: Written by Madam d'Aulnoy. This story follows the tradition of many stories in which a woman disguises herself as a man for battle. 

Audience: All of the skills of the men which the horse advises Fortuné to keep in her company would be entertaining to any audience. I think I would tell this story at a library, but you could use it in the classroom and do a comparison the the Disney movie Mulan, or another tale with a similar motif. 

Adaptation Ideas: This tale would be interesting to modernize. Women are still not considered to be equals in many areas of the military, and although there's not the same need for disguise, it could be a creative endeavor to come up with a team of people to support her with skills useful in the modern era. It would also be easy to do the voice of a woman disguising her voice as a man.