Foolish Wishes

Title: Foolish Wishes

Sources: 
Charles Perrault, The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault, (London: George G. Harrap and Company, 1922), pp. 129-36.

Summary: A poor, depressed woodcutter complains that the gods never answer his prayers. Jupiter appears and decides to grant the man three wishes. The woodcutter had many ideas for what he could wish for, but he decided to go home and ask his wife's advice. The two agree that they should think hard about what they will wish for and they decide to wait until the next day before they decide anything. Relaxing by the fire, the woodcutter casually mentions that he wishes he had some black pudding (blood sausage) and suddenly it appears from the fireplace. His wife is furious that he would make such a mistake and she berates him. 

He's so offended by her yelling that he wishes the black pudding was on her nose. As soon as he said those words, the black pudding appeared hanging off the edge of her nose. His wife was a beautiful woman, and the black pudding did not make her look any less beautiful, but it did make it difficult for her to talk. Now that she couldn't yell at him anymore, he thought he should wish himself a kingdom. However, when he looked at his wife again he realized that a king needs a queen who can sit by him with dignity. He decides that his wife should choose if she would like to be a queen with black pudding for a nose, or if she would like to go back to normal. She decides it is better to be beautiful and poor than to be an ugly queen. The woodcutter uses his final wish to return her to her former state. 

Cultural Origins: France, 1695. However, this story did not originate in France and it has been told in many different cultures. 

Audience: This story is accessible for all audiences. A popular children's show -- Super Why -- even covered the story during one of their episodes. The image of a sausage hanging from someone's face is humorous, and I think it would work for any age. I also don't think this story is limited to a particular setting. I would probably tell it during a story time or at a school. 

Adaptation Ideas: If I wanted to add more humor to the story, I might make his first wish to have the sausage on her nose. Then he could make his second wish something funny too, like she had lettuce for hair or bread for ears. Then he can wish her back to normal. I would definitely try to keep the tone of the story light and funny.