The Blue Bird

"The Blue Bird" (French: L’oiseau bleu) is a French literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy, published in 1697. An English translation was included in The Green Fairy Book, 1892, collected by Andrew Lang. The tale is Aarne–Thompson type 432, The Prince as Bird. Others of this type include "The Feather of Finist the Falcon", "The Green Knight", and "The Greenish Bird". Plot summary After a wealthy king loses his dear wife, he meets and falls in love with a woman, who is also recently widowed and they marry. The king has a daughter named Florine and the queen also has a daughter named Truitonne. While Florine is beautiful and kind-hearted, Truitonne is spoiled, selfish and ugly and it is not too long before she and her mother become jealous of Florine's beauty. One day, the king decides the time has come to arrange his daughters' marriages and soon, Prince Charming visits the kingdom. The queen is determined for him to marry Truitonne, so she dresses her daughter in all her finery for the reception and bribes Florine's ladies-in-waiting to steal all her dresses and jewels. But her plan backfires for when the Prince claps eyes on Florine, he falls in love with her at once and pays attention only to her. The queen and Truitonne are so furious that they badger the king until he agrees to lock Florine up for the length of the visit and they attempt to blacken her character to the Prince.