Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots or The Master Cat is a fairy tale written by Charles Perrault. Less known is the fact that the Brothers Grimm included it in their first collection of Children and Household Tales. This was not their only mistake but definitely the major one. Their main goal of collecting and publishing fairy tales (and other types of stories) was to strengthen the ties of the German people divided into different kingdoms, counties, independent cities, etc., so a united Germany could be established. To include a classic French fairy tale in the collection of German tales in times of occupation by Napoleon was a huge no-no.
They excluded it in all later editions but the damage was already done. The Puss in Boots was already well-known and popular in today's Germany decades before Jakob and Wilhelm were even born.
Now let's look at the story.
It starts with a miller's death. He left three sons who inherited all his possessions. The eldest gets a mill, the middle the donkey, and the youngest a cat.
The youngest son has no idea what to do with a cat and wants to skin it to use the fur for a pair of gloves. But the cat starts talking (!) and convinces him he'll be of great help if he only gives him a pair of boots. Then the Puss' master plan starts.
First, he goes to the king's hunting grounds and pretends he is dead. He tricks animals and catches a few rabbits and some partridges. He brings his catch to the king saying it's a gift from Marquis of Carabas.
The king is delighted. He is not aware that he is given stuff stolen from his property.
Puss repeats his actions a few times to make the king fond of the inexisting Marquis without ever seeing him.
One day, when the king takes a ride in his carriage with his daughter, a princess in it, Puss takes a step further.
He instructs his master, miller's boy, to get into the river, get rid of his clothes, and waits for the king's coach to pass by.
Puss stops the king's entourage and asks for help. He claims that his master, Marquis of Carabas, has just been robbed. The robbers took everything, even the clothes.
King is happy to return a favor to Marquis. He provides fine clothes to the boy and he really starts looking a a noble man.
The princess likes him already.
They continue the ride together.
In the meantime, Puss has a lot to do. He runs in front of the coach and stops at people working on the field and in the woods.
Puss tells everybody that a coach will pass by. If it stops they shall say that everything around belongs to the Marquis of Carabas. If they don't follow his instructions they will suffer greatly.
Reapers, woodcutters, and other folk obey his words.
Puss is very persuasive and they are accustomed to harsh treatment because the possessions they are working at belong to a cruel shapeshifting ogre.
Puss continues until he reaches the castle owned by the ogre.
He comes in front of the ogre claiming that he heard unbelievable things about his shapeshifting abilities.
The ogre is flattered. He is more than willing to transform into a lion and then into an elephant.
Puss pretends how stunned is he. Then he says that turning into large beasts is probably much easier for the ogre than turning into something small. A mouse, for instance.
The ogre forgets to be cautious and turns into the mouse. Without further ado, Puss eats him. The castle (and everything around) is ready for the Marquis of Carabas.
When the king's coach arrives, a huge celebration starts. The miller's boy and the princess are engaged and the king gives him half of his kingdom. He'll get the other half when the king dies.
Puss becomes a minister and he will never have to catch mice again.
***
The messages of Puss in Boots are, mildly saying, iffy.
This story about climbing up the social ladder teaches us that our goals can be achieved by pretending, stealing, threatening, manipulating, and killing.
Not exactly a value lesson we want to transfer to our kids, right?
On the other hand, we can also understand it differently. The youngest kid didn't exactly win the parent's lottery, yet he made the best of everything he had. It was just the cat and it was enough!
A lot of authors never saw it that way, so they tried to rewrite the story to be more in sync with their values and ability to understand. One such example was Edgar Behne.
Do we have to ask if he was successful?
The explanation is simple. Today nobody knows about the writer but everybody knows us in Boots!