Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales, Part A

Here are notes from two of the stories that stood out to me today:

The Beggar King from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa
This story reminded me a lot of Beauty and the Beast. The overall message was pretty generic–don't be heretical and don't be rude. However, I thought the genie taking his place was an interesting device. I think it's interesting that the holy priest who was originally slighted was not mentioned at the end of the story when the king is redeemed. It seems he never rectified that relationship but instead focused on the relationship between the king and the beggars.

The Water-Babe from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa
I thought this story was a lot of fun. It assumes prior knowledge of Moses's story. The foreshadowing of Moses defeating Pharaoh was very blatant, but it was interesting to read about the relationship between these two future foes. I also thought it was interesting that this story set up both the powers of the staff and Moses's lisp.

(The Finding of Moses by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Source.)

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