Fairy stories

I thought of these this morning.

On my way in to work, I stopped to buy gas. There was a woman at another pump - a slightly older woman with an older model car - and she was having a hard time getting the gas cap to go back on. I went over and helped her and she thanked me.

And it reminded me of one of my favorite themes from a fairy tale when I was a child: the person who helps out a stranger, but it turns out that stranger is able to reward them for their good deed.

The formulation I remember best (there are others) are the miller's or woodcutter's daughter going out to the well to draw water for the family. And she finds a little old woman there. The woman asks her for a drink, and because she's a kind person and is well-brought-up, the girl responds politely and gives the woman water. (In fact, in the story I know best, the writer makes a point of noting that the girl rinses the dipper and makes an effort to take the water from the clearest, cleanest part of the well.)

Then the girl is rewarded, because the woman is actually a powerful fairy in disguise.

In some forms of the story, then the mother (or stepmother) sends out her "favored" daughter - who is a slattern and rude - to the well, figuring she might as well get some goodies for the preferred child. But this daughter meets a young princess, and she takes the attitude of, "Why should I serve this person? She's a princess!" And she's rude, and refuses to give water. And the princess is that same fairy, and the rude daughter is punished.

I always found those stories satisfying as a child. Part of it was, I think, the sort of primitive-justice idea (the most common form of the story I knew had the kind daughter changing so diamonds and pearls fell out of her mouth whenever she spoke, and the rude daughter had snakes and toads. Though I think having diamonds fall out of your mouth would get very tiresome after a while...) My parents tried to raise me to be kind and polite, and I liked the idea that doing a good deed (which I knew I should do ANYWAY) might someday be rewarded.

Of course, as I got older, and I realized that fairies probably didn't exist, and that they would be unlikely to be in the vicinity where I was (and besides, we didn't draw water from a well), I decided that whatever rewards would happen from being kind and polite might be more intangible.

And still later, I realized that those stories were in part, a cultural thing: teach the kids when they're young to treat little old people with respect and kindness because they might be rewarded, and when the child grows up, maybe they'll have that habit ingrained in them.

But I still remember that. And I still think of it when I have the opportunity to help someone. (And secretly? I still hope - maybe the modern formulation of a fairy tale? - that the person asking for help is actually part of some new television show, or something, where they look to see if people will be helpful, and the ones that are, I don't know, get gift certificates to Amazon.com or something...It's never happened that way, but you know, it *could*)

I wonder, are those stories still taught today? I had-read-to-me and later on, read myself, lots of fairy tales, including lots from the old Andrew Lang "various color" Fairy Books. (I had the Red Fairy Book and I think I checked some of the other ones out from the library).