Fairy tale Bluebeard. Charles Perrault. Blue Beard. Read and listen to Charles Perrault's fairy tale Charles with the Blue Beard

Once upon a time there lived a man six feet tall with a waist-length blue beard. They called him Bluebeard. He was rich as the sea, but he never gave alms to the poor and never set foot in church. They said that Bluebeard was married seven times, but no one knew where his seven wives went.

Eventually, bad rumors about Bluebeard reached the King of France. And the king sent many soldiers and ordered them to seize this man. The chief judge in a red robe went with them to interrogate him. For seven years they searched for him through the forests and mountains, but Bluebeard was hiding from them somewhere.

The soldiers and the chief judge returned to the king, and then Bluebeard appeared again. He became even more ferocious, even more terrible than before. It got to the point that not a single person dared to come closer than seven miles to his castle.

One morning Bluebeard was riding through a field on his mighty black horse, and his dogs were running behind him - three great Danes, huge and strong, like bulls. At this time, a young and beautiful girl walked by alone.

Then the villain, without saying a word, grabbed her by the belt, picked her up and, putting her on a horse, took her to his castle.

- I want you to be my darling. You will never leave my castle again.

And the girl inevitably had to become Bluebeard’s wife. Since then, she lived as a prisoner in the castle, suffering mortal pain, crying her eyes out. Every morning, at dawn, Bluebeard mounted his horse and rode off with his three huge dogs. He returned home only for dinner. And his wife did not leave the window for days on end. She looked into the distance, at her native fields, and was sad.

Sometimes a shepherdess would sit next to her, meek as an angel and so beautiful that her beauty gladdened the heart.

“Madam,” she said, “I know what you are thinking.” You don't trust the servants and maids in the castle - and you're right. But I am not like them, I will not betray you. Madam, tell me about your grief.

The lady remained silent. But then one day she spoke:

“Shepherdess, beautiful shepherdess, if you betray me, God and the Blessed Virgin will punish you.” Listen. I'll tell you about my grief. Day and night I think about my poor father, about my poor mother. I think about my two brothers, who have been serving the King of France for seven years in a foreign land. Beautiful shepherdess, if you betray me, God and the Blessed Virgin will punish you.

- Madam, I will not give you away. Listen. I have a talking jay bird that does whatever I tell it to do. If you want, she will fly to your two brothers, who serve the King of France, and tell them everything.

- Thank you, shepherdess. Let's wait for an opportunity.

From that day on, Bluebeard's young wife and the pretty shepherdess became very good friends. But they no longer spoke, fearing that the corrupt servants would betray them.

One day Bluebeard said to his wife:

“Tomorrow morning, at dawn, I’m leaving on a long journey. Here are seven keys for you. Six large ones open doors and cabinets in the castle. You can use these keys as much as you want. And the seventh, the most small key, opens the door to that closet over there. I forbid you to enter there. If you disobey, I will find out about it, and then you will be in trouble.

The next morning, just before dawn, Bluebeard rode off on his black horse, and his three great Danes, huge and strong as bulls, ran after him.

For three whole months, Bluebeard's wife did not violate her husband's orders. She only opened the rooms and cabinets of the castle with six large keys, but a hundred times a day she thought: “I would like to know what’s in the closet.”

This couldn't go on for long.

- Oh, come what may! - she said one day. - I’ll see what’s there! Bluebeard won't know anything.

No sooner said than done. She called the pretty shepherdess, took out the key and unlocked the closed door.

Holy Virgin! Eight iron hooks! Seven of them have seven dead women hanging on them!

Bluebeard's wife tried to lock the door. But at the same time the key fell to the floor. The pretty shepherdess picked him up. And - woe! — the small key was stained with blood.

Having locked the door, the pretty shepherdess and her mistress erased the bloody stain from the key until sunset. They rubbed it with vinegar, horsetail and salt, washed it off hot water. Nothing helped. The more the poor thing scrubbed the stain, the redder it became and the more noticeable it appeared on the iron.

- Rub, women. Rub as much as you want. The stain on me will never be erased. And in seven days Bluebeard will return.

Then the pretty shepherdess said to her mistress:

“Mistress, it’s time to send my talking jay.” Ha! Ha!

At her call, a jay flew into the window.

- Ha! Ha! Ha! Pretty cowgirl, what do you want from me?

- Jay, fly to foreign lands. Fly to where the army of the King of France is stationed. There, tell my mistress’s two brothers: ‘Ride quickly to the aid of your sister, a prisoner in Bluebeard’s castle.’

On a black night, the talking bird rushed faster than the wind and, with the rising of the sun, did what it was ordered.

Seven days later, Bluebeard returned to his castle.

- Wife, give me my seven keys!

The poor thing brought him six large keys to the rooms and cabinets of the castle.

- Scoundrel, not all the keys are here! Where is the smallest one? Give it here!

Trembling, the unfortunate woman handed him a key, stained with blood.

- You scoundrel, you looked in the closet! In an hour you will be hanging dead on the eighth hook!

Bluebeard went down to the castle courtyard to sharpen his long knife on a stone.

Sharpening the knife, he said:

- Sharpen, sharpen, knife. You will cut my wife's throat.

And the wife and the pretty shepherdess heard this and trembled with fear.

- Shepherdess, dear shepherdess, quickly climb to the very top of the tower!

The shepherdess did what her mistress told her. And in the yard Bluebeard kept sharpening his long knife on a stone.

- Shepherdess, dear shepherdess, what do you see with high tower?

- Madam, from the high tower I can see the sun shining. I see the sea. I see mountains and valleys.

The lady climbed the stairs seven steps. And in the yard Bluebeard kept sharpening his knife on a stone: “Sharpen, sharpen, knife.” You will cut my wife's throat.

“Shepherdess, beautiful shepherdess, what do you see from the high tower?”

- Madam, from a high tower I see there, in the distance, your two brothers on horses. They gallop at full speed.

Then the lady went up another seven steps.

And in the yard Bluebeard kept sharpening his knife on a stone.

“Shepherdess, beautiful shepherdess, what do you see now from the high tower?”

“Mistress, your brothers are already a mile away.” Save your life.

In the courtyard, Bluebeard finished sharpening his knife on a stone.

- Come down, scoundrel!

But his wife climbed seven more steps.

- My friend, give me time to pray! Shepherdess, what do you see from the high tower?

“Madam, your brothers are already very close.” Run for your life if you can.

Then Bluebeard's wife climbed to the very top of the tower. Her two brothers dismounted from their horses in front of the castle gates.

And in the yard Bluebeard shouted:

- Go away, scoundrel! Come down, or I'll come up to you! Bluebeard climbed the tower, brandishing his sharp knife.

- Be brave, brothers! For help!

Bluebeard released his wife and whistled for his three dogs, big and strong as bulls.

Both brothers with sabers were already running onto the tower platform.

For an hour, people and animals fought on the tower. And finally Bluebeard fell dead next to his three dogs.

“Sister, this villain and his dogs are no longer dangerous to anyone.” Let's get out of here.

The older brother took his sister on the horse with him, and the younger brother took a pretty shepherdess. At sunset they arrived at their parents' castle.

- Hello, father. Hello mother. You mourned me like I was dead, and I would now be lying dead in Bluebeard’s castle if it weren’t for the friendship of this beautiful shepherdess.

Everyone hugged, happy to see each other. At dinner the younger brother said:

- Listen to me, father. Listen, mother. I'm in love with a beautiful shepherdess. If you do not allow me to take her as my wife, I will go to war tomorrow and you will never see me again.

- Son, do as you want. Your beautiful shepherdess will receive Bluebeard's castle as her dowry.

"Bluebeard" by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.

Perrault, and Grimm, and other folklorists recorded many of the same tales: similar stories were told in different parts of Europe.

It is also known that Perrault collected folk tales in an attempt to “protect” and preserve them. The sources, unfortunately, are little known. Perhaps the well-known problem of similarities between different fairy tales is being solved this way: different fairy tale collectors became interested in one fairy tale and took it into their collection. This is how the similarity between the fairy tales came about. For example: “The Sleeping Beauty” by Perrault and “Dornröschen” by the Brothers Grimm, “Cinderella” and Perrault and Grimm, “Little Red Riding Hood”. These writers were collectors of fairy tales and took one for the collection folk tale. This is how these similarities came out.

Bluebeard is the hero of the fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault from the collection “Tales of Mother Goose, or Stories and Tales of Bygone Times with Teachings” (1697). A rich nobleman, he had a terrible appearance, and no one wanted to marry a man with a blue beard. They were also afraid of him because he had been married more than once, but no one knew where his wives disappeared to.

Finally, one of his neighbor's daughters agreed to become Bluebeard's wife. Soon her husband announced his departure to her and handed her the keys to the castle. She was allowed to go everywhere except the room in the lower chambers. Having admired the riches of the castle, the young woman could not resist her curiosity and violated her husband’s ban. In a hidden room, she discovered the corpses of those women to whom Bluebeard was married and whom he killed one by one. Dropping the key in fear, she then picked it up and then noticed that there was an indelible blood stain on it. Bluebeard returned home and guessed from this stain that his wife had opened the door of the forbidden room. He told her that she must die, but his wife asked her sister Anna to climb the tower and see if the brothers were coming. When Bluebeard was about to cut off the woman's head, the brothers arrived in time and pierced the villain with swords. And their sister became the heir to all Bluebeard’s wealth and soon married a worthy man.

The tale of Bluebeard is of an everyday nature: the villain's castle and his wealth are depicted in detail. (“So they immediately began to examine the rooms, little rooms, dressing rooms, which surpassed each other in beauty and wealth. Then they moved to the storerooms, where they could not stop admiring the beauty of countless carpets, beds, sofas, cabinets, tables and mirrors, in which they could see themselves from head to toe, and the edges of which - some of glass, others of gilded silver - were more beautiful and magnificent than anything they had ever seen."

In Perrault's Bluebeard, many researchers saw a real historical person - a Breton nobleman, a marshal named Gilles de Laval, who bore the nickname Bluebeard and was executed in 1440 for murdering children.

The French researcher Centiv sees in the fairy tale a reflection of the initiation ritual (in particular, marriage for a woman) and highlights the motif of the forbidden room. The image of Bluebeard, a villain and seducer of women, has been interpreted in various ways in literature.

The fairy tale “The Wonder Bird” (Fitchers Vogel), recorded by the Brothers Grimm, has a more complex structure, with an identical plot. There is a certain sorcerer who lives in the dark forest. He goes from house to house and grabs girls, whom no one ever sees again after that. So he comes to the house of “a man who had three beautiful daughters.” All of them in turn go to the sorcerer. The first two are destroyed by curiosity: they look into the forbidden room, the sorcerer finds out about this and kills them. The third girl turns out to be luckier. She comes to the forbidden room, sees the murdered sisters, revives them, manages to hide her act from the sorcerer and becomes his bride. She sends him to her parents with a basket of gold in which her sisters are hidden. As soon as the girls get home, they call for help. The third sister, covered in feathers and turning into a miracle bird, meets the sorcerer and his guests unrecognized. “But as soon as he entered the house with his guests, the brothers and relatives of the bride soon appeared, sent to her aid. They locked all the doors of the house so that no one could escape from there, and set it on fire from all sides - and the sorcerer burned along with all his rabble on fire."

This story is one of the typical "murderer and maiden tales" in which an evil wizard, devilish alien, or monstrous dragon seduces or kidnaps innocent maidens, killing or eating them until the source of his power is revealed, resulting in his destruction or transformation.

The story of Fitz the Bird, close to the tales of Bluebeard, has become the subject of several theoretical and clinical studies by Jungian authors. Particularly noteworthy are the works of Kathrin Asper (1991) and Verena Kast (1992), who placed the self-destructive energy of this figure at the center of their research. Asper interpreted the image of the evil wizard in Fitz the Bird as a woman's negative animus, that inner male figure who "cuts and tears her self into pieces."

At the beginning of the story, two worlds, the world of reality and the world of imagination, are separated from each other - not just by a wall, but by a huge distance and a dark forest separating the earthly world of human “daughters” and the “enchanted” world of the wizard. So here we have an archetypal story, in which the leading role is played by the sadistic figure of the dismemberer, who apparently carries the image of an irresistible evil that wants nothing more than the destruction of all that is human. Yet the wizard has some traits that complicate this simple interpretation. The wizard gives his victims an egg - a symbol of life's potential - and asks them to keep it. Only the third daughter copes with this task - putting the egg aside, she does everything possible to avoid the bloody room and reassemble the dismembered sisters. The egg is an important symbol in this story, often found in other fairy tales and myths. Usually it represents the life principle in its entirety - an undifferentiated universality that has the potential for creative existence, resurrection (Easter) and brings hope - hope for life in this world. In the tale of Fitz the Bird, an evil wizard gives his bewitched wives the key to their own salvation. He instructs them to carefully keep the egg until it appears and tells them that they must carry this egg with them at all times, since great misfortune may happen if they lose it. So the wizard is not completely evil, he apparently wants someone to escape his killer nature. In terms of his own transformation - hidden in the "test" prepared by the wizard is the secret hope that one day he will find someone who will be strong enough to free him from his inherent terrible power and turn him into a man! This is reminiscent of how in mythology all wizards and witches live disembodied "demonic" lives, they are always isolated from society, always outside of time and space in the magical world, stuck in "enchantment." Accordingly, they are constantly trying to capture people belonging to the real world - usually children or beautiful (defenseless) maidens. It is the invulnerability of wizards that endlessly maintains their disembodiment. They are trying to “embody” - to enter the space-time world, to accept its limitations. They cannot incarnate except through the possession of someone real, so the wizard kidnaps human daughters, desperately seeking embodiment. But, according to his nature, he continues to dismember them, again and again, until finally he meets one who has surpassed him in dexterity and cunning. Her ability to gain power over the wizard is due to the fact that she diverted some of his aggressive energy (the bloody room), while remaining uncorrupted by this energy. And he helps make this happen by handing her an egg. His “wonderful” home in the forest is a fantastic place, representing the split-off positive side of the hero - still disembodied, but providing a self-gratifying refuge for the enchanted, reality-bound person represented in this story by the images of a man and his three daughters. The problem is that this "sanctuary" has a secret room, inside which lies all the evil characteristic of the dark side of the wizard in its unchangeable forms. These two sides of the archaic image must be united in the “suffering” of the daughters, the heroines of the fairy tale, and this happens - two of them are cut into pieces. And yet the third daughter somehow managed to harness the positive side of the wizard's energies - the loving component of wholeness lies in his gift, the egg. This allowed her to endure contact with the dark side of the hero, imprisoned in his devilish chamber, and not fall victim to his evil. The third wife finds herself in the role of the all-powerful baby - she is the one who must endure his trials (like Job in relation to Yahweh). She does this by finding herself a protector from the wizard in the person of himself (Job does the same with Yahweh), that is, she uses his egg and his advice to take care of it. She puts it aside, that is, she preserves her integrity and her essence from punishment. In the fairy tale, the eventual marriage between the wizard and the third daughter represents the finally established (transitional) relationship between the archetypal world and man. However, in this case, this relationship cannot be fully realized after the third sister emerged victorious from the terrible room. This is just the beginning of the transformation of the self-preservation system. The wizard requires a deeper transformation, and the third daughter is still held captive in his "wonderful" home along with her secretly resurrected sisters, meaning she is still a prisoner of his witchcraft. She must find a way out of this magical "splendor" and return to human reality. The third wife, now powerful enough to prevail over the wizard, is able to resort to a number of tricks and disguises in order to link the demonic enchanted world of her devilish husband with her world of reality. She sends her articulated sisters back to their parents' house on the back of the wizard, who dismembered them in the same basket that these daughters jumped into in the beginning when the wizard "touched them." The suffering of the wizard, carrying a heavy basket, during this journey is a humorous inversion of the suffering of the sisters, of which he was the cause, and represents the gradual sacrifice of their magical powers . Now he has to sweat and strain his strength, his knees buckle under the weight of his, so to speak, “cross”, with which he goes to his final fate, to the sacrificial fire! And all this to the accompaniment of the disturbing and urging “voice” of the bride, who has gained power over him, repaying cruelty for cruelty, meanness for meanness. It is implied that the sisters hidden in the basket of gold will send help to the third sister still in the wizard's enchanted palace. Therefore, the two sisters become the connecting thread between the world of the wizard’s lair and the world of reality. One of the most intriguing tricks played on the wizard by the third daughter is her transformation into a bird, Fitz the Bird, in order to escape from the enchanted palace. First, she displays a painted skull in the window, as if presenting herself as bait for the wizard and guests. The fact that they all mistake the bride's "death's head" for the bride herself in this tale means that to be the bride of this wizard means to be dead. Since the wizard and his guests represent death, they recognize here someone belonging, so to speak, to their circle, they think that the bride is in the house, while she has gone on the run, pretending to be a bird. Covered with honey and feathers, the true bride remains “unrecognized”, seen only as Fitz the Bird - a bird that talks with guests and the wizard on the road connecting the world of witchcraft and the world of reality. It is important to understand that here the third daughter does not turn into a bird, but pretends to be a bird, and a wonderful, talking bird at that. In her birdlike attire she is neither a bird nor a person, but both at the same time. Embodying the symbolic function of transitional reality, it is included in both fantasy and reality. When she meets the wizard and his guests on the road, they do not even question whether she is a bird or a person. They take its transitional form for granted. And why, in fact, in the form of a bird? The first thing that comes to mind is that a bird naturally comes from an egg. If the egg represents potential life in its original, primitive integrity, then the bird obviously represents the differentiation of this original integrity and its development at a higher level as a personal spirit. Mythical birds depict the celestial spiritual sphere and its forces opposing the chthonic serpent. In other myths, birds are messengers of the gods; they are always associated with the bright, positive side. The Christ-Child is often depicted holding a bird and, according to Virgil (Aeneid 6.242), the Greeks called the entrance to the underworld "Aornos" (the land where there are no birds). The idea of ​​birds as beings of a transitional region, cruising in the space between the human and divine worlds, explains why shamans often donned feathers and vestments depicting birds for their mediumistic rituals. In Egyptian mythology, the soul - Kα was represented in the form of a bird with a human head; they depicted how it leaves the body of a deceased person, flying out through the mouth; and in Underground Kingdom the souls of the dead wear clothes made of bird feathers.

Once upon a time there lived a man who had beautiful houses both in the city and in the countryside, gold and silver dishes, chairs decorated with embroidery, and gilded carriages. But, unfortunately, this man had a blue beard; this gave him such an ugly and terrible appearance that there was not a woman or a girl who would not run away when she saw him.

One of his neighbors, a noble lady, had two daughters, marvelously beautiful. He asked to marry one of them and allowed his mother to choose the one she would agree to give for him. Both did not want to marry him and abandoned him in favor of the other, unable to choose as a husband a man with a blue beard. They were also disgusted by the fact that this man had already been married several times, and no one knew what became of his wives.

To establish a closer acquaintance, Bluebeard invited them along with his mother and three or four best friends, as well as several young people, their neighbors, to one of their country houses, where the guests stayed for a whole week. All the time was taken up with walks, hunting and fishing trips, dancing, feasts, breakfasts and dinners; no one thought of sleeping, and every night passed with the guests making fun of each other; Finally, everything worked out so well that it began to seem to the youngest daughter that the owner of the house’s beard was no longer so blue and that he himself was a very decent person. As soon as we returned to the city, the wedding was decided.

A month later, Bluebeard told his wife that he needed to go to the country for at least six weeks on important business; he asked her to have fun during his absence; told her to call her girlfriends, so that if she wanted, she could take them out of town; so that she tries to eat tasty food everywhere. “Here,” he said, “the keys to both large storerooms, here are the keys to the gold and silver dishes, which are not served every day; here are the keys to the chests where my gold and silver are kept; here are the keys to the caskets where my precious stones lie; here is the key that unlocks all the rooms in my house. And this small key is the key to the room that is at the end of the lower large gallery: open all the doors, go everywhere, but I forbid you to enter this small room so strictly that if you happen to open the door there, you must expect everything from me anger."
She promised to strictly observe everything that was ordered to her, and he, hugging his wife, got into his carriage and set off.

Neighbors and girlfriends did not wait for messengers to be sent for them, but they themselves went to the newlywed - they were so impatient to see all the riches of her house, because while her husband was there, they did not dare to visit her - because of his blue beard which was feared. So they immediately began to examine the rooms, small rooms, dressing rooms, which surpassed each other in beauty and wealth. Then they moved to the storerooms, where they could not stop admiring the multitude and beauty of carpets, beds, sofas, cupboards, tables, desks and mirrors, in which they could see themselves from head to toe and the edges of which, some of them were glass, others were made of gilded silver, were more beautiful and magnificent than anything that had ever happened to be seen. Without ceasing to envy, they all the time extolled the happiness of their friend, who, however, was not at all interested in the sight of all these riches, for she was impatient to go open the small room downstairs.
She was so overcome by curiosity that, not considering how impolite it was to leave her guests, she went down the secret staircase, and with such haste that two or three times, as it seemed to her, she almost broke her neck. She stood at the door to the small room for several minutes, remembering the ban that her husband had imposed, and thinking that misfortune might befall her for this disobedience; but the temptation was so strong that she could not defeat it: she took the key and tremblingly opened the door.

At first she didn't see anything because the windows were closed. After a few moments, she began to notice that the floor was completely covered with dried blood and that the bodies of several dead women tied along the walls were reflected in this blood: all of these were Bluebeard’s wives, he married them, and then killed each of them. She thought that she would die of fear, and dropped the key that she had taken out of the lock.
Having recovered a little, she picked up the key, locked the door and went up to her room to recover at least a little; but she didn’t succeed, she was so excited.
Noticing that the key to the small room was stained with blood, she wiped it two or three times, but the blood did not come off; No matter how much she washed it, no matter how much she rubbed it with sand and a sand stone, the blood still remained, because the key was magic, and there was no way to completely clean it off: when the blood was cleaned off on one side, it appeared on the other.
Bluebeard returned from his journey that same evening and said that he had received a letter on the road informing him that the matter for which he was traveling had been resolved in his favor. His wife did everything possible - just to prove to him that she was delighted with his quick return.
The next day he demanded the keys from her, and she gave them to him, but with such a trembling in her hand that he easily guessed everything that had happened. “Why,” he asked her, “is the key to the small room missing along with the other keys?” “Probably,” she said, “I left it upstairs, on my table.” “Don’t forget,” said Bluebeard, “to give it to me as soon as possible.”
Finally, after various excuses, I had to bring the key. Bluebeard, looking at him, said to his wife: “Why is there blood on this key?” “I don’t know,” answered the unhappy wife, pale as death. "Do not know? - asked Bluebeard. - And I, I know. You wanted to go into the small room. Well, madam, you will enter it and take your place there next to the ladies you saw there.”
She threw herself at her husband’s feet, crying, asking him for forgiveness and, by all indications, sincerely repenting of her disobedience. She, so beautiful and sad, would have touched even a rock, but Bluebeard had a heart harsher than the rock. “You must die, madam,” he told her, “and without delay.” “If I have to die,” she answered, looking at him with eyes full of tears, “give me at least a few minutes to pray to God.” “I give you seven minutes,” answered Bluebeard, “but not a moment more.”
Left alone, she called her sister and said to her: “My sister Anna (for that was her sister’s name), I ask you, go up the tower and see if my brothers are coming: they promised to visit me today; and if you see them, give them a sign to hurry up.” Sister Anna climbed the tower, and the poor thing, in anguish, called out to her from time to time: “Anna, sister Anna, can’t you see anything?” And sister Anna answered her: “You can’t see anything, only the sun is scorching, and the grass is shining in the sun.”
Meanwhile, Bluebeard, holding a large knife in his hand, shouted at the top of his lungs: “Go quickly, otherwise I’ll come to you myself.” “Just a minute,” the wife answered, and then very quietly called out to her sister: “Anna, sister Anna, can’t you see anything?” And sister Anna answered: “You can’t see anything, only the sun is scorching and the grass is glistening in the sun.”
“Go quickly,” shouted Bluebeard, “or I’ll get up myself.” “I’m coming,” the wife answered, and then called out to her sister: “Anna, sister Anna, can’t you see anything?” - “I see,” answered the sister, “a large cloud of dust, it is rushing towards us...” - “Are these my brothers?” - “Oh, no, sister, this is a flock of sheep...” - “When will you come?” - Bluebeard shouted. “Just a minute,” the wife answered, and then called out to her sister: “Anna, sister Anna, can’t you see anything?” - “I see two horsemen, they are galloping here, but they are still far away!” - "God bless! - she exclaimed after a few moments. - These are my brothers. I give them a sign to hurry up.”

Bluebeard screamed so loudly that the whole house shook. The poor thing came down from the tower and threw herself at his feet, all in tears, with her hair flowing. “It won’t do any good,” said Bluebeard, “you’ll have to die.” Then, grabbing her hair with one hand and raising the knife over her with the other, he was ready to cut off her head. The poor wife, turning to him and looking at him with dimmed eyes, asked to give her one more minute to prepare for death. “No, no, entrust your soul to God,” he said, raising his hand... At that moment there was a knock on the door with such force that Bluebeard stopped. The door opened, and two men immediately entered, who, drawing their swords, rushed straight at Bluebeard...
He recognized them as his wife's brothers, a dragoon and a musketeer, and immediately began to run to escape them, but they chased him so quickly that they caught him before he could jump out onto the porch. They pierced him through with their swords, and he fell dead. The poor wife herself was barely alive, and she didn’t even have enough strength to get up and hug her brothers.

It turned out that Bluebeard had no heirs and that his wife, therefore, should get all his wealth. She used some of it to marry her sister Anna to a young nobleman who had loved her for a long time; the other part is to give his brothers the rank of captain, and the rest is to marry a very good man, who helped her forget that difficult time when she was Bluebeard's wife.

MORALITY
Yes, curiosity is a scourge. It confuses everyone
On the mountain mortals were born.
There are thousands of examples, as you look a little closer.
A woman’s passion for immodest secrets is funny:
It is known that it came at a price,
It will instantly lose both taste and sweetness.

ANOTHER MORALITY
If there is a little mind in my head,
To explain the gibberish of the world,
You can easily understand: this is the story
Only in a fairy tale can we read.
There are no fierce men in the world today;
There are no such prohibitions in sight.
The current husband is at least familiar with jealousy,
Hurried around his wife like a loving cockerel,
And his beard, even if it is piebald,
You can’t figure it out - in whose power is she?

Bluebeard - a fairy tale by Charles Perrault for schoolchildren is based on real events. A wealthy aristocrat, nicknamed Bluebeard, is feared by girls: 7 of his wives have already disappeared. And yet there is the youngest daughter of a noble lady whom he managed to charm. The groom takes the bride to the castle. When leaving on business, he leaves her the keys to all the rooms. Only one closet is forbidden to be opened under threat of death. The wife doesn't listen. And he finds out terrible secret, which the magic key cannot hide. Find out how it all ends from a fairy tale that teaches ingenuity and caution!

Reading time: 11 min.

Once upon a time there lived a man who had a lot of all sorts of good things: he had beautiful houses in the city and outside the city, gold and silver dishes, embroidered chairs and gilded carriages, but, unfortunately, this man had a blue beard, and this beard gave him such an ugly and menacing appearance that all the girls and women used to say, as soon as they saw him, God bless him.

One of his neighbors, a lady of noble origin, had two daughters, perfect beauties. He wooed one of them, without specifying which one, and leaving it to the mother herself to choose his bride. But neither one nor the other agreed to be his wife: they could not decide to marry a man who had a blue beard, and only quarreled among themselves, sending him to each other. They were embarrassed by the fact that he already had several wives and no one in the world knew what happened to them.

Bluebeard, wanting to give them the opportunity to get to know him better, took them with their mother, three or four of their closest friends and several young people from the neighborhood to one of his country houses, where he spent a whole week with them. The guests walked, went hunting and fishing; the dancing and feasting did not stop; there was no trace of sleep at night; everyone had fun, came up with funny pranks and jokes; in a word, everyone was so good and cheerful that the youngest of the daughters soon came to the conviction that the owner’s beard was not at all so blue and that he was a very amiable and pleasant gentleman. As soon as everyone returned to the city, the wedding was immediately celebrated.

After a month, Bluebeard told his wife that he was obliged to be away for at least six weeks on very important business. He asked her not to be bored in his absence, but, on the contrary, to try in every possible way to unwind, invite her friends, take them out of town if she wanted, eat and drink sweetly, in a word, live for her own pleasure.

Here,” he added, “are the keys to the two main storerooms; here are the keys to gold and silver dishes, which are not placed on the table every day; here from chests with money; here from boxes with precious stones; here, finally, is the key with which you can unlock all the rooms. But this small key unlocks the closet, which is located below, at the very end of the main gallery. You can unlock everything, enter everywhere; but I forbid you to enter that closet. My prohibition on this matter is so strict and formidable that if you happen - what God forbid - to unlock it, then there is no such misfortune that you should not expect from my anger.

Bluebeard's wife promised to strictly carry out his orders and instructions; and he, having kissed her, got into the carriage and set off. The young woman’s neighbors and friends did not wait for an invitation, but all came on their own, so great was their impatience to see with their own eyes the countless riches that were rumored to be in her house. They were afraid to come until her husband left: his blue beard frightened them very much. They immediately went to inspect all the chambers, and there was no end to their surprise: everything seemed magnificent and beautiful to them! They got to the storerooms, and there was something they didn’t see there! Lush beds, sofas, rich curtains, tables, tables, mirrors - so huge that you could see yourself in them from head to toe, and with such wonderful, extraordinary frames! Some frames were also mirrored, others were made of gilded carved silver. Neighbors and friends incessantly praised and extolled the happiness of the mistress of the house, but she was not at all amused by the spectacle of all these riches: she was tormented by the desire to unlock the closet below, at the end of the gallery.

So strong was her curiosity that, not realizing how impolite it was to leave guests, she suddenly rushed down the secret staircase, almost breaking her neck. Having run to the door of the closet, she, however, stopped for a moment. Her husband's prohibition came to her mind. “Well,” she thought, “I will be in trouble for my disobedience!” But the temptation was too strong - she could not cope with it. She took the key and, trembling like a leaf, unlocked the closet. At first she couldn’t make out anything: the closet was dark, the windows were closed. But after a while she saw that the entire floor was covered in dried blood and in this blood were reflected the bodies of several dead women tied along the walls; these were Bluebeard's former wives, whom he killed one after another. She almost died on the spot from fear and dropped the key from her hand. Finally she came to her senses, picked up the key, locked the door and went to her room to rest and recover. But she was so frightened that she could not completely come to her senses.

She noticed that the key to the closet was stained with blood; She wiped it once, twice, three times, but the blood did not go away. No matter how she washed it, no matter how much she rubbed it, even with sand and crushed bricks, the blood stain remained! This key was magical, and there was no way to clean it; the blood came off on one side and came out on the other.

That same evening Bluebeard returned from his journey. He told his wife that he had received letters on the road, from which he learned that the matter for which he had to leave had been decided in his favor. His wife, as usual, tried in every possible way to show him that she was very happy about his speedy return. The next morning he asked her for the keys. She handed them to him, but her hand trembled so much that he easily guessed everything that had happened in his absence.

Why, he asked, is the key to the closet not with the others?

“I must have forgotten it upstairs on my table,” she answered.

Please bring it, do you hear! - said Bluebeard.

After several excuses and delays, she was finally supposed to bring the fatal key.

This why is there blood? - he asked.

“I don’t know why,” answered the poor woman, and she turned pale as a sheet.

You do not know! - picked up Bluebeard. - Well, I know! You wanted to go into the closet. Okay, you will go in there and take your place next to the women you saw there.

She threw herself at her husband’s feet, wept bitterly and began to ask him for forgiveness for her disobedience, expressing the most sincere repentance and grief. It seems that a stone would have been moved by the prayers of such a beauty, but Bluebeard had a heart harder than any stone.

“You must die,” he said, “and now.”

If I really have to die,” she said through tears, “then give me a minute of time to pray to God.”

“I give you exactly five minutes,” said Bluebeard, “and not a second more!”

He went downstairs, and she called her sister and said to her:

My sister Anna (that was her name), please go up to the very top of the tower, see if my brothers are coming? They promised to visit me today. If you see them, give them a sign to hurry up. Sister Anna climbed to the top of the tower, and the poor unfortunate thing shouted to her from time to time:

Sister Anna, don't you see anything?

And sister Anna answered her:

Meanwhile, Bluebeard, grabbing a huge knife, shouted with all his might:

Come here, come, or I'll come to you!

Just a minute,” his wife answered and added in a whisper:

And sister Anna answered:

I see the sun is getting clearer and the grass is turning green.

Go, go quickly,” yelled Bluebeard, “or else I’ll come to you!”

I'm coming! - the wife answered and again asked her sister:

Anna, sister Anna, don't you see anything?

“I see,” answered Anna, “a large cloud of dust is approaching us.”

Are these my brothers?

Oh no, sister, this is a flock of sheep.

Will you finally come! - Bluebeard yelled.

Just a little second,” his wife answered and asked again:

Anna, sister Anna, don't you see anything?

I see two horsemen galloping here, but they are still very far away. “Thank God,” she added after a while. - These are our brothers. I give them a sign to hurry up as soon as possible.

But then Bluebeard made such a racket that the very walls of the house began to tremble. His poor wife came down and threw herself at his feet, all torn to pieces and in tears.

“This will serve no purpose,” said Bluebeard, “your hour of death has come.”

With one hand he grabbed her by the hair, with the other he raised his terrible knife... He swung at her to cut off her head... The poor thing turned her faded eyes to him:

Give me one more moment, just one moment, to gather my courage...

No no! - he answered. - Entrust your soul to God!

And he already raised his hand... But at that moment there was such a terrible knock at the door that Bluebeard stopped, looked back... The door opened at once, and two young men burst into the room. Drawing their swords, they rushed straight at Bluebeard.

He recognized his wife's brothers - one served in the dragoons, the other in the horse huntsmen - and immediately sharpened his skis; but the brothers caught up with him before he could run behind the porch. They pierced him through with their swords and left him dead on the floor.

Bluebeard's poor wife was barely alive herself, no worse than her husband: she did not even have enough strength to rise and embrace her deliverers. It turned out that Bluebeard had no heirs, and all his property went to his widow. She used one part of his wealth to marry her sister Anna to a young nobleman who had long been in love with her; with the other part she bought captain's ranks for her brothers, and with the rest she herself married a very honest and good man. With him, she forgot all the grief that she endured as Bluebeard's wife.

Once upon a time there lived a man who had beautiful houses both in the city and in the countryside, gold and silver dishes, chairs decorated with embroidery, and gilded carriages. But, unfortunately, this man had a blue beard, and it gave him such an ugly and terrible appearance that there was not a woman or a girl who did not run away when she saw him.

One of his neighbors, a noble lady, had two daughters of wondrous beauty. He asked to marry one of them and allowed his mother to choose the one she would agree to give for him. Both did not want to marry him and abandoned him in favor of the other, unable to choose as a husband a man with a blue beard. They were also disgusted by the fact that this man had already been married several times, and no one knew what happened to his wives.

To establish a closer acquaintance, Bluebeard invited them, along with their mother and three or four best friends, and several young men who were their neighbors, to one of his country houses, where the guests stayed for a whole week. All the time was occupied with walks, hunting and fishing trips, dancing, feasts, breakfasts and dinners; no one thought of sleeping, and every night the guests indulged in all sorts of jokes - in a word, everything worked out so well that it began to seem to the youngest daughter that the owner of the house’s beard was no longer so blue and that he himself was a very decent person. As soon as we returned to the city, the wedding was decided.

A month later, Bluebeard told his wife that he needed to go to the village for at least six weeks for the sake of important business; he asked her to have fun during his absence; told her to call her girlfriends, so that if she wanted, she could take them out of town; so that everywhere she eats the most delicious things. “Here,” he said, “are the keys to both large storerooms; here are the keys to the gold and silver dishes, which are not served every day; here are the keys to the chests where my gold and silver are kept; here are the keys to the caskets where my precious stones lie; here is the key that unlocks all the rooms in my house. And this small key is the key to the room at the end of the lower large gallery. Open all the doors, go everywhere, but I forbid you to enter this small room, and I forbid you so strictly that if you happen to open the door there, you can expect everything from my anger.”

She promised to strictly observe everything that was ordered to her, and he hugged his wife, got into his carriage and left.

Neighbors and girlfriends did not wait for messengers to be sent for them, but they themselves hurried to the newlywed - they were so impatient to see all the riches of her house, and while her husband was there, they did not dare to visit her - because of his blue beard, which they were afraid. So they immediately began to examine the rooms, small rooms, dressing rooms, which surpassed each other in beauty and wealth. Then they moved to the storerooms, where they could not stop admiring the beauty of countless carpets, beds, sofas, cabinets, tables and mirrors, in which they could see themselves from head to toe and the edges of which - some of glass, others of gilded silver - were more beautiful and more magnificent than anything they had ever seen. Without ceasing to envy, they all the time extolled the happiness of their friend, who, however, was not at all interested in the sight of all these riches, for she was impatient to go open the small room downstairs.

She was so overcome by curiosity that, not considering how impolite it was to leave her guests, she went down the secret staircase, and with such haste that two or three times, as it seemed to her, she almost broke her neck. She stood at the door to the small room for several minutes, remembering the ban that her husband had imposed, and reflecting that misfortune might befall her for this disobedience; but the temptation was so strong that she could not defeat it: she took the key and tremblingly opened the door.

At first she didn't see anything because the shutters were closed. After a few moments, she began to notice that the floor was covered in dried blood and that in this blood were reflected the bodies of several dead women hanging on the walls: all of these were the wives of Bluebeard, who married them and then killed them. She thought that she would die of fear, and dropped the key that she had taken out of the lock.

Having recovered a little, she picked up the key, locked the door and went up to her room to recover at least a little; but she didn’t succeed, she was so excited.

Noticing that the key to the small room was stained with blood, she wiped it two or three times, but the blood did not come off; No matter how much she washed it, no matter how much she rubbed it with sand and a sand stone, the blood still remained, because the key was magic, and there was no way to completely clean it off: when the blood was cleaned off on one side, it appeared on the other.

Bluebeard returned from his journey that same evening and said that he had received letters from the road informing him that the matter for which he was traveling had been resolved in his favor. His wife did everything possible - just to prove to him that she was delighted with his imminent return.

The next day he demanded the keys from her, and she gave them to him, but her hands were shaking so much that he easily guessed everything that had happened. “Why,” he asked her, “is the key to the small room missing along with the other keys?” “Probably,” she said, “I left it upstairs, on my table.” “Don’t forget,” said Bluebeard, “to give it to me as soon as possible.”

Finally, after various excuses, I had to bring the key. Bluebeard, looking at him, said to his wife: “Why is there blood on this key?” “I don’t know,” answered the unhappy wife, pale as death. "Do not know? - asked Bluebeard. - I know. You wanted to go into the small room. Well, madam, you will enter it and take your place there next to the ladies you saw there.”

She threw herself at her husband’s feet, crying, asking him for forgiveness and, by all indications, sincerely repenting of her disobedience. Beautiful and sad, she would have touched even a rock, but Bluebeard had a heart harsher than the rock. “You must die, madam,” he told her, “and immediately.” “If I have to die,” she answered, looking at him with eyes full of tears, “give me at least a few minutes to pray to God.” “I give you seven minutes,” answered Bluebeard, “but not a moment more.”

Left alone, she called her sister and said to her: “My sister Anna (for that was her sister’s name), I ask you, go up the tower and see if my brothers are coming: they promised to visit me today; and if you see them, give them a sign to hurry up.” Sister Anna climbed the tower, and the poor thing, in anguish, called out to her from time to time: “Anna, sister Anna, can’t you see anything?” And sister Anna answered her: “You can’t see anything, only the sun is scorching and the grass is shining in the sun.”

Meanwhile, Bluebeard was already holding a large knife in his hand and shouting at the top of his lungs: “Come here quickly, otherwise I’ll come to you myself.” “One more minute, please,” the wife answered and quietly called out to her sister: “Anna, sister Anna, can’t you see anything?” And sister Anna answered: “You can’t see anything, only the sun is scorching and the grass is glistening in the sun.”

“Go quickly,” shouted Bluebeard, “or I’ll get up myself.” “I’m coming,” the wife answered, and then called out to her sister: “Anna, sister Anna, can’t you see anything?” - “I see,” answered the sister, “a large cloud of dust, it is rushing towards us...” - “Are these my brothers?” - “Alas, no, sister, I see a herd of sheep...” - “When will you come?” - Bluebeard shouted. “Just a minute,” the wife answered, and then called out to her sister: “Anna, sister Anna, can’t you see anything?” “I see,” she answered, “two horsemen, they are galloping here, but they are still far away!” - "God bless! - she exclaimed after a few moments. - These are my brothers. I give them a sign to hurry up.”

Then Bluebeard screamed so loudly that the whole house shook. The poor thing came down from the tower and threw herself at his feet, all in tears, with disheveled hair. “It won’t do any good,” said Bluebeard, “you’ll have to die.” And, grabbing her by the hair, he raised the knife and was ready to cut off her head. Poor woman, turning to him and looking at him with deadened eyes, asked to give her another minute to prepare for death. “No, no, entrust your soul to God,” he said, raising his hand... At that moment there was such a terrible knock on the door that Bluebeard stopped. The door opened, and immediately two men entered, who, drawing their swords, rushed straight at Bluebeard...

He recognized his wife's brothers, a dragoon and a musketeer, and, fleeing from them, started to run, but they chased him so quickly that they caught him before he could jump out onto the porch. They pierced him through with their swords, and he fell dead. The poor woman herself was barely alive, and she didn’t even have the strength to get up and hug her brothers.

It turned out that Bluebeard had no heirs and that his wife, therefore, should get all his wealth. She used some of them to marry her sister Anna to a young nobleman who had loved her for a long time; the other part - to give her brothers the rank of captain, and the rest - to marry one good man who helped her forget that hard times when she was Bluebeard's wife.