“The Nightingale” is a story by Hans Christian Andersen, one of my favorite fairy tales when I was a kid. It’s about a Chinese emperor who discovers the true value of authenticity, and the short-lived illusory satisfaction of mechanical lifeless substitutes. He basically gives away the affection of a real nightingale, in favor of a bejeweled […]
Cinderella’s Calluses
“The prince knew at once, looking at her hands, she was no stranger to any household chore.” Every story about a poor but hardworking girl who ends up marrying a prince, getting a great fortune, or both, has this line. At least in Romanian. Little girls imagine those hands are translucent, and the prince […]