Storytelling celebrates French National Day  

Wednesday 27th July. 5.00 pm. Free entrance. Followed by a music inspired workshop and a snack.

Storytelling with Mélanie. Le Chat Botté – Puss in Boots, from Charles Perrault.

As we celebrate French National Day (Bastille Day) on 14th July, the French storytelling of this month focusses on the most famous French tale author, Charles Perrault  (1628 –1703).

He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known of his tales include Le Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood), Cendrillon (Cinderella), La Belle au bois Dormant (The Sleeping Beauty), Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard), and of course this afternoon tale Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots).

Synopsis :

Once upon a time, there was a miller who left his three sons everything he had and it was a cat, a mill, and a donkey. It didn’t take long for them to split the inheritance. The oldest one got the mill, the middle one got the donkey and the youngest one got the cat. But it wasn’t just a regular cat. This one could talk. He told his master to give him a pair of boots, a bag and lets him go into the boscage for what he won’t be sorry.

Résumé :

À son décès, un vieux meunier laisse à ses trois fils l'intégralité de ses biens. L'aîné hérite du moulin, le cadet de l'âne, et le benjamin du chat. Sans un sou en poche et ne sachant que faire d'un tel cadeau, ce dernier songe à le manger mais le Chat s'avère doué de parole. Contre un sac et une paire de bottes, et avec beaucoup de ruse, l'animal est désormais déterminé à faire la fortune de son maître.