"And they all lived happily ever after!" is a classic ending to fairy tales. But if you heard the actual endings to most of the stories you read your kids, odds are you wouldn't find them so happy. Death, destruction, and bodily harm isn't necessarily bed time material! Fairy tales were used as warning stories for children back in the day, as opposed to fantasy dream lives they're seen as now.
Here are some of the most famous fairy tales, and their not-so-famous endings.
Cinderella
What We Know: Cinderella's father marries an evil step-mother who brings her daughters, Cindy's evil step-sisters, to live in the house. Cinderella is forced to do all the housework in her own home. Her fairy godmother shows up and turns her into a princess for the night. Cinderella meets Prince Charming but loses her shoe trying to run back home before the clock strikes midnight. Her prince finds her and they live happily ever after.
What Actually Happens: Cinderella kills her first step-mother so her father will marry the housekeeper instead. She didn't know six daughters would also be coming along.
The Lesson: Oddly enough it's not "don't kill people" but rather "careful what you wish for."
Sleeping Beauty
What We Know: Aurora gets put under a spell and can only be awaken by a kiss from her one true love. Prince Phillip kisses the princess, and she awakes from her slumber! What a happy ending!
What Actually Happens: While Aurora is sleeping, it turns out she's impregnated by a monarch and gives birth to TWINS. This is how she wakes up. To find out she's a mother of two. The Baby Daddy sends for the princess and her kids to bring them all together to be a family. Funny story, though. He's married. And when she finds out her husband has a secret family, she tries to kill them all. The King stops it, and then Sleeping Beauty gets to marry the guy who impregnated her against her will.
The Lesson: It should probably be "don't rape people" but the moral of this story was that true love conquers all.
Continue reading to find out which fairy tales ends in the main character ripping themselves in half!
Snow White
What We Know: Snow White flees to the forest after her evil stepmother The Queen hears that Snow White is the fairest of them all. She moves in with seven dwarves and befriends them all. Eventually, the evil Queen finds her and tricks her into eating a poison apple. Snow White can only be awakened by true love's kiss. The Prince finds her, they kiss, and they live happily ever after.
What Actually Happens: As punishment for trying to kill Snow White, the evil Queen is sentenced to death. It's not a normal death, though. She's made to dance in a pair of red-hot iron shows until she drops dead.
The Lesson: Selfishness is dangerous, and also don't eat fruit given to you by random people.
Little Mermaid
What We Know: Ariel wants to be where the people are, so she makes a deal with Ursula the wicked sea witch to take her voice away if she can have (whatdoyoucallthem) feet. She meets Prince Eric and falls in love, and then her dad sacrifices himself to Ursula to try and break the contract she has over his daughter. Spoiler: it doesn't work. Eric eventually kills Ursula with his ship, Ariel's dad returns to form, and Ariel becomes a human for good. She and Eric get married and it's a wonderful love story of murder and sacrifice.
What Actually Happens: Hans Christian Andersen had a less poetic idea for the Little Mermaid. In order to come on to land, she has to drink a potion which makes it feel like she's walking on knives at all times. She drinks it, because love is worth it apparently. Turns out, Prince Eric has other ideas. He marries a different woman and so the Little Mermaid throws herself into the sea, where she dissolves into sea foam.
The Lesson: Don't sacrifice everything for love? Most agree that it's more of a "grass isn't always greener on the other side" kind of lesson.
Rumpelstiltskin
What We Know: A miller lies to the King, saying his daughter can spin straw into gold. The King calls for the girl, shuts her in a tower with straw and makes her spin gold by morning or else he'll cut off her head. Rumpelstiltskin appears and spins the straw into gold in exchange for a necklace. The girl keeps being given straw, and Rumpelstiltskin keeps showing up to help in exchange for something. At one point, the girl promises him her first born child. When she gives birth, she doesn't want to hand over her baby so Rumpelstiltskin agrees to call off the deal if she can guess him name. The girl overhears him singing about his name (as we've all done at some point or another) and guesses his name. There's varying endings to the tale, but for the most part, Rumpy just leaves the girl and her baby alone.
What Actually Happens: Instead of just leaving, Rumpelstiltskin "seized the left foot with both hands and tore himself in two." I've been angry, but I've never been "tear myself in two" angry.
The Lesson: Don't be greedy, don't lie, and don't make promises you can't keep. All legitimate lessons.
Continue reading to find out the real endings of the Tortoise and the Hare, and Little Red Riding Hood.
Little Red Riding Hood
What We Know: Little Red goes through the woods to bring her Granny some treats since she's sick. The wolf wants to eat her, as wolves do, so he goes to Granny's house, hides her in the closet, and dresses up like her so when Red shows up, she's fooled. A huntsman comes and saves Red and Granny, and kills the wolf. Happy ending. No one dies but the bad guy.
What Actually Happens: Both Red and Granny are eaten by the wolf, and then a hunter comes over and cuts the wolf open with his ax, freeing both humans trapped inside. They then fill the wolf's cut open stomach with stones that when he wakes up he can't run away, because apparently he didn't die when he was cut open. The wolf wakes up, tries to run, collapses and dies.
The Lesson: Strangely, it's a lesson on dressing appropriately and not provocatively. It's also about not talking to strangers and not wandering the woods alone by yourself.
Tortoise and the Hare
What We Know: The tortoise is tied of the hare's arrogant attitude so he challenges him to a race. The hare is so far ahead of the tortoise he decides to take a nap because his lead is so hefty. He falls asleep for too long, and the tortoise keeps going at his own pace and ends up winning the race.
What Actually Happens: This fairy tale isn't so much about what they changed as it is what they left out. Because the tortoise won the race, he's considered the fastest animal in the forest. When a forest fire threatens all the animals, they send the tortoise to warn them all. Obviously he moves at a literal turtle's pace and all the animals in the forest die.
The Lesson: Slow and steady wins the race. Also, use your judgement when deciding which animal to warn the others of a forest fire, and don't just go based off a race of principles.
