Fairy tales about love

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is a love story between a girl and the old couple who raised her. Princess Kaguya turns down five suitors and an emperor, and when her people come from the moon, she leaves her robe for her foster father.

Sleeping Beauty takes only five minutes. The prince arrives just as the hundred years run out and the thorns turn to flowers, and children enjoy the cook finally boxing the kitchen boy’s ear when the whole castle wakes.

In Donkey Skin a prince falls ill with longing and asks for a cake baked by the girl in the donkey’s hide. Her emerald ring is in it, and only her finger fits it. Early on the widowed king wants to marry his adopted daughter, so read that part first.

The Happy Prince is about love that gives everything away. A swallow stays behind for a statue, carries off its ruby, its sapphire eyes and its gold leaf for the poor, and dies of cold at its feet. It ends sadly, so leave time to talk.