Fabulae Gallicae

Clas­sic Fairy­tales in Latin

Want a break from Cae­sar and Cicero? Read about Puss in Boots, Cin­derel­la, the ter­ri­ble Blue­beard, and oth­ers in this ele­gant Latin trans­la­tion of Charles Perrault’s fairy­tales from 1697.

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French Fairytales in Latin

In 1697 the French author Charles Per­rault pub­lished his book of fairy­tales, His­toires ou con­tes du temps passé, or, Sto­ries or Tales from Past Times. Many of the sto­ries he told in this book are still well-known today not just in France, but all over the world. The sto­ries are told by par­ents to their chil­dren, read for amuse­ment, re-writ­ten for the cin­e­ma or adapt­ed for the stage.

Among Perrault’s sto­ries are Cin­derel­la, Puss in Boots, Sleep­ing Beau­ty and Lit­tle Red Rid­ing Hood. (Yes, Dis­ney has drawn a lot of inspi­ra­tion from Perrault.)

The only thing wrong with Charles Perrault’s sto­ries is that they were writ­ten in French. So, to right this wrong, we can now present a new ver­sion of Perrault’s His­toires: Fab­u­lae Gal­li­cae – in Latin of course!

Fabulae Gallicae

Formats

Paperback

Dive into the mag­i­cal world of fairy­tales in Latin. Illus­tra­tions, ample notes and a trilin­gual glos­sary will make the read­ing more fun.

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E‑Book

Read the Fab­u­lae Gal­li­cae on your tablet or com­put­er. The con­tents of the e‑book is the same as the paper­back. Pre­view the book here.

Classic fairytales in a classical language

  • Read and enjoy Latin: Dive into Charles Per­rault’s world of fairytales.
  • Improve your Latin: 90 pages in a clas­si­cal Latin style for exten­sive reading.
  • Glos­sary in three lan­guages: French, Eng­lish, Spanish.

A magical world of fairytales

Learn­ing Latin and know­ing Latin is hard work. Find­ing good lit­er­a­ture writ­ten in good clas­si­cal Latin to read at an appro­pri­ate lev­el is at times difficult.

With Fab­u­lae Gal­li­cae the list of good lit­er­a­ture in Latin has grown a lit­tle longer. Not only are we treat­ed to one of sto­ry­telling history’s most famous works, but it has also been dili­gent­ly trans­lat­ed into Latin.

The trans­la­tor, Lau­rent d’Aumale, has with the sup­port of Latinitium’s Daniel Pet­ters­son, trans­lat­ed Charles Perrault’s 17th cen­tu­ry book of fairy­tales into a clas­si­ciz­ing Latin. The trans­la­tion can be read both as a learn­ing tool and as engag­ing lit­er­a­ture for the flu­ent Latinist.

Eight fairytales

  • Cinerel­la – Cinderella
  • Mag­ae – Dia­monds and Toads 
  • Bar­ba Caerulea – Bluebeard
  • Cucul­lus Ruber – Lit­tle Red Rid­ing Hood
  • Pol­li­cel­lus – Lit­tle Thumbling
  • Cat­tus Catus – Puss in Boots
  • Asi­ni Pel­lis – Donkeyskin
  • Bel­la Puel­la in Sil­va Sopi­ta – Sleep­ing Beauty

BELOVED STORIES

Every coun­try has its favourite Per­rault tales. Some are even bet­ter known to Eng­lish speak­ers than to French speak­ers, such as Dia­monds and Toads. Oth­ers, like Blue­beard and Don­keyskin, are much-loved by French chil­dren, yet may have been judged too vio­lent and cru­el to receive wide accep­tance abroad.

When read­ing Fab­u­lae Gal­li­cae, you will find your­selves in a mag­i­cal world that may strike you as both famil­iar and strange. When read­ing for instance Bel­la Puel­la in Sil­va Sopi­ta (i.e. Sleep­ing Beau­ty) you might rec­og­nize the first half, since it’s sim­i­lar to the Dis­ney adap­ta­tion, while the oth­er half might sur­prise and – per­haps – hor­ri­fy you. Con­verse­ly, in Cucul­lus Ruber (Lit­tle Red Rid­ing Hood), you might be shocked to dis­cov­er how Per­rault’s tale ends or, rather, how it does not end.

Perrault’s tales are charm­ing and amus­ing, intrigu­ing and some­times provoca­tive. With Per­rault, social satire and deri­sion are nev­er far away, and he uses mul­ti­ple inter­pre­ta­tive lay­ers which make for both pleas­ant read­ing and ani­mat­ed discussions.

Fabulae Gallicae

Preview chapters

If you want to get an idea of the lev­el and style of the Latin, or if you’re just curi­ous about fairy­tales in Latin, click below to dive right in to Fab­u­lae Gallicae.

Preview of Fabulae Gallicae

PAGES

Stories

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  • Care­ful­ly and dili­gent­ly craft­ed Latin.
  • Macrons on long vowels.
  • Eng­lish, French, Span­ish glossary.
  • Notes all in Latin.
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  • Eight famous, excit­ing, and mov­ing fairytales.
  • Over 90 pages for exten­sive read­ing in Latin.

Illustrated fairytales for learning and enjoying Latin

Fab­u­lae Gal­li­cae is a treat for every­one know­ing Latin, learn­ing Latin or wish­ing to learn Latin:

It is a great enjoy­ment for those wish­ing to indulge in good sto­ry­telling in good clas­si­cal Latin.

It is a great com­pan­ion for those who wish to improve their Latin. It is not writ­ten in easy Latin, or even inter­me­di­ate Latin, your lev­el of Latin must be fair­ly high to be able to under­stand. How­ev­er, because many of the sto­ries are  well-known from cin­e­ma and cul­ture, under­stand­ing gets a lit­tle help on the way.

The won­der­ful illus­tra­tions by Olga Bérard high­light the sto­ry and facil­i­tates comprehension—and make read­ing more enjoy­able as they are beau­ti­ful to look at!

Fab­u­lae Gal­li­cae also con­tains a vocab­u­lary. But – and it is a big but – it is not only a Latin-Eng­lish vocab­u­lary as you might expect. It con­tains three lan­guages: French, Eng­lish and Spanish.

Perrault’s fairy­tales vary in length, rang­ing from three (Cucul­lus Ruber) to about twen­ty pages (Asi­ni Pel­lis). The read­er will thus have the option of start­ing with the short­est tales, if they wish. Each of the tales, of course, is a self-con­tained whole, so that they do not have to be read in any par­tic­u­lar order.

For those who do not yet know Latin but wish to learn, this is a great book to put on your list of “wish-to-reads”.

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“Ubi ad cel­læ jānu­am per­vēnit, paulisper stetit, cum recordārē­tur marī­tum id sibi inter­dīxisse, timēretque nē propter tan­tam audā­ci­am quandōque in perīcu­lum incideret. Sed studi­um videndī majus erat quam ut superārē­tur : itaque parvā clāvī prōmp­tā cel­læ jānu­am tremēns reserāvit et reclūsit.

Cum vērō fen­estræ clausæ essent, prīmō nihil vīdit, sed mox ani­mad­ver­tit tōtum pavī­men­tum san­guine coāgulātō operīrī…”

Fab­ulæ Gal­licæ, pp. 23–24

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get the book?

The paper­back ver­sion of Fab­u­lae Gal­li­cae is avail­able in our store.

Is there an e‑book version of Fabulae Gallicae?

Yes, the E‑book is avail­able on Google Play, you can find it here. The con­tents are the same as in the paperback.

Is there an audiobook version of Fabulae Gallicae?

Not at present.

Is Fabulae Gallicae suitable for autodidacts wanting to improve their Latin?

Yes! It’s a per­fect book for exten­sive read­ing: beyond the inter­est of the sto­ries, the great vari­ety in expres­sion and syn­tax makes for an inter­est­ing read­ing for advanced stu­dents of Latin who want to read some­thing lighter than De Bel­lo Gal­li­co and Pro Cae­lio.

The struc­ture of the book also makes for good chunks around which to plan your studies.

 

How much Latin do I have to know to read Fabulae Gallicae?

That’s a tricky ques­tion. Fab­u­lae Gal­li­cae is not writ­ten for begin­ners, as it fea­tures the whole range of syn­tac­tic com­plex­i­ty of Latin with a rich vocab­u­lary. How­ev­er, the trilin­gual glos­sary will be of great aid to read­ers, as will the illustrations.

You can have a look at the pre­view chap­ter above to gauge the level.

Can I use Fabulae Gallicae as a textbook?

This is not its pri­ma­ry pur­pose, but the sto­ries can be used to build a com­pelling cur­ricu­lum around them.

What are the fairytales called in English?

Cinerel­la – Cin­derel­la; Mag­ae – Dia­monds and Toads; Bar­ba Caerulea – Blue­beard; Cucul­lus Ruber – Lit­tle Red Rid­ing Hood; Pol­li­cel­lus – Lit­tle Thum­bling; Cat­tus Catus – Puss in Boots; Asi­ni Pel­lis – Don­keyskin; Bel­la Puel­la in Sil­va Sopi­ta – Sleep­ing Beauty