Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête) is a traditional fairy tale which tells the story of a widowed merchant who lives in a mansion with his six children, three sons and three daughters. All his daughters are very beautiful, but the youngest, Beauty, is the most lovely, as well as kind, well-read, and pure of heart; while the two elder sisters, in contrast, are wicked, selfish, vain, and spoiled. They secretly taunt Beauty and treat her more like a servant than a sister. The merchant eventually loses all of his wealth in a tempest at sea. He and his children are consequently forced to live in a small farmhouse and work for their living.
Two versions are offered in this ebook:
- Beauty and the Beast by Andrew Lang
- Beauty and the Beast by Marie Le Prince de Beaumont