The orignal ones indeed. Somehow the PC brigade got hold of them and made them more "palatable". They forget that kids are vicious little critters.
They certainly are. My favourite book when I was a tyke was
Strewwelpeter--I loved the gruesome pictures of Johnny Suck-a-thumb after the giant tailor had cut off his thumbs with a pair of scissors, or Harriet doing a Joan of Arc impersonation after playing with matches.
Same brigade banned Noddy at some stage. Go figure.
If I recall correctly, that was because Gollywog wasn't deemed politically correct.
I was lucky to be brought up with the original stories. The German version of Cinderella has the step-mother chop off bits of her daughter's feet to get them in the shoe and then the Prince has the girls executed when he spots the fraud. Prince Charming? I think not!
Yes, I read the translation. Ashputtle. Quite gory.
Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.--Groucho Marx
