Donor (fairy tale) by Giambattista Basile. In the Grimm Brothers' variant of "Cinderella", the protagonist is aided not by her fairy godmother but by her dead mother, as is the heroine of the Finnish variant, "The Wonderful Birch". A great variety of other figures may also take this place. In "Vasilissa the Beautiful", the heroine is aided by a wooden doll that her dying mother had given her; in "Rushen Coatie", by a red calf sent to her by her dead mother, a calf that can continue to aid her after its death; in "Katie Woodencloak" by a mysterious dun bull; in "Tattercoats",
The Duration of Life (fairy tale) The Duration of Life (fairy tale) "The Duration of Life" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in "Grimm's Fairy Tales", number 176. It was first included in their fourth edition. In the Aarne-Thompson classification system, it is classified as both Types 173 and 828, Men, Animals, and the Span of Life. God was giving the animals and man their duration of life and offered all thirty years. He lessened the donkey's years because of his burdens, the dog's because he had to run about, and the monkey's because he always had to amuse people. Man, however,