GUESS THE FAIRYTALE: What Are They Called In Spanish?

¿Qué niño o niña no disfrutaba de los cuentos de hadas? (What child didn’t enjoy fairy tales?) Blanca Nieves, Cenicienta, Las habichuelas mágicas… (Snow White, Cinderella, The Magic Beans), just to name a few, were some of my favorites. 

Of course, these fairy tales also exist in Spanish! So, today we’re playing a little game: I’m going to describe a fairy tale in Spanish… and you have to guess which fairy tale I’m talking about! 

Así que prepara a tu niño o niña interior (so prepare your inner child) and join me in this Spring Spanish tale! 

First Fairy Tale

Había una vez una hechicera que convirtió a un apuesto príncipe en una horrible bestia al darse cuenta de que era un joven egoísta y con corazón de piedra. 

Can you guess this fairy tale? Let’s break down the sentence:

• Había una vez is the classic formula in Spanish for “Once upon a time”. 
• Hechicera is Sorceress
• Un apuesto príncipe means A handsome prince 
• Here you will definitely guess the tale: Bestia means Beast. 
• Corazón de piedra translates as Heart of Stone. 

Muy bien, ¿has adivinado? (Have you guessed already?) 

Once upon a time, there was a sorceress who turned a handsome prince into a hideous beast after realizing that he was a selfish young man with a heart of stone.

The tale is La Bella y la Bestia, known in English as The Beauty and the Beast. We all know the story! Many years after la hechicera (the sorceress) turned the prince into una bestia (a beast), a young woman named Bella (or Bella in English) went to live a su castillo (in his palace) after a series of events. 

La bella y la bestia (the Beauty and the Beast) become friends, defeat the curse, and live felices por siempre ―this sentence is also the classic formula in Spanish for “happily ever after”. 

Second Fairy Tale

¿Listo para el siguiente cuento? (Ready for the next fairy tale?)

Y nació una niñita que era tan blanca como la nieve, con labios tan rojos como la sangre, y cuyos cabellos eran tan negros como el ébano.

This is also an easy guess. Let’s see:

• Y nació una niñita (And a little girl was born)
• tan blanca como la nieve (as white as snow)
• con labios tan rojos como la sangre (with lips as red as blood) 
• cabellos tan negros como el ébano (hair was as black as ebony)

¡Muy bien! ¿Has adivinado? (Have you guessed it?) 

And a little girl was born, who was as white as snow, with lips as red as blood, and whose hair was as black as ebony.

Este cuento (this tale) is Blanca Nieves y los siete enanos (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). The story tells us about a girl whose madrastra (stepmother) was an evil queen infatuated with her own beauty: Espejito, espejito, ¿quién es la más hermosa de este reino? (Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?). 

Snow White runs from her and ends up living with los siete enanos (the seven dwarfs) until she has an encounter with the evil queen in disguise and bites una manzana envenenada (a poisoned apple), falling into a dream until her charming prince wakes her up con un beso de amor (with a love kiss). He takes her to his castle, where they live felices por siempre (happily ever after).

Third Fairy Tale

… y el hada azul le hechizó. Por no ir a la escuela, le colocó dos orejas de burro y, por portarse mal, le dijo que cada vez que dijera una mentira le crecería la nariz, poniéndosele además colorada.

You got it? Let’s see:

• el hada azul (a blue fairy)
• escuela (school) 
• dos orejas de burro (two donkey ears)
• una mentira (a lie)
• le crecería la nariz (his nose would grow)
• colorada (red)

¡Estoy segura que ya sabes el cuento! (I’m sure you already know the story!)

…and the Blue fairy bewitched him. For not going to school, she put two donkey ears on him, and for misbehaving, she told him that every time he told a lie his nose would grow and turn red.

¡Lo adivinaste! (You guessed!) We are talking about Pinocho (Pinocchio). It’s a curious thing, even in English the character conserva su nombre original (kept his original name), but in Spanish it was slightly modified to sound better… para nosotros, por lo menos (for us, at least). 

Pinocho, the story of a puppet brought to life by el hada azul (a Blue Fairy), who also gives him a conscience that he could call out whistling or, not being able to whistle, shouting: Pepito Grillo! (Or Jiminy Cricket in its original version). 

Si Pinocho miente (If Pinocchio lies), his nose grows and grows, but his dearest wish is to be un niño de verdad (a real boy) and be able to live with his father, the carpenter who created him, Geppetto. 

At the end, of course ―Spoiler alert!―, the Blue fairy granted him his wish and they… Viven felices por siempre (Live happily ever after).

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¡Muy bien! ¿Qué te pareció este video? (What do you think of this video?) ¿Cuál es tu cuento de hadas favorito? (Which is your favorite fairy tale?) If you want me to make more videos like this, let me know in the comments, tus deseos son órdenes (your wish is my command)!

Y no lo olvides (and don’t forget), we also have a free, more in-depth Spanish training on our website where you’ll discover the method we use in our Spring Spanish Academy to teach students to speak fluent Spanish. You also get some free sample Spanish lessons there that come straight from our Academy!