Van Cleef & Arpels' Happily Ever After// Витрини със щастлив край

Van Cleef & Arpels' "Happily Ever After" window is true to its title. This year the holiday displays are inspired by the french fairytale Peau d'Ane (Donkeyskin). The story goes that a king had a beautiful wife and a rich castle, including a marvelous donkey whose droppings were gold. One day his wife died, after making him promise not to marry except to a woman whose beauty and attributes equaled hers. It became clear that the only woman who would fit the promise was his own daughter.

Terrified by the fate she is facing, the girl went to her fairy godmother who advised her to make impossible demands as a condition of her consent: a dress the color of the sky, a dress the color of the moon, a dress as bright as the sun, and finally, the hide of his favorite donkey. Such was the king's desire to marry her that he granted all of them. The fairy godmother gave her a chest to contain all she owned and told her that the donkeyskin would make an excellent disguise.

The princess fled and eventually found a farm where they let her work in the kitchen, despite her ugliness. On her days off, she would secretly try on the fine gowns her father had given her, and one such day, the prince came by her room and peeped through the keyhole. He fell in love at once, fell ill with his longing, and declared that nothing would cure him but a cake baked by Donkeyskin.

When Donkeyskin baked the cake, a ring of hers fell in it. The prince found it and declared that he would marry only the woman whose finger it fit. Every other woman having failed, he insisted that Donkeyskin try, and it fit. When she had dressed herself in her fine gowns, his parents were reconciled with the match. Donkeyskin later found that her father had remarried to a beautiful widow and everyone lived happily ever after.

Този сезон витрините на Van Cleef & Arpels са вдъхновени от приказката за Магарешката кожа. Това е народна приказка, чиято най-известна версия е преразказана от Шарл Перо през 1694 г.

В историята се разказва за кралска дъщеря, чийто баща решава да ожени за глупав и грозен принц. Ужасена от този брак и по съвет на кръстницата си, принцесата поисква да ѝ бъдат ушити три неизпълними рокли:  с цвета на времето,  с цвета на луната и с цвета на слънцето но всеки път баща ѝ успява да изпълни желанията ѝ. Накрая принцесата не намира друг изход освен да избяга от двореца, наметната с магарешка кожа. След много перипетии принцесата е открита от Принца и след едно последно изпитание, в което той я търси чрез изгубения от нея пръстен (което напомня донякъде за стъклената пантофка на Пепеляшка), се стига до щастливия завършек.

images: Van Cleef & Arpels
text: Charles Perrault, chitanka.info, wiki