As I listened to my favorite radio program, BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time this week, I heard host Melvyn Bragg chat with three outstanding academics regarding the provenance and assembly of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. While many of us are no doubt aware that the original tales were quite grim indeed (and later tamed by a combination of one Grimm brother and Disney), we might not be aware of the specifics of the originals.
I was interested to learn that when the Prince came to visit Cinderella’s step sisters (both of whom were as beautiful as the protagonist in the original), each (in turn) lopped off part of their foot to try to fit into the golden fur (not glass) slipper. The oldest performed a self-hallux amputation while the younger did a partial calcanectomy. More of the details can be found on page 250 of this terrific text.
I should think that we can learn a lot if we get back to the original source. Glossing (or glassing) over the Grimm truth of amputation is likely even more dangerous in diabetes.
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