I’d never heard of The Porridge of the Countess Berthe, an overlooked fairy tale by Alexandre Dumas, newly translated into English by Alix Daniel, and published by Cybirdy Publishing.

This lovely vintage fairy tale is described as a goblin story, but the little Cobolds who live in the medieval Rhine castle are more like brownies than D&D kobolds. These friendly, secretive but powerful little creatures once lived happily in the castle’s foundations, doing secret tasks to help beneficent rulers. There are hints from the beginning that these castle Cobolds would be more than capable of pranks and vengeance on unkind humans, but fortunately, the original Count and Countess are kind to everyone.

The good Countess Berthe is as thoughtful and honest as she is lovely.  She is respectful to the tiny cobolds, earning their trust and assistance. She asks for help in completing the new castle, and promises an annual feast of honey porridge for all the castle’s tenants if the work is done quickly and well.

It was fortunate that the little dwarfs had taken on the job, because if they had not done their fair share, the castle would still not have been finished after six years.

Indeed, this is what the architect had accounted for, because these honourable stone shifters are usually in the habit of lying by half. God forbid, my dear reader, you should learn this one day at your own expense!

Sweet Countess Berthe follows her promise and offers some more appetizing fare, too, putting on a huge feast for the castle’s tenants every year. Countess Berthe’s lifetime is the golden era of harmony between generous countess and hardworking tenants, and between human and supernatural residents of the castle, but of course that can’t last. What follows is a fairy tale/ghost story about the perils of ignoring Countess Berthe’s legacy.

The overall feeling in The Porridge of the Countess Berthe was so different from Dumas’ other fiction, this really feels like a classic fairy tale from the 1920s My Book House collection (my childhood fave) that I just hadn’t heard before. There are magical elements and classic fairy-tale character types, including some power-hungry villains with no concern for other people. Yeah, The Count of Monte Cristo has some pretty dark characters, too, but that atmosphere feels much more serious. The Porridge of Countess Berthe has that wonderful fairy-tale feeling that all the villains will be punished, and the good, kind characters will be rewarded.

I most enjoyed the haunting parts of this fairy tale, because they were eerie without being gross at all. The little cobolds and the ghostly visitors play tricks on those who would ignore Countess Berthe’s promise.  Just as the castle creatures were able to help the good count and countess, they’re able to punish anyone who wants to rule without caring for the local people.  Evildoers underestimate the ghostly sightings and teeny-tiny creatures at their peril.

Unfortunately, this old novel does have one of my un-favorite old-fashioned elements, in which a man is humiliated by wearing women’s clothes and doing women’s work. Everyone in the book is wearing clothes, so spinning is valuable work! Ugh! This is hardly the only vintage story that does this, but it’s still annoying when something done by women is inherently weak and embarrassing.

But most of the book is vintage in beautiful and charming ways, like the scenes of old chivalry, where men are trapped by honor and custom into keeping their word, even if they would prefer to back out. A lot of the story hinges on the annual banquets, and I enjoyed those scenes a great deal.

The Porridge of the Countess Berthe really was a fun and interesting old find, full of classic fairy tale elements and little funny asides.