Long ago, there lived a man known as Bluebeard, who was extraordinarily wealthy and owned magnificent houses in the city and countryside. His rooms were filled with beautiful furniture, glittering silverware, gold ornaments and luxurious decorations. He travelled in splendid coaches and possessed almost everything money could buy.
Yet there was one thing about Bluebeard that frightened people: his beard was blue.
Its unusual colour made him appear so strange and terrifying that women and young girls avoided him. His wealth could attract admiration, but it could not overcome their fear of his appearance. There was another reason people hesitated to associate with him. He had married several times before, and nobody knew what had happened to his previous wives.
Among his neighbours was a distinguished lady with two beautiful daughters. Bluebeard approached her and asked to marry one of them, leaving the mother to decide which daughter she would give to him.
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Neither girl wanted to become his wife. Each hoped the other might accept his proposal, but neither could bring herself to marry a man whose appearance frightened her and whose former marriages were surrounded by such disturbing mystery.
Determined to win their confidence, Bluebeard invited the two sisters, their mother, several friends and some young people from the neighborhood to one of his country estates. They remained there for an entire week.
The visit was filled with entertainment. There were hunting expeditions, fishing trips, dancing, feasting and endless amusement. The guests enjoyed themselves so thoroughly that their fear of their host gradually diminished. By the end of the week, the younger daughter had begun to see Bluebeard differently. Perhaps his beard was not quite as frightening as she had imagined. Perhaps he was a perfectly agreeable gentleman after all.
When the party returned home, she agreed to marry him.
A Husband’s Strange Warning
About a month after the wedding, Bluebeard announced that he had to leave on an important business journey that would keep him away for at least six weeks.
He encouraged his wife to enjoy herself while he was gone. She could invite her friends, visit the countryside and make full use of the comforts of their magnificent home.
Before leaving, he handed her a large collection of keys.
Some opened storerooms filled with expensive furniture. Others belonged to rooms containing silver and gold tableware, safes filled with money, and beautiful cases of jewels. One key opened the various apartments throughout the house.
Then he showed her a small key.
“This one opens a little room at the end of the long gallery on the ground floor,” he explained. “You may enter every other room in this house, but that little room is forbidden to you. If you disobey me, you will have reason to regret it.”
His wife promised to follow his instructions. Satisfied with her answer, Bluebeard embraced her, climbed into his coach and departed.
The Curiosity That Changed Everything
News of Bluebeard’s departure spread quickly among his wife’s friends. They had been eager to explore his extraordinary home, but his intimidating presence had discouraged them from visiting while he was there.
Now they arrived without delay.
Together, they wandered through the magnificent rooms, admiring the rich tapestries, elegant beds, polished cabinets, splendid tables and enormous mirrors. Everywhere they turned, they discovered another display of wealth. Some mirrors were surrounded by silver frames, while others gleamed with glass and gold.
The visitors could scarcely believe how fortunate their friend had become. They praised her marriage and marvelled at the luxury surrounding her.
But while everyone else admired the treasures, Bluebeard’s wife could think of only one thing: the little room she had been forbidden to enter.
What could her husband possibly be hiding there?
Her curiosity grew so powerful that she could no longer concentrate on her guests. Eventually, she slipped away and hurried down a narrow staircase towards the ground floor.
When she reached the little door, she stopped.
She remembered her husband’s warning. She understood that disobeying him might bring serious consequences. For a moment, she hesitated, wondering whether satisfying her curiosity was worth the risk.
But the temptation overcame her.
With trembling hands, she inserted the small key into the lock and opened the door.
At first, the room appeared dark because its windows were closed. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she began to make out a horrifying sight.
Several dead women lay scattered across the floor.
They were Bluebeard’s former wives. He had murdered them one after another, and their bodies had remained hidden in the forbidden room.
The terrible discovery overwhelmed her. She was so frightened that the key slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor.
After recovering enough to move, she picked it up, locked the door and hurried back upstairs to her chamber. She tried to calm herself, but the memory of what she had seen would not leave her mind.
Then she noticed something else.
The little key was stained.
She tried to wipe it clean, washing and rubbing it repeatedly, but the mark refused to disappear. Whenever she managed to remove it from one side, it mysteriously returned on the other.
The key was enchanted, and there was no way to hide what she had done.
Bluebeard Discovers the Secret
That very evening, Bluebeard returned unexpectedly.
He explained that he had received letters informing him that the business which had taken him away had already been settled successfully. His wife tried to appear delighted by his early return, but her fear made it difficult for her to behave naturally.
The following morning, he asked her to return the keys.
She handed them over, hoping he would not notice anything unusual. But when he examined the collection, he discovered that the small key was missing.
When he asked where it was, she pretended that she must have left it upstairs. Bluebeard instructed her to fetch it immediately.
She delayed for as long as she could, but eventually she had no choice.
The moment he examined the key, he noticed the mysterious stain.
He demanded to know how it had become marked. His wife, pale with terror, claimed that she did not know.
Bluebeard immediately understood that she had entered the forbidden room.
He told her that she would now join the dead women whose bodies she had discovered.
His wife fell at his feet, crying and begging for forgiveness. She pleaded with him to spare her life, but her remorse made no difference. His heart remained unmoved.
“You must die,” he declared, insisting that her punishment would take place immediately.
Realising that she could not persuade him to change his mind, she asked for a little time to pray.
Bluebeard granted her only a few minutes.
Sister Anne, Can You See Anyone Coming?
As soon as she was alone, the terrified wife called for her sister Anne, who was visiting her.
She begged Anne to climb to the top of the tower and look towards the road. Their brothers had promised to visit that day, and she desperately hoped they might arrive before Bluebeard carried out his threat.
Anne hurried upstairs while her sister waited below, listening anxiously for news.
“Anne, my sister, can you see anyone coming?” the frightened woman called.
At first, Anne could see nothing but the distant landscape, the sunlight and the green grass.
Meanwhile, Bluebeard grew impatient. Holding a large sword, he ordered his wife to come downstairs immediately, threatening to fetch her himself if she did not obey.
She begged for another moment and called to her sister again.
Anne reported seeing a cloud of dust in the distance. Hope briefly rose in the waiting woman’s heart, but when she asked whether the approaching figures were their brothers, Anne could only report that they appeared to be a flock of sheep.
Bluebeard shouted again, demanding that his wife come down.
She delayed once more, calling to Anne for another report.
This time, Anne could see two horsemen approaching from far away.
They were their brothers.
Overcome with relief, Bluebeard’s wife urged her sister to signal them to hurry. She knew that her remaining time was almost gone.
Bluebeard’s voice thundered through the house once more, and she could no longer postpone facing him. She descended the stairs, her hair loose and her face covered in tears, and fell before him.
But he refused to listen to her pleas.
He seized her by the hair, raised his sword and prepared to strike. She begged for one final moment to gather her thoughts, but Bluebeard would grant her no more time.
Just as he lifted his arm to deliver the fatal blow, a tremendous knocking sounded at the gate.
The Arrival of Her Brothers
Bluebeard stopped.
The gate opened, and two armed horsemen rushed into the house. They were the woman’s brothers, one a dragoon and the other a musketeer.
Recognising them, Bluebeard immediately attempted to escape. But the brothers pursued him before he could reach the steps of the porch. They caught up with him and struck him down with their swords.
Bluebeard was dead.
His wife had been so close to death that the sudden rescue left her almost unable to move. She could scarcely rise to welcome her brothers, overwhelmed by the terror she had endured and the relief of being alive.
With Bluebeard gone and no heirs to inherit his fortune, his wife became the owner of his entire estate.
She used part of her wealth to arrange a marriage between her sister Anne and a young gentleman who had loved Anne for a long time. She also purchased captains’ commissions for her brothers.
Finally, she married a worthy gentleman who treated her well and helped her leave behind the dreadful memories of her former marriage.
After everything she had suffered, Bluebeard’s widow was free to begin a new life, far removed from the man whose wealth had concealed such a terrible secret.
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Moral
Appearances can conceal terrible truths, and wealth does not guarantee goodness. Bluebeard’s luxurious home and outward respectability disguise his cruelty. The tale also reminds readers that threats and secrecy can conceal danger, while courage, awareness and the support of trusted people can make survival possible.
Knowledge Check
1. Why were Bluebeard’s neighbours afraid of him?
They were frightened by his unusual blue beard and troubled by the mystery surrounding his previous wives, whose disappearances nobody could explain.
2. Why did Bluebeard forbid his wife from entering the little room?
The room contained the bodies of his former wives, whom he had murdered. His prohibition concealed his crimes.
3. What happened when Bluebeard’s wife entered the forbidden room?
She discovered the dead women and dropped the small key in terror. The key became permanently stained by magic, revealing her disobedience to Bluebeard.
4. How did Bluebeard discover that his wife had entered the room?
He noticed the stain on the enchanted key and realised that she had opened the forbidden door.
5. How did Bluebeard’s wife escape death?
She asked her sister Anne to watch for their brothers. They arrived just as Bluebeard was about to kill her and killed him instead.
6. What happened to Bluebeard’s fortune after his death?
His wife inherited his estate. She used part of the wealth to help her sister marry, provide for her brothers and establish a new marriage for herself.
7. What does the forbidden room represent in the story?
It represents the terrible truth hidden behind Bluebeard’s respectable appearance and luxurious lifestyle.
Source
Adapted from Charles Perrault, The Tales of Mother Goose: As First Collected by Charles Perrault in 1696, translated by Charles Welsh, D. C. Heath & Company, 1901, “Blue Beard,” pp. 66 to 74.
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