'Beauty and the Beast' is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Her lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and published by French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont—which is the version shown in this current publication. Beaumont greatly pared down the cast of characters and pruned the tale to an almost archetypal simplicity. The story begins in much the same way as Villeneuve's version, although now the merchant has only six children: three sons and three daughters of which Beauty is one. The circumstances leading to her arrival at the Beast's castle unfold in a similar manner, but on this arrival, Beauty is informed that she is a mistress and he will obey her.