大概童话自己都不知道自己有那么神圣。早在“童话”概念被创作之前，这些故事本身已流传甚久。早期人类社会，别说“童话”，“童年”的概念都是不存在的，人一降生就被当作小型劳动成人对待。童话最早的面孔是“民间传说”，由家庭劳动的妇女之间创作和传播，充满灵邪、狡黠又残酷的野生活力，并非特地为了小孩子讲述和创作；然后被庙堂之上的男性学者搜集成册（如格林兄弟和更早的法国《鹅妈妈故事集》整理者佩罗），改头换面，用于教化贵族女性，后成为中产阶级家庭中讲述的故事。

在这么多要素与当代价值观出现差异的前提下，白雪公主故事的内核一定会遭到质疑。最受质疑的就是她的被动：故事中，她被动地被仆人带出皇宫谋杀；被动地被放走；被动地被小矮人收留；被动地被皇后谋害；又被动地被王子救活；被动地成婚。她是主角，但她什么都没做，只等待命运降临，无论命运是好是坏。

At first, the researchers thought it was a rare, one-time case of adoption. Monkeys have been known to “adopt” abandoned infants of the same or other species. But Joker wasn’t caring for the howlers — he was just carrying them on his back, with no clear benefit to himself, until the infants eventually perished of starvation without access to breast milk.

Support for education and research should be as fundamental as clean air or safe roads. It is part of the shared infrastructure that holds society together. When that foundation cracks, the consequences ripple far beyond the lab.