folktale
In the article “Universality of the Folktale,” Stith Thompson, explains how many things such as critics or psychologists are needed to keep folktales going and changing. Cinderella is probably the best-know fairy-tell out there today. Since its been published in 1892, there have been more then 700 variations of the tale. The reason there are so many variations out there, is because folktales are handed down by the word of mouth.