Fairy tales ...

Echidne has one with no fairies and it ain't much of a tall tale either:

Once upon a time there was a country where the peasants and serfs did fairly well. They had to work hard, true, but they got to keep at least a portion of their own harvest and the annual days they had to work for the feudal lords were bearable in number.

When they got old and sick the feudal lords and ladies brought them doctors and baskets of food. In some towns the children of the poor even had schools paid by the towns or the feudal lords. They were taught to read and write and to do simple sums so that they could work in the workshops of the wealthy.

...

You know how it goes. We saw it before, when there really were feudal lords and wealthy merchants.

...

The stories told of those events depends on the teller. But what we know is this: The feudal lords suddenly had their bards sing about the ungrateful and lazy peasants, the great expense they had to keep the system going, the unfairness of having to care for the sick and infirm servants after they no longer could serve.

...

Think about reading this one to your grandchildren in 20 or 30 years. It's about the time it should change from "fairy tale" to "history".