Michel Morel sees in translation the equivalent of a founding model in terms of reading. If translation enlightens us so effectively it is because it involves a parallel and comparative reflection on the original text it translates and on the one it produces. The central criterion of translation is style, in both its collective and individual dimensions. The transfer under duress which translation achieves is of necessity centred on the enunciations pertaining to the two different language conjunctures involved, in particular the generic dimension, described in this paper in the case of three fairy tales. This specific point can clearly be said to provide us with a key lesson in reference to the act of reading in itself.