Belle and the Chess Board is a fairy tale frequently told to children. The story of Belle is a lesson in obeying your parents. Belle is a naughty girl who attempts to hide in her room instead of working in the garden like her mother asked. When her mother comes looking for her, she magically hides on the chessboard. There she faces many challenges and trials while trying to make it to the far side of the chessboard. When she finally makes it to the other side, she is whisked back to the real world and made to do her chores. The moral of the story: Do what you are told, or you will come to danger.
The characters of the story, other than Belle, are the various chess pieces. They each have their own personalities, and the story is fairly whacky. The story varies by culture due to the differences in the way chess is played, but many of the characters simply change from one piece to a similar one. Major aspects of the story revolve around how Belle thought she would be able to make her own decisions once she was on the chess board, but she is restricted by the rules of the game. In other words, even when free to make her own choices (such as entering the chess-world), she is still not truly free. This is not seen as a bad thing, but simply the nature of life.
This story is so famous that it is a frequent subject of morality plays and other styles of performances. Most performing troops will have some costumes to turn actors into chess pieces.