Storytelling: The Prince and the Rose

Once upon a time there was a princess. She had reached the age to be wed. Her father was very sick and did not have long to live. She would soon be Queen, and she needed a King to help her run her kingdom. She wanted to marry a prince, but she wanted him to be a real prince. He would need to be strong, brave, charming, and sincere. The princess had found plenty of brave, charming princes, but none of them were sincere. She would have one of her maids woo the princes, and the princes would never stop the maid’s advances despite the potential of marrying the princess.  The princess would see that they were not sincere and decide they were not worthy to be her husband.

One day the princess found a prince she really loved and wanted to marry him. She found out the day of her wedding that he, like the others, had not been sincere. Devastated, she ran out of the prince’s castle and into a garden by the castle. Still in her beautiful wedding dress, she collapsed from sorrow and wept. Would she ever find a prince who would actually love her?

“Hello dear, why are you weeping?” an old voice asked.

The princess looked up to see an old, wrinkled woman in tattered clothing.

“I was supposed to be wed today, but no man has been sincere. I fear I will never find a prince that will love me,” the princess explained.

“How could someone not love such a lovely girl like yourself?” the woman asked.

The princess blushed and smiled slightly. “Thank you. You’re very kind,” the princess answered.

The old woman smiled and said, “I have a way for you to find a prince who will truly love you.”

“How?” the princess asked enthusiastically. “Please do explain. I’ll do anything!”

“You are to hold a series of events. You must do them exactly as I explain,” the woman explained.

The princess nodded. She was willing to do anything to find a faithful man to help her run her kingdom.

“You will have men bring you a present. The one who brings the present fit for a princess will be your husband,” the old woman said.

“How will I know which present is the one of the fairest prince?” the princess questioned worriedly.

“The man to bring you a red rose will be the one who is fit to marry you,” the old woman stated.

The princess was overcome with excitement. The next day she announced the competition for her hand in marriage. The princes would have one month to bring a gift worthy of the handsome princess. Princes came from all over and brought her gold, jewelry, and the finest animals, but no one brought her a red rose. The last day of the competition was coming to an end. The princess felt she would never find a husband. As she was about to announce the close of the competition, a homely man walked into her court. He had a wrinkled face and was hunched over and could not stand up straight due to a large hump on his back. His hair was long and untamed. The guards began to seize him for fear he was attempting to bring harm to the princess. The guards began to escort the man out when the princess saw a red rose in the man’s hand.

“Stop,” she commanded, “release him.”

The guards immediately listened to her and released the ugly man.

“Have you brought a gift for me?” the princess asked the man.

“I have brought a red rose for none is as beautiful as the rose except you,” the man explained.

“You have brought a gift worthy of a princess,” the princess stated. “You will be my husband.”

The wedding was held the next day. Many people came to the wedding. “How could she decide to marry such an ugly man?” the people wondered. They gossiped as they saw the man at the alter waiting for the lovely princess to arrive. She walked down the aisle. She was as gorgeous as ever. She glowed with happiness. She did not care that the man was ugly. She was excited to finally find a man that would love her and be sincere.

The end of the wedding ceremony came, and the joining of the two was signified by a kiss. When their lips touched, the prince began to glow and transformed into the most handsome man in the entire kingdom. The princess looked at him, amazed. She could not believe what had happened.

“Only true love could break the spell,” a familiar voice said. “Only the one who was willing to look passed the surface was worthy to marry the prince.” It was the old woman from before. She had brought the two together and they lived happily ever after.

 

The Ugly Man

Author's Note: I was inspired by the Princess and the Pea and another story that I read last week about an ugly man the woman will marry being transformed into a handsome man.

Storytelling: Marigold

Once upon a time there were four friends who were neighbors. They were all girls around the age of 14. One day while they were gathering fresh berries in the forest, they noticed a beautiful garden they had never seen before. The four girls wandered into the garden in awe. The flowers were more beautiful than any they had seen before. One of the girls reached out, mesmerized by the garden’s beauty and took one of the flowers. She wanted nothing more than to have the beautiful flower for her own. As soon as she pulled the flower from the bush an ugly witch appeared, cackling and holding the wrist of the girl who had taken the flower. The other girls were able to escape except the one who had taken the flower. 

“How dare you take what isn’t yours!” The witch screeched. “Your punishment shall be death.”

“Please, no! I’ll do anything! Please don’t kill me!” The girl begged.

The witch thought for a minute and then demanded, “Bring me your first born child when it reaches seven years of age.”

Eager to save her life, the girl agreed.

Many years passed and the girl forgot about the deal she had made with the witch. She had a beautiful daughter that she named Marigold because her hair was as golden as the marigold flower.

When the girl was six years old, she happened to wander into the same garden her mother had. The witch was in the garden in disguise as a lovely young woman. 

“Well, hello, honey.” The witch said to Marigold.

“Hello,” Marigold responded. “I these are pretty flowers.”

 

“They are, aren’t they?” The witch responded. “What would you think about coming to my garden again tomorrow?”

“Yay!” Marigold let out an excited squeal.

“Marigold, I am your aunt. Tell your mom she has to honor the deal she made with your aunt in the garden.”

When Marigold returned home, she told her mom what the witch had said. Marigold’s mother was terrified. She loved her daughter and could not bear to see her taken from her.

“Don’t go see your aunt again, Marigold.” Her mother demanded.

The next day, Marigold was playing in the forest and the witch appeared again.

“Why don’t you come visit my garden?” She asked Marigold.

“My mom said I wasn’t allowed to see you again,” Marigold explained.

“So she does remember,” the witch huffed under her breath. To Marigold she asked, “Dear, how old are you?”

“I am six,” Marigold said proudly.

“Wow! When is your birthday?” the witch questioned.

“Tomorrow!” Marigold said excitedly.

“Tomorrow you’ll be seven,” the witch stated. “Come to my garden tomorrow and I will give you a wonderful present.”

Marigold was beside herself with excitement! She had such a desire to see the beautiful flowers again.

The next day Marigold went to the garden and the witch took her and locked her away in a tall tower with no doors or stairs. The witch loved the girl and raised her as her own; however, she kept Marigold locked in the tower with no company other than herself. When the witch would come to the tower to visit, she would tell Marigold to let down her long, golden hair and the witch would climb up her hair.

On Marigold’s eighteenth birthday, she decided she would leave the tower and explore the world for herself. She requested a special dinner from the witch that would require her to travel through the lands to gather the supplies for three days’ time.

While she was away, Marigold cut her hair and secured it to the wall, and then threw the rest out the window. She climbed down her hair and escaped into the forest. Marigold walked and walked until she finally came to a village. She was wandering through the village mesmerized by the people and environment. As she was trying to take in all her surroundings, she accidentally bumped into someone and caused all they were holding to fall on the ground. Marigold dropped to the ground immediately to collect the dropped items and return them to their owner.

“I am so sorry,” Marigold said as she stood up to return the belongings. As she was about to hand the items to the owner, her eyes locked with the most handsome man she had ever seen. She pulled her eyes from his and started blushing.

He looked at her with such a strange expression. “Milady, I must know your name,” he said staring at her beautiful blushing face. She was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. 

The two met every day for a long while, and their relationship grew stronger with every meeting. Finally, the man asked her to marry him. He revealed to her that he was actually the prince and always wanted to marry a woman who didn’t love him for his riches. Marigold had no idea of his fortune. She happily agreed to marry him, and the two lived happily ever after.

 

My vision of Marigold 

Author's Note: I decided to mix a few of the stories I read. I read the Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Crane. One of the stories was like a beauty and the beast story. I used the garden part from that story. Then I used the story from Rapunzel for most of it. I also liked the last story I read  The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser because it gives women such a strong, independent role. I really like the idea of that so I wanted Marigold to save herself and make her own way.

Storytelling: Faeire Queen

Emelyne always had a curious and determined personality. Emelyne grew up under the protection of King Humphrey’s, her father, castle. He protected his only daughter by keeping her in the castle; however, Emelyne longed to travel outside the protected castle into the unknown. When she was 10 years of age, she stowed away in a cart that would leave the castle in the morning. She successfully made it out of the castle and explored the town surrounding the castle until she was recognized by one of the king’s patrolman who promptly returned her to the castle. She yearned to go outside the walls since that experience. Her father forbade it, but after some persuasion from Emelyne’s nurse, Genevieve, he allowed her to visit the town accompanied by his guards. This became routine in Emelyne’s schedule. She would walk through the town and greet all the townsfolk. However, as she neared adulthood, she became more curious.

One day, a magician came to visit her father and left a “treasure” with him to protect. Of course Emelyne explored through the entire castle until she found the “treasure”. It was simply a mirror. She peered into it to find herself staring back except it wasn’t her. It was her, but much older. Her hair glistened like the sun’s rays and her beauty was unmatched by any. She saw a figure walk up behind her older self and wrap its arms around her. It was a handsome man. She peered closer and her older self disappeared and only the man remained. He wore knight’s clothing and was strong and majestic yet kind and compassionate. For the next few days, she spent hours in the room staring at the mysterious knight. Emelyne’s nurse noticed Emelyne’s personality had changed drastically. When Emelyne didn’t show up for her regular visit to the town, her nurse looked for her and found her gazing sadly into the mirror. The nurse questioned her behavior. Emelyne described the knight and explained she feared she had fallen in love with him though he was not real. Her nurse was worried for her and persuaded her to go outside the castle because it raised her spirits in the past. When Emelyne returned in still in the same mood, her nurse was extremely discouraged. Genevieve decided Emelyne and herself would visit the magician to remove the spell Emelyne had fallen under. They ventured out of the town and found the magician who explained to them the mirror simply shows ones’ future. He explained that this knight was indeed real and went by the name of Urian. He told Emelyne that if she sought him, she would find him in the land of the Faerie Queen. The magician gave Emelyne armor and an enchanted spear to take on the journey.

Emelyne’s spirits were lifted. She no longer desired to travel outside the castle, but to sharpen her sword and battling abilities in order to travel to Faerie Queen and find Urian. When all of the guards proved to no longer be a match for Emelyne, she decided it was time for her to leave. Genevieve could tell Emelyne planned to leave soon and informed Emelyne she would accompany her.

They donned the disguises, Emelyne a knight and Genevieve his squire. They travelled throughout the lands. Emelyne would stop and assist any person. Emelyne’s desire to help those in need overpowered her desire to find Urian. 

This is how I envision Princess Emelyne.

 

Princess Emelyne

Emelyne reached the land of the Faerie Queen and spent months searching for Urian without success. She decided to enjoy her time and join in the King’s competitions to find the most skilled knight that deserved the fairest lady. Derric won the first day, but was defeated by Florence on the second day. On the final day, an unknown knight appeared and was immediately ambushed. He was able to win against every competitor he faced. People started calling him “Mysterious Knight”. Finally, Florence decided he needed to beat this unknown knight. He rode at him and was thrown from his horse and let out a defeated cry. Another unknown knight appeared and was equally as skilled as “Mysterious Knight” who decided to show his skill by beating this new knight. He rode his horse toward the new knight, and the spear of the new knight hit him, and threw him from his horse. The new knight was named “Victorious Knight”, secretly Emelyne. “Mysterious Knight” was so angered by his loss that he left immediately. Emelyne won the hand of the fairest lady which she refused. “Mysterious Knight” was the next in line, but fortunately, he had already left because he was none other than Urian in a disguise.

Urian was so upset by his defeat, he plotted to wait and fight the knight again under fairer terms. As Emelyne left the town, Urian saw her, but as he and ran at her to knock her off her horse, she was able to jab him with her enchanted spear and was thrown from his horse. He jumped up and withdrew his sword to continue fighting on foot. Emelyne jumped off her horse and fought by sword as well. He was finally a match for her; however, as the fight went on, she grew tired, but he only seemed to gain more energy until he hit the guard on her helmet and her face was exposed. Once he saw the knight was her, he fell to his knees. He never meant to hurt such a beautiful woman. He told her to punish him for his foolishness. She held her sword to him still angry until Genevieve convinced her to have mercy on him. He took off his helmet and Emelyne immediately recognized his handsome face. She tried to hide her feelings for him, but he only had eyes for her and pursued her until she finally agreed to be his and the two were married. They live happily ever after winning every battle and helping people in need.

Author’s Note: I read The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser this week. I loved this story so much! I didn’t want to write a story like it, and it was so hard to write anything because I thought the original was so amazing! I decided to write a similar story, but without many of the stories and details in the original tale.

Storytelling: Dirty Boy

A large tribe was living together in a region of North America. The chief of the tribe had five daughters. When the daughters reached marriageable age, the chief would inform them that he would be finding husbands for them soon. He would allow each of them one year to find a suitable husband before he would intervene and find a suitor for them. The two youngest daughters were about to reach the age that their father deemed as an appropriate age for marriage. The two youngest daughters had investigated many suitors and had decided none were sufficient for them. The youngest daughter was the most beautiful of all her sisters, but she had yet to find a man who she wished to marry.  The three older sisters were all married. The two oldest had found suitors that they deemed suitable while the chief had found a husband for the middle sister. The chief would hold competitions in order to determine who would marry his daughters. Only men who won the competition could marry them.

Days before the year the chief had allowed both the daughters to find a husband, the youngest daughter, Aiyanna, found a man she wished to marry. He was no ordinary man; he was unkempt and poor. He was unable to leave his bed and required much assistance to achieve everyday tasks. His name was Sike. The youngest daughter could tell he had a pure heart and a kind nature. She knew he was the only man she would want to spend the rest of her life with regardless of his disheveled appearance.

The chief did not approve of her choice. He said she was his most beautiful and prized daughter. For her to marry such a man would be a disgrace. He forbade it and said he would find a more suitable man for her to marry. Heartbroken, she informed the man she loved of what her father had said.

The chief came up with a competition and decided that whoever won the competition would get the honor of marrying both his daughters. The competition to be won was: the man who could set a trap and catch the rare Pygmy rabbit without killing it would win the hand of his two daughters. The chief declared that not only would the men have to catch the rare rabbit, but if they caught nothing on the first day, they would automatically be removed from the competition. All men that caught the rabbit on the first day would have to then set one more trap and capture a different one the next day. The one to catch two first and return to the chief would win his daughters’ hands in marriage.

When Sike heard of the conditions of the competition, he decided he would participate and win the woman he loved. What nobody knew was: Sike had descended from the heavens in order to find the purest human for him to marry. He disguised himself as a man that no woman would love unless the woman was willing to look deeper than appearance and ability. He loved Aiyanna’s pure, kind heart as much as she loved his.

Sike calls to the heavens to help him win the competition because he cannot win in his current state. He goes to sleep and when he wakes up in the morning, he finds a pygmy rabbit trapped in a bush outside his door. The next morning he finds another rabbit in the exact same spot. Sike tells Aiyanna of his victory and she triumphantly takes the rabbits to the chief. The chief was outraged and refused to believe Sike was able to catch the rabbits, and looks for another who was able to capture the rabbits, but no one else has successfully completed the task. At this, the chief decides to hold another competition where the winner will “actually win both the daughters”.

The chief has an eagle in the trees far on the mountain and declares that the man that is able to shot the eagle with only two arrows will win his daughters.

Again, Sike calls to the heavens to provide him with arrows. He aims and prays that the heavens would guide his arrows. Sike successfully shoots the eagle with a single arrow. The chief sees the eagle has been shot and is overjoyed. He seeks out the man who shot it. Once he discovers it was Sike, he is disappointed, but he does not go back on his word.

The chief sends his daughters to Sike to marry. On the way the older daughter finds another man and agrees to marry him; it’s one of her previous interests. She refused to marry the dirty, bed ridden man. The younger daughter is delighted that he has won and she will get to spend the rest of her life with him.

The other sisters make fun of her having to live with a dirty gross man, but she knows in her heart she loves him and any other man could never have been as good as he. Ayianna nurses Sike and takes care of him.

One day she returns to Sike’s home from visiting her father to find the once poor, grungy house is now full of treasures and riches. She does not understand where her house went. She enters the new place to find a beautiful man lying where her husband had lain. Aiyanna is full of confusion. The beautiful man turns over and motions to her. He is Sike, her husband. The heavens had changed him back to his true form which happens to be the most beautiful human with a plethora of riches. The youngest daughter cares for none of this, but her sisters now know the importance of looking further than skin deep.

 

Sike and Aiyanna

Author's Note: I read Native American Hero Tales from Stith Thompson's anthology and really enjoyed the last story in this storybook. I also read American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned the week before. They both had a story that had a similar theme and moral. I really liked both of the stories about the dirty boy being unloved then loved and becoming beautiful.

Week 9 Storytelling: Evergreen and Neen-i-zu

There once lived a boy named Evergreen. Evergreen was not like other boys. He was special, very special indeed. Evergreen had the most beautiful dark green wings, the color of the deep green leaves in the forest around him. Wherever he walked flowers would bloom and the undergrowth would thrive.

One day Evergreen was in the meadow in the human world tending to the flowers that had suffered winter’s cold breath. He had ventured further than he had ever dared before. Suddenly, he heard the trees rustling behind him, and flew up into the tree closest to him. His mother had always warned him of the dangers of wandering too near the “others”. By “others”, his parents meant the humans. Every now and then a human would wander deep into the woods and reach the place where our world met the humans’, called the in-between. The normal humans mustn’t reach this point for if the wrong human were to cross over into our world it would be most tragic. Humans would only see the things they could take for their own personal gain and would wreak destruction upon our world. In our world there is no winter and the plants are always green and aglow. In the human world, Evergreen could heal the flowers that had been destroyed from the humans’ harsh way of living which is why Evergreen spent much of his time in the in-between. 

Evergreen looked about for the source of the rustling, fearful for what caused it. Slowly, emerged the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He had never seen a human before. Was that what this was? It had long brown hair that flowed in the wind and such a strong, yet gentle face. The human moved with such grace. He watched as it crouched near the plants Evergreen had been tending to. The human started humming with the most melodious voice he had ever heard as it tended to the plants. It opened a pouch and poured water on the dry plant. Evergreen decided it must be a girl from the gentle nature and high-pitched voice. She then walked over to the river nearby and collected more water and continued to distribute the water to the plants the river could not reach on its own.

 

Neen-i-zu 

Evergreen watched her. Was this the awful human he had heard so much about? Before he knew it, the sun was beginning to go down and darkness started to fall on the forest. The human straightened up and walked away exactly how she had appeared.

Evergreen sat in the tree. He had to see her again. He waited in that tree until the sun rose the next morning. She appeared later that day picking up where she had left off in tending to the forest. As she sang, the birds gathered to heart her song. She collected seeds from the ground and held them in her hand for the birds to eat. She was the gentlest creature Evergreen had ever seen. The leaves rustled as he stood up in the tree which caused the birds to flutter away. She turned and watched the birds fly away. Evergreen gracefully leapt to the ground. As the human turned back toward the plant, she saw Evergreen and let out a startled cry. 

She had never seen anything like him. He had green wings protruding from his back and antlers like deer extending from his head. They stared at each other for a moment just taking one another in. Finally, Evergreen greeted her, and learned her name was Neen-i-zu. They instantly grew a friendship like no other.

 

  Evergreen

Neen-i-zu returned to see Evergreen every day from this point on. Evergreen showed Neen-i-zu his ability to care for and grow the plants and Neen-i-zu taught him the gentle nature with which she cared for the animals. Neen-i-zu had never felt more herself than she did here with Evergreen. Time seemed to stand still in the in-between when they were together. Unfortunately, the sun still set which signaled for Neen-i-zu to return home.

One day Evergreen waited for her regular visit, but she did not come. He listened for the slightest noise that might suggest she was approaching. He soon heard her familiar footsteps; however, they were moving quicker and less graceful than usual. 

He jumped down in front of her path and as she saw him, she ran to him and hugged him with tears streaming down her face. She explained to him that she was to be married, and her mother demanded she stop spending time in the forest and instead spend time doing work with the other women. Neen-i-zu sadly told Evergreen that tomorrow she would be wed at which point she would never return to the forest.

Evergreen’s heart broke at her news; fore he loved her more than she knew. Evergreen begged her to come back tomorrow before she was to be wed. He did not know what he was going to do, but he had to see her one last time. Neen-i-zu agreed.

Evergreen had never experienced such a long night. He lay awake waiting for the time for Neen-i-zu to return. The morning came and he was overcome with great sorrow realizing at last this would be the last time he would see Neen-i-zu. She emerged from the trees looking more beautiful than ever before. Evergreen knew he could not live without her. He knew he must ask her to come away with him to his world. She was the only human that was capable of loving and respecting his world as much as his people did.

Neen-i-zu was never seen by her people again, but she did indeed become a bride that day, after all.

Author's Note: I really love stories about love and fairy tales so this was my kind of story. I originally read American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned. The last story, The Fairy Bride, is what I modeled my story from. I decided to take the Evergreen's point of view instead of Neen-i-zu's, how the original story did. I decided to add a little detail to their relationship and show their friendship and love growing for one another over time as well.