Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part B

Fairy Ointment by John D. Batten (1890)

There was a lady who took care of babies. One day, a man asked her if she could come take care of his baby while his wife is sick. Even though she thought the man was very ugly, she agreed to do so. They got to the house, and the baby was a very beautiful baby boy. The mother asked the lady if she could rub ointment on the babies eyes once he opened them. The lady agreed, yet was curious as to what was so important about the ointment. She rubbed the ointment on her eyes, and then put some on her right eye. All of a sudden, the wife appeared so beautiful, and the house was so extravagant. The wife started feeling better, so they paid the lady generously. With this money, the lady decided to go out shopping to buy things she wanted. While out, she saw the husband taking things, such as eggs and fruit. No one else seemed to notice him. She decided to go up to him and see how he was doing. He was shocked, and wondered how she could possibly see him. He asked her which eye she was able to see him with, and she told him it was her right eye. He then grew angry, and struck her in her right eye. She was never able to see out of her right eye again. 

(DAME Goody)

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part A

Cap o' Rushes by John D. Batten 1890

A man wanted to see which of his three daughters loved him most. The youngest said she loved him like meat loves salt. He thought this meant she didn't love him, and so he kicked her out of the house. She was walking and walking until she came upon a house. She asked the people living there if they need a maid. They agreed to let her stay there if she washed dishes. 

There was a great dance that all the servants were allowed to go. She told them that she was too tired to go, but when everyone was gone she cleaned herself up real nice and went. Her master's son was there and he fell in love with her the moment he set eyes on her. But before he was able to dance with her, she slipped away and pretended to be sleeping back at the house.

(Cap O' Rushes)

The next morning, all the servants were saying how she should've been there because there was a beautiful lady that the master's son wouldn't take his eyes off of. They told her that there was another dance that evening that she should go to. She told them she was too tired, but slipped away again all dressed up once they were all gone. This night was the same as the last.

The next morning, the servants told her how the girl was there again and that the master's son still couldn't take his eyes off of her. Perhaps she should go to the dance again this evening. Again, she told them that she was too tired but snuck off anyway. This time, the master's son danced with her and wouldn't dance with anyone else. She wouldn't tell him her name or where she was from, so he gave her a ring and said if he never sees her again he should die. She slipped away before the dance was over.

The master's son became love sick because he could never find her, and one morning she was to make him some food. She slipped the ring in the food, and brought it up to his room. He sees the ring at the bottom of his bowl, and she reveals herself to him. They soon married, and had a big celebration. Her father was invited, yet he didn't know that it was his daughter who married the master's son. 

She was told to cook meat and do not put any salt on it. When her father ate the meat, he was very disappointed in how bland it was. He started crying, and said that he once had a daughter who said she loved him as much as meat loves salt and he turned her away when actually she was the one who loved him the most.

The daughter then revealed herself to her father, and everyone lived happily ever after. 

Week 11 Story: A Happy Ending

There once lived a man who had six daughters. All daughters were incredibly beautiful, with hair as black as a raven and eyes as blue as the ocean. Men could not help but to flock to these girls, and they would often travel many miles in order to ask for their hand in marriage. These men were often very handsome, brave, and very skilled. It was not difficult for the five older daughters to accept these proposals.

After the five older daughters were wooed and married, there remained the youngest daughter. Her name was Grace. Although she was just as beautiful as her older sisters, her personality was much different. Her sisters were proud and talkative, while Grace spoke little and was shy. She was very kind with a loving heart, and would spend most of her time in the woods enjoying nature's beauty. Grace, with dreamy eyes, loved being alone with her thoughts. Yet Grace, modest though she was, had a spirit of her own.

It did not take long for men to see this, and she soon had many suitors. These men, most being conceited and confident that they could win her, were sent away after Grace would laugh in their faces. "Your hair is too dark," "you are too skinny," "you are too tall." she would say. She seemed hard to please. Her sisters started becoming impatient with her. Her father was puzzled.

"Grace, dear, do you wish to never marry?" he asked. "The most handsome and brave men have traveled far across both land and sea to ask four your hand, yet you send them away with silly excuses. Why?"

"Father, these men are handsome, yes. But, it is as if I can see their heart. And these men are not as beautiful on the inside as they appear on the outside."

(Inner Beauty)

Soon after, a strange thing happened. A man named Vincent came to the village. He was many years older than Grace, and was poor and ugly. This was the man she chose to marry.

Her sisters were embarrassed, and they questioned their little sister's state of mind. But they did not see what Grace saw. Beneath Vincent's outward ugliness was a beautiful and most generous heart. He was intelligent, and had the passion of a poet. This is why Grace loved him, and knowing that no one else loved him made her love him all the more.

But when they married, the most spectacular thing happened. For when they kissed for the first time, Vincent transformed into the most handsome man in the world. It just so happened that an evil spell had been cast on him many years ago out of pure jealousy.


Author's Note:
I did not change much of the original story. The original did have a lot more details, but I wanted to make it a little more short and to-the-point. This story was broken into 3 or 4 smaller stories in the unit, so we did not find out that a spell had been cast on the husband to make him poor and ugly until the second story. I wanted to add that into my story to give it that happy ending.

Story source: The Child of the Evening Star by W.T. Larned

Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales Part B

How the Summer Came (End) by W.T. Larned (1921)

There was a man who was very skilled and could do anything he put his mind to. He also had a son who strived to be just like him. Unfortunately, the earth was always very cold. They had heard, though, that in the sky was a place so beautiful. This place was warm, and had summer. One day, the boy was hunting, and the squirrel he was about to shoot spoke up. The squirrel told him that if someone were to go to the sky and bring back summer, it would be a blessing for everyone.

(Summer)

The boy went home to his dad and asked him if he could go to the sky and bring back summer. After much thought and discussion with the animals, the father learned of a tall mountain that want up past the clouds. It took 20 days for the father and the animals to reach the top of the mountain. Once they reached the top, they took a break, and prayed to the Great Spirit for success in their attempt to bring back summer. The animals took turns jumping and trying to get into the sky. The wolverine, after several attempts, was able to "break" the sky and enter. The father followed him, and inside was a beautiful land. It was warm, and there were so many cages with beautiful birds inside. They stood there admiring the land, as summer started to seep out through the hole in the sky that the wolverine created. They went to open the cages to let the birds out so they could follow. The sky-dwellers saw this, and try to catch the wolverine before he was able to escape back through the hole and down to earth. The father, however, remained opening bird cages. Autumn, Spring, and most of Summer were able to escape before the sky-dwellers closed the hole back up. As they tried to pursue the father, he transformed into the fisher(bird). They continued to chase him and shot their arrows at him until one finally hit him in a spot that was fatal. He asked them to please leave him there alone to die. When they left, he tried to find a hole in the plains where he could escape back to earth. He was unable to, and died on the plain. However, he was happy he was able to keep his promise to his son.

Reading Notes: American Indian Tales Part A

The Child of the Evening Star by W.T. Larned (1921)

There was a man who had 10 daughters, all who were very beautiful. Men flocked to them, even traveling far in order to try to marry them. These were great men, as they were very skilled and handsome.

The youngest daughter, however, was the most quiet and modest of all the girls. She didn't talk much, and she loved exploring out in the woods and being in nature. Although she was quiet, men were still crazy about her. However, each time one would come to her she would find some excuse to send them away: "You're too tall," "you're too fat," or "you're too skinny," and would laugh.

After a while, these men started thinking she was just a silly and unreasonable girl. Her sisters had no patience. Even her father grew curious. When he asked her why she was sending all these men away, she told him that she can see what is in their hearts. Just because these men were beautiful on the outside does not mean they are beautiful on the inside, and she had yet to meet a man that was beautiful on the inside.

Not too long after, a man came into the village. He was ugly and poor, yet she married him. He had a very generous and kind heart, and he was intelligent and passionate. The fact that no one really loved him made her love him so much more.

(Inner Beauty)

Week 10 Story: A Generous Admirer

There once was a very lonely hunter, who lived by himself in the woods. He would often leave for short periods of time for his hunts. However, to his surprise, when he arrived back to his home it would always be spotless. His laundry, once dirty, would be clean, folded, and neatly put away. His dishes would be washed and placed back in their respective cabinets. The weeds in the yard were picked, and the flowers that he never watered still looked beautiful. A hot delicious meal would even be set out on the table and ready to be eaten. Everything was in place and well kept as if he had a wife taking care of him.

The hunter was very curious as to who was entering his home while he was away, and so he came up with a plan. One day, he went away as usual as though he was going on a hunt. However, he decided to hide in the nearby trees and wait to see who it was that was so generous to him.

After a while he saw a fox wandering toward the front door. He suspected that the fox was looking for food. The hunter slowly followed the fox into his home. When he got through the front door, to his surprise stood a gorgeous naked woman. Nearby on the sofa lay the hide of a beautiful fox.

The man, stunned by this woman who robbed the stars of their beauty, asked her if she had been the one who was entering his home and doing all of these wonderful things.She told him that, as a fox, she would often see him on his hunts and ended up falling in love. One day she followed him home and saw that he was all alone and had no one to care for him, so she decided to step in and demonstrate her love.The hunter was amazed, and asked the woman to live with him. 

After they had lived together a short time, he detected a musky odor that lingered in the house and asked her what it was. She replied that she emitted the odor, and if he was bothered by it she would leave. Instead, the hunter started decorating the woman in vibrant and fragrant flowers that he picked from the woods so she would always smell wonderful.

He soon asked her to be his wife, and after some time she gave birth to two adorable girl foxes. 

Author's Note:

The original story was very short and to the point. I decided to add some more detail, especially when writing about the different things the woman did when she entered the home. The ending was really the only thing I changed up. In the original, when the hunter found out that the woman was emitting the odor he was very bothered by it. She morphed back into her fox form and never saw a man again. This ending actually surprised me, and I was a little bummed by it. Therefor, I decided to change it to an ending that made me feel satisfied. I wanted to make it more cutesy. I hope you enjoyed it!

Story source: The Fox-Woman by Stith Thompson (1929)

Image source: Cabin

Image source: Beautiful Fox

Reading Notes: Marriage Tales, Part B

The True Bride by Stith Thompson (1929)

(Basket of Strawberries)

There was a girl whose father married a new woman. The step-mother hated the girl, and one day while it was snowing told her to go gather berries. Even though the girl knew there would be no berries, she went anyway. While wandering, she came upon a lodge with four men (who were relatives-but she didn't know) who fed her. They asked her why she was wandering in the snow, in which she replied that she had an evil step mother who made her look for berries. The men gave her a snow shovel and told her to remove the snow from the roof. When she did, she saw that the roof was made of earth and there were many strawberries.As she was about to leave, they asked what they could do for her. She told them that she was very poor and only had rags to wear. The youngest boy told her to spit, and when she did a gold nugget came out. The next brother made her shoes of great quality that fit perfectly and would never ruin. The third brother made her a great quality dress. The oldest brother made her a robe. When the girl returned home with strawberries and fancy new clothes, this made the step-mother angry. She told her own daughter to go get berries too, following the trail that the step-sister took. When the men asked her why she was wandering in the snow, she told them that her mother made her get berries and because the step sister had succeeded she should go to the same place. They told her to remove the snow from the roof, and when she did there were strawberries. When she went to leave, they asked what they could do for her. The youngest man told her to spit, but she was insulted. She thought they were fooling her, and because of her vanity they became disgusted and decided not to give her anything good. She decided to spit, and when she did... it was a toenail. The other brothers didn't give her anything. When she returned home, she wasn't wearing fancy new clothes. The step-mother was upset, and asked her to spit. When the girl spit, it was a bad-smelling toe nail.

Gross.