Week 14 Story: The Spinster

The Thee Spinsters

(Image by Walter Crane)

There once was  a girl who was very lazy. Her mother kept them fed by spinning but, the daughter did not want to. One day, the mother was fed up with this girl and started hitting her. The girl cried out and the queen over heard when she was passing. The approached the two and asked them what was going on. The mother was too embarrassed and ashamed to admit that she had a lazy daughter so she told the Queen she wasn't hitting her, they were celebrating because he daughter loved to spin so much, they were able to make enough money to eat comfortably. The queen was veery impressed and told the mother that she wanted to take her in. The girl was nervous but the mother knew this could be her chance to marry the prince so she handed her daughter over to the queen.

The queen and the girl arrived at the castle. The queen took her into a room full of yarn and spinning equipment. She told the girl if she can spin all of it in three days, that she could marry her son, the prince and if she could not, she were to be killed for lying and she would kill her mother too.

After the queen left the girl cried and cried because she did not know what to do. She never learned how to spin. A young maiden covered in dirt over heard the woman crying and approached her window. She asked her why she was crying and the girl told the maiden everything. Luckily, this maiden knew how to spin and was one of the town's best. She told the girl that she will spin for her, as long as she is allowed to attend the girl and the prince's wedding and the girl were to help the maiden get dressed for it.

The girl was in no place to reject the offer. It was either accept or both she and her mother would be killed. The girl agreed and the maiden began to spin. On the third day the queen came to see the girl's progress. The maiden had just barely finished and snuck out the window before the queen entered. She examined the cloth and found it to be divine. She immediately started wedding preparations.

The girl asked the queen if she were allowed to have one guest. The queen didn't see a problem and told her she could.

The day of the wedding the maiden showed up at the castle as the girl was getting ready. The girl called to her servants and maids to help her new friend get ready. 

It was time for the ceremony. The girl met with her prince just before they were to be married. The maiden entered the room and the prince could not take his eyes off of her. The girl grew extremely jealous and tried to have the maiden removed. That is when the maiden revealed that it was she who actually spun everything and that the girl was lazy and didn't know how. In order to prove she was telling the truth, she challenged the girl. If the girl could spin, she could have the prince and if she could not, the prince was hers.

The queen and prince agreed to the challenge. The servants brought out two machines with yarn and the contest began. It was short because the girl couldn't even figure out how to get the yarn on the machine.

The queen banished the girl and her mother from ever coming near the castle and the prince got married to the maiden.

Author's note: I wrote this story about The Three Spinsters. Originally three women helped this girl and they were ugly. The prince asked them what was wrong with them and they told him their physical flaws were due to spinning, so luckily enough he banned his new wife from ever having to spin. I didn't like the idea that this lazy girl who had other people do work for her win in the end, so instead of three ugly women, I had one young beautiful girl. 

Bibliography. Lucy and Walter Crane. Brothers Grimm. Source. 

Week 14 Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part B

The Six Swans

(Illustration by Walter Crane)

Part B consists of four stories:

1.     The Six Swans – A king was hunting and lost his people. He got lost in the forest and an old woman told him that she would help him out if he married her daughter. He had a bad feeling about her but needed to get out so he agreed. When they returned he hid his six sons and one daughter in another castle because he didn’t trust his new wife. The queen was curious about where he went and discovered the boys who she turned into swans. She turned out to be an evil witch like her mother. But the last daughter remained and the queen knew nothing of her. The king discovered what happened. Later that night the daughter was visited by her brothers who can only stay in human form for 15 minutes. They told her she was going to die but she set on a mission to free her brothers from the curse. They found out that if she didn’t speak for six years and made six skirts from flowers they could be set free. She later an into a king and she did not utter a word but he married her. His mother didn’t trust her. She had a baby and the mother stole the baby to accuse the wife of doing something to him. She couldn’t defend herself so she was sentence to death on the last day of the sixth year. Right before she was to die her brothers appeared in swan form and she gave them their skirts. They turned into humans, she told her husband everything.

2.     King Thrushbeard – A king was trying to find a suitor for his daughter. She was rude she called them short, fat, tall, pale and the king was disappointed so her forced her to marry a beggar.  Since she was now a beggar’s wife she could not live in the castle. She beggar took her home and she realized the forest and land belonged to a man she mocked and named “King Thrushbeard.” When they arrived at the beggars home he realized she couldn’t do anything and she realized she would be mocked if people saw her living in a hut and doing dirty work. She became a kitchen maid and a wedding was about to happen. King Thrushbeard told her he made her like this to teach her a lesson but now that she’s learned they can get married.

3.     The Three Spinsters – A lazy girl was getting beat by her mother when a queen was walking by and heard. She asked the mother why and too ashamed to say her daughter was lazy she told her that her daughter would not stop spinning. The queen took her in and told her to spin. The girl didn’t know what to do and made a promise to three ugly old women that if they help her, they can attend the wedding at once. The groom asked them why they were so ugly and they told him their features came from spinning so he demanded his new wife never spin again.

4.     Snow White – A queen finds out she’s not the most beautiful and Snow White actually is. She demanded Snow White be killed and the Huntsman let her go. She ran and became weak and was founded by seven dwarfs. The Queen asks the mirror again and discovers what Snow White has been up to. The queen knocked her out and the dwarfs came home to find her laying on the ground. The queen went back to the mirror only to find out snow white was still alive. A woman poisoned a comb and tried to kill Snow White again, but failed. She eats a poisoned apple. The mirror finally gives her the answer she wanted. Later a prince discovers her and brings he back. The queen finds outs. They were able to curse the queen and made her dance until she died.

Bibliography. Lucy and Walter Crane. Brothers Grimm. Source. 

Week 14 Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part A

The Cannibals 

(Illustration by Walter Crane)

Reading A consists of three stories broken into multiple parts.

1.     The fisherman and his wife is a story about a couple who lived in the shore. He was fishing one day and caught a flounder. The flounder told him he was a prince so the man let him go. His wife told him he should have made a wish so the man went back and wished for a little cottage like his wife had asked. The flounder granted him that wish. The cottage was beautiful and had a farm and garden but the wife got greedy and now wanted a castle. The man however did not want to, but he did anyway for his wife. The next morning, she asked to be king. Then she asked for be emperor. The man was against his wife’s wishes but complied anyways.  Then she asked to be pope and the flounder granted all her wishes. She then wished to have order of the sun and moon. The flounder granted her this wish. There they sat as the sun and moon forever.

2.     Aschenputtel (Cinderella) is about a rich man whose wife dies from illness. He has one daughter. He remarries and brings home her two daughters as well. They were evil to her. The man had to travel for work and the two sisters were cruel to Aschenputtel. The id was holding a festival but Aschenputtel was forbidden to attend. The doves helped Aschenputtel get ready and she was unrecognizable. She met the prince and he was head over heels. She had to leave but he searched for her. He found her but she ran from him. He found her again and the step sister cut off her toes to fit into the shoe he brought. The other sister cut off her heel. Aschenputtel came out and the shoe fit. On their wedding da the step sisters tried to crash the wedding but the birds plucked their eyes out.

3.     The Robber Bridegroom is about a miller and his gorgeous daughter. He was nervous of who she would marry. Suitor after suitor came after her. She met a charming man who tricks her to go on a journey to find him When she reaches a house an old woman tells her she cam to “cut throats” and her death awaits not her marriage. The old woman tells her she will be killed and eaten, the people are cannibals. She helps the girl and tells her how to escape. The men arrived and killed and cooked another woman. The girl stayed quiet and hid. She sprang out and had them condemned and executed.

Bibliography. Lucy and Walter Crane. Brothers Grimm. Source. 

Week 13 Story: The Princess and the Pea

The Princess and the Pea

(Illustration by Katie Flindall) 

There once was a princess whose parents had died in a tragic accident. She was left to be raised by her free-spirited grandmother. They loved each other very much and shared everything with each other.

The princess gracefully reached adulthood. She was beautiful and sought after by many. With the coming of adulthood, it soon meant that she was to be married soon. She was very excited to find a suitor.  Her grandmother set her up with men everyday. She just couldn’t find the perfect man.

The princess was laying down one evening, still upset she couldn’t find someone to love. That’s when she heard a voice outside her window.

“Hello?” The princess called out. “Is anyone there?”

In popped a beautiful witch. The princess jumped back.

“I hear you’re in search of a man. I can help.”

“Who are you?”

“Oh forgive me. I’m Stella. The greatest witch in all of the east.”

“How did you know where to find me?”

“I know everything, my dear. Now let me help you.”

“At what cost?” The princess asked hesitantly.

“I’m sure I’ll think of something! Now do you want to meet the love of your life or not?”

“You know where he is?” The Princess asked excitedly.

“No. But! You can make him.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Here.” The witch handed her a pea.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Make a wish. Make sure you add every detail. Then you’ll throw the pea on the ground and step on it.”

“But what if-“

POOF! The witch was gone.

The princess looked at the pea. She held it up and closed her eyes.

“I wish for a man who is strong and wise. I wish for a man who loves me. I wish for a man who will take care of me and fight for me. I wish for a man who will love me.”

She stomped on the pea and waited. Nothing happened. The princess assumed that the witch had tricked her and so the princess went to bed.

When she woke the next morning she found her grandmother and a man having breakfast. She sat down with them and the grandmother spoke of how amazing this man was. The princess believed it was the man she wished for. He was perfect.

She invited him on walk through the town with her.

As they walked and talked she knew they were meant to be.

Then suddenly, the man pulled his sword out on a villager.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“You said you wanted someone to fight for you. Well, he was looking at you funny.”

“Not literally!” The princess yelled and tried to pull the two men apart but it was too late. They were already going at it. They knocked down fruit stands, clothing shops, and anything in their path.

She ran back to her castle as fast as she could. She yelled for the witch to reappear.

POOF. The witch was back.

“I’m not deaf. What do you want?”

“You have to take him back?”

“What? No. He is exactly what you asked for.” The witch said annoyed.

“This is not what I asked for!”

“Is he not strong and wise? Is he not fighting for you? I told you to be specific.”

“Please, undo this. I will do anything.” The princess begged.

“You already owe me a favor, are you sure you want to make that two?”

“Yes absolutely. Please!” The princess cried.

“Fine.” The witch snapped her fingers.

“Is that all?” The princess asked.

“Yes, now I have some things to do, but I’ll come back later to collect my debt.”

The princess relieved that her “perfect” man was gone. She realized that humans were flawed and she needed to see through those flaws and really get to know people. She allowed her grandmother to set up more dates for her and she was more compassionate and less judgmental this time.

The witch never returned, but the princess always wished she had. She met a man and she wanted to tell the witch about him.

Author’s note: I chose Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea.” I changed this story entirely and just went with the title. I figured a title that said “The Princess and the Pea” was extremely vague if you’d never heard the original story before. The original story is about a king and queen who put a pea under 20 mattresses in order to prove whether or not a woman was actually a princess so she could marry their son. My story obviously had a different vision on what to do with the pea. I hope you liked it!

Bibliography. Hans Christian Andersen. Fairy Tales and Stories. Source.