The three magical maidens watched him from afar, wondering
what it was about this particular young man that he seemed to know no fear. Not
once in their lifetime had they witnessed such a mortal being. In fact, the
three maidens often spent their time amusing themselves through scaring
wandering men and women. They had heard of the youth from a bird. The bird
overheard him speaking to his mother one night about what it was to be afraid,
to which the bird quickly returned to its informants.
The maidens were very excited as the youth traveled in
search of fear. The first maiden, disguised as a pigeon, followed him closely
as he approached the gang of robbers, folk she often tormented through her
ghastly disguise.
“I am seeking fear,” the boy commented.
Fear he would surely find, thought the maiden as she took
her ghostly form in the nearby cemetery. As the youth began to make the sweets per the robbers’ instructions, she reached out with her transparent hand. To
her surprise, he struck her with the spoon! Howling in pain, the maiden took
off.
The Ghostly Hand
(Image Information: Ghost Mouth painting by Tokwa Peñaflorida. 2014. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)
The second maiden heard of the first maiden’s failure,
surprised to see the woman muttering about in the gardens. It was time for a
true terror professional to attempt this challenge! Thus, the second maiden
took off in joy, ready to show the other two women that it took a real
trickster to win this one.
On the raised platform, the second maiden sat in the swing
for a moment, pretending to weep in sorrow. As the young man approached, she
took off running towards the room to greet him.
“You saw the child crying? Raise me upon your shoulders so
that I may comfort her,” she requested.
Upon his shoulders, she twisted her legs around his throat
until he fell backwards gasping for breath. She tumbled away from him,
surprised that even at the brink of death, he was not afraid. It was a
challenge she knew she could not defeat.
Returning to the gardens, she sighed.
Only then did the second maiden realize she lost her bracelet, won off some old
fool that she easily spooked.
The third maiden was astonished. Truly the youth could not
be mortal if he was afraid of neither ghost nor suffocation! Her hand must play
a part in defeating the young lad, she thought.
The little bird told the third maiden where to find the man,
and after moments of consideration, she dove into the sea and took the form of
a large sea creature. Shaking the vessels in the water, she taunted the youth,
but he quickly dove in after her and fended her off by flogging her. She
grimaced and returned to the garden.
All three maidens walked to the fountain and sat down,
discussing their adventures with the lad.
“The youth feared naught even as a hand reached out!” chimed
the first.
“The youth feared naught even as I strangled him!” chimed
the second.
“Alas, the youth feared naught as he chased me from the sea!”
chimed the third.
To his health they drank, amused by the one mortal man
without fear.
Author's Note: The original story from the Turkish Fairy Tales unit, Fear, is told from the youth's point of view. He seeks out what it is to be afraid and each of these circumstances occur from his point of view yet none of them frighten him. At the end, the maidens transform to their beautiful selves before him while they praise his ability to know no fear. I decided to write my story from the maidens' point of views in order to portray them more as tricksters than testing him, to which they are surprised. I made it seem more like a game to them.
Bibliography:
"Fear." Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos with illustrations by Willy Pogany (1913). Web source: Fear.
This is one of my favorite stories I have read! I loved it! I think you made me want to read the Turkish Fairy Tales unit for my next weeks reading unit. I would not have thought that the original story was told from the mortal's point of view because you seamlessly made the details fit to tell it from the maiden's point of view. I was captivated from the beginning to see how the mortal would survive going in search of "fear". I love how the maidens sat down at the end with a drink and were amused by their little games. It almost reminded me of the witches in the movie Hocus Pocus who are always playing tricks on mortals and are pretty goofy.
ReplyDeleteAwesome story Des! I like how you retold this from the maiden's perspective. I really like the image you chose for the story as well. It's kind of scary and haunting like I imagine the maiden's ghostly form to be, but it also has an ethereal beauty to it. It's certainly fitting for a story about three beautiful maidens who are also kind of scary themselves!
ReplyDeleteDes, this story reminds me of the well-known encounter between the three pigs and the wolf. In this case, however, our protagonist is the one challenged by a trio of antagonists. I'm curious to know if you retold the maidens' attempts to strike fear into the boy or added your own. The reason I mention this is I wonder why the supernatural and suffocation would be used as ways to test a mortal's ability to know fear.
ReplyDelete