Eventually, they journeyed to a land far away to find a fairy to grant them high fertility. They brought with them all the wealth they possessed, which was not much but they were very desperate to have a child. The fairy's castle they stumbled upon was surrounded by a beautiful forest. As they approached the castle the giant doors opened and the fairy flew out quickly.
"Who dare approach my castle in the midst of lunchtime?" demanded the fairy.
"We are sorry to bother you, but my wife and I would like to make a deal with you. We want to be given the gift of at least five children and in exchange we will give you all the gold and gems we have to offer" suggested the husband as he reached in his bag to present the gifts.
The fairy laughed at the sight of two gold goblets and three necklaces. "I have items of more value in one drawer than you have to give. I am feeling generous, so for a different price I will grant you your wish. I get to choose the names of your children and every time you want to conceive a new child, you must give the fairy community a favor." said the fairy with a smile.
The couple agreed without hesitation and continued inside to sign a magically binding contract. The first favor from the fairy was to fill three baskets full of fruit from the surrounding forest. The couple completed this task with ease and discovered nine months later the fairy held up her end of the bargain as well.
The fairy decided on the name Roman for the first child and he was born a beautiful baby. He never gave his parents trouble and they were a very happy family. However, they still earned for more children so they set off to ask the next favor from the fairy. She wanted them to find her sister and bring her to the castle. They had not spoken in a while, but she knew the town the sister was living in so the task was not impossible. The journey took the couple four days to get to the sister fairy and return back an extra day to convince the sister to come. Nine more months pass and the second born arrives.
The couple was very happy with their son, Ryan, but they really wanted a daughter. After waiting a few more years they ventured out to receive the fairy's next favor.
The fairy was in a foul mood when they arrived because her sister had just left after an awful fight. She wanted the couple to convince the fairy counsel to kick her sister off of the committee. They couple went to the next meeting and attempted a case for the sister to be voted off, but they did not know any bad cases against the fairy and she was well liked in the community. A few fairies voted for her to leave, but the majority vote was against the couple.
They returned to the fairy with bad news and she said for their attempt she will hold up half of her deal. Nine months proceeds and a girl is born, but with only half of her body. The fairy chose the name Reeve and wished the parents the best because she would not be assisting them with any more children because they failed her previous task.
The other children were scared of Reeve so the family was forced to move away. They secluded themselves from anyone else, but they lived a very happy life together.
Author's Notes: The story begins with a King who does not have any children and asks a derwish for help. He is given four apples to feed his wives so they will become pregnant with children for him. One wife only eats half of the apple and births a son with a half-body. The King is furious and sends the wife and son away. I used the same introduction of wanting a child, but I used a couple instead of just a man or woman. I also included a child with a half-body being born, but my plot was very different and I included a fairy character instead of a derwish.
Bibliography: Nim Tanak from the Persian Tales by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer, Web Source
Image Information: Castle in the Woods, Web Source: Pxhere
Hey Jess! I really enjoyed reading this story! It sounds like you were very creative in changing the story from its original form. I like how in this one, it’s the fairy that causes the child to be born with half a body, not the wife’s negligence. The only thing I was really confused about was why the fairy wanted to name the children. I thought maybe there was some kind of Rumpelstiltsken-esque trick to it, or that the magical binding contract would cause some problem because the deal was broken. Otherwise, this is a great story! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHi jess,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your story. It flowed well and made sense. It did kind of throw me off at the end with them only conceiving half of a child. You say they lived happily ever after, but I don’t think secluding yourself from the rest of the world because of a half child is happy. Other wise your story was good and did not have any grammatical errors that I could see. So great job and keep it up.
Hello Jess!
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty cool story! I like the theme of the fairy granting them that they wanted as long as they upheld their end of the deal. I don't know why but I found it a little comical when they only got half of the kids body because they didn't uphold their end of the deal. I agree with Nicholas, I don't think that this was exactly a happy ending because they secluded themselves and have a half of a child.
Hi Jess! I loved getting to read your story this week, it was super interesting and well written. You obviously have a very creative mind and are able to articulate that clearly in your writing. I liked that the fairy was the one that causes the child to be born like he was instead of the wife's negligence. Great job writing this!
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