Week 2 Storytelling: The Prince's Bride

From NothingPanda at Etsy

 

“Are you alright, Jonathon?” It sounded like he had been crying again, perhaps a nightmare.

“Yes, Grammy, I was just worried about Dad traveling. I want him to be safe.” Jonathon stayed at his grandmother’s house when his father traveled, which seemed more frequent. His mother had passed away from cancer only three years ago. 

“Okay, how about I read you a bedtime story to try and cheer you up?” Grammy Ronni was famous for her bedtime stories in the Belvedere family. 

“Yes please!” Jonathon wiped away his tears and snuggled further under his blankets.

“Okay, but no interruptions.” Last time Jonathon had interrupted Grammy Ronni’s story. “Deal?”

“Deal!” Jonathon was ready for a good story.

“Alright,” Grammy Ronni cleared her throat and began the tale:

“Once upon a time there was a Prince named Phillip and he was the most handsome prince anyone had seen in the Kingdom Lockia. He had an older brother named Brandon, who was also quite good-looking and was already married to a Duchess in another land. Phillip, however, never found the right girl to propose to and feared he never would! 

To inspire his love he visited the local temple and prayed to the goddess Altura, known for her affairs in love. She heard his prayer and told him to visit the lake that sat near their kingdom and he would be forever on the sea at peace. Phillip immediately told his parents what the goddess had told him and they were very worried for him, as any parent would be! Phillip’s father decided to go with him to the lake to send Phillip off. 

As they arrived at the lake, Phillip’s father told him to be cautious of any mystical beings and that he loved him very, very much. Phillip hugged his father and stepped onto the large boat awaiting his arrival. Later that day Brandon was told that Phillip had shipped off and was very sad to hear of his brother’s fate.

Now on the boat Phillip seemed quite satisfied. He had all the food and drinks he could want on the boat! Even a large comfortable bed to sleep on, which settled his worries! But as time went by Phillip missed his family very much. He began to cry and—"

“Phillip shouldn’t cry. He should be brave! Like his father!” Jonathon chimed in, unable to contain himself any longer.

“Well, everyone gets scared and homesick. And that’s okay. Now, can I continue the story?” Grammy Ronni waited and Jonathon nodded his head.

“Okay. So as Phillip was crying, a goddess above had heard him and felt bad for him. So she went and visited him the next evening to try and calm him. She brought lots of desserts and kissed him goodnight. She told him things would be okay and that she would soothe his troubles.

When Phillip awoke, he remembered the goddess in his dreams and was happy to have found a companion and wife. However, he had not seen her and was sad that he had not been able to look upon his wife’s face! So the next night when she was asleep, Phillip tried to look at her face with a lantern. Phillip was amazed at the beautiful woman that lay next to him. He had never seen anyone so beautiful. But his curiosity led Phillip to be careless and he dripped wax on the beautiful woman’s skin. She awoke and was startled to see Phillip staring at her!

“Oh my! Phillip, you were not supposed to see me!” stated the goddess. Phillip apologized profusely, and finally the goddess told him her name, Corynne. They quickly decided to get married and live on the boat forever, but Corynne had forgotten to tell Phillip that Altura was her mother, and she did not like Phillip! 

Altura quickly heard of the couple’s wishes to marry and whisked Corynne back to their home. Altura then yelled at Corynne, “How could you love that silly boy! You know his family has scorned me since the beginning and that his beauty rivals my own!” But Corynne could not be swayed from her love for the mortal man. So, Altura went back to the ship and told Phillip if he could collect three items he could win her daughter’s hand in marriage. Those three items were: the hair brush of the goddess Avi, known to care for new mothers; a special berry from the gods’ kitchen; and a feather from the eagle that sat watch on the fence of the god Lyon, the god of warriors. Altura was confident because she had already told Avi and Lyon that the young man was coming for their items. What Altura did not expect was the help of Xalti!”

“Now hold on, what is a Xala- yawn- a Xalti?” Jonathon was getting tired, but couldn’t stop himself from asking questions.

“I’ll explain shortly!” Grammy Ronni was ready for the little boy to fall asleep.

“Xalti was King Damian’s legendary pet, a brave lion. He could become as large as a house and as small as a mouse! He ran to Phillip’s aid because Corynne had helped his king previously win the heart of his wife. 

Quickly the two sneaked into Avi’s home and Xalti shrunk so small  he was able to swipe her hairbrush without her knowing! They then moved on to the berries which were simply left out on the counter for anyone to take! Lastly, they gathered all their courage and went to Lyon’s home. Perched with a vigilant eye they saw the eagle Altura had spoken of. Slowly they waited for the eagle to leave his post at sundown, and there next to the fence was a feather! 

Phillip returned the items to Altura, who had no choice but to allow the marriage. The brave man went on to have a large family and became a god himself for his courage!”

Grammy Ronni looked down and the young boy was fast asleep, another successful bedtime story completed.  

 

How I imagined Jonathon. The Princess Bride via MTV. Link

Author's Note:

I read the story of Cupid and Psyche and was very inspired by their tale of love. Growing up I always loved The Princess Bride and so I thought I would make a twist on the way the movie shows the tale being told to a young boy. The tale of Cupid and Psyche in the story is also told to a young girl who is frightened because she was just kidnapped from her wedding day (a rough day to say the least) by an older woman. So in her place is a young boy worried about his father and he is being soothed by his grandmother. Instead of Psyche (a young girl) being the featured beauty I thought a handsome man might acquire some attention as well and I wanted to use fictional gods and goddesses, so as to not confuse others reading my tale. In the original story, it was the Roman gods and goddesses creating trouble for Psyche and Cupid. With such a tight word count it was difficult to fully convey the tale but I was able to capture the basic elements: a young mortal too beautiful for other mortals, is sent away only to be loved by a god/goddess, a forbidden love is formed and is then tested by the mother of said god/goddess, and finally a happy ending!

Bibliography:

Cupid and Psyche from the book The Golden Ass by Apuleius. Website: Poetry in Translation