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

Topics for My Project

I enjoyed looking throughout the topics for project ideas. I had a really hard time choosing between all of them because they were all very interesting! I am sure I will try to do more reading on them all if I have the time. However the four I picked are:

1. Dragons: I really liked all of the stories listed for the topic Dragons. I have always enjoyed reading Sci-fy and fairy tales with dragons involved. Seeing that some of the other stories available are based in history was also very cool, specifically the tale of the Polish dragon of Wawel Hill and Saint George and the Dragon. I would probably focus on Wawel's tale or a fairy tale though, from my own personal interests.
1.  Research: So far the research I've done is mainly on the Wikipedia sites made available. It was cool to learn about the Polish dragon on Wawel Hill and that it actually was related to Krakow and the royalty of Poland. It was also interesting to read that the legend still continues on today, with a metal sculpture in its honor and even a street named Dragon street! The story of Saint George and the Dragon is a little more fairy tale in nature, and includes a princess in need of rescue and a traveling Saint George who rescues her. On Wikipedia they discuss a lot of its relation to the Byzantine empire which is another interesting real world connection to the tale.
2.  Northern Europe: My heritage is German, so I liked the option to read more about the myths and folklore that came from my own country. There were several other countries that were very tempting that I might consider doing further research in, primarily Scandinavia and Iceland because I have not read much from those cultures. From the German and Netherlands section I would choose Legends of the Rhine because that is where my family is from. Reading specific tales from my homeland would be very cool and allow a new connection to that land. From the Scandinavia and Iceland section I would choose The Icelandic Fairy Tales because I have read very little literature on this part of the world's culture. 
1. Research: I've skimmed through both of the selections I mention and have enjoyed the stories I have read so far. Both of the books definitely follow the fairy tale idea and keep the cultural references, which I enjoy. I looked on Google for some quick references on both of the books which was very helpful. A lot of the references in Legends of the Rhine make sense to me because I have visited several of the cities mentioned. Whereas the Icelandic Fairy Tales were very new and had a lot to offer for new information.
3.  England: I love Robin Hood and King Arthur so being able to do a project on either of these famous legends would be a lot of fun. Particularly The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle and King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang.  I also enjoyed seeing the other options, particularly the ballads. These were interesting because of the different approaches they offered on England's history and culture. Lastly, the stories on Pixies were very interesting because they reminded me of when I was a little girl and had a 'fairy garden' in my backyard. I used to love watching for 'fairies' and seeing stories about pixies was a blast down memory lane!
1. Research: I did go through the Wikipedia pages on King Arthur and Robin Hood to refresh my memory on their stories. I loved the Disney stories of both of these characters and reading more on the historical aspects was very interesting. Looking at the history of pixies in England was very fascinating. In some legends they were thought to be the souls of children that died before being baptized, which is both a very sweet and sad thought!
4. Celtic Tales: One of my best friends is an Irish Histories minor and has indulged me in a lot of classic Irish tales, which piqued my interest on this topic. I really enjoyed the stories from Lady Wilde, particularly about Queen Maeve. I also liked some of the more paranormal stories in the Irish section which was a different twist than many of the other areas had for their cultural fables.
1. I searched for Queen Maeve, or Medb, on Wikipedia and it had some really cool information about her life and supposed husbands. It was also interesting that her enemy in all of the tales was her ex-husband, the king of Ulster, and that she tried to steal his prize stud bull.She also has a very sad beginning to her ruling by the hand of a cruel husband. The paranormal stories I did some basic research on to see what else would be out there if I decided to do something different.

A photo of Queen Maeve on her thrown by J.C. Leyendecker on Wikipedia

Week 2 Reading Diary: Cupid and Psyche (Continued)

So this is my diary entry part two for Cupid and Psych by Apuleius!

I liked where the story picks back up, showing that Psyche is well aware of the danger she is in and acknowledging the other goddesses by trying to please them and beg for mercy. It is also interesting that the goddesses (well known to fight among each other) do not give Psyche protection because of their alliance with Venus. I also liked the similarities with Cinderella pointed out in the second half of the story with the numerous tasks Psyche is given to complete. It also reminded me of Hercules' many labors that he has to complete. The ending of Cupid and Psyche's story is really intricate as well, following all of the tasks and wrapped up so quickly it almost seems fake. Which reminds us of the real story, the kidnapped princess, and the narrator, Lucius!

The escape at the end is what really brings the story full circle, and I liked that the tale ends with the two coming to a fork in the road. I think that is a wonderful metaphor for what is to come of them, should they choose right or left. And that there is no going back from the kidnapping for either of them.

Cupid and Psyche's Wedding by Raphael

Week 2 Reading Diary: Cupid and Psyche

The title of my week 1 reading is Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius.

I really enjoyed the part A of this reading. Throughout the entire reading it was made obvious how the Greeks wrote and felt about their gods and goddesses. I also particularly liked the character Venus because she was written like a small child throwing a tantrum, as is common of most gods and goddesses in Greek mythology. I also really enjoyed the detailed descriptions given about what the Palace of Cupid. Apuleius describes every little thing in the entire palace and it really helps to give the reader a clearer image of what the setting is for their story. I also thought that the addition of Pan to the story added another element, because it would seem realistic for another god to be traveling by where Cupid lived.

Although this story is compared to Beauty and the Beast frequently, I actually relate it more to Cinderella. Her sisters (much like the two step-sisters in Cinderella) are cruel and foolish! And they both receive what is coming to them at the end of Part A. I liked that Psyche was not as foolish and had determined what to do to help protect herself and her husband, Cupid. She is portrayed as a strong woman, and much like Cinderella, earns what should be hers.

Cupid and Psyche Link