Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part B

Mr. Fox

Lady Mary:
* young and fair (beautiful)
* two brothers
* countless lovers

Of Lady Mary's countless lovers, Mr. Fox stood out the most.

Mr. Fox:
* brave
* gallant
* meet Lady Mary at her father's country house
* "surely rich" --- has a castle

Lady Mary only cared for him out of all her lovers, so it was decided they would wed.  They go to live in his castle, but Lady Mary is unsettled when she gets there.

Written on the gate is "be bold, be bold," a rather encouraging statement that could be mistaken for some family motto.  Yet, written over the doorway is a warning: "be bold, be bold, but not too bold."  Then, above the door to a room, is written: "Be bold, be bold, but not too bold, lest that your heart's blood should run cold."

Lady Mary is, of course, horrified to find skeletons and mangled bodies in that room.  She runs, but Mr. Fox returns carrying the body of a beautiful young maiden so she hides behind a cask.  She's wearing a pretty ring so Mr. Fox cuts off her hand though the hand falls into Lady Mary's lap.  He doesn't find them and continues to "the bloody chamber."

Lady Mary eventually reveals him for the twisted man he is at the breakfast before the wedding.  Mr. Fox denies her "dream's" truth until Lady Mary reveals the ring and he is cut to pieces.

But what if Lady Mary was just as sadistic?  What if, instead, she slyly mentions her dream and describes it, watching Mr. Fox squirm, only to laugh after her retelling - slipping the ring into Mr. Fox's hand under the table?  What if Mr. Fox has truly found a bride to be his "other half"?

Lady Marian and Robin Hood from Disney's Robin Hood

Source: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to Overactive Imagination

Image
Hello!  My name is Lauren Skaggs, and here is a little history about me! Family My parents live in Oklahoma City, which is where I was born and raised.  I have a twin brother; his name is Braden.  We look absolutely nothing alike.  He is 6'1" to my 5'3" with thick brown hair that makes my strawberry blonde look like toupee.  My family has two dogs, Zander and Ginger.  Ginger loves to cuddle and hide under blankets when the wind is too loud.  Zander likes to pout and steal food off people's plates. (Personal Photo: Zander) (Personal Photo: Ginger) (Personal Video: Ginger Hiding) What I'm About When I was a kid, the very first thing I ever wanted to be was a priest.   I liked the songs we would sing at church, the people always bustling around, how everyone seemed to know each other.   Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on how you like to view things – I wasn’t born with the right parts and I eventually moved on to other career ideas.
Read more

Week 7 Storytelling: Handsome King of the Apes

Image
The Beauty of the Stone Ape In the East, glittering in the Great Sea's mist an island protrudes from the trembling ocean. Chinese lore calls it the Mountain, Mountain of Flowers and Fruits for it blossoms with life overflowing. Indeed, the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits is enriched with colors exotic and vibrant, covered in boundless waves of green which shimmers gold when the Sun lights the ground aflame. There was but one blemish which studded the promontory jutting from the middle of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits called The High Rock. It was round, long ago smoothed by the temper of the waves when the sky and ocean were unmarred by the peaking of mountains but made any eye that feasted on its image convulse for it carried a hollowness, filled with a rotten egg misshapen and stinking a fume green as the tree-leaves. Unbeknownst to mortals, though well-known to the Heavens, The High Rock had stood since the birth of Time. I
Read more