Elizabeth Culmer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
edenfalling) wrote2010-06-15 01:01 am
edenfalling) wrote2010-06-15 01:01 am
Entry tags:
[Fic] "The Poor Woodcutter's Children" -- original story
I should say upfront that this story is not anything remotely like a 15-minute fic anymore, though it started as one. See, I got to about the two-thirds mark -- the purchase of the sheep -- at which point I hit the time limit and also had to go to work. Seven hours later, I opened the file again and finished the story. Then I went back and made a lot of changes, poked around Wikipedia to find the title of the particular fairy tale I'd been playing with, debated whether to name the three children, and so on and so forth. Then I fiddled around with the ending for at least another twenty minutes.
So this is not a 15-minute fic. It's also not a fairy tale, nor would I call it a deconstruction of a fairy tale. It's more like an unconstruction -- the fairy tale never gets properly started, despite the pattern and elements of the story, because the characters seem to be living in a completely different mindset.
Anyway. This is apparently what happens when I try to retell "The Golden Goose" while very short on sleep. (1,400 words)
---------------------------------------------
The Poor Woodcutter's Children
---------------------------------------------
Once upon a time a poor woodcutter and his family lived near a forest at the edge of a kingdom. Things were beginning to look up for them after many lean years, but fortune and misfortune strike with no rhyme nor reason, and one day in early spring the woodcutter broke both his legs. He was carried home and laid in bed, and all his savings went to pay the bonesetter. His wife couldn't go out into the forest to cut down trees because she was busy caring for the garden, cleaning the cottage, cooking meals, washing clothes, and taking eggs and goat cheese into the village market once a week to earn a bit of extra money.
Fortunately, the kingdom had a fairy godmother who kept an eye on situations like this. Even more fortunately, the woodcutter's three children were not the sort to wait for help.
The day after his father's accident, the woodcutter's first son, whose name was Jack, took his axe and went out into the forest to work, which was what he had done for two years now. The only difference was that now he worked alone instead of with his father. Around midday, he sat down to eat lunch near the river that ran through the woods, since hard work and food both tend to make a body thirsty. As he unwrapped the pasty his mother had made, an old woman came limping down the path and over the bridge.
"Good day, young man. Would you spare a bite of food and the use of your cup to an old woman who's lost her husband and her home?" she asked.
Jack was very hungry, but he knew what it was like to be tired and sore, so he broke off a third of the pasty and scooped up some water for the old woman.
She thanked him and sat at the end of the bridge, and they talked while they ate. It happened that the old woman was coming to live with her niece who worked up at the duke's castle beyond the village. She asked for directions, which Jack was happy to provide. He also took his axe and cut a stout stick for her to lean on as she walked. Then Jack returned to his work and the old woman continued on her way.
A week later, the woodcutter's second son, whose name was Daniel, decided he ought to be helping more. So he took his father's old bow and arrows down from the shed and crept into the woods after his older brother had left, hoping to find and kill a deer. But the woods were strangely empty that day, and he wandered farther than he meant to, away from the paths and the notched trees the woodcutters used as landmarks. Fortunately, he stumbled across a tiny stream. He knew if he followed it long enough, he would find the river that ran through the woods, and from there he could find the village and make his way home.
As he followed the tiny stream, he heard rustling in the leaves, and he nocked an arrow to his father's bow. After a moment he saw the small gray body of a squirrel nuzzling through the underbrush, and he loosed the arrow. His aim was true and the squirrel fell.
He skinned and dressed it quickly and continued on his way, hoping for more luck. But being lost and tramping through the woods makes a body tired and hungry, and after a while he stopped to drink and wash his face. And he thought he might as well cook the squirrel, since he had forgotten to bring any food.
As Daniel turned the squirrel on a makeshift spit over a tiny fire, a ragged man with crossed eyes and a port-wine mark on his face came trudging through the woods.
"Oh, wonderful, a person!" the ragged man said when he spied Daniel at the fire. "Do you perchance know where I am? And would you spare a bite of food to a vagabond in need?"
Daniel was feeling tired and foolish, and not in a mood to be charitable, but he knew what it was like to be hungry and lost. He nodded, and when the squirrel was roasted and cooled enough to touch, he tore off its hindquarters and offered them to the ragged man.
The man thanked him very graciously and they sat together on the bank of the stream while they ate. It happened that the man was a traveling jester and juggler and minstrel, on his way to the castle of the duke who claimed the forest and village as part of his lands. When they finished their meal, Daniel led the ragged man down the stream and into the village, where they parted ways.
His family was grateful to find him home safe and sound that evening, and the next day Jack took him into the woods openly, pointed him toward the best hunting grounds, and made sure he didn't get lost again.
A week later, the woodcutter's daughter, whose name was Ella, decided she ought to be helping more. Not being good with an axe or a bow, she went to the stream and cut a bundle of willow switches, which she wove into baskets. Then she filled the baskets with eggs and cheese and the good red dress her father had bought for her before his misfortune, and went into town to sell them.
She bought a pregnant ewe with the money, thinking of meat and wool.
As Ella walked home, she heard a man calling from the side of the road. "Help!" he said. "My horse threw me into the ditch, my leg is caught in a snare, and I can't reach to untie myself."
Ella didn't have time to stop if she wanted to be home before dark, and she had little respect for anyone careless enough to get into such an unlikely mess. But she knew that fortune and misfortune strike with no rhyme or reason, so she tied her sheep to a tree and climbed down into the ditch to help the man who'd lost his horse.
She stood on her tiptoes and leaned all her weight onto the snare, pulling the tree branch and rope down until the hapless man could reach up and untangle the rope from his ankle. Then she helped him stand and work blood back into his leg. His horse had wandered into the woods, but Ella knew where the nearest stream ran. Sure enough that was where they found the animal.
It happened that the man worked for the duke, and he needed to hurry on his way with a message for the king. So he rode alongside Ella until she reached the little dirt path that led to her family's cottage, whereupon he bid her farewell and rode away.
So now the family had a new sheep because of Ella, fresh meat because of Daniel, and a steady income because of Jack. The woodcutter and his wife smiled at each other as they sat before the fire and told each other how lucky they were to have such sensible children. When the woodcutter's legs healed, he went back to work with Jack, and they continued to earn a small but steady income. Daniel grew more skilled with his bow and eventually began to work as one of the duke's foresters. Ella raised the first lamb, which was another ewe, bred both sheep to a ram, and did quite well for herself spinning wool into yarn and selling it in the village market. Carefully and gradually, the family raised themselves out of poverty.
The fairy godmother crossed them off her list, thankful that she hadn't needed to intervene.
One year later, a poor woodcutter on the other side of the forest broke his legs. That family took much more work to sort out. But no doubt you've heard the story of the golden goose before, so I won't tell it again. Instead, I will simply say that Jack, Daniel, and Ella made good marriages, their parents settled into a comfortable old age, and they all lived as happily as anyone can reasonably expect, until they died.
As any fairy godmother can tell you, that is harder than any magic.
May you find the secret as well.
---------------------------------------------
Inspired by the 6/14/10![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
15_minute_fic word #142: miracle
---------------------------------------------
In other news, I've done five pages of edits on "Secrets" ch. 14. Eighteen more pages to go before I can send it to beta!
So this is not a 15-minute fic. It's also not a fairy tale, nor would I call it a deconstruction of a fairy tale. It's more like an unconstruction -- the fairy tale never gets properly started, despite the pattern and elements of the story, because the characters seem to be living in a completely different mindset.
Anyway. This is apparently what happens when I try to retell "The Golden Goose" while very short on sleep. (1,400 words)
---------------------------------------------
The Poor Woodcutter's Children
---------------------------------------------
Once upon a time a poor woodcutter and his family lived near a forest at the edge of a kingdom. Things were beginning to look up for them after many lean years, but fortune and misfortune strike with no rhyme nor reason, and one day in early spring the woodcutter broke both his legs. He was carried home and laid in bed, and all his savings went to pay the bonesetter. His wife couldn't go out into the forest to cut down trees because she was busy caring for the garden, cleaning the cottage, cooking meals, washing clothes, and taking eggs and goat cheese into the village market once a week to earn a bit of extra money.
Fortunately, the kingdom had a fairy godmother who kept an eye on situations like this. Even more fortunately, the woodcutter's three children were not the sort to wait for help.
The day after his father's accident, the woodcutter's first son, whose name was Jack, took his axe and went out into the forest to work, which was what he had done for two years now. The only difference was that now he worked alone instead of with his father. Around midday, he sat down to eat lunch near the river that ran through the woods, since hard work and food both tend to make a body thirsty. As he unwrapped the pasty his mother had made, an old woman came limping down the path and over the bridge.
"Good day, young man. Would you spare a bite of food and the use of your cup to an old woman who's lost her husband and her home?" she asked.
Jack was very hungry, but he knew what it was like to be tired and sore, so he broke off a third of the pasty and scooped up some water for the old woman.
She thanked him and sat at the end of the bridge, and they talked while they ate. It happened that the old woman was coming to live with her niece who worked up at the duke's castle beyond the village. She asked for directions, which Jack was happy to provide. He also took his axe and cut a stout stick for her to lean on as she walked. Then Jack returned to his work and the old woman continued on her way.
A week later, the woodcutter's second son, whose name was Daniel, decided he ought to be helping more. So he took his father's old bow and arrows down from the shed and crept into the woods after his older brother had left, hoping to find and kill a deer. But the woods were strangely empty that day, and he wandered farther than he meant to, away from the paths and the notched trees the woodcutters used as landmarks. Fortunately, he stumbled across a tiny stream. He knew if he followed it long enough, he would find the river that ran through the woods, and from there he could find the village and make his way home.
As he followed the tiny stream, he heard rustling in the leaves, and he nocked an arrow to his father's bow. After a moment he saw the small gray body of a squirrel nuzzling through the underbrush, and he loosed the arrow. His aim was true and the squirrel fell.
He skinned and dressed it quickly and continued on his way, hoping for more luck. But being lost and tramping through the woods makes a body tired and hungry, and after a while he stopped to drink and wash his face. And he thought he might as well cook the squirrel, since he had forgotten to bring any food.
As Daniel turned the squirrel on a makeshift spit over a tiny fire, a ragged man with crossed eyes and a port-wine mark on his face came trudging through the woods.
"Oh, wonderful, a person!" the ragged man said when he spied Daniel at the fire. "Do you perchance know where I am? And would you spare a bite of food to a vagabond in need?"
Daniel was feeling tired and foolish, and not in a mood to be charitable, but he knew what it was like to be hungry and lost. He nodded, and when the squirrel was roasted and cooled enough to touch, he tore off its hindquarters and offered them to the ragged man.
The man thanked him very graciously and they sat together on the bank of the stream while they ate. It happened that the man was a traveling jester and juggler and minstrel, on his way to the castle of the duke who claimed the forest and village as part of his lands. When they finished their meal, Daniel led the ragged man down the stream and into the village, where they parted ways.
His family was grateful to find him home safe and sound that evening, and the next day Jack took him into the woods openly, pointed him toward the best hunting grounds, and made sure he didn't get lost again.
A week later, the woodcutter's daughter, whose name was Ella, decided she ought to be helping more. Not being good with an axe or a bow, she went to the stream and cut a bundle of willow switches, which she wove into baskets. Then she filled the baskets with eggs and cheese and the good red dress her father had bought for her before his misfortune, and went into town to sell them.
She bought a pregnant ewe with the money, thinking of meat and wool.
As Ella walked home, she heard a man calling from the side of the road. "Help!" he said. "My horse threw me into the ditch, my leg is caught in a snare, and I can't reach to untie myself."
Ella didn't have time to stop if she wanted to be home before dark, and she had little respect for anyone careless enough to get into such an unlikely mess. But she knew that fortune and misfortune strike with no rhyme or reason, so she tied her sheep to a tree and climbed down into the ditch to help the man who'd lost his horse.
She stood on her tiptoes and leaned all her weight onto the snare, pulling the tree branch and rope down until the hapless man could reach up and untangle the rope from his ankle. Then she helped him stand and work blood back into his leg. His horse had wandered into the woods, but Ella knew where the nearest stream ran. Sure enough that was where they found the animal.
It happened that the man worked for the duke, and he needed to hurry on his way with a message for the king. So he rode alongside Ella until she reached the little dirt path that led to her family's cottage, whereupon he bid her farewell and rode away.
So now the family had a new sheep because of Ella, fresh meat because of Daniel, and a steady income because of Jack. The woodcutter and his wife smiled at each other as they sat before the fire and told each other how lucky they were to have such sensible children. When the woodcutter's legs healed, he went back to work with Jack, and they continued to earn a small but steady income. Daniel grew more skilled with his bow and eventually began to work as one of the duke's foresters. Ella raised the first lamb, which was another ewe, bred both sheep to a ram, and did quite well for herself spinning wool into yarn and selling it in the village market. Carefully and gradually, the family raised themselves out of poverty.
The fairy godmother crossed them off her list, thankful that she hadn't needed to intervene.
One year later, a poor woodcutter on the other side of the forest broke his legs. That family took much more work to sort out. But no doubt you've heard the story of the golden goose before, so I won't tell it again. Instead, I will simply say that Jack, Daniel, and Ella made good marriages, their parents settled into a comfortable old age, and they all lived as happily as anyone can reasonably expect, until they died.
As any fairy godmother can tell you, that is harder than any magic.
May you find the secret as well.
---------------------------------------------
Inspired by the 6/14/10
15_minute_fic word #142: miracle---------------------------------------------
In other news, I've done five pages of edits on "Secrets" ch. 14. Eighteen more pages to go before I can send it to beta!