My husband has taken leave on a hunting trip and has left me to my own devices. I have wandered this palace many times and have explored every room. Well, there is actually one room I have never been inside. My husband keeps it locked and always carries the key with him. However, I did not see him wearing it this morning when he departed on his trip. I will find the key and finally see what he has painstakingly been keeping a secret.
It has been at least ten minutes since I opened the secret door and I still cannot believe what I am seeing. Lying in the center of the room, on a gorgeous canopied bed, is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. This must be my beloved husband's first wife. She is even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Her hair is as dark as ebony and shines in the sunlight peaking through the window. Her skin is as fair as the snow that covers the mountain peaks in the winter. Her face is peaceful as if she is merely sleeping. No wonder he never buried her, a beauty like this must be preserved, not discarded.
I wonder if I could wake her up. I know she is dead, but if I could wake her up I could make my husband the happiest man in the world. There is nothing I wouldn't give to see his eyes light up one more time. Hmmm what is that in her finger? It looks like a stab, that has no place on such a beautiful woman so I'll remove it. Even if I can't wake her up, there is no point in keeping this unsightly splinter in her finger.
I still can't comprehend what just happened. As soon as I removed the stab from Gold-Tree's finger she woke up. The stab must have been poisoned or something of that nature. My husband will be so thrilled to have his first love back. I guess this means he will no longer have a use for me, but his happiness is the most important thing to me and I am willing to step aside so they can be together again. He will be home tonight; I will share the wonderful news with him then and inform him of my departure from the palace.
I have never seen my husband so happy in all the time that we have been together. His face lit up brighter than the sun or any other star I have ever laid eyes on. It was a magnificent sight to see. I have to admit I was surprised that he asked me to stay, but I am overjoyed to be able to share in the happiness that has now filled the castle. It is nice to see everyone so happy.
The happiness was short lived I am afraid. Our husband is away on a hunting trip and Silver-Tree, Gold-Tree's mother, is on her way for visit. Gold-Tree is terrified. She keeps saying that her mother will kill her as soon as she gets here. I am not going to let that happen. The prince's happiness as well as Gold-Tree's are the most important thing to me and I will not let anyone take that away from them. When Silver-Tree gets here, we will take care of her once and for all.
Silver-Tree thought she was clever, but she was not more clever than I. She tried to trick Gold-Tree into drinking the wine that she had brought as a gift. I knew better than to believe she was being sincere, so I told her that it is customary for the person bearing the drink to take the first sip. When Silver-Tree put the cup to her lip I quickly hit the bottom of it, tilting upward just enough for some of the wine to go down her throat. It was poisoned, just as I had suspected, and Silver-Tree immediately fell dead. Gold-Tree is so relieved and she no longer has to live in fear. Now we are able to live out the remainder of our days peacefully and happily and that is exactly what we are going to do.
Author's note: My story is based of off the Celtic Fairy tale Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree. My story very closely relates to the original. In the original the story begins by describing how Silver-Tree is jealous of her daughter's beauty and asks her husband to kill Gold-Tree so that she may be the most beautiful in the land. However, the king marries Gold-Tree to a prince in a far off land and lies to his wife about the completion of the task. However, Silver-Tree soon finds out about the lie when she visits the trout and asks if she is the fairest of them all and it tells her that Gold-Tree is still the fairest. Silver-Tree quickly makes arrangements to visit her daughter and despite Gold-Tree's efforts to stay away from her, Silver-Tree is able to jab Gold-Tree in the finger with a poisoned stab, killing her. This is where my story begins. I did however change the perspective of the story. It was my first attempt at writing a story in first person. I wanted to tell the story from her perspective so the audience could get a first hand feel of what she went through and to also emphasize the love she had for her husband and later on Gold-Tree. I also thought that the fact that she was willing to leave so that Gold-Tree and the Prince could live in happiness showed how much she loved the prince and how selfless she was. It goes with my theme of love, but it is a different take on the concept. I got the idea for the name "Alastrina" because I wanted to use a Celtic name since it was a celtic fairy tale and after researching names I chose this one because it means "defend mankind," which I thought was fitting since she wanted her husband to be happy and protected Gold-Tree.
Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs; Mythology and Folklore Untextbook
Image information: 1st image is what I imagined Alastrina to look like. She is pretty, but has a plain nature about her as to not outshine Gold-Tree. The image is called Young Fauna and is by Kawaiibrit. 2nd Image is of Snow White, who is very similar to Gold-Tree. The image is called Snow White and is by Kawaiibrit.
Cassie, I could tell from the start that this story was the original version of a snow white meets sleeping beauty kind of tale. You did a great job of retelling it in your version. The only thing that somewhat threw me off was your choice of narrator. I just struck me as odd that the current wife would go through so much trouble to resurrect and protect her husband's first wife. It was sweet and very original but just didn't seem practical. Maybe it could have been a very devoted servant who helped the prince bring back the bride and keep her safe. Just a thought. But overall great job with this story!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that Alastrina was so calm and willing to step aside upon finding her husband's dead wife in a side room. I know I wouldn't have been. I do wish she was more assertive here. In olden days being throw out of the house for another woman would have been devastating. It's weird that she was willing to accept that lying down. Other than that, I loved this story. It's very cute and the thought of the evil silver-tree being vanquished with such a silly trick as popping her cup into her face is pretty funny. An overall enjoyable story.
ReplyDeleteCassie, what a sinister woman and mother Silver-Tree is! I am impressed by the wife's willingness to put her husband's happiness first, even if that means he does not want to be with her anymore. I am not surprised he wanted her to stay because she saved the life of Gold-Tree. She's clever and loyal. The writing style was so unique by jumping from scene to scene without the major event happening as the wife was narrating. It sounded like a diary. Overall, it was awesome! Great job!
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