The light of the Sun, Moon and the Stars - Part One

At one point of time there was a shortage of food in the land. 

That was when Anansi and his son Kweku Tsin went to hunt in the forest. It was not only that Kweku Tsin was able to kill a deer. 

Anansi asked his son to guard the food while he went to bring a large basket to take it all back home.

However Anansi was not back for more than an hour. 

Kweku Tsin was worried that his father had lost his way. So he called out for his father so that his father could hear his voice and come there.

Kweku Tsin was happy because he heard a reply. 

However it was shocking because the reply did not come from Anansi but from a terrible dragon.

The dragon could naturally fly and had acute eyesight and looked strong and powerful and it breathed fire from its nose.

On realizing what had happened, Kweku Tsin ran from there and hid himself in a cave, so that the dragon could not find him.

The dragon flew to the place where it had heard the voice and the dragon was angry when it saw the dead deer there and it went away. 

Anansi came back and he was astonished on hearing the story of the dragon from his son. 

Anansi wished to see the dragon for himself. 

Unfortunately, this happened too.

Smelling the two men, the dragon came to the place and caught both of them. 

The dragon carried the two men to its own castle. 

There the two men realized that there were many creatures imprisoned by the dragon and the dragon intended to eat all of them later. 

There was a white rooster that stood guard over the imprisoned creatures. The rooster crowed to summon the dragon if anything happened when the dragon was away searching for food.

Kweku Tsin made plans to escape the dragon along with the others in the prison.

Adapted from West African Stories

Little Golden-Hood - Part Three

Finally, Blanchette came to her grandmother’s house and knocked on the door.

“Who is there?” The Wolf asked, softening its voice as much as it could.

Blanchette did not notice anything odd at all.

“I am Golden-Hood, granny. Mother sent you a piece of cake and I brought it here.”

“Come in!” The Wolf told Blanchette, sounding happy.

When Blanchette saw the Wolf on bed she was surprised. “Granny, you look so much like the wolf that I met on the way here.” 

“That is because I am unwell and wearing my night cap.” The wolf managed.

Finally when Golden Hood came close to the wolf lying on the bed, the wolf was about to pounce on the girl.

The girl saw this and she bent her head down crying. “Mamma!”

The Wolf, when it pounced on her, bit into the golden hood that Blanchette wore all the time.

The magic hood burnt the tongue of the Wolf. This was not ordinary hood because it was used to make people invisible in the times of the old.

Granny came back at that minute from the town with a sack on her shoulders.

When she saw what had happened, Granny caught the Wolf in the sack and threw the sack in the water where the Wolf drowned.

The granny came back and soothed Golden Hood.

After that, Golden Hood felt strong enough to go back home and there it was her mother who scolded her the most, because she had talked to a stranger.

Finally, Golden Hood convinced her mother that she would never repeat the mistake. 

This time, Golden Hood kept her promise. 

She still went through the forest to meet her grandmother in her pretty little hood, which was the colour of the sun. 

But she went so early that no strangers came in her path.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tales

Little Golden-Hood - Part Two

“Hello Golden-Hood.” The Wolf pleasantly greeted Blanchette.

Blanchette frowned. “How do you know me? Who are you?”

“As I told you, I am Wolf, your friend.” The Wolf studied the basket in Blanchette’s hands. “Where are you going?”

“I am going to see my grandmother,” Blanchette told the wolf, forgetting all about her promise to her mother about not talking to strangers. 

The wolf pretended to look even more interested. “And where does your grandmother live?”

Blanchette waved forward. “On the other side of the forest. Her house is the first in the village near the windmill.”

The wolf nodded hurriedly. “I am also going there to another place nearby. I think that you will reach there faster than with your nimble legs.”

After that Blanchette continued on her journey.

The wolf raced across the forest and reached the grandmother's house in a very short time.

When Wolf had reached the grandmother's house, the grandmother had gone out to sell herbs in the town.

The Wolf found the grandmother's clothes and wore it. Then it laid down on the bed trying to pretend to be the grandmother.

Meanwhile Blanchette picked up the flowers, studied the little birds and ran after the butterflies and slowly made her way to grandmother's house.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tales

Little Golden-Hood - Part One

 

That was once a little patient girl whose name was Blanchette. Unlike Little Red Riding Hood, Blanchette had a golden hood. Blanchette’s cloak was the colour of gold and fire. Blanchette’s grandmother gave her this cloak and told her that the cloak would always bring her good luck for it was made of ray of sunshine. 

Blanchette’s grandmother lived on the other side of a dense forest and everyone in Blanchette’s village along with Blanchette herself believed that her grandmother was a witch. 

So Blanchette always wore the golden hood. 

It was for this that Blanchette was called Little Golden Hood.

Once Little Golden Hood’s mother called her. “I want to see whether you can find your way back home. So take this piece of cake for your grandmother.” Her mother studied her severely. “Little Golden Hood, do not talk to any strangers on the way. Do you understand?”

Blanchette agreed and decided to visit her grandmother the next day.

The next morning, as Blanchette stepped into the forest, she heard a sound.

“Who is it?” Blanchette asked, looking around.

“I am Friend Wolf.” Replied the voice.

Now Wolf had seen Blanchette enter the forest alone and Wolf wanted to eat Blanchette. However, at that time some woodcutters also came to the forest. So instead Wolf pretended to be Blanchette’s friend.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tales

Princess Rosette and the King of Peacocks - Part Seven

Rosette thanked the old man for his kindness. 

However when it came to the question of food, Rosette was able to arrange the food for herself.

She turned to her dog Frisk. “Get the finest food in the entire kingdom.”

Frisk knew that the best food in the kingdom was available in the house of the King of Peacocks. So Frisk went to the castle of the King of Peacocks. From the kitchen of the castle, Frisk got all the food there.

After that, there was no food for the people in the royal castle.

The King of Peacocks was very hungry, but he did not know who had stolen the food from the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Rosette, Frisk and the old man had plenty of food in the little cottage.

This went on for two more days.

Finally, one of the ministers kept watch to find who was stealing the food. The minister followed Frisk and finally found the cottage with the old man and the beautiful girl.

After that the King of the Peacocks also came to the cottage.

That was when everyone realized that this was the real Princess Rosette. 

The King of Peacocks realized that he wanted to marry this girl because she was more pretty than he imagined. 

The sentence on the two elder brothers was called off.

The nurse, her daughter and the boatman were imprisoned for life in a huge tower.

Princess Rosette and the King of Peacocks married each other and lived happily ever after.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tales

Princess Rosette and the King of Peacocks - Part Six

The nurse dressed her daughter in the prettiest dresses available in the ship. However the nurse’s daughter was not as pretty as Rosette. Further the nurse’s daughter also found all the dresses very cumbersome and she was very grumpy all throughout.

When the ship reached the island of the King of Peacocks, the King of Peacocks had sent guards to bring the princess to his palace. However the nurse’s daughter misbehaved with the guards. 

The annoyed guards of the King of Peacocks saw her and realized that not only was the princess ugly, she was also wicked.

The King of the Peacock came to the ship himself and he saw that his guards were right and Rosette was very ugly. The King of Peacock had the Princess and the nurse imprisoned in a tower and the King of Peacock also decided to behead the two princes who had lied about their sister’s beauty.

When the two princes learnt about the sentence that was to be executed they pleaded before the King of Peacocks who grudgingly allowed them seven days to prove their innocence.

Meanwhile back to Princess it so happened that she was asleep when the nurse and the boatman had thrown her into the sea so she did not know how she had ended up in the sea in her mattress and Frisk beside her.

She somehow felt that the King of Peacocks did not want to marry her any more and that was the reason that all this had happened to her. 

Princess Rosette was sad and did not know what to do but the mattress floated in the sea and finally took her to the island of the King of Peacock.

On the shore of the island was an old man who lived all alone in a cottage. He heard Frisk’s barking and came out to investigate and found the beautiful Princess Rosette and saved her from the sea.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tales

Princess Rosette and the King of Peacocks - Part Five

 

When Princess Rosette read the letter of her brothers that she had to pack all her treasures and come to the kingdom of the King of Peacocks because the king wanted to marry her, her joy knew no bounds.

She had ruled the kingdom well in the absence of her brothers. Now she placed the kingdom in the care of the wisest old men of the kingdom, telling them to take charge of everything and not spend any money, but save it for the return of the King.

After packing everything Princess Rosette and her dog Frisk set out for the Kingdom of Peacocks. Princess Rosette’s nurse and the nurse’s daughter also accompanied them on the journey.

However disaster struck the royal family at that time.

The nurse who had come along with Princess Rosette was an evil woman. Seeing the entire thing, she realized that she had a golden opportunity here.

The nurse right from the beginning of the boat journey kept talking to the boat man. Finally she managed to convince and she also bribed the boatman to help her drown the princess in sea. The nurse had the idea of dressing up her own daughter as Princess Rosette so that her own daughter would be able to marry the King of Peacock and the nurse’s daughter would be able to live a luxurious and lavish life.

One night when the princess was fast asleep in her mattress which was made of phoenix feathers the nurse and the boat man together threw the Princess along with her mattress, pillows and blanket into the sea. Frisk was near the princess on the bed. 

The nurse and the boatman managed to do this without waking up the princess.

The phoenix feathers were a very special kind of feather and it could keep afloat on water, no matter what the weight that was placed on it. 

That was the reason that Princess Rosette and Frisk did not drown at sea.

However, unaware of all this, the nurse dressed her daughter up as Princess Rosette and they reached the kingdom of the King of Peacocks. 

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tales

Princess Rosette and the King of Peacocks - Part Four

 

The city of the peacocks was very beautiful. The two princes found that men and women dressed entirely in peacock feathers.

Even as they were walking into the kingdom they saw the King of Peacocks who was in a beautiful Golden carriage that glittered with diamonds. The carriage of the King of Peacocks was drawn by twelve beautiful peacocks.

What stuck them the two princes was that the King of Peacocks was a very handsome man.

On seeing the two strangers in his kingdom the King of Peacocks stopped his carriage and got out to talk with them.

As they were talking one thing led to another and the elder prince finally showed the portrait of his little sister to the King of Peacocks. 

On seeing the portrait, the King of Peacocks had been unable to talk for a very long time.

“My little sister is prettier than she is drawn in the portrait. She is also very good and kind. She wishes to marry the King of Peacocks. So can you marry her?” The elder prince asked the King of Peacocks, hesitatingly.

The King of the peacock studied the portrait once more and finally nodded at the elder prince. “If your sister is as lovely as she is in the portrait I have no problems in marrying her.” However the King of Peacocks suddenly looked annoyed. “If your words turn out to be untrue, then I will have your heads cut off.”

The two princes had no worries because they knew that their little sister was much more pretty than she was seen in the portrait.

There was, however, a catch. 

The King of Peacocks was unsure whether the princess was really as beautiful as she was seen in the portrait, so he had the two princes thrown in prison though they were not ill treated there.  The King of Peacocks promised to let the two princes go as soon as Princess Rosette came to the kingdom and the King of Peacocks found her even more beautiful than the portrait. 

The two princes had no problems with this and they agreed to stay in the prison.

From prison the two princes sent a message to their sister that they had found the King of Peacocks who was willing to marry her.

Knowing that Rosette would worry about them, the two princes did not mention in the message that they were in prison.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tales

Princess Rosette and the King of Peacocks - Part Three

 

“Where will we find the king of peacocks?” The elder brother who had now become a king, studied his sister, looking confused.

The Little Princess shook her head. “I do not know. But I will marry no one else other than the King of Peacocks.”

The Princes considered how they could help their little sister. If they had to help the King of Peacocks marry their sister, it was first important that they had a portrait of the princess.

So the princes first had a beautiful portrait of the princess made. 

After that the two brothers reached a decision.

They placed Princess Rosette in charge of the kingdom so that she could rule the kingdom on their behalf. Now that the kingdom had been taken care of, the two princes decided to go around the world to find the King of Peacocks.

The two princes were sure that Princess Rosette would not be alone here in the kingdom because ruling of the kingdom was not easy. Besides Princess Rosette also had the peacock which had come to the garden and Frisk her dog which would give her company at all times.

The two princes set off on their journey. 

No matter where they went they did not find any place where they could find a lead to the King of Peacocks.

At last the two princes came to a kingdom where there were many beetles. It was not surprising because that was the Kingdom of the Cockchafers which was a variety of beetles found in Europe.

“Do you know the way to the King of Peacocks?” The elder prince asked. 

A distinguished looking beetle nodded. “Yes, the king of the peacock lives about thirty thousand leagues from your kingdom, king.”

The king was surprised. “How do you know me? How do you know the King of Peacocks?”

“I know who you are,” the beetle told the king. “I have come to your garden two or three months every year and I have also seen the garden of the King of Peacock.”

After that the two princes set off the Kingdom of Peacocks and they found it too.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tales

Princess Rosette and the King of Peacocks - Part Two

The royal couple begin to think about how to avoid the disaster. The king thought that taking the life of Rosette was an option to save their sons. However the queen could not hear of it. 

Near the kingdom lived a wise old hermit who lived in a hollow tree. People from all over went to the wise men to consult him.

When the queen met him and told him all that the fairies had told her about Rosette’s future, the hermit suggested that Rosette had to be locked up in a tower and never let come out of it. That way she could not influence her brother's fate in any way.

The queen went back to her castle and told the King all that the hermit had told her.

The royal couple decided that this was the course of action to be taken. They had a great tower built and Princess Rosette was shut up there. 

The king, queen and two brothers visited Rosette in the tower daily.

The two princes loved their little sister very much and they believed that she was the sweetest and prettiest princess to have ever lived.

Things continued this way and when Rosette turned fifteen living this way in the tower, the elder prince wanted the king to find a good match for the little princess.

However though the king and the queen thought about it before either of them could act on it, the king and the queen passed away.

The elder Prince soon became the king and he along with his brother decided that they had to bring their sister out of the tower where she had lived till then. 

The Princess was brought out and she enjoyed the normal things around the castle.

She especially loved the beautiful garden trees and flowers which she had never seen before.

At that time she also had got her little dog which she called Frisk. 

It was at this time that Rosette saw a beautiful bird with pretty feathers all over. She was mesmerized with the beauty of the bird and she went to her brothers and asked what the bird was. 

That was a peacock and the more Rosette saw it, the more she was impressed with the bird.

She decided that she was going to marry the King of Peacocks and after that she would take good care of all the peacocks in the world.

Adapted from Andrew Lang’s Fairy Tales