I went home this past weekend, to see family, and ended up spending the majority of my time with my cousins and their children, all of whom are under 9. I'm not normally a kid person, but apparently something's changed, because although I'm still not a big fan, the kids are flocking to me in droves. I had a five week old baby sleep on my chest, got sticky kisses from the 1 year old, and colored a lot with my cousin's three year old, who followed me around all day and enjoyed sitting on my lap while I colored her Disney Princesses.
At one point, she and I were inside talking to my grandmother, her on my lap, and I found myself gathering her hair up into a little ponytail, and turning that ponytail into a French twist, only to let it fall over and over. She turned around to ask me what I was doing, and I told her I was playing with her hair, just like her mommy used to do to me when I was little.
One of my favorite memories of that particular cousin is of sitting on the floor in my aunt's house while she twisted my hair up over and over again, always letting it fall back down with a thoughtful noise. To do the same thing to her daughter, and know that her daughter will probably someday do the same to her cousins, and their children--man, do I ever love my family.
28 August 2008
19 August 2008
Enchanted
My absolute favorite fairy tale is a fairly recent one, by Katherine Patterson, who's written a number of other children's books. It's called The King's Equal, and it goes somewhat like this:
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with one ancient king, who had a single son. Although he loved his son very much, he knew that he was selfish, so he made one final decree to his advisers before dying: that his son should never wear his crown until he could wed a woman who was his equal.
So the king dies, and the son rules by committee, levying taxes and buying art and renovating the palace, until one day he realizes that he has absolutely everything he wants in the world--he's handsome, smart, witty, and incredibly rich--except his father's crown. He calls his father's council before him and sets them on a royal matchmaking quest, requesting that they only bring back women who are as beautiful as he is.
They bring him three princesses, each lovelier than the sun, moon and stars, but when he speaks to them, their conversation doesn't sparkle, and it turns out one of them's kind of dumb. The prince screams at the advisers to find him the smartest, wittiest women in the world.
They bring him three new princesses, each of them brilliant, and he has intelligent, engaging conversation with each of them, but discovers that two of them are poor, and one of them is ugly. He berates his council again and tells them to find him the richest princesses in the world, on pain of death.
Three princesses arrive the next day, arrayed in cloth of gold, diamonds, and other priceless items. But our poor Prince Raphael runs into the same problem again: although they can match him in wealth, they can't compete with his looks or charm. He sends them all away, and throws his council in the dungeon, but before they go, they post one last kingdom-wide message: looking for the king's equal. All qualified women apply.
Meanwhile....
There is, of course, a poor but virtuous and beautiful girl living alone in the mountains with her father. They have a tiny herd of goats, an even tinier cottage, and that's about all, except a lot of love and respect. The poor but virtuous and beautiful Rosamund goes out to take care of the goats one day, and finds a wolf (literally) at the door. When she pleads with him not to steal their goats, that's all they have left, and they ran out of bread that morning, the wolf puts down the kid it had picked up, rears up on its hind legs, and says "Well, then, I'll help you." And so he does. Rosamund's father dies that winter, but it's okay, because she's got the Wolf as her friend. One day, the Wolf teases Rosamund a little bit about her wasted potential, and she laughs at him, wondering what opportunities she'd have to make anything else of herself. He gives her his golden collar (which magically turns into a crown) and tells her about this search for the king's equal.
Two or three days later, Rosamund walks into the palace. Prince Raphael is stunned at her beauty, obviously, but has his suspicions about her wealth and intelligence. He asks her: I am the wealthiest man in all this kingdom. What do you have that can compete with that? She replies: There is nothing I desire that I do not have, so I am at least as wealthy as you. Raphael's impressed, but still skeptical. He tells her about his education, about the scientists who report to him, brags about the puzzles he's solved. She looks at him from under her long eyelashes and says: but I still know something you do not. Intrigued, he leans closer. "I know that you are very lonely," she says.
The Prince grabs her hand and announces that here, indeed, is the one woman for him, and they'll be married tomorrow. "Wait," Rosamund says, quietly.
"If I am wealthier than you, and more knowledgeable than you, then you yourself have declared me more than your equal. And as you wish to only marry your equal, so do I." Aghast, Raphael asks what he can do to even the score.
He arrives at her tiny cottage the next day. Alone with the goats, he has no idea how to make bread, no idea how to keep track of the kids, and is completely helpless. The birds steal his magnificent wig to make a nest. And worst of all, when he finds a wolf attempting to steal a goat, he runs after it with a stick. The Wolf sits up and berates him, then teaches him how to make bread, how to make a fire and clean house, and how to look after his herd.
In the meantime, Rosamund uses the taxes that Raphael had levied to send children to school, to encourage farmers to try new crops, and to increase their trade with neighboring countries. She also, incidentally, gets his council out of the dungeons, and has them lecture her on how the country is run.
One year later, Raphael stumbles into the palace kitchens. He's surprised to find Rosamund there, but glad to see her nonetheless. This past year, he tells her, has been the most difficult thing he has ever done. He lost his wig, and he burned his arm, and the Wolf was not always nice to him, but he's done his time, learned a lot, and made some true friends. And he's realized--he is less her equal than he was before, fit only to bake bread and look after the goats. "I just wanted to tell you," he said, "before I go back." He turns to leave. Rosamund holds out her hand to stop him. "Wait," she says.
They're married the next day, and rule, together, happily ever after.
I love this story for so many reasons. First, it falls under the "love of the girl inspires the boy to change" category, which never fails to get me. Secondly, it's one of the few fairy tales that allows the protagonists to fall in love with each other, for real, instead of relying on love at first sight. All these characters are flawed, they all learn and change and grow. And the female character is a real person, a competent ruler.
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with one ancient king, who had a single son. Although he loved his son very much, he knew that he was selfish, so he made one final decree to his advisers before dying: that his son should never wear his crown until he could wed a woman who was his equal.
So the king dies, and the son rules by committee, levying taxes and buying art and renovating the palace, until one day he realizes that he has absolutely everything he wants in the world--he's handsome, smart, witty, and incredibly rich--except his father's crown. He calls his father's council before him and sets them on a royal matchmaking quest, requesting that they only bring back women who are as beautiful as he is.
They bring him three princesses, each lovelier than the sun, moon and stars, but when he speaks to them, their conversation doesn't sparkle, and it turns out one of them's kind of dumb. The prince screams at the advisers to find him the smartest, wittiest women in the world.
They bring him three new princesses, each of them brilliant, and he has intelligent, engaging conversation with each of them, but discovers that two of them are poor, and one of them is ugly. He berates his council again and tells them to find him the richest princesses in the world, on pain of death.
Three princesses arrive the next day, arrayed in cloth of gold, diamonds, and other priceless items. But our poor Prince Raphael runs into the same problem again: although they can match him in wealth, they can't compete with his looks or charm. He sends them all away, and throws his council in the dungeon, but before they go, they post one last kingdom-wide message: looking for the king's equal. All qualified women apply.
Meanwhile....
There is, of course, a poor but virtuous and beautiful girl living alone in the mountains with her father. They have a tiny herd of goats, an even tinier cottage, and that's about all, except a lot of love and respect. The poor but virtuous and beautiful Rosamund goes out to take care of the goats one day, and finds a wolf (literally) at the door. When she pleads with him not to steal their goats, that's all they have left, and they ran out of bread that morning, the wolf puts down the kid it had picked up, rears up on its hind legs, and says "Well, then, I'll help you." And so he does. Rosamund's father dies that winter, but it's okay, because she's got the Wolf as her friend. One day, the Wolf teases Rosamund a little bit about her wasted potential, and she laughs at him, wondering what opportunities she'd have to make anything else of herself. He gives her his golden collar (which magically turns into a crown) and tells her about this search for the king's equal.
Two or three days later, Rosamund walks into the palace. Prince Raphael is stunned at her beauty, obviously, but has his suspicions about her wealth and intelligence. He asks her: I am the wealthiest man in all this kingdom. What do you have that can compete with that? She replies: There is nothing I desire that I do not have, so I am at least as wealthy as you. Raphael's impressed, but still skeptical. He tells her about his education, about the scientists who report to him, brags about the puzzles he's solved. She looks at him from under her long eyelashes and says: but I still know something you do not. Intrigued, he leans closer. "I know that you are very lonely," she says.
The Prince grabs her hand and announces that here, indeed, is the one woman for him, and they'll be married tomorrow. "Wait," Rosamund says, quietly.
"If I am wealthier than you, and more knowledgeable than you, then you yourself have declared me more than your equal. And as you wish to only marry your equal, so do I." Aghast, Raphael asks what he can do to even the score.
He arrives at her tiny cottage the next day. Alone with the goats, he has no idea how to make bread, no idea how to keep track of the kids, and is completely helpless. The birds steal his magnificent wig to make a nest. And worst of all, when he finds a wolf attempting to steal a goat, he runs after it with a stick. The Wolf sits up and berates him, then teaches him how to make bread, how to make a fire and clean house, and how to look after his herd.
In the meantime, Rosamund uses the taxes that Raphael had levied to send children to school, to encourage farmers to try new crops, and to increase their trade with neighboring countries. She also, incidentally, gets his council out of the dungeons, and has them lecture her on how the country is run.
One year later, Raphael stumbles into the palace kitchens. He's surprised to find Rosamund there, but glad to see her nonetheless. This past year, he tells her, has been the most difficult thing he has ever done. He lost his wig, and he burned his arm, and the Wolf was not always nice to him, but he's done his time, learned a lot, and made some true friends. And he's realized--he is less her equal than he was before, fit only to bake bread and look after the goats. "I just wanted to tell you," he said, "before I go back." He turns to leave. Rosamund holds out her hand to stop him. "Wait," she says.
They're married the next day, and rule, together, happily ever after.
I love this story for so many reasons. First, it falls under the "love of the girl inspires the boy to change" category, which never fails to get me. Secondly, it's one of the few fairy tales that allows the protagonists to fall in love with each other, for real, instead of relying on love at first sight. All these characters are flawed, they all learn and change and grow. And the female character is a real person, a competent ruler.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)