Week 10 Storytelling: A Tale of Two Sisters

In the land of Candy Corn, there was a king with two beautiful daughters.  They were rumored to be the most beautiful in all the land and they were finally old enough to marry.  The two young women had many suitors, including kings, princes, knights, and everyone in between.  However, to their father’s dismay, they refused every proposal. 

Little did the people of the kingdom know, but the god of the land had sent every one of his friends to ask for the daughters’ hands in marriage.  He finally decided to come to Candy Corn to evaluate the young women.  He arrived during the night, appearing as poor, dirty beggars. 

Meanwhile, the young women were priding themselves on their success.  They believed that their father would acquiesce and not force them to marry.  They were happy with their freedom and didn’t want to be under the thumb of a man.  Why did they need husbands?

When they awoke, the noticed that a tent had appeared outside of the castle where the merchants usually set up.  It looked bedraggled and dirty, definitely not one of the usual crowd.  They mentioned it to their father, but he took no action against the new people.  He always had a soft spot for the poor and hungry, and was loathe to throw them out.

Unfortunately, the king had resolved that night to find husbands for his daughters, since they refused to choose their own.  He devised a contests, the champion of which would marry his daughters.  The contest was announced and the young men of the land traveled to the city in droves.  They couldn’t wait to win the contest and marry the most beautiful women in the land!

On the day of the contest, every man lined up to take his shot.  They were to shoot an apple off the highest turret while standing in the courtyard.  Amazingly, every single man missed!  The king was in disbelief, until suddenly an arrow pierced the apple!  When he looked around, he saw the young beggar man standing with a bow in his hand. 

“Young man, is that your arrow in the apple up there?” the king asked.

“Yes, my liege.  It is,” the dirty young man replied. 

“Well, unfortunately I cannot declare you the winner of this contest.  No one saw you make the shot, so we must hold another.  Tomorrow, we will have a hunting contest!” declared the king. The man with the greatest kill would be declared the winner.

The beggar looked piqued but did not dissent.  Meanwhile, the two daughters were very grateful that their father had declared another contest.  They did not want to leave their life of luxury for that of poverty and hard work. 

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The next day, the men assembled for the hunt.  Men without horses were given the stable nags, the slowest of which was given to the beggar. The rest of the hunting party was not concerned about the beggar beating them this time, because they knew he could not keep up.

When the horn blew, the entire party took off at a gallop with the beggar lagging far behind.  The group disappeared into the woods and there was only the occasional horn sound to let the castle know of the progress. 

Several hours later, the castle trumpet sounded to call the hunting party back to the keep.  They came in slowly, all toting their kills on their saddles or in their saddle bags.  However, the beggar was nowhere to be seen.  Finally, as the final kills were being compared, someone spotted the man returning from the woods.  As he drew closer, the people could see what appeared to be a small sleigh being pulled behind the beggar’s nag. 

When he rode into the keep, the entire company gasped.  He had shot a 12 point buck, the greatest catch of all the hunters.  Of course, there were cries of cheating and deceit, but the king honored his promise.  Unfortunately, his elder daughter had already promised herself to a foreign king, without her father’s knowledge.  The younger daughter was able to fulfill the promise, however.

She followed the beggar to his tent and cared for him.  She did her wifely duties with nary a complaint or wish for her old life.  They stayed within the castle walls and she visited her father every day.  Her sister, who was still in residence, was always decked from head to toe in jewels and fine fabrics.  She made a point to degrade the younger sister every chance she got.

However, on her return from visiting her one day, she could not find her husband’s tent.  In its place was a grand tent, made from beautiful silks and poles made of gold.  She began to worry if her husband had been pushed from his spot by this extravagant newcomer. 

Suddenly, an incredibly handsome man exited the tent.  He had long black hair, a chiseled jaw, broad shoulders, a barrel chest, and eyes to die for.  He was the man every woman dreamed of, but he was not her husband! She drew breath to berate him. However, he beat her to it.

“Before you ask where your husband is, look closer, my love.  I am your husband, but I have finally assumed my true form.  I am the man that this land worships.  I came to earth to see what all the excitement was about you and your sister, but you are by far the better woman.  You honored your deal, despite the misgivings that I know you had.  You never complained either, and I know it wasn’t easy.”

The woman couldn’t believe what was going on.  She was married to a god! The man gave her something to eat and explained that it would make her like him, so they could stay together for eternity. 

Of course, the older sister wanted to join them, but her husband took her to his home, which turned out to be a drafty castle filled with smelly old men.  You know what they say about Karma!

Author’s Note:

I chose to rewrite the story of Dirty-Boy this week.  It seemed like one that I could easily twist about and had enough superfluous details that I could shorten it to fit my need.  I kept pretty close to the original story, although in the original, there were two deities that came to the village. 

I’ll be honest about the name of the kingdom.  I’m sitting at my desk shoveling candy corn into my mouth as I am writing this, so it seemed like an appropriate name.  It makes the kingdom sound more than a little childish, but I’ve come up with worse names!

I didn’t make any major changes to the story other than changing the details.  I kept close to the original because I thought it was a good story that would teach a good lesson.  Too many changes would have changed the message!

"Dirty-Boy" from Tales of North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).  Web Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook. 

Image Source: Castle Keep. Source: Wikimedia Commons; Dirty Tent. Source: Wikimedia Commons; 

                       Turkish Tent. Source: Wikimedia Commons