Week 7: Storytelling: The Cave of the Beasts

Week 7 Storytelling: The Cave of the Beasts

Once upon a time there was a man named Todd who was married to his wife Francesca, and together they had seven beautiful daughters.The names of his daughters were Elizabeth, Charlotte, Annabelle, Christina, Penelope, Catherine, and Alexandra. 

One day when Todd was out looking for firewood, he stumbled upon seven golden duck eggs. He brought home the eggs, but had no intention of sharing them with his seven daughters. He desired to share the deliciously golden eggs with his wife for breakfast the next morning. 

Golden Eggs

Todd's oldest daughter, Elizabeth, woke up early the next morning and asked her mother was she was cooking that smelled so delicious. Francesca admitted that she was cooking golden duck eggs, and she would let her have one if she did not speak a word of it to her six younger sisters. 

Next, Charlotte woke up and asked her mother what she was cooking. Francesca replied that she was cooking golden duck eggs. She agreed to let her have one if she did not tell her sisters. This went on and on until all of the golden eggs were eaten by all of the daughters. 

Todd finally woke up around ten-thirty that morning only to find that his precious eggs were gone. Todd was so angry that he cooked up an evil plan to rid himself of his daughters whom he now despised. 

His plan was to trick his daughters by telling them they were going to visit their grandparents who lived beyond the dark forest, but he was actually going to sneak away from them in the middle of the night and leave them to be eaten by the wild beasts in the forest. 

Dark Forest

That afternoon, Todd and his seven daughters left their house to travel through the dark forest. When nighttime came upon them, the daughters turned around to ask their father if they were close yet. When they turned around, they realized their father was gone and had left them to fight the night alone in the dark forest. 

They found a stone which they would make into a pillow. All together they moved the stone to the ground to rest their heads on it in the night. When they moved the stone, they saw that it was really a door to a glowing, eerie cave. 

The girls curiously went into the cave and found that the glow came from a collection of priceless gems, stones, and jewels. They also found feather beds with golden silk sheets, and helped themselves to a luxurious night of sleep. 

Cave Jewels

During the night, the owners of the cave, a fox and a wolf, came home to find the girls sleeping in their beds. They were too tired to eat them that night, so they decided to wait until the morning. Since their beds were occupied, they decided to blow out the fire and sleep in the pot above the warm firewood.

When the girls woke up, they saw that the owners of the cave had come home and they were sleeping in a giant cauldron over still warm firewood. Four of the girls tiptoed over to the cauldron and slammed the lid onto it while the other three collected rocks and stones to put on top of the lid so the fox and wolf could not escape. 

The Fox and the Wolf

An intense warm feeling woke up the fox and wolf, and minutes later they were dead. The girls had started a fire to cook the animals and save themselves from being eaten alive. A few days later, Todd went out to the woods in hopes that his daughters were still alive. He realized he had made a mistake in leading them to their death and wished to bring them home. 

When he smelled something delicious cooking, he followed his nose. Finally, he reached a glowing cave. He slowly crept inside and much to his surprise he saw seven young women. He felt relieved and started crying tears of joy. 

Todd said, "Oh girls, I am so glad to see you! I am so sorry I left you out here alone. Please come home to your mother and me."

The daughters replied, "Oh father, we are indeed happy to see you, too. We are quickly cooking up breakfast, and then we all shall leave this cave together. We can take all of these precious jewels with us and become rich!"

Todd said, "Oh daughters it does smell delightful. If I may ask, what are you making that smells so delicious?"

The daughters replied, "We are actually making golden duck eggs. That is your favorite right? Come here take a look. Do you think they are golden enough?"

As Todd looked into the burning cauldron, he saw nothing but a dead fox and wolf. He was very confused, and just as he was turning around to ask his daughters what they were talking about, all seven of them pushed him into the cauldron and shut the lid tight. 

The daughters said: "That is for leaving us out here to die alone. This is what you deserve!"

Burning Cauldron

The daughters then gathered up all of the jewels and gems, headed home, and forever lived a life full of luxury and happiness with their sweet mother. 

Author's Note: For this story, The Cave of the Beasts, I kept almost everything the same, except for the ending. In the original story, the daughters did not kill the father at the end. The girls in the original let the father take them home and they let him take the jewels so they could all live a happy, rich life. I was expecting the ending that I wrote to happen, so when it didn't, I decided I must change it! This ending makes more sense, and is much more interesting! Also, only the youngest daughters went with the father to the grandmother's house because the older daughters knew better. They knew it was a trick. I thought that was pretty wrong because if they knew, why did they not warn the other sisters? So I decided all of them should be tricked. In the original they traveled into the mountains, but I thought a dark forest sounded scarier. It reminds me of something out of a horror film. The same events take place in the cave with the fox and the wolf except that the animals did not see the girls when they get home. The fox talked the wolf into sleeping in the pot instead of the bed because it would be warmer. Also just for fun, I gave everyone names. None of the characters have names, but I decided to make it more interesting and give everyone a name. I chose Todd for the father because leading your children into the woods to be eaten is evil, and if you have ever watched "Breaking Bad," the character Todd is pretty darn evil. For the daughters and mother, I chose really feminine, long pretty names because they are sweet (for the most part).

Bibliography:

Book: Chinese Fairy Tales
Author: R. Wilhelm
Year Published: 1921
Web Source: Un-Textbook