Penta With Maimed Hands

Just because you wear this, doesn't mean you're wise.

 
This week's fairy tale comes to us from Italy. Penta With Maimed Hands is a story about one woman's determination not to marry her brother.

I'm not sure who advised the king to marry his sister, but clearly that person and the king needed to be relieved from their duties for awhile. Penta, who was not crazy, refused her brother's advances. While it is incredible that she had her hands cut off to try to get her brother to stop wooing her, I always get stuck on that. Why did her brother think her hands were her best feature? I don't think I've ever heard a guy say that about a woman. Maybe I'm just not talking to the right guys.

Whatever the reason for the king's fixation, once Penta had her hands cut off, her brother threw her out to sea. Can you imagine how much it must have hurt when salt water got in the wounds on her wrists? This poor woman goes through all kinds of suffering because her brother wants to commit incest.

This story, like many other fairy tales, can be seen as two women pitted against each other. Nuccia is convinced that her husband is going to cheat on her with this beautiful, handless woman. Because of this initial distrust, Nuccia goes on to try to get Penta killed, even after Penta is married to someone else far away from the fisherman. Penta, of course, doesn't know that she got a false message from her husband, or that Nuccia was the one who sent it, so it's not a very fair contest. Fortunately for Penta, she is good and pretty so she wins out in the end.

Throughout this story, the only good woman is dead or maimed. Penta, obviously, is good. The king's first wife, who ordered her husband to marry this strange woman without hands, was good. All the better for the story because she died, I suppose. Otherwise, Penta couldn't have been a queen. Nuccia is the only woman we see who is physically whole and she is unnecessarily vicious.

The moral of this story would have to be either to be able to learn to do everything with your feet after you've had to order your own hands cut off, or to have your brother's mental health checked regularly.

How the Monkey Got a Drink When He was Thristy

Devious little critter.

Hello, reader. This week, we go to Brazil for our story. How the Monkey Got a Drink When He was Thirsty is a tale with a very descriptive title.

Of course we all know that monkeys can play the guitar, but I had not realized that monkeys were tricksters as well. This monkey gets in trouble for a pretty silly reason. Obviously, his guitar wouldn't sound right if there were tiger bones inside of it, so his song was fake. I am surprised the tiger got so angry about the monkey's song the first time, but the monkey did keep repeating it. Poor tiger. It makes me wonder why the monkey was so set on bothering the tiger, even after the tiger grabbed him. I think this monkey may have some issues.

The monkey's resin disguise was brilliant. I am a little surprised that the tiger never caught on, but I am more surprised that the tiger stayed at the watering place for so long. He must have been very sensitive about his bones. He also must have gotten very hungry unless he picked off animals who were coming to get a drink. I feel like that behavior is worse than the monkey's little song. I think a parliament of owls would have put the tiger on trial for such behavior. After all, what else is a parliament of owls for?

As for the moral of this story: If you're going to deeply annoy someone dangerous, make sure you're more clever than they are.

The Firebird

Get back here, thief!

This week, we turn to Slavik folklore for The Firebird. In this story, the Firebird and Prince Ivan's stupidity are the driving forces.

Firstly, I need to address the family dynamics in Ivan's house. I understand that he and his brothers might be competitive about catching the thief and then finding the firebird. However, that is no excuse for his brothers to kill Ivan and leave his body for the crows, taking his ill-gotten gains with them. Even their father isn't too grieved about his sons' deaths because Ivan is marrying a pretty girl. What a family.

Next we have the long-suffering gray wolf. While it is true that he killed Ivan's horse, the wolf more than makes up for this theft by helping Ivan commit three more thefts, even though Ivan can't follow directions. I could understand that the first time, Ivan could be tempted by the Firebird's cage. He might have even been worried about being able to carry off the bird without it escaping. However, when he didn't listen about the horse's bridle either, I gave up on Ivan. I also think the wolf was the reason everyone was asleep and it would have been so easy to steal their greatest treasure. The wolf tirelessly works to get Ivan what he wants, even though Ivan seems incapable of helping himself. The wolf is the only hero in this story.

Then we have Ivan himself. This is an unscrupulous, greedy man. He agreed to steal a Firebird, horse, and princess with no second thoughts. He was driven into these thefts, so they are understandable. However, once Ivan has these precious items and the princess, he doesn't want to give them up. The long-suffering gray wolf tricks the tsars so Ivan can keep what, and who, he stole.

The princess, Helen, is essentially an object. Princess Helen is beautiful and walks more slowly than her attendants and her father's name is Dalmat. We know nothing else about her. It's entirely possible she wanted to marry Ivan's brothers more than Ivan. Or even the wolf! We've seen that happen before in fairy tales, and he is the most noble character. The point being that Helen is passed around as easily as the horse or firebird. No one asks her opinion and she never seems to have one. I realize this is part of the time this fairy tale was told, but Ivan is still greedy for treating this beautiful woman like she is another precious thing to be stolen, instead of a person.

The moral of this tale is that if you choose to sacrifice your horse, you will gain an incredibly loyal friend who works to make your whims real, no matter how stupid you are.

I wonder what would have happened if Ivan had gone straight at that pillar instead.