Week 2 Story: The Internal Beauty and the Basilisk

Story: Once upon a time, in the woods on the outskirts of a town lived a widow named Margaret and her three daughters, Madeline, Maggie, and Mary. Mary was the youngest of the family and from birth she was cursed with the snout, and ears of a pig. Aside from her curse, Mary was intelligent, extremely well read, and up for any challenge. Mary’s curse came about because of her father, who one day was hunting in the woods and saw a deer, as any great hunter would do, he pulled back his bow and slayed the deer. Little did he know, that the deer was actually the shape shifting son of the witch that lived in the woods. Her father’s sin of killing the witch’s child lead to the curse on Mary, his youngest child. The curse was only to be broken by true love. Mary’s curse had brought great shame to the family and her father was tried for dark magic and in due time was killed by the townspeople, leaving his family to reside in the dark forest. Mary’s curse only caused the family trials, and over time, especially after her father’s death, her family grew to despise her and locked her away in the basement. One day, Margaret was going to town to fetch some groceries. During her journey she got lost in the woods and found herself at the gate of an eerie, old castle. Margaret, peaked with curiosity, entered the castle grounds to explore. Just after her entry, she found herself standing under a pavilion surrounded by big, vibrant red roses, which were the only color to be found among the castle. Mesmerized by their beauty, she reached up to pick one, when all of the sudden someone yells, “Halt! Those are my roses!”, terrified by the unexpected visitor, Margaret replies, “Who are you?”, coming out of the shadow into the light, the basilisk replies, “None of your concern but I will take you as my prisoner as a punishment for trying to steal my rose.” Shocked by the sight of the basilisk and his unruly demand, Margaret quickly responded, “Do not take me, for I have three daughters and I will bring you the youngest as a sacrifice for myself.”, Margret thought this was a clever plan, because she would finally get rid of her cursed daughter. However, she dare not mention her daughters curse to the basilisk. The basilisk agreed to the terms, thinking he may have found a suitor. Margaret hurried home to fetch her daughter and when she arrived, for the first time in years she let her daughter out of the basement and led her to her fate at the castle. Mary was unsure about trusting her mother, but knew that she would take any chance at a life outside of the basement. When Mary arrived at the castle, the basilisk was furious, he yelled, “You promised me your daughter not a monster!”, Margaret replied, “She has the face of an animal, but nevertheless, she is my youngest child as we agreed.” Feeling let down, as he thought he was receiving a girl of great beauty and a possible suitor, basilisk replied, “So be it.” He then took Mary by her arm and led her to the castle dungeon. You see, the basilisk too was cursed, he used to be a young, handsome prince that was too greedy and offered no mercy, and as a payment for his ways he was cursed to a life of humiliation and seclusion, as the town was commanded to forgot the prince; the curse was only to be broken by true love. Mary remained in the dungeon for weeks, looking forward to the brief visits when the basilisk brought her food. One day, during their meeting, she says, “I have been your prisoner for weeks and yet, I still know no name for you,” this was the first time Mary had spoken to the basilisk as she was infuriated by his reaction to her, when he too was an animal. The basilisk replies, “You may call me Basilisk.” While this was their first conversation, over time and little by little, Mary and the basilisk began talking and soon Mary gained his favor and was released from the dungeon to a room in the castle. From here, it was history, with more time Mary and the basilisk formed a relationship that soon grew into love. When they both gained the courage to tell each other of their love for one another, despite their appearances, they agreed they could lead a happy life in the seclusion of the castle. In the precise moment, the words I love you rolled of their lips, a bright light surrounded the couple and the witch appeared. She said, “Your sins are now paid for and I release the curse over you both.” As light continued to fill the room, the shells of the two cursed bodies broke and revealed a gorgeous, dark haired beauty and a handsome prince. Mary and the Prince wed soon after, with the whole town in attendance. Mary’s mother wept, because her youngest daughter was now a princess and she was ashamed for offering up her own daughter. Mary and the Prince lived happily ever after, with the lesson to be learned that beauty does not come from appearance, but what lies within each of us.

(Belle or in this story "Mary" and the Prince: Picture from Run, Karla, Run!)

Author's Notes: In the original story of Beauty and the Basilisk, a mother going off to a market had asked her children what they wanted from the market. While two of her children asked for a lot of possessions, Mary, her youngest simply asked for a rose. On the way back from the market, the mother got lost and wandered up to an old castle, where she then saw roses and remembered her youngest daughter's request. When she went to pick a rose, a basilisk appeared and condemned her for stealing. When the mother explained her actions, the basilisk told her to bring him her youngest daughter as a payment for the roses. The mother did as she was commanded and surprisingly, when she told Mary of the price, she was quite excited. When Mary arrived at the castle, the basilisk told her she was to nurse him for three hours on her lap each day. On the third day, he asked her to cut off his head, and she did. Then the basilisk was turned into a serpent and again Mary cut off his head and this time a handsome prince appeared and they were married. I decided to change the plot of the story by also making Mary a sort of beast. This allowed for the attraction of love between the two to be internal beauty, rather than physical attraction. Also, I made the mother angry and vengeful toward her daughter for the disgrace that she brought to their family. I also made up a story about the father and blamed his for the curse on Mary. I kept the basilisk being a basilisk to keep an element of the old story and not change the storyline too much. I really thought the idea of having two curses that neither knew about would be cool. Also, I liked the fact that they could both bond over their differences.

Bibliography: “The Beauty and the Basilisk” from The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922). Web Source.