The Wisdom of Stoats
Jun. 14th, 2024 08:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smokingbootOnce long ago, in the wild wood, a stoat found itself at the ruins of a great stone gate. It did not know what the gate was but was curious anyway and scampered through it, only to find itself changed into a young man of sharp eye and lithe limbs. To his surprise he was spotted instantly by a human girl, a kings daughter clad in white silk, studying in her garden bower and trying not to be bored. When she saw a naked man staring at her in the royal grounds, she raised a ruckus and pursued him instantly for he was an interloper and she was a fierce young thing, her nature just as ready as his to fight and hunt.
Confused by the noise and his cumbersome new shape the stoat turned and tried to run back through the gate, but his senses were dulled by his change; he could not spot the stones that marked the place of magic and he panicked, for he could hear the approach of hounds and men hallooing together. So he crashed on through the bramble thickets and briars and he looked back to see her face poking out above all the tangle, spear raised to throw at him. In just that moment he tripped over a grey stone he recognised and as he fell beyond it, transformed back into the pretty little beast he truly was with pointed ears, white bib and clever eyes. Now the undergrowth held no pains for him and he ripple-ran away among the trees.
But the princess was not one to stop, and she leapt straight after him over the stones and into the forest where suddenly she shrank. Her long legs grew short and her little body grew long, her ears pointed upwards, fur sprouted on her body and at the base of her spine she grew a tail. But just as his mind had stayed mostly that of a stoat, so her mind stayed mostly that of a human, and as soon as she realised what had happened she hurtled back towards her garden. Alas! For no reason she understood, she did not change back into her human shape. She would have cried but stoats know no tears. Instead, she lived in the garden and hunted as she was always wont to do, though for different prey and reasons; rabbits and voles and earthworms and eggs were her meals now, and she caught and ate them with right relish.
The royal gardener remarked to the kings courtiers that there was a stoat in the garden, which doubtless would cause trouble to the kitchen in time, but the courtiers dismissed it as an unworthy reason to bother their lord. The king was overcome with grief because his daughter had disappeared in the wild wood. He blamed himself for letting his palace grounds spill so close to the dangerous place, he blamed himself for the lack of boundary wall; his men were scouring the forest looking for his daughter and finding only trouble. Bandits brought in swore they had never seen her, and though many knights quested for her they never found so much as a scrap of silk. When applied to, the court wizard just shook his head for all his auguries told him that she was right here among them all, and he could only interpret that to mean she was a ghost.
The king's other children tried to console their father and his courtiers advised him to attend to his kingdom, but none of these things mattered to him and all suffered for it. He was constantly in the garden weeping for his lost girl, and seeing him do so cut her heart in two. So she went back to the strange gate and sat right upon the stone of changing, where she thought and wished for the magic. But this time, she did something else, something new to her. She prayed, first to the gods of the wood in thanks for bringing her so much joy as a little animal, and accepted in truth that she was happier as a stoat than as a princess. Then she prayed to the god of men asking only this; that she might mend her father's heart and make him smile. She prayed and prayed, and if either or all or no gods heard her, she had no way to tell. But she did this for so long that the winter came before she noticed. When the first white flakes of snow touched her skin she felt a difference in herself; her fur grew white and glittering just like her garments of long ago, and when she exclaimed at that, she did so in her long stilled human voice.
She scampered straight into the throne room where her father sat, reluctant to attend to his supplicants, and as she dashed towards him the air was full of screams that a white rat was attacking the king! Guards and courtiers dashed towards her with drawn swords but she swerved and dodged them and even as she leapt into the kings lap, she called out to him.
At this the court wizard fainted, and the king roared at the whole room to be still. Wide eyed he lifted her up, and she spoke to him again. Then he kissed her little nose and drew her into the crook of his arm, dismissing all but her. When they were alone he bid her tell him everything that had happened, and she did.
How full were their hearts then!
The king was ready to set the court wizard the task of recovering his daughter's human form, but on hearing this, she confessed the truth from her heart; she was happy as she was, only excepting any sorrow it might cause him. And the king, who loved his daughter more than his daughter's shape, was well enough with this. They decided that when Spring came and her coat turned to chestnut with its little bib and spats, out she would go to the garden and the wild wood and all the world to be her wild self. But in the wintertime, when her fur was white, she would return and abide with the royal family, telling the king all she had seen and learned; and for sure she became his constant companion, playful and wise, regal and wily altogether, a counsellor like no other and a mark of puissance among all noble kingdoms to this day.
The men at arms were sent to seek out to find that troublesome rock, the cornerstone of the strange and ancient gate, but they never did. Some say the court wizard had it dug up and secretly deposited it in his chambers then disappeared through it. But most declare he simply retired as quickly as possible, swearing that if he never saw another enchantment in all his life it would be too soon.
Confused by the noise and his cumbersome new shape the stoat turned and tried to run back through the gate, but his senses were dulled by his change; he could not spot the stones that marked the place of magic and he panicked, for he could hear the approach of hounds and men hallooing together. So he crashed on through the bramble thickets and briars and he looked back to see her face poking out above all the tangle, spear raised to throw at him. In just that moment he tripped over a grey stone he recognised and as he fell beyond it, transformed back into the pretty little beast he truly was with pointed ears, white bib and clever eyes. Now the undergrowth held no pains for him and he ripple-ran away among the trees.
But the princess was not one to stop, and she leapt straight after him over the stones and into the forest where suddenly she shrank. Her long legs grew short and her little body grew long, her ears pointed upwards, fur sprouted on her body and at the base of her spine she grew a tail. But just as his mind had stayed mostly that of a stoat, so her mind stayed mostly that of a human, and as soon as she realised what had happened she hurtled back towards her garden. Alas! For no reason she understood, she did not change back into her human shape. She would have cried but stoats know no tears. Instead, she lived in the garden and hunted as she was always wont to do, though for different prey and reasons; rabbits and voles and earthworms and eggs were her meals now, and she caught and ate them with right relish.
The royal gardener remarked to the kings courtiers that there was a stoat in the garden, which doubtless would cause trouble to the kitchen in time, but the courtiers dismissed it as an unworthy reason to bother their lord. The king was overcome with grief because his daughter had disappeared in the wild wood. He blamed himself for letting his palace grounds spill so close to the dangerous place, he blamed himself for the lack of boundary wall; his men were scouring the forest looking for his daughter and finding only trouble. Bandits brought in swore they had never seen her, and though many knights quested for her they never found so much as a scrap of silk. When applied to, the court wizard just shook his head for all his auguries told him that she was right here among them all, and he could only interpret that to mean she was a ghost.
The king's other children tried to console their father and his courtiers advised him to attend to his kingdom, but none of these things mattered to him and all suffered for it. He was constantly in the garden weeping for his lost girl, and seeing him do so cut her heart in two. So she went back to the strange gate and sat right upon the stone of changing, where she thought and wished for the magic. But this time, she did something else, something new to her. She prayed, first to the gods of the wood in thanks for bringing her so much joy as a little animal, and accepted in truth that she was happier as a stoat than as a princess. Then she prayed to the god of men asking only this; that she might mend her father's heart and make him smile. She prayed and prayed, and if either or all or no gods heard her, she had no way to tell. But she did this for so long that the winter came before she noticed. When the first white flakes of snow touched her skin she felt a difference in herself; her fur grew white and glittering just like her garments of long ago, and when she exclaimed at that, she did so in her long stilled human voice.
She scampered straight into the throne room where her father sat, reluctant to attend to his supplicants, and as she dashed towards him the air was full of screams that a white rat was attacking the king! Guards and courtiers dashed towards her with drawn swords but she swerved and dodged them and even as she leapt into the kings lap, she called out to him.
At this the court wizard fainted, and the king roared at the whole room to be still. Wide eyed he lifted her up, and she spoke to him again. Then he kissed her little nose and drew her into the crook of his arm, dismissing all but her. When they were alone he bid her tell him everything that had happened, and she did.
How full were their hearts then!
The king was ready to set the court wizard the task of recovering his daughter's human form, but on hearing this, she confessed the truth from her heart; she was happy as she was, only excepting any sorrow it might cause him. And the king, who loved his daughter more than his daughter's shape, was well enough with this. They decided that when Spring came and her coat turned to chestnut with its little bib and spats, out she would go to the garden and the wild wood and all the world to be her wild self. But in the wintertime, when her fur was white, she would return and abide with the royal family, telling the king all she had seen and learned; and for sure she became his constant companion, playful and wise, regal and wily altogether, a counsellor like no other and a mark of puissance among all noble kingdoms to this day.
The men at arms were sent to seek out to find that troublesome rock, the cornerstone of the strange and ancient gate, but they never did. Some say the court wizard had it dug up and secretly deposited it in his chambers then disappeared through it. But most declare he simply retired as quickly as possible, swearing that if he never saw another enchantment in all his life it would be too soon.
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