Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

 Story Source: The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922).

Animal with basilisk tail and phoenix torso/head. This is the image of the "beast".

 Image from Fairy Tale: Beauty and the Basilisk.

    The story that really grabbed my attention was Beauty and the Basilisk, a retelling of the old Beauty and the Beast. The basilisk within this story was very different than the original beast. He confronted the mother and was not afraid to go out in public. He was very aggressive and demanding since he threatened to kill both the mother and daughter. Once he finally had the daughter in his grasp, he wanted her to care for him. For whatever reason, he changed his mind after a couple nights and wanted her to behead him. After she beheaded him, another snake formed. She killed the second snake to find a handsome young man who demanded she marry him now. Personally, I would change the beast from a basilisk to a different animal. Also, while the demanding attitude fits this particular story, it would be kind of funny to see how things play out with the young girl hating the passive beast who just wants to be transformed back into a human. The young girl could be trying to kill him only to find out that it is actually a young man trapped in a beast's body once she does behead him. When the beast is transformed back into a young man and the woman now wants to be with him, the beast wants nothing to do with the woman who beheaded his former figure. It is a massive plot twist, but I think it could play out well with the same characters.