Week 2 Story: The Three Roses

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     A long time ago in a faraway land, a young mother lived with her three daughters. One morning, the youngest daughter, who was constantly asking for gifts and toys, demanded that her mother travel to the farmer's market in the next town over to pick her some fresh apples. When the mother was hesitant, the youngest daughter threw a fit, screaming and crying until her mother finally gave in. After asking the rest of her family if they needed anything from the market, the mother set out on her journey to the next town over.    

    The mother walked for several hours to reach the next town over. She shopped for a great deal of time to collect all of her family's needs, but for whatever reason, the mother could not seem to find any apples. She looked everywhere, knowing her youngest daughter would be upset if she didn't bring any apples home. As time progressed, she knew she had to leave in order to make it back home that night whether she had the apples or not. The mother sighed, knowing her daughter's attitude would reappear, then began her journey home. 

    On her way home, the mother passed a beautiful home with an elaborate garden out back. There were all different kinds of flowers and plants. They even had apple trees! Thinking of her youngest daughter once again, the mother climbed the tree and began to pick some of the bright red apples from above. She was so distracted that she did not hear the slithering noise of a dark beast beneath her. After collecting three apples from the tree, she hopped down to the ground only to find a snake-like creature looming in the grass! The mother screamed and shied away from the beast.

    The mother tried to explain herself by telling the basilisk she was only there to collect apples for her youngest daughter. The beast came over to her and demanded her daughter in exchange for the apples she just stole. The mother began to protest, but the beast threatened to rip out her throat if she did not comply with his wishes. She decided it was best to listen and agreed to bring back her daughter as soon as she could.

    The mother quickly hurried home to give her youngest daughter, Mary, the news. Mary began to scream and throw her belongings around the room in outrage. The mother finally put her foot down and told Mary that she was to pack her things as soon as possible because she would not be returning home.

    After packing only the necessities, the mother and daughter set out for the creature's elaborate home. When they arrived, the basilisk reappeared and sent the mother back home without a second glance. He told Mary that it was now her duty to visit him in the garden under the apple tree each night for three hours and bring him food. If she did not do what he wished, he would rip out her throat. Mary was enraged but held her anger inside because she did not want to die. 

    So the nightly ritual began and Mary went out to meet the basilisk under the apple tree every night for three weeks. The basilisk always demanded different things and Mary's anger grew, but she always held it in (besides her slight remarks and obvious attitude that shined through). One night, Mary brought a knife out to the garden with her. She was tired of being a captive in the beast's home. She gave the basilisk his food and when he wasn't looking, she brought the knife down hard on the basilisks head, cutting it off of his body! She looked on in shock as the basilisk's body began to shimmer in a golden light and slowly transformed into a man's body, but he wasn't moving. She was terrified and flipped him and his head over to see a handsome young man where the basilisk used to lay. Not understanding that she had just killed a man, Mary buried the knife behind the apple tree and covered the man with leaves. She knew the beast hadn't lived with anyone, but she did not want to take any chances. Mary locked the doors of the basilisk’s house and turned off the lights before leaving the home, and the beast who once resided inside, behind forever.

The basilisk beast who looks very mighty but did not harm the beauty in this story.

Image from Top 6 Mythical Creatures in Mythology.

Author's Note: This story is a retelling of the original Beauty and The Beast, or Beauty and the Basilisk in this class. To retell this story, I took the same characters and components of the Beauty and the Basilisk story and added a plot twist to change the ending. Since the original ending included the young beauty beheading the basilisk twice (as he requested) then the beast turning into a handsome young man who demanded a wedding, I made the basilisk into a beast who ends up dying during the beheading. The basilisk was fascinated with the young woman and wanted to keep her around; however, she hated this idea and thought that killing him was the only way to finally leave. Because they had never bonded and there was no real relationship between the beauty and the beast yet, killing the basilisk also killed the young man that resided in his body. When he died, his true form came out but he was dead as well. The young daughter was shocked but did not quite understand the situation, so she buried the evidence and made her escape out of his home forever.

Bibliography: "The Three Roses" from Czech Folktales written by Josef Baudis. Source.