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Literature Text
Beauty and the Beast
Part One
Summary: An adaptation of the translated piece of Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s writing of the tale, first published in 1756 and translated in 1757. (The pirates are new.) If you wish to read the original version, it can be found here: pitt.edu/~dash/beauty.html .
~o0o~
There was once a wealthy pirate king, a loyal man who ran his fleet with the help of his three sons and three daughters. He had once had a wife, but she fell in love with another while he was away at sea. Finding himself unwilling to bind her to a man she no longer loved, he let her leave… though it pained him dearly. He continued to love his children fiercely, however, and as it so happens this is a tale of the pirate and his daughters.
His daughters were all very beautiful, but the youngest was the prettiest of all. The king always called her “me little Beauty,” for she reminded him of all he had come to love in life and all he had loved in his wife, and before long the child came to be known as Beauty to everyone--a fact which made her sisters terribly envious. For Beauty was not only handsomer than her sisters: she was also of a better character than them. The elder siblings were very prideful of their wealth and station as daughters of the pirate king. They would not talk to the common pirate’s daughters, and they spent their days in leisure, trying on new plundered dresses and hosting expensive parties with other pirate captains. Even when in port they would spend their time going to the classiest of balls and concerts. Because Beauty did none of these things, and preferred to spend her time reading and learning from her father, they laughed at her.
These sisters were so prideful that when they reached a reasonable age, and men in the pirate fleet asked to marry them on account of the siblings’ wealth and power, they refused. And it was not because they did not love these men (though it was true that they did not), but because these men were not captains. Of course, no captain ever asked for their hand, knowing they would come under very close scrutiny from the king were they to do so, and so the sisters remained unwed entirely. Beauty always declined as well, but she did so on account of her young age (though she wasn’t exactly a child), and would politely say that she chose to stay with her father for a few more years.
However, one day a storm came and crashed the pirate king’s ship upon the shore. Their father lost all of his wealth and power in the disaster, with the sole exception of his old country home far outside the main city. Even their ship was damaged beyond repair, and when it sunk it took with it any hope of gaining the funds to purchase a new one. Grieved and on the verge of tears, the king told his children that they would have to return to the country and work for their living.
At first, the older sisters insisted that they would live in the town. They had lovers there who they believed would support them in their time of need… but they were mistaken. In their newfound poverty and in light of their shaky standing with the law, their lovers would not take them. And as they were so prideful none in the city pitied them. The townsfolk were glad to know that the two sisters would be working for a living among the cows and dairy. However, there was some concern for Beauty among both the people of the town and the pirates who remained. “She’s such a kindhearted, even-tempered girl,” they would say. “We would gladly marry her even in her poverty, to keep her from such a fate.”
But Beauty refused. She could not imagine leaving her father to his new life alone. She did regret the loss of her life at sea, and their fortune, but told herself that since crying would not fix anything (though she could not keep herself from it, at first) she must make the best of the situation.
And she did. Beauty rose early each morning to prepare meals for the family and to clean the house, and while at first the days were hard Beauty soon flourished under the work. Her sisters, on the other hand, lounged about the house, and did nothing but bemoan the loss of their wealth, even as her brothers and father worked hard in the fields and among the livestock. Her father knew that her sisters did nothing, and was grateful to Beauty for her hard work and for bearing the taunts of her sisters so well.
A year passed, and the next autumn good news finally arrived: the former pirate king received word that some of his captains had found the sunken treasure from his ship, and wished to speak with him of it in the city. The man quickly began making plans for the journey; he had found himself surprised at his contentment with the new, land-bound life, but living in poverty did not much suit him or his family, and he looked forward to receiving the treasure with excitement.
Beauty’s sisters were exalted--with the money from the ship, they could live in the manner they were accustomed again. They plagued their father, as he prepared to leave, with requests for this or that gown or jewel. But when their father came to Beauty and asked what she wished for, she hesitated, as she knew that whatever wealth they may have gained might hardly be enough to cover her sisters’ requests, let alone any she might make. And yet she knew that her sisters would feel she were being spiteful, or at least condemning their requests, if she were to refuse to ask for anything at all.
“You are very kind to ask me,” she said after a moment, “and if you could perhaps find a rose to bring to me, I would be very grateful. They do not grow without very careful care here.”
“I will find ye a rose then, Beauty, the best of the city or of the journey in between,” her father promised. And so he set off.
But when he got to the city, it was to find treachery--the captains would not return a fair share of the wealth, and had only come to gloat. In their time apart, roaming the seas on their own, they had forgotten any loyalty the once held for the good man. After hours of argument, during which the king only succeeded in keeping less and less of his own treasure, a fight began. The pirates were so notorious in the city as to be feared wherever they went, and the fight was private among these few men; there was no response from the guard. Out of practice and without even a sword, the former king was forced to flee the city without a penny more to his name--and without any of his traveling supplies.
Consoling himself with the sole thought of returning to his children, the pirate set off for his home on foot. But as he passed through a forest a terrible storm came, with freezing rain and driven snow, and soon he was lost almost beyond hope and dangerously chilled. Gradually, night grew closer. “I shall surely freeze to death,” he thought in despair, “or else starve, or be eaten by some creature of the night!” He could hear them moving all about him, sometimes crashing through the brush or else howling in the distance, wolves and specters both real and imagined.
But then, he caught sight of a light through the trees, a ghostly glow that resembled nothing so much as the light upon a ships mast before a storm--the flickering, cold fire of the spirits of the sea. Warmed by a familiar sight, even alien as it was among the barren branches of the forest, he hurried toward the light. Soon, a great palace came into view, alight with St. Elmo’s fire flaring about its fires and the much more mundane glow of candles and hearth gleaming through the windows.
Letting out a cry of relief, the pirate made for the palace. He reached it to find the front door open, snow melting not a meter inside for the welcome heat within. “Hello?” he called, his voice echoing in the cavernous front hall. “Is anyone here? I’ve gotten lost in the tempest. If I could stay, just for the night, you’d have me gratitude…” There was no answer save the echo of his own voice. Soon, though, more of the spirit flame lit the floor before him, and following it he came to a great table, laden with food that was still fresh and steaming.
The pirate decided that if the owner of the castle minded his presence they would have appeared by now. He was quite used to taking good fortune and gifts as the came to him, in any case, and set to the food with enthusiasm. Once sated, the former king set out to explore the castle. He soon found a room with a bed set out, and in exhaustion fell into it and was soon asleep.
He woke the next morning to find dry traveling clothes and a pack filled with food at the foot of his bed, and decided that whoever or whatever inhabited the castle must surely have heard him as he explained his plight--even if they had remained silent. There was even a tray with breakfast set out on a table by the door. “Thank ye, good Spirit,” he said warmly to the air, “for helping me in me troubles. I owe a debt to ye.”
As he left the castle, however, he passed through a garden; in the clear light of day he saw that it was filled with every type of rose one could imagine, growing healthy and free in the utmost of tender care and somehow sheltered from the chill of the rest of the world. “I hope,” he thought to himself, remembering Beauty, “that the Spirit will not begrudge me one more gift.”
But when he cut a branch from one of the roses, carefully gathering it in his arms, there came a terrible roar--a shriek to but the legendary kraken to shame, or so he thought at the time, as his knees went weak from shock. Never had he heard such a pained cry, in his time in the sea or on land.
And then, a horrible creature came before him. It might once have been a man, but was something else entirely now--twisted of body, bald of head, sickly grey of skin, and grievously scarred of face. Its teeth were as sharp as a shark’s, and almost as numerous.
“You are very cruel,” the monster thundered, “to repay my kindness to you with theft--and of my roses, which I hold closer than my own life! You shall die for it!”
“Please, me lord,” the pirate cried, falling to his knees, for here was a vengeful Spirit indeed, “I meant no harm! Forgive me. I didn’t mean any offense. It only be that one of me daughters wished for a rose, and I thought perhaps, as ye had been so generous in other matters…”
“My name is not Lord,” the creature growled, “but Beast--compliments have no weight with me. I would know what people truly think of me. Still… I will forgive you, for the sake of your children, if one of your daughters will return to this castle and suffer in your place. If your daughters will not come for you, then you must return yourself--swear it!”
Trembling in fear, the former king so swore. He had no intention of sacrificing any one of his daughters, but thought perhaps that here was his only chance to see his children one last time--his chance to say goodbye. “You will not go empty handed,” the Beast told him after this oath, seaming to have calmed somewhat. “Go back to the main hall. You will find a chest there; fill it with whatever you wish, save any more roses, and I will transport it to your home.”
The pirate decided, as he filled the chest with gold, that if he must die then this was the way to do it. He would have the chance to see his children before the end, and leave them in a far better state of wealth--one last load of gold for his legacy.
Soon, he returned home, and his children embraced him--he found that it was impossible to hold his composure, and soon burst into tears. He gave the branch of roses, now sadly wilted, to Beauty. “They cost your poor father dearly,” he cried, and told them of the Beast. His two eldest daughters quickly let out cries of their own--yet Beauty remained silent. They turned to her in fury.
“You couldn’t ask for a normal gift,” they said. “You had to be particular, and ask for a rose! See where it has lead our father! And you will not even mourn for him?”
“Should I?” said Beauty. “If the Beast will spare his life for one of our own, then of course he will not suffer for my mistake. I will go.”
“No, Beauty!” her father exclaimed. “I be touched by the offer, but I’m old. I’ve lived me life: been king of the seas, raised me children, and found contentment here in the country. Ye have years ahead of ye! I regret nothing; your lives are worth everything to me. I’ll not trade me family for me greed again.”
“You may say as you wish,” Beauty said. “But since you can’t stop me from following you to the castle, it will all be in vain.”
And she was correct, for all their urging could not turn her from this course. That night, finding the chest of gold delivered to his room as the Beast had promised, the father decided that he would not tell his children of it right away, for they would want to move straight to the city. Not only had he grown happy with country life, he had some small hope of Beauty being able to find them should she escape--as a pirate’s daughter was sure to at least attempt.
~o0o~
Part two can be found here-->.
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This was one of the first major projects we completed in my creative writing class; we were supposed to take some sort of inspiration from a well-known fairy tale or children's tale. We could retell the story in a new setting, change the ending, tell an 'after ever-after' story, make a prequel, whatever. I waited until pretty much the day before the silly thing was due trying to think of an idea, and at eight o'clock that night went 'to heck with it, I'm told pirates make anything better'. And then this monstrosity was born.
I wasn't happy with it at all at first; I followed the original tale so closely on the first writing that even the sentence structures were the same, up until the end. It's grown on me since, though, particularly after the most recent edit that fixed the terribly long, comma-saturated sentences. It's not the best story I've written and it's not terribly original, though I do like what changes I made, but I'm oddly fond of it regardless. Tell me what you think so far!
© 2013 - 2024 Grumpy-Old-Snake
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I read this :3 still can't get enough of it <3