18th century fairy tale Variant

After reading Mullen’s European Folk Tale Variant, I was surprised at how she could tell the folk tale in such a serious tone, as if Goldilocks committed a very serious crime. I guess breaking and entering into the bears’ house isn’t something that we should teach little children but the way Mullen tells this story is just hilarious. It reminds me of the poem that Williams wrote about eating plums, except he apologized for a seemingly serious situation in a light tone while Mullen told a light story in a grave tone. After reading the variant, I tried to come up with my own variation on a story.

Once upon a time, in a little town in the meadows lived a lonely lupine who knew nothing of the world’s evils. One day, a family of swine moved in to the forest not far from the meadow. Upon noticing the lone lupine, the King of the swine came up with a malicious plan. He sent his little swine soldiers to the meadow, and there they started their construction, their trap.

As they were building, the King went to the young lupine and told him of the little swine friends that would befriend this friendless lupine. Upon learning this, this naïve lupine went to find his new neighbors, bringing with him home baked cookies, hoping that he could make some friends. He walks along, and sees the first house, an unstable house made of dry stalks. He then walks up to the house and begins to knock on the door. Suddenly, a gust of wind comes from nowhere and blows the house down. Out from the house dashes a young swine who runs to the nearest house. The young lupine, bewildered by the swine’s action, decides to follow him to the next house. This house, like the one before, is also a little rickety and shaky but could withstand the wind. This time, the lupine successfully goes up and knocks on the door. But the house couldn’t withstand his knock and fell apart like the first house. This time, from the shambles, rushes out two swine. These swine dash toward the third house, which is made of red stone slabs.

So the lupine decides to visit the third house. After knocking on the door, a voice inside tells the lupine that the door is broken and that if the lupine wants to be friends with him, he should come in through the chimney like Santa Claus. Upon hearing this, the lupine becomes very excited because thinks he can finally make a friend. So he climbs the roof and too his dismay, he falls into a pot of boiling water and dies. And gathered around the pot, are the three little piglets, with napkins around their necks and forks in their hands.

The End