One day a farmer planned to head to market to sell their crops. Most of the farmer's children requested many trinkets, toys, and ribbons. However, the farmer's youngest child, used to being left out by their older siblings and unheard by their parents, asked only for a pear.
After the farmer finished business for the day and purchased toys for the children, it was already getting dark. The horse and cart were quickly packed up, and they headed for home. The farmer had been up before dawn and was tired. In the dark forest, it was easy to lose your way. It was not long until the farmer was lost.
As the night wore on, the farmer became more confused and finally decided to find somewhere to stop for the night. Better to stay in one place until sunup than risk the horse on an uncertain path. After finding a clearing in what seemed to be an abandoned orchard, the farmer set up a makeshift camp. The fruit on the trees made a passable supper, and what luck! There were pears to fulfill the request of the youngest child.
Just before the farmer went to sleep, there was a cracking and creaking in the trees nearby. Out came a bear, angry, growling, and ready to attack. The farmer was shocked to see a bear in this part of the forest but quickly took up a log from the woodpile. To the farmer's surprise, the bear did not immediately rush and attack, but instead spoke.
"Why are you in my orchard, stealing my fruit and burning my wood?" huffed the bear. The farmer sensing an opportunity for a bargain, overcame their shock and replied, "Well, you see, I lost the path in the darkness. I stopped here for the night and ate enough fruit to sustain myself. I gathered enough wood to keep me warm through the night."
The bear considered the farmer's response. "What you say about the wood you gathered is true. But about the fruit, you have lied. You have pears you have not eaten, those you have stolen from me, and for that, you will die!"
Before the bear could leap at the farmer, using teeth and claws to bite and rend, the farmer cried out, "Wait! The pears I forgot again! They are for my youngest child, a daughter, Marie. My elder children ask for trinkets, toys, and many other gifts every time I go to town. Marie only asks for small things, fruit or flowers, perhaps. They're things I can gather even in the forest because she is kind and knows I sometimes forget in town."
"If your daughter is so kind, then leave the pears." the bear demanded. "Send her back for them herself, and we will see how kind she really is - will she return to save your life?"
The farmer did not feel as if this was a fair burden to put on Marie but also felt this was not a decision to be made without involving family. "I will agree to this," said the farmer. "But if Marie does not want to come back, I will, and that's the end of it."
The bear agreed, the farmer returned the pears and headed for home while it was still dark. The ribbons and trinkets the eldest children asked for were used to mark the path so someone could find their way back to the bear's orchard. It was just after dawn when the farmer turned the cart into the yard. Marie was pacing outside, clearly worried something had happened.
"Mama!" Marie shouted. "You've been gone all night. What happened? Are you okay? Is the horse okay?"
"I lost the path. I stopped and thought to bring back pears, but the trees belonged to someone. They want you to return for the fruit yourself, in exchange for my life. It is not my choice to make, and I will go back myself. The path is marked with the ribbons your brother and sister asked for - it will be easy for either of us to find our way back to the orchard."
Marie thought it over for just a moment. "No. No, I asked for the fruit, even knowing everything else my siblings had asked for. I'll go. I cannot deal with them without you. Better to take my chances with an angry orchard owner than stay here."
Marie and her mother talked and embraced. Then Marie left to follow the trail back to the orchard. Without a horse, it was again dark before she arrived back at the fruit trees. Her mother's trail markers ended, and she found the remains of the fire. Marie coaxed the fire back to life and waited. Soon there came a cracking and creaking in the trees nearby.
"Are you the farmer's daughter who only wanted pears?" came the mumble from the shadows.
"Yes, I'm Marie, and the farmer is my mother."
"I am going to step into the light. Please do not scream." And the bear stepped closer to the fire.
Marie only nodded. "Yes, mother told me the being who owned the orchard was a bear, perhaps under an enchantment. What do you need from me?"
"Actually, I am enchanted; I've tried to break it many times over the years, but it was done by a fairy. As a bear, I've just found that older humans are stringy, and younger humans are far more delicious. Please don't run, it will only make us both very tired in the end." And the bear stalked towards Marie, ready to eat.
"I see," Marie said very calmly. "Mother said it may come to this. She was the one who enchanted you after all. She's sent me with the family sword and staff. Please don't run, my aim isn't very good, and I would hate to enchant any of your lovely trees."
And with that, the beast was no more.
Image information:
"Hutton in the Forest - pears"
by
kimhollingshead
is licensed under
CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
"the dark forest"
by
danoxster
is licensed under
CC BY-SA 2.0
Author's Note: So I started with Beauty and the Basilisk and just kind of went off from there. I really didn't like that at the end the basilisk was just more and more demanding, then basically got to say oh, I'm human now we are getting married. So in my version the beast (basilisk) just doesn't get very far at all.
Bibliography: "The Three Roses" from The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922) Web Source.
