Everyday Canvas

Retelling of a Fairy Tale: The Beauty and the Beast

Prompt: Re-write your favorite fairy tale.

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The Beauty and the Beast

Once upon a time, there was young man, Norton Beast, whose family fortune was decimated by his alcoholic father and two brothers. His father’s carelessness due to his alcoholism took a tragic turn one day when he and the two brothers were sailing. Due to their sloppy boat-handling, their sailboat capsized and all three met their maker. The young man wasn’t with them because he had to attend business earlier in the day so his family could eat, and also he wanted to stay home later and read.

Having little to live by, after the Beast family was decimated, the young man sold the house and moved into a tiny hut and found a job working in a farm. Although the farm work was back-breaking, it left him enough time to attend to his beloved reading and learning.

One day, while working in the fields a storm came over the place with heavy dark rains falling from the sky. The foreman of the farm was a superstitious man and he didn’t like the crops being swept away by the wind. “You brought this storm on us just the way you caused your father and brothers’ deaths at sea. Now what am I going to tell Princess Beauty? She is the owner of these fields. The Princess, as you may have heard, is a tough cookie, and she punishes people cruelly. She’ll do away with me!”

The young man felt bad for the foreman, although the storm had nothing to do with either one of them. “Don’t worry, Sir,” he said. “I’ll tell the Princess that the loss of her crops was all my fault. I am sure, she’ll spare you.”

After saying that, Norton Beast trudged through the muddy streets to the palace where Princess Beauty lived. He told the guards at the door that he had come to see the Princess to report on her crops. One of the guards went inside the palace and, after talking to the Princess, he came back to say, “The Princess will see you now.”

Norton Beast, trying to control his anxiety over his own future, ambled through the beautifully decorated corridors of the palace. The richness and exquisiteness of the place made him even feel poorer than he already was.

Yet, when he saw the princess, he couldn’t believe his eyes. How could such a beautiful lady gain such a terrible reputation of being tough and cruel?

Princess Beauty, too, when she looked at Norton Beast, couldn’t help feel a softness in her heart. Getting angry with herself for that feeling of softness, she grunted openly. “What do you want from me, you stupid peasant!”

“Your highness,” Norton said, without even blinking. “I may be a peasant but I am not stupid. I came to ask you not to punish the foreman of your farms. I was the one working on the fields when the storm hit. If anyone is responsible for the loss of your crops, I take the responsibility. Please spare the foreman.”

Princess Beauty was taken aback. This wasn’t what she was expecting from this man. She had thought this young peasant--let’s face it, a rather strong and handsome one, too--had come to ask for alms or for a chance to work somewhere. Quite the contrary! He was trying to protect the foreman who probably wasn’t even good to him. This is a special kind of person. He is certainly much more honorable than all the princes who are asking for my hand in marriage, she thought. I am not letting this peasant go. I am not letting him leave my side.

“The foreman is forgiven,” she proclaimed. “But with one condition. You are to stay in the palace and serve me as my personal bodyguard.”

Norton Beast couldn’t believe his good fortune. He had never dreamed of staying in the palace to take care of such a stunning princess.

“Thank you, your highness,” he said. “Your command is my desire.”

“I see you have a way with words and even some wit. Just the kind of thing I expect from a…a...ahem...from a bodyguard.”

Norton Beast caught a twinkle or two in Princess Beauty’s eyes and he watched her clap her hands to call her servants. Surely living in a palace and not worrying about his next meal would be better than his hut and the muddy fields. The princess ordered the servants to clean and dress Norton Beast, so he could begin to attend to her immediately.

“After you are all done,” she told him, “Come to the library. That is where I spend most of my days.”

“A library! I love books!” Norton Beast closed his mouth with his hands. He thought he shouldn’t have exclaimed loudly like that.

But Princess Beauty smiled, then grinned wider. “I like men who love books,” she said, with a wink.

Norton Beast was surprised once more. Why did anyone think Princess Beauty was such a witch? Truly, the princess had such a terrible reputation among the folks, but so undeservedly.

When Norton Beast peeked in through the door into the library after he was all prettied up, he saw shelves and shelves of books from floor to the ceiling and even more books on the tables and in the storage room which was visible from its open door.

“Come in, Beast!” Beauty called from the desk she was sitting at. “Grab a book and sit with me.”

“Yes, your highness!”

“Drop that your highness crap, will you? From now on, you’ll call me Beauty, and that is an order.”

“Yes, your hi…Beauty!”

At Beast's fumbling with words, they both giggled and laughed. The servants outside the door heard them and they were flabbergasted as Beauty had never laughed in her life.

Now, Beauty and Norton Beast had so much to talk about when they finished reading as reading breeds ideas in people. Through time, Beast became Beauty’s best friend. Even more than friendship as it turned out since relationships always carry a hint of friendship in them, don’t they?

Then, one day, Beauty blurted out, “Beast, will you be my king? I want to marry you.”

“But I have nothing to offer you.”

“You have everything to offer me, Beast. People can only offer themselves. The rest is fakery.”

And they did get married.

So this Beauty and this Beast ruled over their kingdom as long as they lived, and their kingdom prospered and became the most livable place in the storyland’s universe.

All because, this may have been the first time when a female took upon herself to present the offer of marriage to a male specifically in a fairy tale, but then, aren’t most fairy tales magical?