Thursday 2 September 2010

The Fateful Apple



Willow's Magpie Tale no. 30


Many many moons ago, in a far distant land, there lived an evil  tyrant called Gessler, who ruled over the people of the mountains with a rod of iron. In the name of the Emperor who had newly appointed him, he demanded absolute obedience from young and old. His word was law, he exacted cruel taxes and punished those who were unable to pay;  no matter how much the townsfolk begged and pleaded with him, he stayed deaf and blind to their suffering.

One day he had a large pole erected in the market place and hung his hat on it. Any woman passing it had to curtsey to the hat and any man had to bow to it. The townsfolk did as they were bid, punishment for noncompliance was severe, nobody was brave enough to risk being flogged or worse, lose their life.

It so happened that a famous marksman, by the name of William Tell came into the town, bringing his young son Walter with him. William was a proud man, used to the hard life of the mountains, where it was easy to risk life and limb almost daily in the pursuit of survival.

William, being headstrong and a rebel to boot, ignored the pole with its ridiculous hat on the top and passed by without bowing.

Gessler heard of it,  and immediately had William and Walter arrested. Gessler knew all about William's reputation as the finest marksman for miles around. He also knew that William was a troublemaker who could and probably would incite the townsfolk to rise up and rebel against his overlordship.

He therefore devised a cunning plan to stop William and, at the same time, appear as a fair arbiter of justice. He decreed that an apple be placed on Walter's head and that William should split the apple with an arrow from his crossbow. He would have one shot and one shot only. If he hit the apple they would both go free.

William and Walter were brought to the market place. The townspeople gathered, muttering darkly, until Gessler's soldiers roughly herded them into an enclosure formed by their lances and pikestaffs.

William stood, crossbow at the ready. There were two arrows in his quiver. Only William knew that the second arrow was meant for Gessler, should he be so unlucky as to hit his child with the first.

Gessler stepped up to little Walter, who was at a loss to understand the meaning of the drama unfolding.
He was too young to know about tyrants and the cruelty they inflicted. He quite liked being the centre of everyone's attention. His Dad had told him to stand absolutely still, which was a little unusual and Walter shuffled his feet a bit. When Gessler came closer, all Walter saw was the rosy-cheeked apple in his outstretched hand, red and round and juicy. Walter hadn't had anything to eat since early in the morning when they left their farm to come into the town. He was hungry. The apple looked very inviting.

Being a polite little boy, not yet given to rebelling, he thanked Gessler nicely, accepted the apple and took a big bite out of it.

A hundred voices gave a sharp cry.

Walter looked round the assembled townsfolk, soldiers, his father and the man with the funny hat, who had given him the apple.

"What ?", he said.

38 comments:

  1. Wonderful tale, and the ending is pricelss. Oh those apples, always so tempting, lol.

    Elizabeth

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  2. Oh Friko, one of my favorites, especially since I work with children. Of course, that's what the child would have done and the "what" is, indeed, priceless.

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  3. This is wonderful, how history has been changed by one hungry little boy. I enjoyed this so much as you drew me right in with your words and I didn't expect the ending.

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  4. Your wonderful writing is always a pleasure to read, whether a re-telling, or an exploration of something essentially human done in a comprehensive, yet easy going way. HOW could I have missed these treasures in the press of daily life? Thank you for being a true friend to me and to many others, Dear Friko


    http://ladyfi.wordpress.com/

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  5. A wonderful short tale, twisting the familiar
    into a Friko moment, and letting us kind of
    follow the classic beats of the legendary
    tale, and then thrusting humor and pathos
    into the mix, creating a wonderful response
    to the Magpie prompt, part prose poem and
    part flash fiction. Vivid, realistic, colorful,
    and touching--things usually missing in
    the retelling of ancient tales. Good on you.

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  6. Try as I might, I already had alternate endings lined up, but none brought a smile to my face as yours did. Bravo Friko.

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  7. Oh Friko, you rascal you. What a story. That was priceless. Made my day. Love ya ole gal.
    QMM

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  8. Oh what a surprise..I was thinking I am enjoying the retelling of this old tale, and then... so clever.

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  9. I admit, I don't read most of the magpie tales even though so many of the blogs I follow have started participating. But yours, I read.

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  10. Oh, cool. I loved this. The ending was not what I expected...even better.

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  11. You draw us in, all with anticipation of what is coming. Of course we know already where you are going (we think), but then.... Surpise! Thank you for the smile.

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  12. I hung on your lips, as it where. Totally unexpected ending. Big smile :-)

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  13. You are a master (or must I say mistress?) of the unexpected ending! :)

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  14. What a delightful twist. It had been a long time since I had heard that tale and love your version so much better.
    Sadly though, I think the William Tell Oveture will stay in my head most of the day. That's OK, this was worth it.

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  15. I love a twisted ending, and this one was very good. The story could now go in a couple of directions - fun to think of good endings.

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  16. Clever you. This ending had me laughing. Thanks for that.

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  17. Oh Friko, you did it again!!!! Great story telling - I can just see the innocent face on that little boy as he says "what" and the horrified faces of everyone else.

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  18. I have come to expect the unexpected from you ... so well written!

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  19. You caught me out too - I thought it was the background to the tale I had known from childhood, a kind of filling in the dots. Priceless!

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  20. Schade, dass Du so sehr beschäftigt bist, ich würde Dir glatt ein gutes Buch zutrauen. Du hast wirklich die Idee, das Talent und das Können einer Schriftstellerin.
    Ja, das Ende, das hat wohl niemand erwartet. Fabelhaft!

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  21. So ein lustiges, geistreiches Ende. Ich habe laut gelacht!
    Super geschrieben

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  22. And a little child shall lead them....!!A very good take!

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  23. Oh Friko
    You get me every single time, you master story-teller you!
    I would love to hear this one read at a story-tellers gathering...
    XO
    WWW

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  24. LOL. I love your take on this. Well done.

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  25. Very good! Great punchline. Core-t me by surprise ... (geddit?)

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  26. A wonderful change-about! Quite a laugh.

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  27. ha, ha, love your twist on this classic tale!

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  28. Friko - you never cease to entertain! I adore your writings. Every first bite of every future apple I take will be in honour of you!

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  29. hehe.. this was awesome!! I was conjuring all kindsa stories and possible ends in my mind... but this end was THE last thing I expected!! LOVED it!!

    Amazing writing skills!! Oh, those apples...how very tempting!! AS EVER! :)

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  30. What?! That is ever so special an ending to a great read, Friko! Loved it.

    I am so late in reading this week's magpies that it is already Thursday morning and nearly time for a new one! And look at you who has been writing up a storm since posting this dandy...I had to scroll and scroll to find your magpie (but it was worth it).

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