week 11 story: the hunter and the fox-woman
There was a hunter named Harold who lived alone in his house just outside of the woods. Everyday he’d leave the house to go to work or to run errands. But every night when came home, his house would be clean, his clothes washed and hung to dry, and a warm dinner prepared for him. Harold couldn’t find any evidence or visible tracks of who was doing this; he was determined to find out.
Harold came up with his own plan. He got dressed and left the house like he would every morning. Only this time, he stayed close by and hid behind a large tree so that he could monitor his house and anything that entered it.
After some time, Harold noticed a fox had wandered into the house. Harold thought the fox was just scrounging for food, so he wanted to scare the fox away. Harold snuck up to the house, but when he entered his home, he was bewildered of what was in his house.
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| A fox with its front paws on a rock. Web Source |
A beautiful woman in smooth skin clothing and long, auburn hair stood in Harold’s living room. He noticed the skin of a fox hanging on the clothesline.
“Is it you that’s been sneaking into my house while I’ve been out?” Harold inquired. “You’ve been cleaning my house, washing my clothes, and cooking dinner?”
The woman smiled. “I am Felicity and I am your wife,” she answered him. “It is my duty as your wife to do these things for you. I hope I am doing a good job and you are content and happy.”
Harold did not protest this, so he and Felicity continued on as husband and wife.
After a short time of living together, Harold noticed an odd, musky scent throughout the house. “Do you smell that strange odor?” he asked his wife as he fanned the air in front of his face.
“Yes, the strange odor comes from me,” Felicity replied nonchalantly.
Harold began to plug his nose. “Oh, it’s so strong now!” he uttered with no regard.
“My fox scent lingers even when I’m wearing my skin clothing. And it is more potent during the summer season,” Felicity explained to her husband. “If you cannot accept that, then I will leave.”
Harold, realizing his coarse behavior, changed his attitude towards his wife. He recognized that he was blessed to have Felicity to cook and clean for him--to have a wife at all! Harold was grateful to have Felicity and he knew would have to make compromises.
“No, I would love for you to stay,” he reassured Felicity. “I don’t mind it at all.”
And then on, the hunter and the fox-woman lived a great life together.
Author's Note: My story is pretty true to the plot of the original story, except the ending. The original story was short (300 words), so I wanted to create a story with a little more details. I also added dialogue in the retelling of the story and gave the characters names. In the ending of the original story, the fox-woman actually leaves the man finds her at fault for the odor; she hadn't been inclined to visit another man since then. I changed the ending in my retelling to a happier ending for the both of them.
Thanks for reading! :)
Bibliography: The Fox-Woman from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson.
Hey Soriyana, great story! I loved the great dialogue and detail that you put into this piece. It was so easy to follow along and the story made sense throughout. My only question would be, how does Harold not know that he has a wife haha? I like the idea for the story and though I have not read the original, you did a great job of making it your own and adding your own creativity to it. I like how you put in your author's note that the original story was much shorter than this and that you wanted to add more to it. Great work!
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ReplyDeleteI love this story! I think its so funny that she says "I'm your wife" and he just goes along with it! I also think its great that it has a moral to it. He realizes that he is being unfair to the woman, so he accepts her for who she is, and stays with her. I also love that they are still happy despite this. No one is perfect, and to love someone means accepting the things that you may not like as much. I really enjoyed reading this story!
HI, Soriyana. Great job with the story. I do love a happy ending. It's great that you not only made it a happy ending but, you also made it a easy moral lesson about compromise for love. I also quite liked your spacing on this page for the text. I wonder if, in a rewrite, we could have the hunter propose on the spot to the woman in a similarly comedic fashion. It could still seem sudden and funny while having the story make just a bit more sense.
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