Thousands and thousands of years ago, a princess was born. And as she grew, her mother told her lots of stories. Stories about riches and kings and wars. One night, she told the princess a new story: a legend that there exists a secret, unspeakable name that has the power to create life. The princess was curious and asked her mother if she could find it and create friends for herself. Her mother chuckled and reminded her it was only a legend.
When her mother died years later, the princess became queen. Although she enjoyed the crown, she found many parts of her job tedious and unimportant. One day, during a particularly boring meeting, the queen was on the verge of falling asleep when one of her advisors mentioned a piece of paper with a single word. It had been found in a tomb miles away and the discoverers tried with all their might to speak the word with no luck. The princess demanded that it be brought to her.
The queen remembered the childhood story of the unspeakable name and knew this must be it. She had to try it. Over the next few days, she wove a replica of herself out of wool. When the replica was complete, she clothed it with her own dress, and put the paper in its mouth. The replica came to life. It responded to commands and was controlled by her thoughts. The queen was elated. She told the replica her name so that it may impersonate her and take over the duties she did not care for.
That month was a peaceful one for the queen. She awoke, put the paper in the replica’s mouth, and relaxed until dinner. Then, she removed the paper from the replica’s mouth and attended the evening dinners and dances.
One night, the queen went to remove the paper, except that night the replica did not fall asleep. Unbeknownst to her, the unspeakable name had permanently instilled life in the replica. The replica realized its opportunity and killed the queen.
The replica posed successfully as the queen for a short time. However, it also grew bored, just as the queen once had. Using the unspeakable name, it made another creature for company and assistance. The replicas soon created more and more and more until one day they outnumbered the queen’s kind and defeated them.
The first replica tried to create another life with the unspeakable name, but it no longer worked. Before giving up, it decided to try one last idea. It wrote down the dead queen’s name on the paper. It attempted to create life again, and succeeded.
Worried that this power may be abused, the first replica told the others that the unspeakable name was now useless. Once they were convinced, it hid the paper inside a coat, and when it died it was buried with it.
Thousands and thousands of years later, the paper would be discovered in the tomb by a curious soul who had once been told a legend. The cycle would continue as life was born anew.
Author's note:
I used Gertrude Landa's "The Rabbi's Bogey-Man" story as inspiration this week. It comes from the Jewish Fairy Tale unit. In the original, a rabbi creates a woman with the name of God to tend the fire each Sabbath. However, the first creation burns down homes and itself in the process. The rabbi created a man to replace the woman. Eventually, the man became disobedient. It tried to break into the synagogue to destroy the Holy Law that gave the rabbi power. The rabbi takes away the name of God and thereby kills the creation.
I changed a few big things: one, I made all the characters women, since the only woman in the original telling was the failed creation. Second, I decided to change the story's message to be about life needing both creation and destruction. To do this, I removed God as a character and instead had the past inhabitants of the land become God in a sense. Format-wise, I decided to tell it from a narrator standpoint exclusively rather than include dialogue, since the majority of the dialogue in the original story revolved around elements I changed.
Bibliography:
"The Rabbi's Bogey-Man" from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa. Source.
When her mother died years later, the princess became queen. Although she enjoyed the crown, she found many parts of her job tedious and unimportant. One day, during a particularly boring meeting, the queen was on the verge of falling asleep when one of her advisors mentioned a piece of paper with a single word. It had been found in a tomb miles away and the discoverers tried with all their might to speak the word with no luck. The princess demanded that it be brought to her.
The queen remembered the childhood story of the unspeakable name and knew this must be it. She had to try it. Over the next few days, she wove a replica of herself out of wool. When the replica was complete, she clothed it with her own dress, and put the paper in its mouth. The replica came to life. It responded to commands and was controlled by her thoughts. The queen was elated. She told the replica her name so that it may impersonate her and take over the duties she did not care for.
That month was a peaceful one for the queen. She awoke, put the paper in the replica’s mouth, and relaxed until dinner. Then, she removed the paper from the replica’s mouth and attended the evening dinners and dances.
One night, the queen went to remove the paper, except that night the replica did not fall asleep. Unbeknownst to her, the unspeakable name had permanently instilled life in the replica. The replica realized its opportunity and killed the queen.
The replica posed successfully as the queen for a short time. However, it also grew bored, just as the queen once had. Using the unspeakable name, it made another creature for company and assistance. The replicas soon created more and more and more until one day they outnumbered the queen’s kind and defeated them.
The first replica tried to create another life with the unspeakable name, but it no longer worked. Before giving up, it decided to try one last idea. It wrote down the dead queen’s name on the paper. It attempted to create life again, and succeeded.
Worried that this power may be abused, the first replica told the others that the unspeakable name was now useless. Once they were convinced, it hid the paper inside a coat, and when it died it was buried with it.
Thousands and thousands of years later, the paper would be discovered in the tomb by a curious soul who had once been told a legend. The cycle would continue as life was born anew.
(The Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. Source.)
Author's note:
I used Gertrude Landa's "The Rabbi's Bogey-Man" story as inspiration this week. It comes from the Jewish Fairy Tale unit. In the original, a rabbi creates a woman with the name of God to tend the fire each Sabbath. However, the first creation burns down homes and itself in the process. The rabbi created a man to replace the woman. Eventually, the man became disobedient. It tried to break into the synagogue to destroy the Holy Law that gave the rabbi power. The rabbi takes away the name of God and thereby kills the creation.
I changed a few big things: one, I made all the characters women, since the only woman in the original telling was the failed creation. Second, I decided to change the story's message to be about life needing both creation and destruction. To do this, I removed God as a character and instead had the past inhabitants of the land become God in a sense. Format-wise, I decided to tell it from a narrator standpoint exclusively rather than include dialogue, since the majority of the dialogue in the original story revolved around elements I changed.
Bibliography:
"The Rabbi's Bogey-Man" from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa. Source.
Hi Rachel!
ReplyDeleteYour story was very well written and I enjoyed reading it a lot. I think how you developed your story from the original was done well and I definitely think it was smart to remove the dialogue. I would suggest increasing the author note size at the end of the story simply because it is difficult to read without zooming in. Other than that it was awesome!
Hi, Rachel! Wow, this story took a dark turn. It’s an interesting take on the cycle of life and death, one that I didn’t expect—but I enjoyed it. I think it was smart to remove the dialogue, which makes the story easier to read from a narrative standpoint. This story could almost be described as a dark fantasy with the endless cycles of servitude from using the “unspeakable” name, if you wanted to take it up a notch. Overall, well done!
ReplyDeleteHey Rachel,
ReplyDeleteGuess who ;). (And remember the pact.)
(I’m 99% sure that this is the right Rachel’s blog for that, but if it isn’t, well, just ignore me — that’s usually a safe choice to make anyway.)
As I was reading from the beginning I was pretty sure that this was the story of the Golem (I’m not sure if the actual term is used in the translation for this class, but the Golem it most certainly is). This was a great adaptation of the story, putting it in a traditional fairy tale context and just mashing it all together. (I’m also reminded of Double Dipper from Gravity Falls, which, if indeed this is the right Rachel’s blog, will make you facepalm.)
Why did the first replica worry about abuse of the power? Was it worried about the world, and trying to do the right thing? Or just worried for its own safety? Would it have “died” had the paper been destroyed? (This week’s feedback thing is questions; I know I sound like the bad narration at a cliffhanger.)
Cheers,
A.M.
Hey Rachel!
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful retelling! I also read the Jewish Fairy Tales unit and found the story of the "Bogey-man" to be very intriguing. You've put a great twist on it by setting up the idea of a recurring legend, where the cycle is dug up and repeated every few thousand years. The idea of the clone killing the original queen has so much potential; perhaps all the important royals end up dead and don't realize that the others around them have also succumbed to the magic paper, so that everyone thinks they have an advantage when really they are all now the clones of their original selves.