Week 31- #GRIMMread2019

    Donkey Cabbages is an intriguing,  sometimes bizarre, coming of age story. It features two young characters, who are mirror images of each other, the huntsman and the witch's daughter. They are both sheltered in opposite ways. The huntsman, who lives with his parents, and knows only kindness, is inexperienced. He trusts everyone. The witch's daughter, who lives in a remote castle in the forest also lacks experience with the world outside her home. She has been shown only cruelty by her abusive mother.  

    The story starts with the huntsman, who comes across an ugly old crone, who begs from him. He is generous to her, and so she gives him a gift in the form of a set of strange instructions. 1) Shoot into the midst of a flock of birds that are carrying a magical cloak, which will take him anywhere he wishes. 2) Take the cloak. 3) One bird will be dead from the shot. Swallow it's heart whole, and a gold piece will appear under his pillow each morning. The Young hunstman follows the instructions, and everything comes true. He is thrilled, and this experience with the old crone solidifies his blind trust in others. After some time, he becomes bored. He wishes to leave his parents home and venture out into the world. He comes across a castle deep in the forest. Another old woman and her daughter live there. This old woman is a greedy witch, unlike the generous old crone (another set of mirror images). The huntsman instantly falls for the witch's beautiful daughter. He falls for her so hard that her thoughts and desires become his, and he allows himself to lose his autonomy. This is where his naivety and willingness to blindly trust anyone gets him into trouble. The old witch wants the bird heart. She abuses her daughter in order to get her to betray the huntsman. The young witch is afraid of her mother, and so she gives the huntsman a potion causing him to vomit the bird heart up, which she then swallows, herself. The huntsman notices that his gift has been transferred to the young witch. This should have been a red flag for him, but he ignores it, choosing instead to continue in his naivety. When the old witch presses her daughter to betray him a second time, by stealing the wishing cloak, she tries to stand up for the huntsman, but her mother beats her and threatens her with worse if she doesn't comply. So, the young witch, who is starting to care for the huntsman, caves in. As she has only known cruelty from her mother it is difficult for her to trust the huntsman, despite her developing feelings for him. Instead of telling the huntsman of her mother's plan, and asking him to help her stand up against the old witch, she gives into fear and agrees to betray him again. She has the huntsman wish them to the Garnet Mountain, which is inapproachable for humans, under the assumption that she will take some of the garnet back with her.  Her real errand is to take his cloak and leave him there while he sleeps. When the huntsman wakes up, he finally realizes that he's been betrayed. He feels this very keenly. It is a hard lesson for him, and this is the point at which he becomes less naive, and more discerning in his dealings with others. When giants come by, instead of trusting them immediately, he pretends to sleep, so that he can hear their plans. They talk of killing him, but one giant says if he climbs up the clouds will take him anyway.  The huntsman waits for the giants to leave, and then he follows the giant's instruction. Indeed, a cloud carries him off the mountain, and drops him in a cabbage patch. The huntsman isn't thrilled with cabbages, but he's hungry so, he decides to eat the cabbage. He immediately turns into a donkey, then he comes across a different kind of cabbage, which turns him back into a man. He decides that he can use these cabbages to enact revenge on the witch and her daughter. He's been betrayed in a terrible way, and his gut reaction is to hurt the ones who betrayed him. This struggle with his first experiences of being treated cruelly, while painful, eventually leads to growth. He appears to be set on revenge, but he does bring both cabbages, which indicates he wants to be able to bring the young witch back to human form at some point. The huntsman disguises himself and goes back to the castle. He says that he has a rare salad, and the old witch is greedy for it, so he prepares the first cabbage. The old witch, serving girl, and young witch all eat it, and are turned into donkeys. He takes them to a man and gives with specific instructions: 3 beatings and one meal a day for the old donkey (old witch), 1 beating and 3 meals a day for the next donkey (serving girl), and no beatings and 3 meals a day for the youngest donkey, (young witch). He still has feelings for her, and can't bring himself to beat her. This shows his struggle with revenge and forgiveness. He comes back later to check on the donkeys, and he finds the oldest donkey dead. The other two are alive, but despairing. At this point, he turns them back into humans. This is where he matures enough to forgive and to move on. He learns how to choose love and forgiveness over hate and revenge  Once, the young witch is returned to her human form, she begs forgiveness of the huntsman, and she tells him she really loves him, but that she was under duress from her mother. She also, offers to vomit up the bird heart and return it to him. At this, the huntsman, tells her to keep it, and that she will be his true wife, and they live happily ever after. 

  When the huntsman's and the young witch's world's collide, they both experience growth, and finally true love. The huntsman learns from the witches that people cannot always be trusted, and that there is evil in the world. He also learns to forgive others. The young witch learns from the huntsman that there is goodness in the world, and that some people are worthy of trust. She also learns to accept kindness and forgiveness from others. After they both learn these lessons they are able to move on, and live happily ever after. I enjoyed this story (sans vomiting up bird hearts because that's just gross), and I think it has a lot of potential for retelling.