A Story for Our Time

It’s Halloween. Always my favorite holiday, especially when I taught at The San Francisco School. Besides the fun of the costumes and the Middle-School-run booths—the Haunted House, bobbing for apples, fortune-telling, etc.— there was the unique Intery Mintery ritual performance (available for viewing at www.thesecretsongfilm.com). And then at the end of the day, the elementary kids gathered once more and I told them a story. Choosing what stories to tell and when and why is an art form in itself, so besides picking one with a big of magic and at least a little scary, I would always think about what the story would speak to relevant to our particular times. 

 

So today, this storyteller is all dressed up with nowhere to go (no schools have invited me in—waaah!), so I might as well tell one here. It’s a Norse folk tale titled “The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body.”

 

Once upon a time, once before a time, once inside a time and once for our time, there was a King and a Queen with seven sons. They loved them as parents should and maybe a bit more, as they couldn’t bear to be without at least one by their side at any time. As happens, children grow and keep on growing until they are ready to leave home and set out in the world. And so it came to pass that the six oldest decided it was time to go out and seek their life’s partners. The King and Queen insisted that the youngest stay home to keep them company and bid farewell to the others, giving them the finest clothes and horses. The sons visited many neighboring palaces in search of love and finally came to one where there was another Kind and Queen with five daughters and one son. They set to wooing and each seemed to find the one just right for them. 

On their way home, they passed a giant’s house and there the giant came out and for no other reason than to cause trouble (though some say he was jealous that no one loved him), he turned them all to stone. The King and Queen waited for their six sons, but alas, as time dragged on, they finally had to admit that some great trouble had come upon them.

 

The youngest, whose name was Boots, tried to console his parents and then asked their permission to set out to try to find his brothers. His parents were sick with worry that he, too, would never come home, but finally they relented. The only horse left in the stable was a broken-down old mare, but Boots didn’t mind and off he went on the sorry old steed.

 

Along the way he encountered a Raven on the road who was dying of hunger and begged Boots for a little food, suggesting that if he did, the Raven would one day repay him by coming to his aid in his hour of need. 

 

“No need for that,” said Boots, who secretly doubted a mere Raven could ever be of use to him, “I’m happy to share the little bit of food I have.” And so he did.

 

A little further on, he came upon a Salmon who had washed up on the riverbank and couldn’t get back into the water. The Salmon made the same offer of future help if Boots would only set him back into the stream. “No need for that” said Boots, "I’m happy just to help you."

 

Yet further down the road, he encountered a Wolf who was so famished that he crawled on his belly with his ribs sticking out. The Wolf told how he hadn’t eaten in two years and asked if Boots would sacrifice his horse to feed him. This was too much for Boots, who not only felt sorry for the horse but told the Wolf he needed him to ride on. The Wolf promised that once he was well-fed, Boots could ride upon his back. Truth be told, the horse was near the end of his days so Boots agreed and the deed was done. 

 

Boots told the Wolf of his quest to find his brothers and the Wolf said, “I know where they are.” Boots then mounted the Wolf and they rode off at great speed until they reached the Giant’s house. 

 

The Wolf pointed to the frozen brothers and their new partners and told Boots, “Go into the Giant’s house and there you’ll find a Princess who will tell you how to free your brothers and make an end to the Giant. Do exactly as she says.”

 

With fear and trembling, Boots entered the house and there he saw the loveliest Princess he had ever set eyes on. “Oh, heaven help you!” she exclaimed. “Why are you here? Don’t you know a terrible Giant lives here and no one escapes alive! And he can’t be killed because he has no heart in his body!”

 

“I am here to free my brothers,” said Boots summoning up all his courage ”and if we come up with a plan, perhaps we can free you as well. For I see that you are afraid and are held here against your will.”

 

“That is as true as true can be. Let’s try this. Creep under this bed, be still as a mouse and listen carefully to everything the Giant and I talk about.”

 

Just then the Giant came roaring in, bellowing “Fee! Fi! Foe! Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishmun!” The Princess told him that a magpie had flown over the house with a man’s bone and accidentally dropped it down the chimney and the smell of it lingered all day. She calmed him down and made him dinner and that night in bed, said, 

 

“Dear Giant. There is one thing I’ve always been curious about. I’ve noticed you don’t keep your heart in your body. Pray tell, where is it?”

 

“That’s none of your business!” said the Giant. But after a bit, he said, “If you must know, it lies under the doorsill.”

 

The next morning, after the Giant went out of the house and off to do whatever it is Giants do, Boots and the Princess dug under the doorsill until they finally had to admit they had been tricked and there was nothing there. They picked beautiful flowers and laid them all over the doorsill to hide the fact that they had been digging there and Boots once more crept under the bed. 

 

Once more the Giant came in intoning his "Fee! Fi! Foe! Fum!" chant and once more the Princess said another magpie had dropped a bone. When he asked about the flowers on the doorsill, she sweetly replied, “Why, I love you so that knowing your heart lay under the doorsill, I wanted to make it pretty.”

 

“Ha ha!!" roared the Giant. "You silly girl, that’s not where my heart is. I keep in the cupboard against the wall!”

 

The next day, Boots and the Princess searched there, to no avail and again decorated it with flowers. Again, came the Giant sniffing the air and again came the magpie story and again came asking about the flowers and again came the answer about making his heart’s place pretty. Again the Giant roared with laughter, “How can you be so foolish as to believe my story?!” For the Giant had lied about things all his life and took special pleasure in fooling people. “You’ll never know where my heart lies!”

 

But the Princess put on her sweetest charms and pleaded with him and finally he relented:

 

“Well, you’ll never find it, so I guess there’s no harm in telling you. Far, far way in a lake lies an island and on that island there stands a church and in that church there is a well and in that well there swims a duck and in that duck there is an egg and in that egg—well, that’s where my heart is. Now stop bothering me and let me go to sleep.”

 

The next morning, Boots said farewell to the Princess, vowing he would return, and left the house. There he mounted the Wolf in search of that island. On they went for days, over hedge and field, over hill and dale, until they finally came to the lake. The Wolf jumped into the lake, still with the Prince on his back, and swam over to the island. They stood in front of the church and were discouraged to discover that the door was locked. Then they spotted the keys in a tower up high. Boots was despairing of how to ever get them and then remembered the Raven. He called for him and the Raven appeared on the spot and flew up to retrieve the keys. They entered the church and came to the well and there was the duck, swimming back and forth. The Prince leaned over and grabbed the duck, but just as he lifted him up, the duck dropped the egg deep into the well. Once again, Boots was in despair and then he remembered the Salmon. He called for him and the Salmon appeared and fetched up the egg from the bottom of the well.

 

The Wolf told the Prince to squeeze the egg and when he did, the Giant screamed out in pain. “Squeeze it again” advised the Wolf and when he did, the Giant screamed yet more piteously, so loud he could be heard all the way to where Boots and his friends where. He begged Boots to stop and promised he would do anything he wished if he would not squeeze his heart in two. The Wolf advised:

 

“Tell him to unfreeze your brothers and their new sweethearts and bring them to life again.” That the Giant did. “Now squeeze the egg in two” said the Wolf and that Boots did and the Giant fell down dead. He then rode back to the Giant’s house, rejoicing with his brothers and traveled with them and his own Princess bride back to their parent’s castle. There they held a great celebratory feast and the mirth was so loud and long, I believe they are still at it!

 

And so, a story for our time. The squeezing of the egg will take place Tuesday at the ballot box and this heartless Giant’s lies and hatreds and greed will fall down dead, never to rise again in that particular body. And I for one, plan to be feasting and celebrating for days on end. May it be so!!!