Reading Notes: African Stories from Lang's Fairy Books, Part B
The story in the African Stories from Lang's Fairy Books unit that I've chosen to focus my reading notes on is "Hassebu."
Hassebu:
The story begins by introducing the reader to a woman and her child, a boy named Hassebu. Hassubu's mother put him in school and once she took him out of school, she sent him to learn many skills that he failed at mastering: making clothes, being a silversmith, etc.
One day he curiously asked his mother what his father did, she told him he was a well-learned doctor. This piqued his interest and he asked to read his books. All but one book was eaten by insects, so he read the one book.
One day when he was reading this book, their neighbors, who were wood-cutters, came by their house and asked Hassebu's mother if he would come work with them cutting wood. She agreed to buy him a donkey so he could join them in cutting wood.
They got the donkey and Hassebu went with the neighbors and worked hard cutting wood, then bringing it back to town and selling it. They did this for 6 days, and on the 7th day, it rained. The other woodcutters went to take shelter from the rain but Hassebu didn't mind it. He stayed where he was and in doing so, he found a piece of "hollow ground" and told the others about it. They dug into it and it appeared to be a large pit filled with honey, which is much more profitable than firewood. The men tricked Hassebu into doing all of the labor involved in collecting the honey, promising to split the profits with him. They went on for 3 months until there was barely any honey left, and they convinced Hassebu to go down and get what was left, promising to pull him back up. He did as asked, but they decided to leave him in the pit to die and split the profits amongst themselves, planning to tell Hassebu's mother that he was caught by a lion. They did just that, the woman wept profusely, and they funneled the guilt they felt from abandoning Hassebu into bringing his mother rice, oil, meat, and cloth each day.
Hassebu soon figured out he was left for dead, but he was hopeful that he would be able to make his way out, so he began wandering the pit, rationing the honey that was left. One morning a scorpion dropped down to his feet when he was having breakfast, he took a stone and killed it, thinking it was going to sting him.
Hassebu (cont.)
This scorpion made him realize that there must be a hole somewhere that the scorpion came from, and he was determined to find it, and he did. He got to work digging, making that little hole a very large hole. He went through the hole and found a path, which he followed. He ended up at a large house at the end of the path and he went inside, falling asleep quickly after spending the day tirelessly digging.
The true resident of the house was the King of the Snakes, and the house was his Palace. The king, accompanied by a group of people, soon found Hassebu in his bed. His soldiers almost killed him, but the king told them to leave him alone, and sat down comfortable, telling his soldiers to wake him gently.
Hassebu awoke, inquiring about who his new company was, the king told him. He stayed with the king for a few days and was given fruit and water. But after a little bit, he began to miss his mother, asking the snake to let him go home. The snake did not wish to let Hassebu leave, for he was convinced that once Hassebu went home, he would come back and kill him. Hassebu promised he would do no such thing, so the snake's soldiers took Hassebu home to his mother.
Upon his return, he learned of the illness of the Sultan, and that the people of the town said that the only thing that could cure him was the flesh of the King of the Snakes and that only a man with a strange mark on his chest could go get it. They kept watch of the baths, looking for such a man. Hassebu, trying to keep his promise to the snake, did not go near the baths. But on a hot morning, he forgot all about it, and went to take a bath. The Vizir saw him and his mark and demanded that they take him to the King of the Snakes.
Hassebu lied, claiming he did not know where the King of the Snakes lived and the Vizir, knowing he was lying, had him bound and beaten, tearing up his back. Hassebu broke and led him to the King of the Snakes. The king greeted Hassebue, asking who beat him. Hassebu told him, the king recognized that he was already dead now but he directed Hassebu to bring him to the Vizir, and he did. On the way, the snake told him what was to happen with the water he is boiled in, telling him which supply to drink in order to become a great physician and which supply to give the Vizir to kill him. He followed the instructions and became a great physician just like his father, but he was always sad about what happened with the King of the Snakes.
Comments
Post a Comment