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Juan
walked back to his campsite and what did his eyes stare upon? Puck had
indeed
left him a wonderful gift. Puck left a pile of rotted fish that had
attracted
every parrot, macaw or other bird species from around the island. So
Juan knew
at that moment that Puck will always be himself, a sad and lonely fairy
for
many years to come. As Juan was throwing the rotted fish carcasses to
the side
and away from his shelter, he would stop and pause to rub his head for
now he
had developed a headache from all the thumpings he got from Puck.
Another
few days had passed again and Juan once again set off across the island
to
gather food but this time he really started to pay special attention to
his
surrounding environment because this was the home to all fairy
creatures.
Juan
started to really appreciate his time on the island; however, he was
still
homesick for his family. Juan finished collecting his food and water
rations
when he noticed in the direction of the cave some blue and pink lights
were
coming from its entrance.
Juan made
a dash for the entrance for he
thought
somebody was in the cave with the book. As Juan approached the cave ,
he saw in the colored mist a handsome king and a gorgeous queen arguing
among themselves. He stood quietly not to disturb
them
but he did want to eavesdrop on their conversation. The Queen was
apparently
furious at the King over some ill mannered fairy in their court. As
Juan listened
and realized that they must be arguing about Puck, he softly approached
them to
give his input. “Hello, I am sorry to interrupt, are you speaking about
Puck?”
The
very beautiful queen floated in front of Juan while he stared at her
beauty. She softly spoke to Juan, “Well, yes, Juan, Puck was very cruel
to have
done
that prank to you with the rotted fish. I have tried to convince my
beloved
King here, that he needs to be reprimanded and sent to another kingdom,
but he has
so much faith in the young sprite that he does not see his faults.” The
King
was watching and started to see an attraction to his Queen so he
floated next
to her so Juan would not fall for her. Juan shook his head out of the
mesmerizing trance and replied to both, “The practical joke that Puck
played on
was fine, that is his nature.”
The
next moment, a young pink fairy came from the book and summoned the
Queen back
to fairy realm for a distressing engagement. The Queen seemed very
distraught
over the news brought to her and looked at Juan and her King and spoke
in a
tearfully voice, “I must leave you now, for my dear friend has died.”
She was gone in a
blink of the eye back into
the book and Juan and the King were left alone inside the cave. The
King looked
at Juan and said, “Well, since we are here, you might as well hear
about
my deep
devotion and love for my beautiful Queen. When I was a young fairy lad
and over
fighting at the Battle of Ogre Hill, I was summoned back to my kingdom
for my
father had fallen ill and died. My fairy law states that I was to
succeed into
his position and take a fairy for my Queen.
I took my
reign after a
year in
order to find my perfect bride. Oh, do I remember the day that I laid
my fairy
green eyes upon Titiana. I had been
searching and courting every fairy princesses from all over this
great fairy
land, when I was about to give up. On my last fairy court ball, I
met an ravishing, young princess from a distant land that was
visiting
her fairy cousin. I laid my eyes upon
this
unfamilar fairy princess and I knew that this fairy would be my Queen.
This
princess had a beautiful silhouette shaped body with vibrant rose
colored
hair and blue eyes. I floated up to her to have her cousin introduce me
and she
ignored me at first. Boy, did this infuriate me because I
knew that
definitely
she would be my Queen. As time passed and many failed courtships with
her, I
finally won her fairy hand in marriage. Juan, hold that thought, I hear
the
fairy castle call summoning me back to my kingdom.”
Juan
sat inside the cave for it seemed like hours, but in fairy terms it had
been
only a few seconds. The King returned and told me about his jealousy
and
outrageous act that his wife had done now. “Juan, my wife has taken a
changeling boy
as her own child; it was the son of her dear fairy cousin that passed
away. She
spends all her time and devotion to him and has ignored me; well, I
won’t stand
for that. I need to steal the changeling boy away from her and break
that spell
she is under and put her attention back on me.”
Well, the King left again,
and left
Juan alone in the cave. He sat there, amazed that the King and
Queen argued like human married couples. He began to give a
little chuckle over
hearing
this story, when the King appeared again and concluded with his story.
“Juan, I
told my squire fairy, Puck, you remember him? Well, I told him to put
purple
flower juice into her eyes, so when she woke up from her afternoon nap
so that she would fall madly in
love with the first creature she saw , so I could steal that changeling
boy and then I would reverse the
spell.
Well, Juan, let me tell you that is not what happened. She awoke and
the first
thought was of YOU. Boy, I am furious that she thought about a human
and not fall in love with the ugly weasel that I placed next to
her.
So
I realized my
childish
behavior and placed the orange hibiscus flower in her eyes to reverse
my idiot
spell. My Queen was a little bit furious with me, so I requested that
she meet with me in the
forest
at nighttime under the lover’s moon. Titania proclaimed her love for me
now and
to
eternity to all fairies and creatures in Fairy Land. This softened my
old jealous heart that I gave her changeling boy
back to
her in good faith. Now Juan, I must leave you, thanks for listening to
an old
King’s love for his beautiful Queen.” As the King was about to fly
away, Juan asked,
“What is your name?” The King turned and said, “King Oberon!”
Authors: Charles and Mary Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare, 1878.
Author’s
Note:
I
took Lamb’s Tale from Shakespeare and changed the story a bit to
fit
along
with my storybook frame tale. Titania originally falls in love
with a clown with an ass head on it. The King did this to play a joke
on her for making him mad for not giving him the changeling boy to him.
In the original story, the King does this awful trick and he does steal
the boy, but in my story, his trick backfires and he gives the boy back
to her. I had King Oberon tell his tale about how he was so
much in
love with his Queen and that he did foolish stuff to keep
her
devotion and attention on him at all times.