As
Chief Rain Cloud was preparing to tell
the fourth story he saw swans fly above his head. He knew which story
he would tell next...
Once upon a time
there was man named
Eeden. He was a heartless, rough man. He was numb to emotions
because he was brought up in a bad environment. Eeden did not know
real love.
Eeden lived in a
small cabin by the
edge of a lake. One day he was out hunting and heard laughter.
He was curious so he started in the direction of the noise. As he got
closer to the sound he hid behind bushes so he would be unnoticed. When
he was finally close enough to see, he discovered the laughter coming
from eight women bathing in a hidden pond. He scanned the area and saw
the skin of swans lying on the ground. His heart started racing. He
had heard
about these special swan women before but never believed the stories.
He had heard that swan women brought prosperity and good fortune if one
was caught. He had to have one of these women. He quickly thought up a
plan to steal their skins. If he had their skins, they could not run
from him. They would have to remain human until he returned their
skins. He
did not intend to keep all eight women. He wanted to pick the prettiest
woman and keep her as his wife.
When the women
decided it was time to
leave, they realized their skins had been stolen. Horror swept across
each of the lovely women's faces. Suddenly, Eeden came stomping through
the bushes and yelled, "You are in my control now! Everyone look at me
and say your name!"
As each woman said her name, he scanned
to see which woman was the most beautiful. He was quite taken with a
beautiful brunette half hidden in the water. Her hair was long and wavy
and her eyes were a piercing green. Her fair skin was striking. When
the women finished saying their names, he gave their skins back -
everyone except the stunning brunette received their skin. He announced
he would take her home and she would be his wife.
The swan woman
had no other choice but
to go with
Eeden. There was nothing anyone could do. If she did not go, she knew
she would upset the man and he might harm her or her friends. Her name
was Ithica. She was a soft-hearted and caring woman. She married Eeden
against her will and gave him two beautiful boys. Eeden did not
leave Ithica alone because he thought she would run away. He saw her
only as his good luck
charm. She was merely an object to him.
Ithica hated her
life. The only thing
that kept her going were her two sons. One day Eeden decided to go kill
pesky woodpeckers that were destroying their wooden
cabin. Ithica knew if she had any chance to escape that this would be
it. A few months ago she had found some swan skins and locked them in
her chest to
save for an escape. She went to her chest, took out the wings and put
them on herself and her two boys. The three transformed into swans and
flew into the sky.
A few hours
later Eeden came home to
an empty house. He was outraged and determined to hunt them down. He
revisited the old pond and walked up and down the lake. They were
nowhere to be found. He spotted an old man preparing to go fishing on
his
boat. Eeden made a deal with the
man that if he let him borrow his boat he would supply him with ten
fish. The man agreed and gave Eeden a ride. The man
told Eeden he must keep his eyes closed during the entire trip,
especially if he heard voices.
Meanwhile,
Ithica had landed on
another island and was settling in her new home, while her two sons
were out
flying. Her sons came rushing back to Ithica saying they had seen
their father
looking for them on a boat. Ithica did not believe them. She did not
see how it was possible for Eeden to have crossed the same amount of
distance they had flying. He did not even own a boat! She told her
children it was another man they had seen and not their father. She was
certain her sons had been mistaken and went to bed without thinking
twice.
Later that
night, Eeden, arrived on
the
same island Ithica had arrived on hours earlier. He quickly spotted
Ithica and went straight for her. He picked Ithica up and threw her
on a mound of dirt. He beat her and threw stones at her till she quit
moving. When he was done torturing her, he buried her half
alive. He covered her with dirt and large rocks so she could not
move. Minutes later, a flock of swans came flying directly at him.
Eeden
quickly fell to his knees to avoid being hit. He picked up his gun
but could not see where to aim through the newly formed thick fog. He
was attacked
by swans and pecked to death.
During the
attack the two boys flew
away. This time, they flew until they were halfway across the world.
****
I hope everyone
learned from the story
that you cannot tame a wild animal. You cannot keep someone who does
not want to be kept. Eeden should not have forced Ithica to be his
wife. Once she found her wings she flew away. Years of not trusting
others taught her to only rely on herself. She could not even trust her
own sons when they told her they had seen their father. Maybe she knew
she would never get away from him, or maybe she wanted to face him. I
do not know. If she had opened her eyes and ears maybe she would have
had a chance to get away.
Author's
Note:The original story is
called the Swan-Maidens. I basically
kept the story line the same but added more details. In the original
story no characters had names. I added the names Eeden and
Ithica. The original story includes geese but no swans. Thompson gave
the story the title "The Swan-Maidens" because it is a famous European
folktale. In my story I thought it would be cool to make Ithica a swan
because they seem more elegant then geese. One thing I found
interesting in
the original story was that the boat man made Eeden close his eyes
during the
trip. For this reason, I assumed the boat man is a supernatural being.
He probably made Eeden close his eyes because he was using a
supernatural power that a mortal is not supposed to see. The original
story says Eeden offers the boat man
advice about seals and the man offers to give him a ride in his
boat. In my story, Eeden, made a bargain with the boat man for fish. I
changed up the ending. I do not like witting sad endings
and I think the original ending was terrible! Ithica is buried alive
but
is able to fly out. She attempts to kill Eeden while he is sleeping but
he grabs a spear and kills her. I hated that she basically died twice
so I left that scene out. I thought the ending with the geese attacking
to distract Eeden from killing his boys was great. In the original
story,
Eeden, shoots all the geese. I did not like that this Eeden
lived so I killed him in my story with the geese.
Coverpage
Introduction
Image Information:
The Swan. Websource: Sanjay
Explores Blog
Bibliography:
Book
Title: Tales of North
American Indians
Author: Stith
Thompson
Story Title: The Swan-Maiden
Year Published: 1929
Web Address: Sacred Texts.
Com
