Transgendered Fairy Tales
by Kaleigh Way

Some time ago there was a widow, and she had three children: two of them were girls and the youngest was a boy. Since he was small, the girls were always pestering him and beating him and giving him their own chores to do in addition to his own, but he had a good spirit and bore it as best he could.

The family was very poor, and there wasn't much to eat, so one day Rosa, the oldest, declared that she had had enough. "I'm off to find my fortune," says she. "It may be that I find work, and it may be that I find a husband, but it's sure as sure that I'm off from this place."

Her mother was sad to hear the news, but she asked Rosa to wait until the bannocks were baked, and then she could go.

By the time the bannocks were placed in the oven, Joanna, the younger girl, decided that she would go as well. "We'll keep company," she said, "so the journey will be lighter. Where's there's work for one, there may be work for two. And if Rosa finds a husband, well! I might just marry his brother."

The two sisters plotted and planned and built castles in the air as they bundled their few possessions together.

Their mother gave them each a bannock, and barely had she finished her blessing that the two were off.

Once the girls were gone, the poor widow began to wring her hands, and she clasped her son Nino to her heart. She was frightened of what could befall two girls alone in the world, and she asked the boy to follow and watch over them.

"They would never suffer me to follow, Mamma!" the good lad replied. "They would only beat me and throw rocks at me until I left them alone." It was true enough.

The poor mother wept and cried. The poor lad would have willingly gone after his sisters, but what good would it do?

The mother's wailing went on until the henwife who lived nearby was curious enough to come see what trouble was brewing.

The widow explained, and the henwife clicked her tongue knowingly. "It's easily done," she told the widow. "What's needed is a clever disguise."

It usually happens that where there's no money, there are no closets full of clothes, and you can guess that in the widow's house there were no disguises to be had. But the henwife had an old pair of shoes, an old gown and an old apron to go with it, and what with a hat and with this and with that, soon there was enough to fit the lad out as a simple country lass.

Before dressing the boy in the borrowed clothes, the henwife first made him sit in an old tin tub in the henyard to wash the boy-smell off him, and while the hens clucked all around him, he scrubbed and scrubbed until the water was black and his skin was white.

With the clever disguise upon him, he looked to be the prettiest girl to be seen in those parts.

His mother christened him Ninetta, gave him a bannock cake and a blessing, and off the boy-girl ran to join his sisters.

Well, the older girls had stopped to eat their bannock and throw some pieces to the birds, and they wandered and they chattered, and soon enough Ninetta caught them up and asked if he could travel with them.

Rosa and Joanna didn't recognize their little brother, but for sure they didn't want such a pretty girl alongside them. So they tied him to a rock and hurried on their way. But after a bit, a little white hen came clucking and walking, and she pecked apart the knot that bound Ninetta to the rock.

When Rosa and Joanna looked behind them, they saw Ninetta coming along again, so they took the little thing and they tied him to a stack of peat. But after a bit, a little white hen came clucking and walking, and she pecked apart the knot that bound Ninetta to the peat.

When he gathered his skirts and caught up with his sisters the third time, those wicked girls tied him to a tree, and thought themselves free. But after a bit, that little white hen came clucking and walking, and she pecked apart the knot that bound Ninetta to the tree.

Rosa and Joanna saw that there was nothing to be done for it, so they let Ninetta come along with them.

By now the night came on, and they saw a light. At first the glimmer seemed far off, but soon enough they reached it. They knocked and went in, and where would they be, but in the house of a giant! And with the giant was his wife. As if that weren't enough, the giant couple had three monstrous daughters. The giant leered and grinned and told them, "Come in, strangers, come in, strange girls. Have no fear. It's not as though we'll eat you, now will we?" The girls sat down to dinner with the giant and his wife and the three giant daughters. After they were done eating, the giant put a golden necklace on each of the three girls, but on his own daughters' necks he put ropes of horsehair. And the girls lay down in pairs, each girl with a giant lass.

Soon all the girls slept, but Ninetta did not sleep.

During the night a thirst came on the giant. He called his rough-skinned servant to bring him water, but the man answered that there was no water in the house. "Then go kill one of the strange girls," he said, "and bring me her blood to drink."

"How will I know them in the dark?" the servant asked.

"My daughters have loops of horsehair on their necks," the giant replied. "The strangers have loops of gold."

Ninetta heard the giant, and as quick as he could he put the golden necklaces on the giant's daughters and the horsehair ropes on his own neck and those of his sisters. Then he lay down ever so quietly.

The rough-skinned servant entered and killed one of the giant's daughters. He took her blood to the giant, who drank it and asked for more. So the servant killed the next daughter. The giant again asked for more, and the servant killed the third of the giant's daughters.

Then the giant and his man fell asleep and set to snoring so that the whole house shook and the doors and windows trembled in their frames. Ninetta woke his sisters and told them it was time to go. But he took the three golden necklaces.

The giant heard the front door close, so he chased the girls hard on their heels until they came to a river. Ninetta plucked a hair from his head and from it made a bridge that the three girls slid across, but it could not bear the giant's weight.

"I see you there, Ninetta, you cruel, ungrateful child!" the giant cried. "You killed my three bald beautiful daughters!"

"You did that yourself," the boy-girl called back.

"Never dare to pass my way again!" the giant warned.

"I will, if my business brings me," the boy-girl replied.

They went on until they came to a grand lordly house, and it happened that it was the house of a king. He admired the necklaces of gold, and he listened to Ninetta's story. Then he said, "Well, Ninetta, you are a clever girl, and you've done quite well; but if you can do better, and steal the giant's sword that hangs on the back of his bed, I will give Rosa my eldest son to marry."

Ninetta said that he would try.

He went back to the giant's house and crept inside when no one was home. Ninetta hid beneath the bed. After the giant came home and ate a great dinner, he hung up his sword, lay in the bed, and set to snoring the house down. Ninetta put out his hand, and slipped the sword off the wall, but just as he was leaving the sword gave a little rattle. Up came the giant, who chased the boy-girl down to the river, to the bridge of one hair. Ninetta slid across, but it could not bear the giant's weight.

"I see you there, you cruel, ungrateful child!" the giant roared. "You killed my lovely bald daughters and you stole the sword that was my very own!"

"I did take your sword," the boy-girl admitted.

"Never dare to pass my way again!" the giant warned.

"I will, if my business brings me," the boy-girl replied.

He gave the sword to the king, and Rosa married the king's oldest son.

Then the king said, "You've done quite well, Ninetta; but if you can do better, and steal the purse that lies beneath the giant's pillow, I will give Joanna my second son to marry."

Ninetta said that he would try.

Again he crept into the giant's house and hid beneath the bed, and once the giant got to snoring, Ninetta slipped his hand beneath the pillow and got out the purse. But just as he was leaving, the coins gave a little jingle. Up came the giant, roaring and chasing, till they came to the river. Ninetta slid across the bridge of one hair, but it could not bear the giant's weight.

"I see you there, you cruel, ungrateful child!" the giant roared. "You killed my tender bald daughters and you stole my precious sword!"

"I did take your sword," the boy-girl admitted.

"Now you've stolen my purse, full of money that's my own!" the giant cried.

"I did, when it comes to that," the boy-girl replied.

"Never dare to pass my way again!" the giant warned.

"I will, if my business brings me," the boy-girl replied.

He gave the purse to the king, and Joanna married the king's second son.

Then the king said, "You've done quite well, Ninetta; but if you can do better, and steal the ring off the giant's finger, I will give you my youngest son to marry and crown you princess of my eastern lands."

Ninetta laughed, because he could not marry the king's youngest son or any man's son, and he no more wished to be princess than pope, but still he said that he would try.

Now the King was clever in the things he asked for: the sword had a charm that made the giant invincible in battle, and the purse had a charm that kept it always full of gold, no matter how many times you emptied it. The ring had a charm that made it grant the wish of the heart, if the wisher's heart was pure.

The boy-girl came again. He crept into the house and under the bed. Once the giant got busy snoring, Ninetta crept out and reached over the bed. She took hold of the giant's ring and pulled and pulled until off it came from the giant's finger. But just as Ninetta slipped it on his own, the giant opened his eyes and gripped the boy-girl by the hand.

"I've got you, you ungrateful whelp," says he. "Now, tell me lass: if I had done as much to you as you have done to me, what would you do?"

Ninetta told him, "I'd tie you up in a bag with the cat and the dog, and hang you on a nail. Then I'd go to the forest and find a stout, strong stick and beat that bag until you were dead."

The giant liked the sound of this idea, so he tied Ninetta in a bag with the cat and the dog, and off he went to find a good stout stick.

Now, something had happened in the meanwhile: when Ninetta slipped on the giant's ring, a great change came over him. Because his heart was pure, the wish of his heart was granted. Before that moment, he only looked like a girl, but once the ring came on his finger, he was a girl, and a lovely girl, at that!

"Oooh!" Ninetta cried from within the sack. It was such a surprise, and a lovely surprise!

The giant's wife heard her, and asked, "What are you going on about, girl?"

Ninetta laughed to herself and cooed, "Oooh! If you could see what I see!"

The giant's wife was curious, but not overly smart. "What do you see?"

Ninetta repeated, "Oooh! If you could see what I see!"

The giant's wife begged to know what Ninetta saw, and finally, after much haggling, she managed to convince Ninetta to let her take her place inside the sack and see. The wife cut a slit in the bag. Ninetta slipped out, and the giant's wife slipped in. The girl took a needle and thread, and sewed the sack shut.

The giant's wife of course saw nothing, so she asked the girl to let her out again, but Ninetta didn't bother with that. Instead, she hid behind the door, and soon back came the giant with his stick, and set to pounding on the sack with gusto and with glee.

The giant's wife shouted from inside the sack, "Leave off with that! It's me in here!"

"I know it's you in there!" the giant replied, angrily. The dog and cat made such a racket that he couldn't recognize his own wife's voice. So he laid the blows on thick and heavy until he saw Ninetta creep out from behind the door. Off he went, and chased the pretty girl down to the river. Ninetta slid across the bridge of one hair, which could not bear the giant's weight.

"You treacherous, ungrateful brat!" the giant called. "Do you know that I see you there? Tell me, you wretched child, with all the wrong you've done me, what would you do now, if you were me?"

"I'd drink this river dry and catch you up," the girl replied, "and shake you 'til the eyeballs rolled out of your head." The giant liked this advice, so down on his knees he went. He drank and drank until his stomach burst and he died.

Ninetta gave the ring to the king, but he gave it back to her, along with his youngest son in marriage. The youngest son was the handsomest and liveliest of the three, and he and Ninetta got on famously. The girls lived happily and well, and they brought their mother and the henwife to come and live with them, and no one was ever bothered by giants ever again.

© 2007 by Kaleigh Way