Transgendered Fairy Tales
by Kaleigh Way

In a far-off kingdom, there lived an old queen, whose husband died many years past. She had a young and handsome son who was as good as gold. He was the apple of his mother's eye, but he knew not the ways of the world and the wickedness that hides in the heart.

Because the queen loved her son and knew her time was short, she arranged for him to marry a beautiful and accomplished princess who lived a great way off. She selected gifts and costly presents for the bride and her father, and prepared everything for the journey. The queen appointed a man-at-arms to accompany her son, and choose a good serviceable horse for the man. For the prince, she gave her own horse, a noble animal named Falada, who could speak as well as any man.

When the time came for the prince to depart, the queen took him into her chamber, and with a little knife cut her finger. She squeezed three drops of blood onto a piece of white linen, and gave it to her son, saying, "You know I am an enchantress, the daughter of an enchantress. If you were my daughter instead of my son, I could teach you my magic arts, but since you are a boy I can only give you this charm. As long as you keep it, no harm can befall you."

Then they took leave of each other, and many tears were shed by both son and mother.

The prince's man-at-arms was an artful knave named Puccio. Puccio's godmother was a witch, and she had also prepared him for the journey, but in quite a different way. She told him it was his fortune to have the same height and build as the prince, and that her arts would do the rest. The night before Puccio and the prince departed, the godmother gave Puccio a vial and instructions on its use.

After an hour's ride, the prince began to feel thirsty, and he asked Puccio, "Get down, and fill my cup with water from the brook; I have a great desire to drink."

"Get down yourself," Puccio replied, "and if you are thirsty stoop down and drink; I will not be your slave."

The prince had a humble soul, so he climbed down, put his face near the stream and drank. He had never been treated with disrespect before, and it confused him. He drew the linen with the three drops of blood from his sleeve, and dried his face with the edge of it. The three drops of blood softly sighed, "If your mother saw how poorly you are treated, it would break her loving heart."

But the prince said nothing. He tucked the linen back in his sleeve and mounted his horse again. They rode several miles farther. The day was warm and the sun was hot, so the prince grew thirsty again. When they came upon a stream, he called again to Puccio, "Get down, and get me a drink in my golden cup." He was a good soul, and forgot what had happened earlier. But Puccio spoke more scornfully than before and said, "If you want a drink, get it yourself; I am not going to be your slave."

The prince came down from his horse, and without thinking drew the linen from his sleeve. He was offended and distracted by Puccio's insolence, but he knew not how to call the knave to heel. "Beware! Beware!" the three drops of blood called softly to him, but in his distress he did not hear. As he made his way to the stream, he slipped and lost the piece of linen. Puccio rejoiced in his heart as he saw it drift away in the water. He knew that now he would have power over the prince, and it was time to put his godmother's plan to work.

"My Lord," the false knave said, as he came down from his horse. "Forgive my insolence. I should have known my place. If it please you, sit upon this rock and take your ease while I fetch you a drink."

Relieved, the prince sat down and rested. Puccio took the golden cup, wiped it inside and out with a clean white cloth, and filled it at the stream. Out of the prince's sight, Puccio opened the vial and emptied its contents into the cup.

"Drink, my Lord," Puccio said. "And I shall fetch you another."

The prince smiled and drained the cup at once. He handed it to Puccio, who washed it in the stream and filled it again. The prince drained the second glass and felt a strange sensation pass over him. Puccio took the cup before it fell from the prince's hands.

If anyone had been nearby to witness what happened next, they would not have believed their eyes. The prince felt as if his clothes were growing larger. His hat fell over his eyes, but before he could lift it, Puccio, laughing, snatched it off his head.

"You're wearing my clothes," he said roughly. "Take them off." And the prince's man-at-arms opened a bag on his pack horse and drew out the clothes of a servant girl. "These are your clothes," he said.

The prince looked at himself, and was astonished by what he saw. He was shorter by several inches, and his shoulders were narrower. In place of the manly chest and arms he possessed just that morning, were delicate arms, small white hands, and a beautiful pair of snow white breasts. His hair was long and full of curls, and he could feel that his nose and face were finer and more delicate. Puccio forced him at swordpoint to disrobe, and both were struck by the former prince's beauty.

"It's a pity we have to rush," Puccio leered. "But my new bride awaits."

The former prince dressed in the garb of a servant girl. Puccio told her, "I am now the prince. Your name is Mariella. You are a servant girl. If you speak of any of this to anyone, it will cost you your life." And he made her swear an oath before heaven. Then he lifted Mariella on his old horse, while he mounted Falada, who had witnessed everything, but held his tongue.

They traveled onward, faster than before, and while the false prince spent his nights at comfortable inns, Mariella's bed was in the stable with the horses.

In a few days they reached the royal castle. There was great joy at their coming, and Mariella gazed with great curiosity at the princess who would have been his bride. As Puccio climbed the stairs, Mariella remained below, with her lovely hand on Falada's neck. The King looked down and noticed how delicate, gentle, and beautiful the servant girl was, and asked the seeming bridegroom who she was and why she was standing in the courtyard.

"Oh," Puccio answered carelessly, "She is a foolish girl who is a constant vexation to my mother. I brought her so she could chatter along the way. Could you give her something to do? When she is idle, she gets into all sorts of mischief."

The King was a little puzzled and not much pleased by this, but for his daughter's sake he put a good face on it.

Then he thought: ''What to do with the girl?'' He really had no work for her, until he remembered the boy who took care of the geese. She could help him! And so the real prince, now a girl named Mariella, was sent to keep geese with the goose boy, who was called Conrad.

Soon after, the false prince, Puccio, asked the King, "Could you do me a favor?"

"With all my heart, my son."

"Could you call the knacker, so he can slaughter the horse I came here upon? He was no end of trouble on the journey, and I can't bear to look upon him." He was afraid that Falada might tell someone what he had done to the prince.

When the order was given for Falada to die, Mariella heard of it, and promised the knacker a piece of gold if he would hang Falada's head near the city gate where she could see it when she passed by. So the man promised, and so the man did, and he nailed Falada's head in a shadow near the gate.

Early next morning as she and Conrad drove their geese through the gate, she said as she went by, "O Falada, are you there?"

And the head answered,

"If your mother knew of your sorry plight,
Her heart would break 'til she set it right."

When she and Conrad brought the geese to the meadow, Mariella sat down and undid her hair so she could comb it out. In the sun, her long blonde hair shone like spun gold.

You can imagine how excited Conrad was to have such a beautiful assistant, and when he saw how her hair glistened, he longed to snatch a lock of it for himself. But Mariella felt some of her mother's magic come to her, and she cried,

"Wind, blow Conrad's hat away,
I with my golden hair must play."

A breeze came up and took Conrad's hat far across the fields, so he had to chase after it. Each time he got close enough to pick it up, the hat would roll or fly from him. By the time he came back, Mariella had put up her hair with combs and pins, and he could not pluck himself a lock of it. He was sulky and would not speak to her, but they looked after the geese together until the evening came, and then they went home.

The next morning, as they passed under the dark gateway, Mariella called,

"O Falada, are you there?"

And the head answered,

"If your mother knew of your sorry plight,
Her heart would break 'til she set it right."

And when they reached the fields she sat down and began to comb out her hair again. When Conrad came to seize a lock, she cried,

"Wind, blow Conrad's hat away,
I with my golden hair must play."

Then the breeze came and took Conrad's hat and made him run after it. When he came back, her hair was put up, and again he lost his chance of seizing a lock. They tended the geese in silence until the evening.

After they returned home, Conrad went to the King and said, "I will not tend the geese with that girl any longer!"

"Why not?" asked the King.

"Because she vexes me the whole day long," answered Conrad. The King ordered him to tell how it was.

"Every morning," said Conrad, "as we pass under the gateway with the geese, there is an old horse's head hanging on the wall, and she says to it,

O Falada, are you there?

And the head answers,

If your mother knew of your sorry plight,
Her heart would break 'til she set it right.

And then Conrad told the King how she made him run after his hat.

The King told him to go to drive the geese next morning as usual. He stood deep in the shadows near the gate and heard how the maiden spoke to Falada. Then he followed them into the fields, and hid behind a bush; he watched the goose boy and the goose girl tend the geese. After a while he saw the girl let her hair all loose, and he marveled at how it gleamed and shone. Soon she said,

"Wind, blow Conrad's hat away,
I with my golden hair must play."

And just as he had been told, a gust of wind carried off Conrad's hat. The boy ran after it while the maiden combed and put up her hair. The King saw everything, and he went away without their seeing him.

When the goose girl returned that night, he asked her why she did these things.

"I dare not tell you," she answered, "nor can I tell any man of my woe, for when I was in danger of my life I swore an oath not to reveal it." And he pressed her hard, and left her no peace, but she told him nothing.

At last the King said, "If you won't tell me, you can make this iron oven your confessional. No one will hear you there." And he pretended to leave. She crept inside the old oven and began to weep and groan, and it broke the King's heart to hear the girl cry. At last she opened her heart and said,

"Here I am forsaken of all the world! I, who was the son of a King, bewitched by my man-at-arms and turned into a girl! Forced to give up my clothes, my manhood, my birthright, and my bride! Now I am nothing but a goose girl. Born a prince, I will die a servant. If my mother knew, it would break her heart."

Now the King was standing outside by the oven door listening, and he heard all she said. As strange as her story was, he believed it. He did not like Puccio, and found it strange from the start that he had traveled alone with such a lovely girl.

He called her, and told her to come out of the oven. He had the castle's waiting women bathe her and dress her in royal garments, and everyone was astonished to see how beautiful she was.

The King then called his daughter and explained that Puccio was not her true bridegroom. He told her the goose girl's story, and the Princess' heart was moved. In her heart she was glad because she had no love for Puccio.

A great feast was prepared, and all the court was invited. The King sat Mariella at his side. Puccio did not recognize her, because he was dazzled by her beauty. After everyone had eaten and drunk and were merry, the King spoke to Puccio about a man who had betrayed his master and taken his place.

The King asked him, "What would such a one deserve?"

"He should be flogged in the public square," Puccio promply replied, "and then beheaded."

"You have spoken your own doom," the King told him. "As you have said, so shall it be done," and the sentence was carried out the very next day.

The Princess married a handsome noble from a nearby kingdom, and Mariella returned home to her mother. After a few short months, the King, who was unable to forget the beautiful goose girl, came to court her and make her his queen.

She returned his love. Soon they married, and lived happily ever after.

© 2007 by Kaleigh Way