Week 15 Reading EC: The Wicked Prince

• Wicked prince wanted to conquer every country in the world
• Used fired and sword to attack countries, soldiers damaged crops and destroyed homes
• Soldiers did terrible things to people
• Implied that they raped women fleeing with their children
• Prince believed that everything he did was right and that everything was going well
• Prince enslaved the kings of the countries he conquered
• Chained to his chariot when he drove through the city
• Forced to kneel at his feet when he ate at the table
• Prince wanted his statues built everywhere, including churches
• Priests opposed this, saying God was more powerful than the prince
• Prince: "Well, then I will conquer God too."
• Ordered an airship built; colorful and covered in "eyes" that were actually gun barrels
• Eagles propelled it in the air
• God sent a single angel against the ship
• Prince's bullets bounced off of the angel's wings
• Single drop of blood from angel's wings dropped onto the ship and weighed it down, sending it crashing down into a large tree
• Prince spent seven years building a fleet of airships
• God sent a swarm of gnats that swarmed the prince; prince swung at the gnats with his sword, but it hit nothing
• Prince tried to cover up, but a gnat got inside the coverings and stung the prince's ear
• Soldiers mocked the prince who wanted to make war with God

Bibiliography: The Wicked Prince from Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen. Web Source.

Image: Fire in a Village by Egbert van der Poel, from Wikimedia Commons. Web Source.

Week 15 Reading B: The Fiddler in Hell

• Moujik with three sons had enough money to fill two pots
• Buried one in his corn-kiln
• Buried other under his farmyard's gate
• Moujik died without telling anyone about the money
• Fiddler was headed to a festival in the village when he sank into the earth and into hell
• Fiddler met the moujik, who confesses that he is in hell because he had much money and gave none to the poor
• Moujik tells Fiddler that if he sits on the stove behind the chimney-pipe and eats nothing for 3 years, he will be safe from torture
• Fiends come and beat up the moujik
• After fiends leave, the moujik tells the fiddler to tell his children where the pots are and to distribute them among the poor
• More fiends arrive and notice a 'Russian smell'
• Moujik tries to mislead them, but they go and find the Fiddler
• Fiddler is forced to fiddle for 3 years
• Fiddler talks about his fiddle-strings usually snapping, and they snap when he says "May the Lord grant us his blessing"
• The Lord is granting his blessing by snapping the strings and allowing Fiddler a chance to escape
• Fiends try to replace strings, but Fiddler repeats the phrase and the strings snap again
• Fiddler asks to go get his strings from home, but fiends are wary of him trying to escape
• Fiddler allows them to send a fiend with them
• Fiddler and fiend return to the village, where the fiddler finds the moujik's children and tells them about the pots of gold
• The children distribute the money, but it increases as they give it away
• Emperor ordered a bridge to be built to make a much shorter path to a town, which finally empties the pots of gold
• A child was born who didn't eat or drink for 3 years and had an angel with him
• When the child came to the bridge, he said "God grant the kingdom of heaven to him at whose cost it was built!"
• The Lord heard the prayer and ordered his angels to release the moujik

Bibliography: The Fiddler in Hell from Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston. Web Source.

Image: Pot of Gold from Pixabay by TeroVesalainen. Web Source.

Week 15 Reading A: The Treasure

• Old man whose wife dies, wants to bury her but has no money
• Pope refuses to help unless old man can pay
• Old man attempts to dig a grave himself for his wife, finds a pot full of gold coins
• He paid for everything necessary for his wife's grave and memorial
• Pope was suspicious and jealous of the old man's sudden prosperity, and questions the old man about how he found the money
• Pope skins a goat and has his wife sew it up around him
• Pope goes to old man's house and pretends to be the Devil, pretends that the pot was the Devil's money
• Old man throws money outside, pope takes it and returns home
• When wife tries to cut the goatskin off of him, it was a part of him
• Nothing worked to remove the goatskin, not even returning the money to the old man

Bibliography: The Treasure from Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston. Web Source.

Image: Devil Baphomet Statue from PxHere. Web Source.