Page 1 of 46 §2§l
The Woodsman's
Tales§r§r
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Page 2 of 46 §nFirst Tale§r
§o
Once upon a time there was a girl who lived on the outskirts of the forest. She was lively and bright, and she wore a red cloak, for that way if she ever went astray she could easily be found, since a red cloak would always stand
Page 3 of 46 §oout against the trees and bushes. As the years went by, and she became more woman than girl, she grew more and more beautiful. Many men wanted her for their bride, but she turned them all down. None was good enough for her, for she was cleverer than every
Page 4 of 46 §oman she met and they presented no challenge to her.
Her grandmother lived in a cottage in the forest, and the girl would visit her often, bringing her baskets of bread and meat and staying with her for a time. While her grandmother slept,
Page 5 of 46 §othe girl in red would wander among the trees, tasting the wild berries and strange fruits of the woods. One day, as she walked in a dark grove, a wolf came. It was wary of her and tried to pass without being seen, but the girl’s senses were too acute. She saw the
Page 6 of 46 §owolf, and she looked into its eyes and fell in love with the strangeness of it. When it turned away, she followed it, traveling deeper into the forest than she had ever done before. The wolf tried to lose her in places where there were no trails to follow, no
Page 7 of 46 §opaths to be seen, but the girl was too quick for it, and mile after mile the chase continued. At last, the wolf grew weary of the pursuit, and it turned to face her. It bared its fangs and growled a warning, but she was not afraid.
"Lovely wolf," she
Page 8 of 46 §owhispered. “You have nothing to fear from me.”
She reached out her hand and placed it upon the wolf’s head. She ran her fingers through its fur and calmed it. And the wolf saw what beautiful eyes she had (all the better to see him with)
Page 9 of 46 §oand what gentle hands (all the better to stroke him with), and what soft, red lips (all the better to taste him with). The girl leaned forward, and she kissed the wolf. She cast off her red cloak and put her basket of flowers aside, and she lay with the animal.
Page 10 of 46 §oFrom their union came a creature that was more human than wolf. He was the first of the Loups, the one called Leroi, and more followed after him. Other women came, lured by the girl in the red cloak. She would wander the forest paths, enticing those who passed her
Page 11 of 46 §oway with promises of ripe, juicy berries and spring water so pure that it could make skin look young again. Sometimes she traveled to the edge of a town or village, and there she would wait until a girl walked by and she would draw her into the woods with false cries
Page 12 of 46 §ofor help.
But some went with her willingly, for there are women who dream of lying with wolves.
None was ever seen again, for in time the Loups turned on those who had created them and they fed upon them in the
Page 13 of 46 §omoonlight.
And that is how the Loups came into being.
Page 14 of 46 §nSecond Tale§r
§oOnce upon a time, there were two children, a boy and a girl. Their father died and their mother married again, but their stepfather was an evil man. He hated the children and resented their presence in his home.
Page 15 of 46 §oHe came to despise them even more when the crops failed and famine came, for they ate valuable food, food that he would rather have kept for himself. He begrudged them every meager bite that he was forced to give them, and as his own hunger grew, he began to
Page 16 of 46 §osuggest to his wife that they might eat the children and thereby save themselves from death, for she could always give birth to more children when times improved. His wife was horrified, and she feared what her new husband might do to them when her back was turned. Yet she
Page 17 of 46 §orealized that she could no longer afford to feed them herself, so she took them deep, deep into the forest, and there she abandoned them to fend for themselves.
The children were very frightened, and they cried themselves
Page 18 of 46 §oto sleep that first night, but in time they grew to understand the forest. The girl was wiser and stronger than her brother, and it was she who learned to trap small animals and birds, and to steal eggs from nests. The boy preferred to wander or to
Page 19 of 46 daydream, waiting for his sister to provide whatever she could catch to feed them both. He missed his mother and wanted to return to her. Some days he did nothing but cry from dawn until dusk. He desired his old life back, and he made no effort to embrace the new.
Page 20 of 46 §oOne day, he did not return when his sister called his name. She went in search of him, leaving a trail of blossoms behind her so that she would be able to find her way back to their little supply of food, until she came to the edge of a small clearing, and there she saw the
Page 21 of 46 §omost extraordinary house. Its walls were made of chocolate and gingerbread. Its roof was slated with slabs of toffee, and the glass in its windows was formed from clear sugar. Embedded in its walls were almonds and fudge and candied fruits. Everything
Page 22 of 46 §oabout it spoke of sweetness and indulgence. Her brother was picking nuts from the walls when she found him, and his mouth was dark with chocolate.
“Don’t worry, there’s nobody home,” he said. “Try it. It’s delicious.”
Page 23 of 46 §oHe held out a piece of chocolate to her, but she did not take it at first. Her brother’s eyelids were half closed, so overcome was he by the wonderful taste of the house. His sister tried to open the door, but it was locked. She peered through the glass, but
Page 24 of 46 §othe curtains were drawn and she could not see inside. She did not want to eat, for something about the house made her uneasy, but the smell of the chocolate was too much for her, and she allowed herself to nibble on a piece. It tasted even better than she had imagined,
Page 25 of 46 §oand her stomach cried out for more. So she joined her brother, and together they ate and ate until they had consumed so much that, in time, they fell into a deep sleep.
When they awoke, they were no longer lying on the grass beneath the trees of the
Page 26 of 46 §oforest. Instead, they were inside the house, trapped in a cage that hung from the ceiling. A woman was fueling an oven with logs. She was old and foul-smelling. Piles of bones lay stacked on the floor by her feet, the remains of the other children who had fallen
Page 27 of 46 §oprey to her.
“Fresh meat!” she whispered to herself. “Fresh meat for old Gammer’s oven!”
The little boy began to cry, but his sister hushed him. The woman came to them and peered at them through the bars of
Page 28 of 46 §othe cage. Her face was covered with black warts, and her teeth were worn and crooked like old gravestones.
“Now which of you will be first?” she asked.
The boy tried to hide his face, as though by doing so he might
Page 29 of 46 §o§oavoid the attentions of the old woman. But his sister was braver.
“Take me,” she said. “I am plumper than my brother, and will make a better roast for you. While you eat me you can fatten him up, so that he will feed you for longer when you cook him.”
Page 30 of 46 §oThe old woman cackled with joy.
“Clever girl,” she cried. “Although not so clever as to avoid Gammer’s plate.”
She opened the cage and reached in, grabbing the girl by the scruff of the neck and dragging
Page 31 of 46 §oher out. Then she locked the cage once again and brought the girl to the oven. It was not yet hot enough, but it soon would be.
“I will never fit in there,” said the girl. “It’s too small.”
"Nonsense," said the
Page 32 of 46 §oold woman. “I’ve put bigger than you in there, and they’ve cooked just fine.”
The girl looked doubtful. “But I have long limbs, and fat upon them. No, I will never manage to get into that oven. And if you do squeeze me in, you’ll never get me
Page 33 of 46 §o§oout again."
The old woman took the girl by the shoulders and shook her. “I was wrong about you,” she said. “You’re an ignorant, foolish girl. Look, I’ll show you how big this oven is.”
She climbed up and
Page 34 of 46 §ostuck her head and shoulders into the mouth of the oven.
“See?” she said, and her voice echoed within. “There’s room to spare for me, let alone a girl like you.”
The little girl ran at her and with a great push she shoved her
Page 35 of 46 §ointo the oven and slammed the door closed. The old woman tried to kick it open again, but the girl was too quick for her, slamming the bolt on it (for the old woman did not want a child to break free once the roasting had begun) and leaving her trapped inside.
Page 36 of 46 §oThen she fed more logs to the fire, and slowly the old woman began to cook, all the time screaming and wailing and threatening the girl with the most awful of tortures. So hot was the oven that the fats of her body began to melt, creating a stench so terrible
Page 37 of 46 §othat the little girl felt ill. Still the old woman fought, even as her skin parted from her flesh, and her flesh from her bones, until at last she died. Then the little girl drew wood from the fire and scattered burning logs around the cottage. She led her brother away by the
Page 38 of 46 §ohand as the house melted behind them, leaving only the chimney standing tall, and they never went back there again.
In the months that followed, the girl grew happier and happier in the forest. She built a shelter, and over time the shelter became a
Page 39 of 46 §olittle house. She learned to fend for herself, and as the days went by she thought less and less of her old life. But her brother was never happy and yearned always to be back with his mother. After a year and a day, he left his sister and returned to his
Page 40 of 46 §oold home, but by then his mother and his stepfather were long gone, and no one could tell him where they were. He came back to the forest, but not to his sister, for he was jealous and resentful of her. Instead, he found a path in the woods that was well-tended and
Page 41 of 46 §ocleared of roots and briars, the bushes beside it thick with juicy berries. He followed it, eating some of the berries as he went, never noticing that the path behind him was disappearing with every step that he took.
Page 42 of 46 §oAnd after a time he came to a clearing, and in the clearing was a pretty little house, with ivy on the walls and flowers by the door and a trail of smoke rising from its chimney. He smelled bread baking, and a cake lay cooling on the windowsill. A woman appeared at the door,
Page 43 of 46 §obright and merry, as his mother had once been. She waved to him, inviting him to come to her, and he did.
“Come in, come in,” she said. “You look tired, and berries are not enough to fill a growing boy. I have food roasting over the fire, and a soft
Page 44 of 46 §oplace for you to rest. Stay as long as you wish, for I have no children, and have long wanted a son to call my own.”
The boy cast the berries aside as the path behind him vanished forever, and he followed the woman into the house, where
Page 45 of 46 §oa great cauldron bubbled on the fire and a sharp knife lay waiting on the butcher’s block.
And he was never seen again.
Page 46 of 46 §2§l --==<>==--§r
Taken from
§l The Book of
§l Lost Things §r§r
Transcribed by
§l§1§l peyt1212§r
§2 §l --==<>==--
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