Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales Part B
"Fairy Ointment" was an interesting story to read and unlike some of the other stories in this unit, I had never heard of this story before. I think it is somewhat humorous because the ointment is kinda like fairy dust in a way.
The story started out with a man asking for the midwife's help in caring for his baby while his wife was ill and could not do it herself. Even though the man seemed sketchy to the midwife, she said yes because it was her job. The fellow whisked her away on his dark black horse that had fiery eyes.
The story started out kind of creepy because the man had an eerie look to him and his horse was jet black and was described to have fiery eyes like hell fire. I personally thought that this story was going to take a terrible turn.
However, the man was right, the baby did need to be taken care of and the midwife did it. The woman, however, told the midwife to rub this strange ointment on the baby's eyes when they open. The midwife was concerned and cautious, so she decided to try it on herself to see if it was harmful. Almost immediately, her surroundings changed. Everything was different and the midwife realized that she was surrounded by pixies, but she did not say anything to anyone.
I wonder why she didn't say anything? Was it a secret? Were pixies not allowed in the village? That part confused me.
The midwife asked the fellow to take her home once the woman was well again. They rode back on the creepy horse and everything was fine and dandy.
The next day, the midwife was in the market picking up some items and she saw the fellow that she helped just days before. She walked right up to him and he was astonished and confused. He questioned how she could see him and when the midwife replied, the fellow stabbed her in the eye that contained the ointment and left her there... blind.
I understand that the ointment was magic, but was it supposed to make everything look extravagant or to cause invisibility? It seemed like the midwife was the only one that could see the man, so was the power, the power of seeing everything no one else can see?
Bibliography: Fairy Ointment from the English Fairy Tale Unit by Joseph Jacobs
The story started out with a man asking for the midwife's help in caring for his baby while his wife was ill and could not do it herself. Even though the man seemed sketchy to the midwife, she said yes because it was her job. The fellow whisked her away on his dark black horse that had fiery eyes.
The story started out kind of creepy because the man had an eerie look to him and his horse was jet black and was described to have fiery eyes like hell fire. I personally thought that this story was going to take a terrible turn.
However, the man was right, the baby did need to be taken care of and the midwife did it. The woman, however, told the midwife to rub this strange ointment on the baby's eyes when they open. The midwife was concerned and cautious, so she decided to try it on herself to see if it was harmful. Almost immediately, her surroundings changed. Everything was different and the midwife realized that she was surrounded by pixies, but she did not say anything to anyone.
I wonder why she didn't say anything? Was it a secret? Were pixies not allowed in the village? That part confused me.
The midwife asked the fellow to take her home once the woman was well again. They rode back on the creepy horse and everything was fine and dandy.
The next day, the midwife was in the market picking up some items and she saw the fellow that she helped just days before. She walked right up to him and he was astonished and confused. He questioned how she could see him and when the midwife replied, the fellow stabbed her in the eye that contained the ointment and left her there... blind.
I understand that the ointment was magic, but was it supposed to make everything look extravagant or to cause invisibility? It seemed like the midwife was the only one that could see the man, so was the power, the power of seeing everything no one else can see?
What the midwife saw when she put the ointment on her eye
Bibliography: Fairy Ointment from the English Fairy Tale Unit by Joseph Jacobs
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