Reading Notes: Czech Folktales, Part B

The Man Who Met Misery

The actual story here didn't do much for me: a rich man's son decides to wander the road looking for this Misery he's heard of, and ends up finding in the form of an ogre who rips off the boy's finger. The title is more interesting to me, and the promise of personifying Misery in a fresh way, but that might be too loosely related to really call it a retelling, so it might not be the best choice for this assignment.


Nine at a Blow

In this story, a giant comes across the protagonist and challenges the man to a few contests of strength. The man wins through cleverness, but after the giant acknowledges that the man is the better of the two, they actually continue traveling together. I like the idea of a couple of boys becoming friends after beating each other up or competing bitterly in some kind of contest, then going on to work together, like the man and giant do in this story when they go to take on the dragon in the church.


A Clever Lass

This time around, a king takes a commoner as his wife because of her cleverness, but he warns that they'll have to separate if she ever gives anyone advice. Years down the line, when she breaks that rule, the king says she'll have to leave—but he'll let her take her favorite thing with her when she goes. She agrees, and drugs the king's wine at her farewell feast. Then she takes him with her to her old commoner home, where he wakes up confused. She replies, "Didn't you say that I could take the thing I liked best with me?"

If I were to use this for a story, I think I'd frame it around a slight tweak on that dynamic. I like the idea of a power couple who are constantly competing with and arguing with each other—but also clearly care about each other at the end of the day. It could be entertaining to work with, I think.


Old Nick and Kitty

In this one, the devil ends up dancing with an undesirable old hag named Kitty after she exclaims that she'd dance with even the devil, if anyone would just have her. But after the dance, Old Nick goes to leave, and he can't get rid of Kitty; she tags along no matter how he tries to shake her off. Eventually, he comes to dread Kitty just as much as everyone else does.

To mix this up and use it in my own story, I'd probably stick with the theme of this terrible, feared villain—some ice-hearted bad boy who supposedly doesn't care about anybody but himself—and his equally awful girlfriend, who isn't technically but is actually a much worse person than him. It could be a fun exercise about anti-villains and what little humanity they succeed and fail to bring out in one another.


The Knight Bambus

This story features a poor protagonist who stumbles across some old ruins, owned by a man who can transform into a large fox. The man reveals that he was a "robber-knight," and now he's been cursed—he has to watch over the grounds here as punishment until the curse is lifted.

I love the idea of a "robber-knight," though I'm quite possibly interpreting it differently than it's meant here, and I think a roguish anti-hero like that could be pretty fun to work with. Sort of a highway robber vibe; that same sort of flair. But I also really like the idea of an anti-hero having to live under some long, life-extending enchantment or curse as punishment, and using this not as some big plot point, but just an ongoing character trait he's constantly stuck carrying along with him.


Francis and Martin

In this story, Francis is a farmer's son and Martin is the farmhand, and they work alongside each other at their everyday jobs. They also work together to solve the mystery of where all the farmer's money is going, and why the old man is being so secretive.

I like the idea of using something like this as the setup between a protagonist and his best friend, his dad's other (and first) apprentice. Their dynamic could have sort of a Mark and Bryon feel, and I could take the old-school/medieval fantasy apprentice system and transplant it into a slick, ultra-modern setting, which sounds like loads of fun. Something like this would probably be best for a longer work, just because of all the world-building it would involve, so it's probably just a concept I'll file away for later. But it was interesting to think about.


Three Supernatural Stories

The last two stories didn't really interest me much, but in the first, a man learns of a group of witches that swarm a local area every so often, and he decides to put a stop to it. To do so, he brings a piece of  chalk along to a spot near the area and traces a circle around him. I know that's just a small detail, but that's what caught my eye in this short piece: the idea of witches being more creature than human, something you can ward away with the right charms and tricks and wards, just like a werewolf with silver. This version of witch is something I'd like to work with, because I find it a lot more interesting than just humans with special ingredients or tricked-out spell books.




Bibliography: The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis. Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook.

Image Credit: "Grayscale Photo of Woman Holding a Picture." Source: Pexels.