Valsidal and a Beautiful Fairy

Valsidal and a Beautiful Fairy

To Sandratje, my witch friend, who helps me to understand myself,

and to Frédérique, my beautiful elusive Muse.

As far as he could remember, Valsidal has always lived in the cave. To tell the truth, at one point he tried to live with the two witches from the neighbourhood, the Big and the Little Witch, but after some time the never-ending witching and vapours from various witch potions got into his head and he ran screaming back into his cave, which he did not leave for the following year, just to be on the safe side. But he liked the witches anyway. He liked his little cozy cave, too. He grew turnips in the field in front of the cave and he made delicious turnip cakes sweetened with honey. Valsidal loved his cakes. Also, he helped the neighbours with tending their turnip field, and they gave him in return more turnips and more honey to make more turnip cakes. Because of all that Valsidal lived quite happily in his cave.

As it often goes, such deceiving happiness does not last forever. One evening, Valsidal ate too many turnip cakes and at night he turned and tossed in the bed, until he woke up just with the stroke of midnight. He looked up from his bed and saw a strange creature standing at the entrance of his cave. Valsidal rubs his eyes, looks again, and sees a beautiful little woman, a fairy, and he immediately falls in love with her. She starts talking to him, with a sweet, foreign accent, and she tells him that her name is Frédérique, and that she lives in a far kingdom called Foret. She tells him more, but Valsidal can hardly focus on listening, let alone talking, so much he is taken by her beauty. In the end, Frédérique, seeing the mute Valsidal, stops talking, comes to him with a slight hint of disappointment in her eyes, kisses him sweetly on both cheeks and disappears in the air, leaving only stardust behind her, which soon settles on the cave ground.

Valsidal looks at the stardust, and suddenly he bursts into tears, and he cries for long hours. In the morning he wakes up, confused and exhausted from the sleepless night, and goes to visit the Big Witch, who has always helped him, when he felt confused. The Big Witch stirs her mysterious potions on the stove and listens to him. When he finishes, she turns to him and shouts angrily, “Valsidal, you idiot, you fool! Why did you not tell her what you felt for her? Why did you not ask her, where you could see her again? Why, oh, why, did you not tell her that you loved her? It was the only way to remove the evil curse!”

Valsidal, confused, stuttered: “B... b... but how could I ever live with her? She is so young and beautiful, and she lives so far! And maybe she lives with a handsome prince! And how was I to know she is cursed, she seems so … perfect!”

The Big Witch cackled evilly, “You foolest fool of the fools! It is not her who is cursed, it is you! Only you yourself could have removed your curse by telling her you loved her. Now, she is gone.”

“But I know where she lives. I will go, find her and tell her!” he cried out excitedly.

“You? You have never been further that the end of your neighbour's turnip field!” shouted the Big Witch triumphantly. But seeing the excitement leaving Valsidal's face rapidly, she added: “But I will give you an advice. Go to the end of your field, and than carry on in that direction for one day. You will come to a great dangerous marsh called Grotveen. You walk accross the marsh until you find a wooden hut. That is where the gods live. You ask them the most important question...”

“But what question?” Valsidal jumped in.

The Big Witch looked at Valsidal curiously, and said, “Only you will know.” Then she turned to her bubbling pots, seemingly forgetting that Valsidal was there.

Valsidal went home, thinking glumly, “Why me? All I wanted was to tend my turnip field, eating turnip cakes and drink tea made from turnip leaves. Now, the sweet foreign temptresses, swamp inhabiting gods, and swamp inhabiting gods know what else. Why me?”

Undecided, Valsidal stayed around his cave for a couple of days, his mind wandering. But he felt that something was changing. For instance, to his shock, he realized that he stopped eating turnip cakes, substituting them with much healthier turnip soup with a dollop of honey. Also, he started running and exercising instead of basking in the sun in front of the cave. His head seemed to be much clearer, too! Feeling good about himself, he decided to give the swamp gods a go.

He started off brightly one sunny morning, and in the evening he was already crossing the Grotveen. It was not dangerous at all, and he felt like having a word with the Big Witch about that once he comes back. The footpaths were well trodden, maybe from people visiting the gods with their most important questions. He arrived to the hut just before the sunset. There was only an old man sitting in front of it, rocking slowly in a rocking armchair, but Valsidal could hear playful chattering from the house.

“Good evening, mister.” said Valsidal politely.

“Good evening to you, Valsidal,” answered the old man quietly, “what is your question?”

Valsidal shuffled his feet uncertainly and mumbled, “My question is... my question is... could you help me to find Frédérique that I could live with her for the rest of my life?”

The old man looked at Valsidal, and said with a friendly smile, “Is that your most important question?”

Valsidal replied with a hint of stubborness in his voice, “Yes, it is!”

The old man smiled again,“Very well, then, I see that you are still very young. But I will give you the answer. Look at yourself, and look around yourself. Can you see the beautiful sunset, sprinkling shiny rubies into the marsh water? Can you see the smooth velvety landing of the heron over there? Can you smell the subtle scent of the marsh heather? Can you feel the tough skin of your hands, hardened from toiling on the turnip field? That all, and much more is, young man, the answer to your question.”

Valsidal looked at the old man uncertainly and thanked him, not really knowing what he was thankful for, but at the same time the old man clicked his fingers and Valsidal found himself in his bed, with a strange feeling that he has just eaten a full plate of delicious turnip soup. He sighed, and fell asleep in a second.

That night he had a dream. He was looking everywhere for the lovely fairy, and the road brought him to a gorgeous palace. He was welcomed at the door by an old couple, who took him over a red carpet to a brilliant golden throne and gestured him to sit in it. Than the old woman put a scepter in his right hand and an orb in his left hand, and the man put a jewel encrusted crown on his head. Then he Valsidal woke up. He normally did not pay much attention to dreams, mostly because he did not understand them, but he immediately knew what this one meant. He became the king! The king of himself! He is free! He can do whatever he wants! And with that thought he smiled and decided to look for the fairy Frédérique after all.

At the market he bought an old horse for a couple of turnips, and departed for the far kingdom of Foret. It was a slow, tiring journey, and he had to take breaks often for the horse. What would you expect, after all, from a horse bought for a couple of turnips? Luckily, he was soon travelling with two companions. First one was a young lady Hannah, who headed to the Foret Kingdom to live and learn at the royal court, and hopefully to find a suitable groom one day. The second one was a talkative dwarf Jakov, a merchant with precious stones, who thought he knew everything and liked to share his wisdom with others, even if they did not want to. He kept telling Valsidal, “Use your head, Vaalsidaal, you need to use your head!”

Valsidal knew exactly what he meant, but somehow he knew also that from now on he wanted to follow his ways, not caring much what others think of that (he was the king now, after all) and right now he wanted to follow his heart, and somehow he knew it was the right way, whatever the outcome would be, and he was very happy about it. All the same, he was glad to talk to both his companions, and the time went by faster. After a fairly uneventful journey they arrived at the Foret Castle, they wished each other good luck, and parted their ways again.

Valsidal wasted not a minute, and started asking the Foret people if they saw the beautiful Frédérique. But he did not speak their language, and they did not speak his. They were friendly and smiling and loud, and milling about their business, but they could not help Valsidal with his task. He felt strangely peaceful in the midst of this hullabaloo, but he did not get an inch closer to the elusive fairy. Finally, after three weeks of hopeless search, in an inn he met a young journeyman, named Jardenne. And voilà, Jardenne spoke his language, and most important, he knew of the fairy. He warned Valsidal that the fairy was indeed very elusive, but he might try his luck by the old weir by the river, where Frédérique liked to walk sometimes.

Valsidal, full or renewed hope departed, and soon he was by the old weir. He built a camp, and waited. He had no luck for two days, but the third day, in the evening, he saw the beautiful creature walking on the other side of the river. He shouted and whooped, and jumped up and down, but Frédérique, without looking, continued her walk, until she disappeared in the distance. Valsidal felt sad, but not for long.

“I did not get the girl,” he thought, “but somehow I know the curse is broken, and I got a lot out of this. If nothing else, then at least a good story to tell my friends when I come back.” And who knows, maybe Valsidal left his cave, found himself a beautiful woman after all, and they lived in a sunny cottage happily ever after.