Week 4 Storytelling: Witchcraft Revealed

 

Jesabell and her husband Theo had been married for twenty years. Theo’s love for his beautiful wife never hindered. His love for his wife was pure, and he adored her. He hated any time he had to leave her side, so he rarely left his wife in their home alone.

When Theo’s uncle died and he was called away to the funeral, he was devastated at his family’s loss but also by the fact that he would have to leave his loving wife alone in their home for five nights.

The distraught Theo traveled into town to purchase some food and supplies for his journey across the country to where his uncle had lived. After wandering around the stalls in the market and picking out some fresh bread and meat that would last him the long journey, he began to wander aimlessly. As he was turning to walk home, he saw a booth with a blob of bright colors and heard a loud commotion. 

Theo walked over and admired the parrots’ beauty. The old bearded man at the booth selling the birds walked over to Theo.

“My good man,” began the seller. “I see you admiring my birds and I think one of these truth telling birds is exactly what you need.”

“Truth telling bird?” questioned Theo.

“Why, yes! This bird has the gift of telling all that had been done before it. It tells you the truth you cannot see!” exclaimed the old man.

Theo took this as a sign of fate. He was worried about leaving his wife alone for five days. He trusted his wife to be faithful, and that was not the reason he thought the bird a good idea. If something was to happen, or someone comes in the middle of the night while she was alone, the parrot would be able to tell of the incident upon his return.

“I’ll take one,” said Theo as he handed the old man the last of his money. He grabbed the bird’s cage and went home with a smile on his face.

That night before Theo left, he told Jesabell to put the parrot in her room and Jesabell obeyed. The bird was beautiful, and she thought she might like to have the company while her husband was gone.

As soon as Theo had disappeared over the mountainside, there was a knock on the door. Jesabell excitedly ran to open it and jumped through the doorway into the arms of her two loving sisters. They all squealed with excitement to see each other again and for their upcoming plans while Theo was away. For you see, the three sisters were witches. And when Theo was gone was their only time to practice their witchcraft. Theo was blind to his wife’s abilities, for Jesabell feared he would not love her if he knew her true identity.

The witches went into the bedroom where they began mixing potions, brewing concoctions and chanting words from a leather bound book. This all happened while the parrot watched quietly in the corner. 

 

Sisters performing witchcraft, Source: wikipedia

Four days later, before Theo was expected to arrive, the two sisters departed and Jesabell cleaned the house spotless so her husband would not know of the witchcraft that had occurred while he was gone.

After returning late that night, Theo embraced Jesabell and told her of his journey and the sorrow of the family at his uncle’s funeral. Jesabell listened intently and then told Theo of her uneventful few days spent cleaning the house and going into town to wander around the market and visit with a few friends.

“Well that sounds pleasant,” replied Theo. “Now if you will excuse me I am going to go check on the parrot. How was it having him here to keep you company while I was gone? Was he a bother?” questioned Theo.

“Oh my, I forgot he was even there. He was quiet and a joy to have. We must keep him for a pet,” replied Jesabell.

Theo wandered into the bedroom and asked the parrot to reveal his special gift of being able to say what had been done before it. The parrot began telling of the sisters, the potions, the leather book, the chanting, and all the wicked witchcraft that had happened in the room that weekend. Theo almost fell to the floor in horror of finding out the true identity of his wife.

“How could she be a witch and I did not even know,” thought Theo as his head was spinning with the new dreadful reality.

Theo walked out of the room and stared at his wife. Or who he thought was his wife. He felt like he did not even know her anymore. He could not look at her the same way ever again.

“So the parrot has just told me of what happened this weekend. He told me of your sisters and your witchcraft,” began Theo. “I can not believe this. I do not know what to say to you so I need to walk to clear my head. Do not follow me,” finished Theo as he walked out the door into the night.

Jesabell stood speechless with mouth open as tears began to roll down her cheek. She was hurt. She felt betrayed by that stupid little parrot who revealed her darkest secret. For that, the parrot would suffer.

            As she began to think of the proper punishment for the parrot, she also realized how furious she was with her husband. Her husband was the one who used to parrot’s ability to spy on her while he was gone.

            Both would soon get the punishment they deserved.

Author's Note: This week I decided to retell The Story of the Parrot from the Arabian Nights unit. The original story is quite short and I decided this would give me a lot of room to expand the story. The original story includes the wife getting caught by the parrot who told told the man "some things which made him scold his wife" but it does not specficy what that entailed. I took this opportunity to create my own idea that she was a witch and was performing witchcraft while the husband was away. I left the story with a kind of "cliff-hanger" ending but the original story ends with the wife tricking the parrot, and the husband ends up thinking the parrot is telling lies. I thought leaving the ending open created suspense and would leave the reader wanting more.

Bibliography: The Story of the Parrot. The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898)