The She-Beast

Three brothers there were, long ago and in a far away land; one who was great in power and strength; one who was great in intellect and cunning and one who was only great in heart and all three of the brothers, because they had heard the tale of a tower at the end of the world in which a fair princess was locked and which was guarded by a terrible she-beast, part lion, part eagle and part woman, set out with the hopes of rescuing and marrying the maiden.

And the first to reach the tower at the end of the world was the brother who was great in power and strength and, because he was a skilled and brave hunter who had slain many beasts he thought that he would fight the beast and kill it with his sword and spear.

But, though he fought valiantly, the she-beast was far too large, too ferocious; too swift and too strong.  With eagle wings she took to the air and with lion claws pounced upon him and it was the young man, not the she-beast, who was slain and his body thrown into a bottomless black lake nearby.

But then, next, the brother of great intellect and cunning arrived and he left some raw meat for the she-beast that was laced with a kind of opium which when the she-beast ate it would put her to sleep.

“And when the beast is asleep”, he said to himself, smirking, “Then I will kill her”.

Unfortunately , the she-beast, gave some of the meat to a passing crow and, seeing the crow fall asleep knew that the meat was drugged, so throwing the meat into the black bottomless lake she instead only pretended to sleep and then, when the brother who was great in intellect and cunning saw her asleep and, creeping stealthily towards her, attempted to kill her with a poisoned dagger, the she-beast suddenly awoke and then, leaping upon him killed him as well and then threw his body into the bottomless lake.

But then finally, the brother who was great in heart arrived and he, rather than fighting or tricking the she-beast had simply planned to appeal to its heart believing that, even though it was a ferocious creature, it must have some goodness in it.

“Please”, he said to the beast, “Have pity upon the poor maiden who is locked in the tower; she has done you no wrong”.

“Pity?”, said the she-beast, angrily,“Who has pity upon me? Time and time again, men come to kill me. They only see me as a hideous monster and care about the beautiful maiden because she is beautiful and you are no different to them, you see me as a monster too, don’t you?”.

“No”, said the brother who was great only in heart, “I believe that a monster is as it behaves not as it looks”.

“Then you have not come to kill me?”, asked the she-beast.

“No”, he said, “I do not want to kill any living thing. I love all creatures”.

“What do you see then when you look at me?”, asked the she-beast.

The young man looked into the she-beasts eyes and saw great sadness there.

“I see someone who is only a monster because the world has treated them unkindly”, he said.

Then the young man, plucking a flower from a nearby bush gave it to the beast and the she-beast happily took it in her claws.

“Then will you believe me”, asked the beast, “When I tell you that there is no maiden in the tower?”.

The young man looked up at the window of the tower and he saw a fair young woman sitting there.

“But I see her”, said the man.

“What you see is my true form locked up in the tower”, replied the beast, “And my soul is locked inside this body. The wizard who divided me body from soul did so to confuse men into trying to release with violence what can only be set free with love”.

And then, looking deep into the she-beasts eyes, the young man who was great of heart saw it to be true, what the beast had told him, for he saw the face of the young maiden locked behind them as if locked behind a window.

And so he kissed the she-beast and, when he did, the door of the tower opened and down a winding staircase the young princess came running, then she rushed out of the tower and into the young man’s arms; the she-beast had vanished and the maiden’s soul and her body were one again.

And, after that, the young man and the maiden were married and lived happily ever after.