Serpents and Werewolves (5 page)

“What are you doing, barging into my castle?”

“
Sorry sire. We thought we saw a wolf run in here.”

“A wolf? In a castle? Don't be ridiculous.”

The hunters apologised, left the castle and headed back to the forest, to find easier prey.

Bisclavret turned, to ask his new wife why she had betrayed him, what had happened to her promise to love him whatever his secret, and whether they could still find their happy ever after together.

But she had gone.

He searched the house for her, until finally, glancing out of a window, he saw her. Running across the bare land towards the edge of the forest.

He didn't chase her. He let her go.

And so, once upon a time, a girl who had been bitten by a werewolf ran into the forest... which might be the start of a new story.

The Swallow's Search

Egyptian myth

A family full of gods is not always a happy family.

The Egyptian god Set was jealous of his older brother Osiris, because Osiris was loved by the people, and because Osiris had a beautiful and powerful wife Isis.

So Set came up with a plan to get rid of Osiris. He invited Osiris and all his men to a party at his riverside palace, and provided a wonderful feast with lots of bread and beer.

At
the end of the meal, when everyone was full and happy, Set announced that he had a splendid gift for one of his guests, but he didn't yet know who it was for.

He brought out a gorgeous wooden chest, carved and fragranced and inlaid with gems, and said it was a gift for the person who fitted most neatly inside.

All his guests tried. But everyone was too fat or too thin, or too short or too tall.

Everyone apart from Osiris.

Osiris fitted perfectly. His shoulders spanned the width of the chest, his feet touched the base and his hair just brushed the top.

It was as if the box had been carved specially for him.

Osiris lay comfortably in the box and laughed. “It seems this pretty box is mine, Set.”

Set laughed too. “Yes, brother, it is your box. It is your coffin!”

Set slammed the lid down, nailed it shut and, before Osiris's men could react, Set shoved the chest into the River Nile. As it
floated
away into the darkness, Set knew he had finally got rid of Osiris.

Isis soon heard of Set's trick.

First the goddess placed her young son and heir, Horus, on an island. To keep the boy hidden from Set, she cut the island loose from the riverbed and sent it floating across the waters, so it was never in the same place twice.

Then Isis began to search for her husband.

She spread her arms, whispered her secret name and became a bird. She became a swallow.

She flew high above the Nile, searching for her beloved Osiris. At first she was searching for him to rescue him, to free him from that beautiful box and let him breathe fresh air again.

After many days of searching, she knew Osiris couldn't have survived so long without food or water or air. Now Isis was searching for his body, to perform the rites that would free his spirit.

She searched and searched, flying along the
length
of the Nile, across the vast width of its mouth, even out over the salty sea beyond. But she didn't see the glittering box anywhere. Because the box wasn't on the river.

On the very first day, the box had been swept up against the riverbank where it banged into a tamarind tree. The tree, enchanted by the beauty of the box, had wrapped itself round Osiris's coffin and engulfed the box in its broad trunk.

The box and the body were hidden inside the tree.

Then the tree was chopped down, carried to a local king's palace and turned into a pillar to hold up the roof.

So, no matter how fast and far she flew, Isis would never find the box on the river.

Then she heard rumours, as birds do, about a marvellous new pillar, of thrumming power and amazing beauty, so she flew to the King's palace to see this pillar. She transformed back into the shape of a woman, and offered her services to the Queen as the baby Prince's nurse.

As
Isis cared for the boy, and became fond of him, she wondered why she was so drawn to the wooden pillar.

One night, the Queen heard odd noises from the baby's room. She pushed the door open to see...

...her baby boy burning in the centre of a fire!

Her child was lying in the middle of blazing flames. His nurse was nowhere to be seen. There was a swallow swooping around the pillar in the centre of the room.

The Queen screamed and rushed forward to pull her son from the flames. She burnt her hands pulling him out.

But the baby was smiling and unharmed.

The swallow hovered in midair, then grew and stretched and became the boy's nurse.

“Foolish woman,” said the nurse to the Queen. “I was burning the mortality off your son; I was turning him into a god. You have broken the spell. He will never be a god now.”

The Queen sobbed and the baby giggled.

“
However, I will bless him before I leave,” said Isis, “if you will have your servants cut this pillar open, because I believe there is something precious inside.”

The baby received one last hug from his nurse, as the pillar was sawn open and the beautiful chest fell out.

Isis arranged a barge to carry the box and the body towards the island where their son Horus waited. But on the journey home, while she slept one night, Set passed by on the riverbank and caught sight of the box glinting in the moonlight.

He didn't want Osiris's powerful spirit to rise free, so he crept onto the barge, opened the box and chopped the body into fourteen pieces. Then he scattered those fourteen pieces over the river and the desert beyond.

When Isis woke and found the box broken open and empty, she transformed into a bird again to search for all the pieces of Osiris. She flew over every inch of Egypt and found thirteen of the fourteen pieces. When she finally realised that the fourteenth piece was
lost
for ever, she filled the gap with gold and made Osiris whole.

She bound all the pieces of her husband together with linen strips and she spoke the rites. As she whispered goodbye to Osiris, his spirit floated free, down to the Duat where all the spirits go.

In the Duat, Osiris ruled as King of the Dead, while Set ruled above, until Isis and Osiris's son Horus was grown and could defeat Set, to restore balance to the world.

Set was defeated thousands of years ago, but even now, Isis occasionally turns into a bird and flies high and far over Egypt, hoping to find that very last piece of Osiris.

The Frog, the Flies and the Frying Pan

Scottish folktale

Once upon a time, on the mossy heathery moors of Scotland, a mother and her daughter lived in a small cottage.

One day, the mother asked, “Would you like oatcakes for tea?”

“Yes, that would be lovely,” said the girl.

So the mother fetched a couple of handfuls of oatmeal and a pinch of salt, then realised
there
was no fresh water in the house. “The best water for baking is the pure clear water in the Well at the End of the World.” She handed a big jug to her daughter. “If you want oatcakes for tea, fill that jug from the Well at the End of the World, please.”

The end of the world sounds like a long way away, but Scotland is on the northern edge of Europe, and the end of the world is often just over the horizon.

So the girl faced a long walk, but not as long as an expedition or a quest. She spent the morning striding along, swinging the empty jug with every step.

When she reached the white stone well, she sat on the edge and looked in.

The well was empty. The Well at the End of the World was dry.

The girl sighed. “I've walked all the way to the end of the world. Now I'll have to walk all the way home again with an empty jug, and there won't be oatcakes for tea.”

“Oatcakes!” said a soggy voice. “I love oatcakes.”

A
frog jumped onto the edge of the well.

A shiny frog, with a yellow belly, a green back and a long tongue, jumped up right beside the girl. But this frog was shiny like slime rather than polished jewellery. It was green like poison rather than leaves. It was yellow like mustard rather than daffodils. And its long tongue was black and sticky.

The girl stood up quickly and stepped away from the frog.

“I love oatcakes,” the frog said again.

“There won't be any oatcakes, without water,” she said.

The frog smiled a gummy wide-mouthed smile. “I can bring the water back to the well, if you make me a couple of promises.”

The girl looked at the frog, at the empty well and her empty jug, then back at the frog. The frog flicked its tongue out and caught a fly. Then ate it.

“Yuck,” said the girl.

The frog said, “If you want water, you must promise to let me into your house when I knock on the door tonight, and you must
promise
to let me sit on your lap and eat oatcakes from your plate.”

The girl took another step back and watched the frog flicking out its tongue.

She didn't want to let the frog into her house, or onto her knee, or at her oatcakes. But she thought, “This frog doesn't know where I live and it can't possibly hop as fast as I walk, so I can safely make those promises and never see this frog again.”

So she said, “Yes, I promise that if you knock on my door tonight, I'll let you in, let you sit on my knee and let you eat my oatcakes. But first, you have to find me water.”

The frog hopped round the well three times, and as he completed his third circle, the well flooded with pure clean water.

The girl dipped her jug in and filled it to the brim. Then she walked off, swinging the heavy jug.

The frog called after her, “Remember your promise!”

She turned round and
saw
the frog, with a fly half in and half out of its mouth, one tiny clear wing flapping feebly by the frog's cheek. The frog crunched and the wing drooped.