THE STORY OF THREE FEATHERS
Sketch and finished detail, WHERE THE WIND TAKES ME finished painting oil 18 x 48"
Last time, I promised to tell you the whole story. And so, in the interests of DWYSYWD (and in bringing you a good story not often told), here it is:
Once upon a time, a King had three sons, two clever and one silent. His brothers called him The Simpleton. At last, the King grew old and weak. That there should be no dispute, he took his sons outside, blew three feathers into the air, and said: "You shall go as they fly, and he who brings me the most beautiful carpet shall be King after my death." One feather flew east, another west, and the third flew straight up and fell to the ground nearby. The eldest brother went to the east, the second to the west, and they mocked Simpleton, who stayed where the third feather had fallen.
He sat down sadly by the feather. Then he noticed a trap door. He raised it up, found some steps, and went down. He came to another door and heard voices. The door opened, and he saw a fat toad, surrounded by little toads. The fat toad asked what he wanted. "I seek the finest carpet in the world." The big toad called to a young one, who brought a great box and from it pulled forth a carpet so fine, that on the earth above, none could have been woven like it. She gave it to him, he thanked her and ascended.
The two elder brothers assumed that the youngest would fail. "And so, why should we give ourselves a great deal of trouble to search?" said they, and brought cheap, coarse rugs home to the King. The King saw Simpleton’s fine carpet and was astonished. "If justice be done, the kingdom belongs to the youngest," said he. But the two others let their father have no peace, and begged for another chance. The father said: "He who brings me the most beautiful ring shall inherit the kingdom," and blew into the air three feathers, which they were to follow. Again Simpleton visited the fat toad and told her he needed a beautiful ring. She ordered the box, and from it gave him a ring so beautiful that no goldsmith on earth could have made it. The two eldest again did not trouble themselves, but knocked the nails out of an old carriage-ring, and took it to the King. When Simpleton produced his golden ring, his father again said, "The kingdom belongs to you." The two eldest did not cease tormenting the King until he made a third condition, and declared that the one who brought home the most beautiful woman would have the kingdom. He again blew the three feathers into the air, and again they flew as before.
Simpleton returned to the fat toad, and said: "I am to take home the most beautiful woman!" - "And Thou shalt have her," said the toad. She gave him a hollowed-out yellow turnip, to which six mice were harnessed. "Put one of my little toads into it," she told him. Simpleton seized one, and put her into the turnip. Hardly was she seated than she turned into a wonderfully beautiful maiden, and the turnip into a real coach, and the six mice into horses. So he kissed her, and drove her to the King. His brothers came afterward; they brought with them the first women they had chanced to meet. When the King saw them he said: "After my death, the kingdom belongs to my youngest son," and all opposition had to cease. Simpleton received the crown, and ruled wisely.------------------------------------------
Personally, I think the fat toad should have inherited the crown, but I suspect females–even slender, non-amphibious ones–were excluded from such a thing back in the Once Upon A times. Be that as it may, the lessons remain: be polite, follow the rules, do what you’re told, and rely on the kindness of strangers. Hmm. Or... seize the opportunities you are given, make the most of them, and be persistent. Indeed.
PS: Feathers also stand for The Virtues: three of them together symbolize Faith, Hope, and Charity. Kinda like Simpleton. He probably was a truly good king.