RUTH FAINLIGHT

A Fairy Story

The princess in the fairy story
Discovered that a happy ending
Had unexpected consequences.
The castle in the wood concealed
A certain chamber. Her knight revealed
A taste for flagellation. And when
He tired of protests and capitulation,
He rode away - until another kingdom,
Dragon, maiden who could not be won
By any simpler method, was stumbled on.

He then would stay, enter the lists.
He loved the risk, the praise, that combat
Or the guessing game where death
Remained the final forfeit. He loved
A distraught princess, never could resist.
Their fear attracted, their wavering spirit.

Once upon a time, their taming was
The reason for his quest, but now exhaustion,
Boredom, made him pleased his dragon-
Surrogate could test them first.
If they survived the monster's ardent breath
That smoky taint made them delicious.

The rescued princesses compared
Sad stories, boasted of their sufferings,
Exaggerating the ordeal.
They dressed each others' hair, changed
Robes and jewels, waited impatiently
To see the girl who next would join them.

One day, outside the crumbling walls
Of some obscure and unimportant
Principality, the knight was bested.
The dragon fled, dragging bruised coils
Through hedges, across muddy plough-land.
The princess would not follow him,
But turned her back and went inside the town.
The watchers were not more nonplussed.

The knight rode home, sent messages
To all his friends. They drank and sang,
Tortured his wives - they had a ball.
Next day he bade farewell to each
Blood-brother, each noble companion,
Vowed the remaining years to penance
Somewhere far from this vile shambles.

But first, before he set off with his squire
Down that faint narrow path which lured
Deep into the misty forest,
A splendid tomb must be constructed:
Memorial to those princesses,
Obedient victims of his destiny.
The monument still stands, although
The castle fell to ruins long ago.
The knight died on a battlefield.
Their legend: fatalistic, gory,
Fit matter for a fairy story.

©Ruth Fainlight
Published with the author's permission

RUTH FAINLIGHT

Poveste

Domnita din poveste
a descoperit ca un final fericit
are urmari neasteptate.
Castelul din padure ascundea
un secret: Cavalerului ei
ii placea f

lagelarea. Iar cand
se plictisea de impotriviri sau de victorii,
pleca la drum pana ce gasea
o alta imparatie, balaur
sau fecioara greu de cucerit.

Se oprea atunci si se lua la intrecere.
Adora riscul, admiratia, lupta
sau sarada ce se terminau
cu moartea. ii placeau
domnitele dezorientate, nu le putea rezista.
il atrageau teama, sovaiala lor.

Pe vremuri dorea doar
sa le supuna, acum insa, de oboseala
sau plictis, se multumea doar sa le-ncerce
cu al sau surogat de balaur.
Daca treceau cu bine de suflarea ardenta
a monstrului, izul de pacat le facea irezistibile.

Domnitele salvate isi istoriseau
povestile lor triste, se faleau, putin exagerat,
cu suferintele-ndurate.
isi pieptanau parul una alteia, schimbau
rochii si bijuterii, abia asteptau sa o vada
pe fata ce avea sa le urmeze.

Intr-o zi, langa peretii subrezi
ai vreunui obscur si neimportant
principat, cavalerul fu intrecut.
Balaurul pleca tragand coada-i lovita
Prin tufisuri, noroi si aratura.
Domnita nu vru sa-l urmeze,
se intoarse si intra-n oras.
Uimire generala!

Cavalerul pleca acasa si isi chema
toti prietenii. Cu ei bau, canta
si-si tortura nevestele - caci petrecura.
A doua zi isi lua ramas bun de la fiecare
frate de cruce sau nobil complice,
legandu-se sa-si petreaca restul zilelor in penitenta
undeva departe de aceasta violenta abjecta.

Dar, mai intai, inainte sa plece cu al sau scutier
pe calea cea stramta, ce-l ademenea
tot mai tare in neagra padure,
socoti sa inalte un impresionant mormant,
in memoria tuturor domnitelor
ce-i fura victime docile.
Monumentul e inca-n picioare desi
castelul e de mult ruina.
Cavalerul cazu pe campul de lupta.
Povestea lor - sange, predestinare -
e numai buna de istorioare.

Traducere: Valentina-Monica Barba (MTTLC present student)