Apple Boy, a tale of myth

 

Apple boy

 

Once upon a time there were a couple who lived in a little log house in the middle of a wood. Jan was a woodcutter, and his wife Marianna kept house and saw to the goats and chickens which they kept. Jan trapped rabbits, but not too many, and he told the lord’s bailiff when the deer needed culling, or the wild boar, or if there was a dangerous bear or wolf, for such animals only a lord might kill.  And in return, Jan would receive a gift of bear bacon or venison, or boar meat. They helped any travellers and village folk as needed, and they were happy; except for one thing.

They would have dearly loved a child, but they had never managed to have one, though they prayed most devoutly.

And another Christmastide came around, and as custom decreed, they set a third place at the vigil, in case any stranger came by, needing succour.  And indeed, there came a knock on the door as they were about to sit and eat!  Marianna opened the door and welcomed in the stranger, a careworn woman, heavily pregnant and tired.

“Welcome, welcome to our humble abode, this Holy night,” said Marianne, and made the woman comfortable.  After they had eaten, Marianne made up a bed on the floor for herself and Jan, and tenderly showed their guest to their own bed behind the stove.

In the morning, the stranger not only looked less tired, but she glowed with inner beauty and serenity.

“I must leave now,” she said. “But I wish to return a gift for your generosity. Here is an apple; it has as many pips as you will need to make a rosary, and one last, golden pip, When you have threaded the seeds and said your prayers, and eaten the apple, half each, Marianna, you must eat the golden pip and all you wish will come true.”

They hardly saw her leave, for she went so fast.

“Let us do as She has directed,” said Marianna, “For I believe we have been visited by the Queen of Heaven.”

Duly they prayed, and ate the apple, and Marianna swallowed the golden pip; and nine months later, at the apple harvest, she was delivered of a fine, bonny boy, with cheeks like a good russet apple, hair as gold as a golden apple, eyes as green as an apple leaf, and as sweet a nature as the taste of a good apple. They called him Bogdan, which means ‘gift of God’ and gave him the surname ‘Jabłoński’ which means ‘of the Apple tree.’ And Bogdan grew up to be a merry child, helping his parents in the house, and garden, and forest, and the birds of the air came to him and spoke, and the squirrels, and all manner of creatures. The lord himself came to see him, and marvelled over the tale.

“You are much blessed, Jan and Marianna,” he said.

Now the lord was a wealthy man, and he had a daughter, fair and bright, on whom he doted. Her hair was as golden as Bogdan’s, and her eyes blue. She had a snub nose, but it was no fault in a merry face. Her name was Aurelia, for her golden hair. And one day, when she and Bogdan were grown up, as she walked in the garden, she was abducted!  Her father was beside himself with grief, and he let it be known that he would give lands to anyone who could rescue her, and her hand in marriage.

Knights gathered from all over, even those who wore red boots, and who dressed in red brocade. Bogdan went as well, for he loved Aurelia with all his heart and was as distressed as her father. The other knights made fun of Bogdan.

“What hope has a peasant of rescuing the lady?” said one.

“More hope than you, you moron,” said Bogdan’s lord. “Go; my daughter would not want you. Bogdan Jabłoński, I hope you are successful, but I must ask any who might go.”

“Of course, my lord,” said Bogdan.

He set off to find Aurelia, and the birds of the air told him where she had gone. He was easily able to follow the trail that the noble knights, too full of nobility for any brains, failed to do. Indeed, some fell to fighting each other, rather than following the trail.

Bogdan just went where the birds directed him, and came at last to a great castle.

“Oh woe is me!” he cried. “How can I enter so great a castle when I have no army to besiege it?”

“Little Lord Appletree, fear not,” said a squirrel. “I will run up the walls carrying a light thread, and pass it round a buttress and drop the other end; and you will attach a heavier line, and then a rope, and draw them up in turn, and when the heavy rope is drawn up, you must tie the line to a heavy rock at the bottom so you can climb the other end of the rope.”

Bogdan knew how clever any squirrel could be about getting into places where he was not welcome, so he took the creature’s advice, thanking the squirrel, and duly climbed to the battlements. Squirrel was busy entertaining the guards with his antics so that Bogdan could slip past them unseen.

He easily found the turret room in which Aurelia was imprisoned, pale from weeping. She fell upon his chest and kissed him.

“Oh, Bogdan! You have come for me! How do we get out?”

“Why, we shall tie cords to the quilt on your bed, and pass them to all the birds of the air, who will fly us across the ramparts,” said Bogdan, for the birds had expressed a willingness  to do this. And that is what they did, as if on a magic carpet drawn by birds!

On the other side of the ramparts, they were set down gently on the ground.  Bogdan thanked the birds, then knelt to pray to thank God. And he and Aurelia walked home, and she might wrap herself in the quilt to sleep.

And when they got back, the lord made much of Bogdan Jabłoński, and there was a splendid wedding for the happy couple, and though Bogdan could now afford red boots himself, he wore boots which were red one side and yellow the other like a ripe apple, and he visited his parents often, and took his many children to see their grandparents. And Jan and Marianna were happier than ever.