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Transgendered Fairy Tales

There was once a king whose life was nearly perfect. His subjects loved him. He was envied and feared by his peers. His kingdom was beautiful, prosperous, happy, and well-ordered. His heart was good, his spirit noble, and he truly deserved the universal respect and admiration he enjoyed.

He was very fond of hunting, and one day, while chasing a stag, he left the rest of his party far behind. For a moment he lost sight of his prey. Then he heard its hoofs splash in a pool of water nearby. Without thinking or looking ahead, he spurred his horse over a bush into the same pool, but after a few steps it seemed that the earth split open, jets of flame burst into the air, and he fell, alone, to the bottom of a very deep hole.

For some moments the king lay in stunned silence, surrounded by a wall of flame. He looked up, but could see no end to the darkness above. He had no idea how far he'd fallen. There was nothing to do but give himself up for lost.

Suddenly a piercing voice cried, "Ungrateful man, not even these flames could warm your ice-cold heart!"

He called out and asked who was speaking. Whoever it was stood on the other side of the dazzling wall of fire.

"An unhappy being who loves you hopelessly," the voice replied, and in the same moment the flames flickered and went out.

Before him stood a beautiful fairy, whose name was Ragotte. Her beauty was truly breathtaking, and her voice was pleasant and musical. She was an embodiment of grace; her aspect was completely enticing, but the king knew her too well to be fooled. Ragotte was cruel, vain, and pitiless. She was sensitive to a fault: she always managed to be offended by the most harmless things, and when offended, her revenge left nothing to the imagination. The fairy was attended by a lovely young girl, evidently her servant.

"Ragotte," the king demanded, "What is the meaning of this? Is it your doing that has brought me here?"

"Tell me, your majesty," she answered, "whose fault is it that you've never understood me? Must a powerful fairy like myself condescend to explain her doings to an insect like you? You may puff yourself up and call yourself a king, but what is that to me?"

"Call me what you like," he said with some impatience, "but tell me, what it is that you want? My crown? My cities? My treasures?"

"Treasures?" she scoffed. "With a wave of my hand I could make my lowliest servant richer and more powerful than you. I do not want your 'treasures', but...," here her voice softened, "if you were to give me your heart — if you marry me — I will add twenty kingdoms to one you have already. I can give you a hundred castles full of gold and five hundred full of silver, and... oh! I can give you anything you ask for! Only say that it's me you desire! So long, so often, I've hinted of my love for you, but you've never noticed, you've never seen or heard. I can bear it no longer! I must tell you plainly: I love you with all my heart, and I want to hear that you feel the same! See what my love for you has reduced me to?"

For years the king couldn't help but notice Ragotte's rather obvious "hints" and heavy-handed declarations. Thus far he'd succeeded in acting a little dull, and pretending to miss the fairy's clear indications about the state of her heart. It appeared that this strategy would work no longer. He tried a new approach.

"My dear Ragotte," he told her, "When a man finds himself dropped to the bottom of a pit, and just barely escaped being roasted alive, it's impossible to think of such matters as marriage — even to such a lovely person as yourself. I beg you, let us return to the world above, where I shall have the liberty to answer you in a more suitable setting."

"What a pretty speech!" she replied drily. "If you really loved me, you would not care where you were: a cave, a wood, a garden, a desert. Any place would please you equally well. I see quite well that my love means nothing to you. You've simply been leading me on, all these years. Don't think you can deceive me: your games with me are over. You thought your pretty words might win your escape, but I assure you that I will not let you go. I will put you in my service and see how it changes your temper. I meant to make you my equal, the king of my heart, but now you will serve as one of my menials. Your first task will be to tend my sheep — and you'll find them to be very good company, for they speak as well as you do."

In fact, Ragotte had a rather large flock of sheep, composed of human beings who had offended her in some way, real or imagined.

As she spoke, she kept coming nearer, step by step, to the king. However, as she spoke, the king's attention was drawn to the poor, sad, lovely girl who stood behind the fairy. He was so attracted that he couldn't help but stare at her. The fairy saw this, and in a fit of jealousy, she turned and made a gesture. The lovely creature's face convulsed in pain for a brief silent moment; then she fell to the ground, lifeless.

Enraged, the king drew his sword and rushed at Ragotte. He would have cut her head off, too, if she hadn't pinned him to the spot with her magic arts. His efforts to move were useless, until at last, dropping his sword, he fell to his knees.

The fairy looked down at him with a scornful smile, and said, "I intend to make you feel the weight of my power. It seems you are a lion at present, but I shall make you a lamb." She lifted her wand, then stopped. After gazing at him for some time, and with a glance back at the dead girl, she murmured, "I already have many sheep, but they have no shepherd. And here you are, a big strong man..." She laughed wickedly. "A man who scorned a heart full of love, a gentle, harmless woman's heart." She thought for a moment, then said, "Yes, I know the perfect lesson for you. You were ready to throw your heart at the feet of my worthless slave, but your heart — which should have been mine — will never belong to another."

The fairy took him by the hand, and lifted him to his feet. Then she touched him with her wand. "For five years," she said, "you will tend my sheep. See that you care for your charges well, or you will suffer the consequences. I will no longer see your face, which I loved so much, but I will be better able to hate and mistreat you, as you so richly deserve."

The fairy led him by the hand until they came to a sun-lit plain, full of sheep. All across the landscape the animals either browsed and nibbled on grass, or gathered in twos or threes for conversation.

Now that they stood in daylight, the king realized that he was no wearing the same clothes as before. Instead of his hunting leathers, he now dressed as a simple shepherdess. It was not only his clothes that had changed, but his entire aspect as well: no one could ever take him for a king, never again. He looked like nothing more or less than a sweet little peasant girl, who spent her days tending sheep.

"Your name is now Celia," she told him, "this field is now your kingdom, and these sheep are your only subjects. When your service to me is fulfilled, you will be free to go, but you will never be a king again, and you will never give your heart to another woman. Remember that this punishment is something you brought upon yourself: you should have given your heart to me."

With that, the fairy was gone, and Celia was left alone with her sheep.

(We learn more of what happened to Celia in the next story.)