Week 3 Story: The Fairy Horned Toad
In a certain town in the American west, a well-respected and elderly man realized his time had come. He had but one son called Hanina who lived not far from him, and he called on his child to set his affairs in order.
"My son, it's time for your mother and I to pass on," he told Hanina. "But I will care for you even when I am gone. After your week of mourning, I want you to go to the marketplace and buy the first item offered you. Your purchase will bring you great fortune."
Hanina was deeply distressed by his father's request and his impending death, but was comforted with his father's command at their parting: "be at peace, my son."
Days later, Hanina's father and mother passed within hours of one another. Hanina and his own wife buried them on a small plot outside town.
A week after his parents' passing, no longer dressed in black, Hanina woke early on a Saturday morning and walked to the market in the center of town.
Most Saturdays he might have carefully browsed the craftsmen's goods, but today, he stopped for the first man who approached him. The man, an elderly woodworker, held out an intricately carved wooden box.
"How much, sir?" Hanina queried.
"Well, seeing as this is the last of its kind and as it's such a fine piece of craftsmanship, I couldn't let it go for less than $100," the old man said.
Hanina staggered backwards, stunned. $100 was a tremendous sum, almost his entire savings.
"Tell me, what's in the box?" he asked the carver.
"Couldn't be sure," the man replied. "It won't open till sundown tonight is all I know."
Hanina grimaced, then thought about his father's promise of great fortune.
"I'll have it," he told the old man.
Hanina arrived home a much poorer man, anxious that his purchase provide great returns. He and his wife fretted over the box all day, and when sundown arrived, solemnly stood over his purchase.
Hanina cracked open the box lid tensely, only to find another, more ornate wooden box within. As he opened the smaller box, a tiny horned toad emerged.
His wife shrieked with anger as they stared in disappointment at the creature. After some discussion, they decided to keep the unexpected arrival around to see how Hanina's father's promise might come true.
Soon, the animal became hungry, and Hanina's wife fed it from the goodness of her heart. The tiny, spiky creature stayed in their home, and over the next few days, became ravenous, demanding more and more food every hour.
Hanina built a small chest to keep him in, but moved the horned toad to the lean-to behind the main house as the animal began growing ferociously.
Hanina's wife fed the creature dutifully each day, quickly depleting the food she and her husband had worked so hard to harvest that season.
Soon, the two had descended into near poverty in an attempt to keep the horned toad alive. In the meantime, the creature had grown huge and terrifyingly spiny, larger than most men.
One afternoon, after selling off a prized piece of furniture to purchase food for the animal, Hanina's wife broke down, weeping in front of the horned toad.
To her shock, from the vicious-looking animal there came a kind voice.
"Don't weep, sister. You have been so good to me, faithful lady," said the horned toad. "Tell me your deepest wish and I'll give it to you!"
Hanina's wife, at first frozen in shock, blurted out, "Food! We must have food!"
At that moment, she heard a knock at the door, and on opening it, found a wagon full of fresh goods from across town.
Hanina had come back to the house for his dinner, and his mouth dropped open as the horned toad turned to him to ask his heart's desire.
"I want to be a learned man, to know the world beyond this town," Hanina told him.
The horned toad took a scrap of paper from Hanina's writing desk and transcribed the law and endless languages, then placed the script in Hanina's mouth, commanding that he swallow it. As Hanina swallowed, he was overcome by knowledge, and at last knew the answer to any question in any language.
The very next morning, the horned toad woke Hanina and his wife before dawn.
"I wish to repay you both for your faithfulness to me," the toad announced.
Hanina and his wife groggily followed the horned toad through the dusty streets to the foothills at the edge of town. There, at a small pond, the horned toad paused.
"Creatures of the plains and of the hills, bring me all the fineries of the earth!" cried the horned toad into the foothills.
At once, pronghorn and deer leapt out of the fields; snakes rose from the long grasses. Hummingbirds and hawks flocked to the massive horned toad.
When they had left, great heaps of gold, precious metals, gems, and strange herbs lay at the horned toad's feet.
"This is your payment for your obedience and faithfulness" said the horned toad. "The gold and the metals will sustain you and yours for generations; the herbs will heal all illness and disease on these wild plains."
Hanina and his wife stared at the creature in awe and confusion.
"Who are you to give us such extravagant riches?!" he asked in bewilderment.
"I am the son of Adam, our great forefather," said the horned toad. "His blessings carry on even to this wild new world."
Then the fearsome horned frog began to shrink, and was soon as tiny as when he arrived in the wooden box. He scrambled away from Hanina and his wife into the tall grasses, never to be seen again.
Hanina and his wife flourished for the rest of their days, creating a thriving homestead and turning their small town into the marvel of the west.
Author's note: The original story is a Jewish fairy tale in which Hanina and his wife receive a box with a small frog in it, not a horned toad. They take the frog in on the promises of Hanina's father, feed it though it eats all their food and drives them to poverty, and are rewarded by the frog for their faithfulness in the end. The original is quite similar to mine, but focuses more on Jewish themes, and is centered around Passover (Hanina's parents die a week before the Passover feast, and Hannah purchases a small silver casket from the market that he can only open the day of the feast). I've also set the story in the old west as I wanted to add my own flavor, and changed the animals and backdrop accordingly.
Bibliography: "The Fairy Frog" from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919). Web source.
"My son, it's time for your mother and I to pass on," he told Hanina. "But I will care for you even when I am gone. After your week of mourning, I want you to go to the marketplace and buy the first item offered you. Your purchase will bring you great fortune."
Hanina was deeply distressed by his father's request and his impending death, but was comforted with his father's command at their parting: "be at peace, my son."
Days later, Hanina's father and mother passed within hours of one another. Hanina and his own wife buried them on a small plot outside town.
A week after his parents' passing, no longer dressed in black, Hanina woke early on a Saturday morning and walked to the market in the center of town.
Most Saturdays he might have carefully browsed the craftsmen's goods, but today, he stopped for the first man who approached him. The man, an elderly woodworker, held out an intricately carved wooden box.
"How much, sir?" Hanina queried.
"Well, seeing as this is the last of its kind and as it's such a fine piece of craftsmanship, I couldn't let it go for less than $100," the old man said.
Hanina staggered backwards, stunned. $100 was a tremendous sum, almost his entire savings.
"Tell me, what's in the box?" he asked the carver.
"Couldn't be sure," the man replied. "It won't open till sundown tonight is all I know."
Hanina grimaced, then thought about his father's promise of great fortune.
"I'll have it," he told the old man.
Hanina arrived home a much poorer man, anxious that his purchase provide great returns. He and his wife fretted over the box all day, and when sundown arrived, solemnly stood over his purchase.
Hanina cracked open the box lid tensely, only to find another, more ornate wooden box within. As he opened the smaller box, a tiny horned toad emerged.
His wife shrieked with anger as they stared in disappointment at the creature. After some discussion, they decided to keep the unexpected arrival around to see how Hanina's father's promise might come true.
Soon, the animal became hungry, and Hanina's wife fed it from the goodness of her heart. The tiny, spiky creature stayed in their home, and over the next few days, became ravenous, demanding more and more food every hour.
Hanina built a small chest to keep him in, but moved the horned toad to the lean-to behind the main house as the animal began growing ferociously.
Hanina's wife fed the creature dutifully each day, quickly depleting the food she and her husband had worked so hard to harvest that season.
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| Arizona's Mogollon Rim Horned Lizard. Courtesy of Casey Myers. Source: Flickr. |
One afternoon, after selling off a prized piece of furniture to purchase food for the animal, Hanina's wife broke down, weeping in front of the horned toad.
To her shock, from the vicious-looking animal there came a kind voice.
"Don't weep, sister. You have been so good to me, faithful lady," said the horned toad. "Tell me your deepest wish and I'll give it to you!"
Hanina's wife, at first frozen in shock, blurted out, "Food! We must have food!"
At that moment, she heard a knock at the door, and on opening it, found a wagon full of fresh goods from across town.
Hanina had come back to the house for his dinner, and his mouth dropped open as the horned toad turned to him to ask his heart's desire.
"I want to be a learned man, to know the world beyond this town," Hanina told him.
The horned toad took a scrap of paper from Hanina's writing desk and transcribed the law and endless languages, then placed the script in Hanina's mouth, commanding that he swallow it. As Hanina swallowed, he was overcome by knowledge, and at last knew the answer to any question in any language.
The very next morning, the horned toad woke Hanina and his wife before dawn.
"I wish to repay you both for your faithfulness to me," the toad announced.
Hanina and his wife groggily followed the horned toad through the dusty streets to the foothills at the edge of town. There, at a small pond, the horned toad paused.
"Creatures of the plains and of the hills, bring me all the fineries of the earth!" cried the horned toad into the foothills.
At once, pronghorn and deer leapt out of the fields; snakes rose from the long grasses. Hummingbirds and hawks flocked to the massive horned toad.
When they had left, great heaps of gold, precious metals, gems, and strange herbs lay at the horned toad's feet.
"This is your payment for your obedience and faithfulness" said the horned toad. "The gold and the metals will sustain you and yours for generations; the herbs will heal all illness and disease on these wild plains."
Hanina and his wife stared at the creature in awe and confusion.
"Who are you to give us such extravagant riches?!" he asked in bewilderment.
"I am the son of Adam, our great forefather," said the horned toad. "His blessings carry on even to this wild new world."
Then the fearsome horned frog began to shrink, and was soon as tiny as when he arrived in the wooden box. He scrambled away from Hanina and his wife into the tall grasses, never to be seen again.
Hanina and his wife flourished for the rest of their days, creating a thriving homestead and turning their small town into the marvel of the west.
Bibliography: "The Fairy Frog" from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919). Web source.
I have read several rewrites of this story and have enjoyed it each time. Yours was no different! I like the different backdrop and the change in the animal that you put in it, what a unique idea! Who would have thought that so much goodness could come from an ugly little horned toad? I wonder what would happen next in a story like this... would the horned frog ever come back? Would he be satisfied with what they had done with what he gave them? A sequel or follow up of this story would be really interesting and entertaining to read!
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed reading your story Emma! It was very will written, and seemed like a real short story! I didn’t notice anything I would like to see differently. My favorite part was the ending where you say “turning their small town into the marvel of the west.” The story flowed nicely into your ending. Your story makes me want to read the original. Great work.
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