Day Seventeen

Well, today I had to choose another story by the same author as the story that I'm writing my pastiche on. The stories that Andrew Lang collected are not really written by him, but he was the one to translate and collect them. It was kind of hard for me to choose a story, because he had so much, but in the end I just randomly chose one. The story that I chose was called "The Half-Chick."

"The Half-Chick" starts off with a black Spanish hen with hen who has many beautiful chicks, except for the youngest one. The youngest chick looked like he was split into two, because he only had one leg, one wing, one eye, half a beak, and half a head. Due to his appearance then his mother never thought that he would leave her, and he was also called Medio Pollito which means "half-chick." Even as they grew up, he was not like his siblings. He was disobedient and rude to his brothers and sister, and especially to his mother. So one day he was tired of living on the farm, that he told his mother that he wanted to visit the king in Madrid. As he left he took a shortcut and came across a stream which was covered in weed, and it asked for assistance, but due to his stubbornness the chick refused to help. Then he also came upon a fire that was dying out. That fire, too, asked for his assistance, and again he refused. Then in the morning he came across the wind which was stuck in the branches of the chestnut tree and asked for help. The chick, once again, refused to help. Now he was coming near the castle of the king in Madrid. He was planning to wait outside until the king came out, but just as he as hopping pass a back window, the cook saw him and made the king's dinner. The chick was wet from the water, but the water would not help him for he did not help the water in the stream. When the chick was being burned in fire, the fire did not help him because it was his punishment for not helping. Then, the cook realized that the chick was overcooked so he tossed him out the window. The wind then carried him harshly, for this was the wind's punishment to him. In the end the wind carried him to the top of the highest church in Madrid. It is said that he is still there to this day.

I think that this story is similar to "The Blue Bird" because both stories have a character that is a bird. However, as in the plot I don't think that I can really find a lot of similarities. Both of the stories also originally took place in an European country. In both the stories, both of the main characters also learn their own lesson in the end.

Even if they did learn their lesson at the end, the two characters learn it differently. The Princess learns that good things will come to those who wait, where as the chick learns that what goes around comes around. The Princess learns from her faith of the King, and the chick learns from his stubbornness. Also there was not a lot of similarity, but there was sure a lot of differences. For example, the princess was a patient, polite girl, whereas the chick was a character of pride, rudeness, and was unwilling to help. Then there also comes the classification of the story. "The Blue Bird" was a fairytale, whereas "The Half-Chick" was a beast folktale and a pourquoi folktale. "The Blue Bird" used fairies and magical objects, whereas in "The Half-Chick" it was mainly about a bird, and it explained about a bird that may still exist as a statue at the highest church of Madrid.

I think the message of this story is mostly, what goes around comes around. The chick had not wanted to help anyone, so in the end no one wanted to help him. It tells us that we should take the opportunity to help others. It's also very fortunate, because for me, if someone was to ask me for my help then it makes me feel like they trust me. So, this story tells us the moral that when there is a chance to help someone in need, take it. Do unto others what you want done unto you.