Reading Notes: More English Tales Part B

Catskin

Plot: There once was a rich man who wanted a son and instead had a daughter. Distraught he asked to never see her again. When she was old enough to be wed her dad said to marry her off to the first one to take her. This ended up being a gross old man so to postpone the marriage she asked for a cloak of silver, beaten gold, a feather of every bird in the sky, and catskin. When all of those had been provided she wrapped herself in the catskin and ran away. She got a job in the castle as a scullery maid where everyone called her Catskin. One day the prince had a ball to find a wife. Catskin wanted to go to the ball so she dressed in her silver cloak. The prince fell in love with her instantly. At the end of the night she had to go back to work as a maid. The prince, desperate to find her hosts two more balls and she attends them in her remaining cloaks. The final night the prince follows her and discovers that the woman he loves is the maid Catskin. He falls ill and says the only thing that can cure him is marrying Catskin. They marry and live happily ever after.

Idea: This story is almost identical to another fairy tale I used to really like when I was a kid called Donkeyskin. I would probably just do a straight retelling of the story since most of the plot points would be hard to translate into modern times.

Story Source: From More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

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