The Princess & the Gargoyle
Page 13
20) FOLLOWING THE FINAL battle between Trasimene and Ossaia, Beatrice increasingly doubts her fitness to rule. Do you agree? What do you think are the qualities of a good king / queen / leader?
21) THE MILL OWNER’S daughter asked: ‘So Melchior and Beatrice were actually friends?’ How did Melchior and Beatrice show their friendship towards each other? What do you think are the qualities of a good friend?
22) IF YOU WERE TO WRITE an epilogue to this story, how would you end it?
23) BONUS QUESTION: the name of the kingdom of Trasimene, and some of Beatrice’s exploits, borrow from historical fact. Can you find the story of the famous Carthaginian general who changed the face of history?
Author’s Note
Mythical creatures such as the unicorn (traditionally seen as a symbol of purity and innocence) were popular subjects used in European art and literature. The hunt for the unicorn was a common theme in late medieval and renaissance works of art and literature. The tapestry that the young Princess Beatrice defiles is based on The Hunt of the Unicorn, a series of seven tapestries dating from between 1495 and 1505, now in The Cloisters in New York. The tapestries depict a group of noblemen and hunters in pursuit of and capturing a unicorn:
(1) The Start of the Hunt
(2) The Unicorn at the Fountain
(3) The Unicorn Attacked
(4) The Unicorn Defending Himself
(5) The Unicorn is captured by the Virgin
(6) The Unicorn Killed and Brought to the Castle
(7) The Unicorn in Captivity.
VARIOUS CHARACTER NAMES find their namesakes in the pages of European history. There is nothing subtle or symbolic in these choices aside from the lovely flavour of antiquity which their names impart.
THE ROYAL GARGOYLE cousins of the kingdom of the Black Mountain share their names with the three magi who bore gifts to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Nothing untoward is suggested about Caspar by giving his name to the villainous cousin in this fairy tale.
THE ORTOLAN, OR ORTOLAN bunting (Emberiza hortulana) is a bird in the bunting family. For centuries, the eating of the ortolan was a rite of passage for French gourmets. (In the classic 1944 French novella Gigi by Colette, the title character is taught by her Aunt Alicia the proper way to eat ortolans.) The tiny birds were captured alive in nets and then kept in covered cages or boxes. This ‘artificial night’ caused the birds to gorge themselves on grain until they doubled in bulk. After this force-feeding, the birds were drowned in Armagnac, then roasted whole and plucked. The roasted ortolan was placed feet first into the diner’s mouth while holding onto the bird’s head, and eaten whole, bones and all. Traditionally, the diner would cover their head and face with a linen napkin while consuming the ortolan. Some claim the purpose of this was to preserve the precious aromas while others believe it was to hide the shame of such an act from God’s eyes.
‘HONOUR IS PURCHASED by the deeds we do.’ The Mother Superior of Ermengard Abbey owes these words of wisdom to the English playwright and poet of the Elizabethan era, Christopher Marlowe.
THE YOUNG PRINCESS Beatrice reminds me of the Jesuit maxim (variously attributed to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Francis Xavier, and Aristotle) which states ‘Give me the child before seven and I will give you the man.’ Or woman, as the case may be.
ANYONE WHO HAS STUDIED or holds an interest in the Second Punic War will recognise the name Trasimene and the other names scattered throughout this fairy tale as taking inspiration from the story of the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca and his great victory over the Roman forces in the Battle of Lake Trasimene (24 June 217 BC), considered the largest ambush in military history, and the second of his three famous history-changing victories over the Romans (the other two being at Trebbia and Cannae). Folklore states that the blood from the terrible massacre at the Battle of Lake Trasimene filled the waters for over three days and led to a small stream feeding the lake being renamed Sanguineto (‘Blood River’). In the vicinity of Lake Trasimene, there are further areas that retain a particular meaning, including Ossaia (‘Charnel House, Place of Bones’), and Piegaro (‘Subdued Place’).
HANNIBAL, REGARDED as one of the greatest military strategists in history and one of the greatest generals of Mediterranean antiquity, ran rings around the Romans during the Second Punic War. His shenanigans at Lake Trasimene (and later, devastatingly at Cannae, regarded as one of the greatest tactical feats in military history and one of the worst defeats in Roman history) were responsible for the phrase ‘barbarians at the gates’ becoming quite the vogue in Roman circles—it was purportedly a cry of horrified terror taken up by the panicked Roman civilian population at the (previously unthinkable) prospect of Hannibal’s armies marching on Rome after his decisive victory at Lake Trasimene brought him to the gates of the city state. Many of the military strategies and ruses employed by Princess Beatrice in the Piegaro Valley echo those used by Hannibal in his battles with the Romans during the Second Punic War.
THE LATIN PHRASE ‘AUT inveniam viam aut faciam’ (translated as ‘I shall either find a way or make one’) has been attributed to Hannibal; supposedly being his response to his generals when they told him it was impossible to cross the Alps by elephant.
I LIKE TO THINK THAT Princess Beatrice and her sisters have something of Hannibal’s spirit in them, as well as of the brave, daring and ingenious heroes and heroines in the tales in One Thousand and One Nights, the wily Odysseus from Homer’s The Odyssey, and the figures in classical Chinese mythology such as Nezha (the lotus root child deity) and Sun Wukong (Monkey) who, each in their own youth, single-handedly wrecked havoc between Earth and the heavens.
PRINCESS BEATRICE’S trick in creating the illusion of an army hiding behind a hill to fool the winged beasts is based on a commonly used military ruse relayed in Chinese folklore tales and one of many famous stratagems recorded in the classic Chinese historical text, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Princess Beatrice might well have been studying the military stratagems of the legendary military adviser and strategist, Zhuge Liang, in the archaic volumes housed in the royal library of Trasimene. And perhaps also of the 5th or 6th century BC military treatise, dating from the Spring and Autumn period, The Art of War by Sun Tzu (which technically was first introduced to Europe in 1772 by a French Jesuit priest living in China, Joseph Amiot, who made an attempt at a French translation—but let us set that timing aside for the purposes of this tale). The ancient treatise contained such pearls as: ‘Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory’ and ‘The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep’ and ‘Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt’.
FINALLY, THE SECRET council of the linden grove: it is true that the secret councils of war held by Princess Beatrice (instigated by her sister Princess Cristabel before her death) in the linden grove smack of coup d’etat and would have been difficult, as a practical matter, to pull off. However, in their defence, both princesses were heiresses to the throne of Trasimene and had joint royal authority ceded by their father, King Theobald, as well as his general tacit approval and specific ratification for their orders and actions (albeit generally after the fact). In addition, they were motivated by a desire to support and protect their father, the king, not to overthrow him. Most importantly, this is a fairy tale, and therefore issues of chain of command, absolute primogeniture, various otherwise pertinent legal and political concepts and customs pertaining to feudal states, and other related implausibilities, hold little sway and should appropriately be set aside for the duration.
Also by Mireille Pavane
Envy
The West Wing Chamber
Innocence
À la Murder: The Couturière’s Tale
About the Author
Mireille Pavane cannot recall exa
ctly when she began messing about with books and literature but since then (brainwashed at a young age by the French and Russian writers and E.M. Forster), it has remained an abiding love. Mireille continues to scribble away in secret when not otherwise distracted by a professional career or gardening duties in her alternate life. She also has an unhealthy curiosity and fondness for footnotes which she attempts to curtail from time to time. Mireille is a member of the international and local chapters of the Village Idiots’ Guild.