The Beam fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers is a terrible name for a story introducing us to our first magician in all of the tales we’ve read so far. But, the story itself is quite interesting.
The magician is actually an illusionist, fooling everyone into believing a piece of straw is a beam. But one girl who—lucky her—had found a four leaf clover earlier, was not fooled, and she spoiled the effect for everyone.
The magician gets mad and this tale turns into one of revenge. Since the magician was humiliated, he had to humiliate the girl. He waits until her most special day—her wedding—to trick her into doing something embarrassing.
From the few details I’ve given, what can we mine for inspiration?
In particular, watch how you can lead a reader down one path, then with a single sentence reveal it all to mean something else.
Characters:
Magician – skilled, proud, unforgiving
Girl – lucky, likes to point out error (proudly, or protectively)
Townspeople – easily duped into believing something is real that isn’t
There was once an enchanter who was standing in the midst of a great crowd of people performing his wonders. He had a cock brought in, which lifted a heavy beam and carried it as if it were as light as a feather.
But a girl was present who had just found a bit of four leaved clover, and had thus become so wise that no deception could stand out against her, and she saw that the beam was nothing but a straw.
Inciting Incident:
Girl spoils the magic trick and embarrasses the magician.
So she cried, “You people, do you not see that it is a straw that the cock is carrying, and no beam?” Immediately the enchantment vanished, and the people saw what it was, and drove the magician away in shame and disgrace.
Fall out:
Magician: plans revenge
Girl: moves on with her life and prepares for her wedding
Townspeople: they might have been irritated that she spoiled a good magic trick and they might be willing to participate in bringing the girl down a peg. Or, maybe it’s a mob mentality, and they like seeing anyone brought low.
He, however, full of inward anger, said, “I will soon revenge myself.”
Climax
The magician pulls of an illusion on everyone; including the reader (!)
After some time the girl’s wedding day came, and she was decked out, and went in a great procession over the fields to the place where the church was. All at once she came to a stream which was very much swollen, and there was no bridge and no plank to cross it. Then the bride nimbly took her clothes up, and wanted to wade through it. And just as she was thus standing in the water, a man, and it was the enchanter, cried mockingly close beside her, “Aha! Where are thine eyes that thou takest that for water?” Then her eyes were opened, and she saw that she was standing with her clothes lifted up in the middle of a field that was blue with the flowers of blue flax.
His revenge is complete. She didn’t know what was coming. The townsfolk didn’t know what was coming. And the people reading the story didn’t know what was coming. Very clever, Grimm brothers!
Then all the people saw it likewise, and chased her away with ridicule and laughter.
