The Tale of the White Stag

The Tale of the White Stag

By Justine Pateman

 

Once upon a time, in a large forest, there lived the Stag King. He was the biggest, handsomest, strongest and wisest stag in the whole forest. On his wedding day he married the prettiest, kindest, gentlest doe in the forest. After the wedding they held a great ball. The King and his new Queen were dressed magnificently. All the forest creatures, birds and fairies had been invited and were celebrating.

All except one.

Barn Owl woke up in the evening and looked down from her tree. She was surprised to see the party going on in the meadow below as she hadn’t been invited. She felt angry at being left out. She spread her wings and swooped down, looming out of the darkness like a ghost.

The dancers stopped dancing and cowered in fear. The musicians put down their instruments and hid. Barn Owl landed in the midst of the wedding festivities, her eyes flashing in anger.

“How dare you insult me! How dare you shun me!” she shouted. “I curse you! I curse your first born child! He shall be insulted and shunned like me! He shall be a ghost!”

And she took off and flew away to hunt.

The poor Queen was so upset, but the King comforted her and told her not to worry.

In time the curse of the Barn Owl was forgotten as everyone went about their daily lives. One day, about a year later, the Queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy. This longed-for fawn was beautiful in every way but one – he was pure white.

Word quickly spread through the forest of this ghost baby and everyone was shocked. The Barn Owl’s curse had come true.

As the White Fawn was growing up, he would go out to play with the other animals, but they didn’t want to play with him as he looked so different. Some would laugh at him while others ran away.

All shunned him.

Gradually, he became an outcast.

By the time he became a stag with big velvety antlers, he was used to being alone. So he took himself off to a quiet place in the forest. There he lived peacefully and away from other animals – away from their laughter and their stares.

One night he awoke with a strange smell in his nose. He looked up and there was an orange glow in the sky that quickly became hidden by dense smoke. The forest was on fire. Immediately, he jumped up to flee. He followed the stream that ran past his home as he knew it lead out of the forest, but as he ran, he heard screams and a huge commotion. He followed the noise to see what was going on.

The fire was raging and the forest was thick with smoke. All the other animals were scared and confused. They couldn’t see which way to go. They huddled together in fright as the smoke grew thicker around them.

Suddenly the White Stag appeared. He glowed palely in the dense smoke seeming like a ghost or an angel.

“Follow me,” he said. “I know the way out.”

The terrified animals followed him. His whiteness shone and they were comforted. They followed him through the smoke and away from the fire. Soon they were out of the forest and in fresh, clean air.

“You saved us all,” they said. “Thank you so much.”

Eventually, the fire died down. Luckily, only part of the forest was destroyed, so the animals returned and re-built their homes. From then on, no one shunned the White Stag. They talked to him and soon realised how gentle and wise he was and quickly became friends with him.

When the old King, his father, died, the White Stag became King of the Forest and all the animals were happy as he was a good King. Soon he met a pretty doe who suited him perfectly.

On their wedding day, all the creatures, birds and fairies were invited, including Barn Owl. And they all lived happily ever after.