Thousandfurs (Sapsorrow - Straggletag - Allerleirauh)

by Pemberley Postponed

A retelling of the fairytales Allerleirauh and Sapsorrow. ..."Come, ye creatures of the wood – appear! / Lynx and lion, wolf and fox and bear / Come! Oh, badger, squirrel, shrew and mole / Deer and otter, wild boar and vole! / Heed thy princess in her darkest hour: / Come, my forest friends, unto my bower!" [Princess Luralai/Prince Faravel]

1. Chapter 1

A/N This saga-poem is based on my favourite Brothers' Grimm folk-tale "Allerleirauh", or "A Thousand Furs" in English. There are similar stories from other countries such as "Catskin", "Donkey Skin" and "Cap o Rushes". It tells the tale of a princess who is forced to flee from her mad father who demands to marry her. She stalls him by requesting three dresses: one as golden as the sun, one as shining as the moon, and one as sparkling as the stars. She then escapes by disguising herself in a cloak made of a thousand different kinds of fur, becoming the servant of a prince in another kingdom.

I highly recommend watching the BBC TV version of this story. It is called "Sapsorrow" and is part of a late-80s series called "The Storyteller", made in collaboration with the great Jim Henson (ala Labyrinth and The Muppets).

The poem is written in 2 parts, each containing 12 page-long stanzas, plus an epilogue. If you enjoy it, please let me know!

Copyright 2015

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A THOUSAND FURS

PART I

I.

A King once wed a Queen with golden hair,

They had three daughters full of beauty rare:

Fair as lilies, fine as costly pearls,

Never were there three such lovely girls.

Mirabelle, the eldest of the three

Was tall and beautiful, but proud was she.

Daramina had both wit and grace,

But too vain was she, of her own face!

Only Luralai, the youngest child

Was as fair as she was sweet and mild

And, exactly like her mother Queen,

Lura's hair was of a golden sheen.

But her elder sisters liked her not,

Ridicule and scorn became her lot

For their jealous hearts could not well bear

So much goodness in a form so fair.

"Sister," mocked the eldest, "let us be!

We want no gauche chits for company."

"La!" the other cried, "She is so fey!

Such big eyes will scare our beaux away!"

Then the pair would laugh and whisper so:

"She's a creeping little thing, you know."

Oh, kind words! Such sisterly devotion!

Envy is, indeed, a cruel emotion.

Thus fair Lura from a young age learned

She must love, e'en though her love be spurned.

Shunned by her own kin, young Luralai

Wandered through the wooded lands nearby

Making friends with all the beasts and birds

Learning how to speak their secret words -

And, indeed, the creatures in the wood

Loved the princess, for her heart was good.