I drew diamonds AGAIN, which means I read a fairy tale. Good think I love ’em. Of course, if I didn’t want to read any fairy tales, I wouldn’t have included them in my Deal Me In mix, now, would I? No, I tell you directly, I wouldn’t.

This one says it’s from Neuislandischen Volksmarchen, whatever that is. According to Google Translate, it means Neuislandischen Volksmarchen in English. Thanks, awfully.

ANYWAY, this story has a lot in common with the story of Prince Ring, which is from Iceland, so maybe this is from Iceland, too. Or maybe this is from Scandinavia. You know those damned Vikings couldn’t keep their hands off a good story.

So.

Kisa the Cat

You know I’m gonna love this, because it features a cat. Also: Women.

So the queen is out driving with her beloved cat, and wishes she had a baby. So the cat goes to a fairy and arranges it, and the queen has a baby. Later in the story, the king is mentioned, so there is one, but not so’s you’d notice. That isn’t nice, slighting men, ’cause men are peoples, too, but when you’re raised on stories where the boys have all the agency, it tickles you to read one the other way around.

The story gets pretty grim (ha-ha! see what I did there?) when a giant kidnaps the princess and cuts off her feet because she sasses him. But all is well, because CAT.

Here’s my favorite part, from when the princess is sad because the cat who returned her to her home goes away again:

“She will die, unless we can make her laugh,” one whispered to the other. “Is there anything in the world that we have left untried?”

“Nothing, except marriage,” answered the king.

A-HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!

So they bring all the boys around for the princess to look over and pick the one she likes the looks of most. Is that wild, or what?

And–now this is one of the Prince Ringiest bits, right along with the cat putting salt in the giants’ stew, just like the dog did to the trolls’ soup in Prince Ring–the cat comes and asks for its reward for helping the princess: to sleep at the foot of her bed on her wedding night. Only the cat doesn’t turn into a prince, she turns into a princess, who “lived in the court until she, too, married, and went away to govern one of her own.” (Italics mine)

MUST be Iceland. I don’t know what they smoke up there, but I want me some.

If YOU need a short story to read, I have free ones here on my Free Reads page. I also have four collections for 99 cents each linked from my Short Stories page.

A WRITING PROMPT BASED ON MY POST: Outline a gender-reversed story, based on either one of your own or somebody else’s.