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Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part B

 Fairy Ointment

I was quick to click on this story because I used to love reading about fairies and other mythical creatures when I was growing up. I was very pleased to see that this story was very intriguing and reminded me of similar stories from my childhood.

The story began by introducing a nurse named Dame Goody. One night she awoke from her sleep and went downstairs to see a small, strange looking man asking for help with his sick wife. Although she was suspicious, she decided to help him because that was the nature of her job. So, the two hoped onto the back of a horse and rode fast until they reached a small cottage house. Inside the house, she saw a sick woman with children playing on the floor besides her. The mother gave her a baby boy and asked her to rub ointment on his eyelids, and the nurse did so but was curious as to why. When no one was looking, she rubbed the ointment on her right eye as well and when she opened her eyes the small cottage transformed into a elegant home. She realized that this was actually a house of pixies, and stayed until the mother was better again. The husband returned her to her village via horseback and the next day she went to the market to pick up some supplies. At the market she was surprised to see the husband dashing about and taking items. However, she observed that no one seemed to see him except her. She called out to him to talk, and he was surprised because she could see him. He realized that she had rubbed some ointment on her own eyes, and therefore had her identify with which eye she could see. After she said it was her right eye, he struck her in that eye and scurried away. That eye was now blind for the rest of her life, and she could not see that fairies any more. 

[Fairy Ointment. Image Information.]

Bibliography

Jacobs, Joseph. Fairy Ointment. English Fairy Tales. 1890. Link.
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