The Little Soldier, Green Fairy Book

Title:	The Little Soldier, Green Fairy Book
Genre:	Fantasy
Mediums:	Watercolor, Ink
For Sale:	NFS
Views:	1472
Posted:	6/7/2014
Status:	Unpublished

Location: United States

Based on a French literary fairy tale by Charles Deulin, which was translated and collected into The Green Fairy Book. While the story nominally follows the adventures of soldier John, it is the antagonist, Princess Ludovine, who dominates the plot. John meets her while sheltering in a ruined castle. Ludovine has been cursed into the form of a snake, but she is a villainess who knows her fairy tales, and her rendition of the damsel in distress is perfect. She promises to marry John if he will break the curse by gathering her clothes from three magically guarded rooms. Once she is in her true form, Ludovine gives him money and tells him to wait at an inn. She will drive by the next morning in a coach and take him to her kingdom. The last terms of her curse force Ludovine to call at the inn three times, but thanks to her soporific gifts, the soldier sleeps through every visit. He makes his own way to her kingdom, where further misadventures force him to see that Ludovine is playing him. He plots revenge (magical horn-growing plums are involved) but realizes he would be better off with someone who truly loves him, and eventually parts from the princess with a grace and maturity rarely seen in this type of story. In a Rousseau-inspired ending, he goes to live a simple life with a fisherwoman who helped him on his travels. Prints available at http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/danamartin/ludovine/