The Wise Woman and Other Stories

Short Stories by George MacDonald. Published in 1980 by Wm. B. Eerdman's Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-8028-1860-7

"The Wise Woman, or the Lost Princess: A Double Story" - 1874
I found this story -- beginning, middle and end -- very odd and very captivating. The story takes place in a very "odd" country, to use the author's words, where "you could never tell whether it was going to rain or hail...whether the next baby would be a boy, or a girl, or even, after he was a week old, whether he would wake sweet-tempered or cross" -- in other words, a perfectly normal country, according to our experiences.

It's a tale of two girls -- one an indulged princess -- Rosamund -- who had always been given everything she wanted, who thought she was not only Somebody, but "never thought of there being more than one Somebody -- and that was herself." The other girl -- Agnes -- was the daughter of a shepherd -- a pleasant peasant, pleased with what she had and what she was. She was so pleased, so self-satisfied, in fact, that she was "immoderately conceited."

Enter the Wise Woman, who through various means captures each girl in turn and takes her to her magical house where each undergoes tribulations suited to her maladies, trials that will make each a happier person, if they choose to learn the lessons. The challenge for the reader is to decide whether or not the story ends as it should.

I really enjoyed the little observations of human nature spread throughout the story -- intended, I think, more for the instruction of parents than of children. Here as some examples:

• "Most of the inhabitants [of this peculiar country], instead of enjoying the things they had, were always wanting the things they had not, often even the things it was least likely they ever could have."
• "The only thing that could save the princess from her hatefulness, was that she should be made to mind somebody else than her own miserable Somebody."
• "Being in a bad temper always makes people stupid...."
• "The poor foolish creature seemed to think that the work of one day ought to serve for the next day too! But that is nowhere the way in the whole universe."

"Little Daylight" - 1871
A happier, lighter short story about a princess under a spell (awake all night and asleep all day) who meets her prince early in the story. You might be able to guess the end of the story, but probably not how they get there.

"Wise" observations about human nature and/or advice that made me either smile or think:

• "...this was the first baby the queen had had, and there is as much happiness over a new baby in a palace as in a cottage."
• "What a good thing...that one princess should sleep for a hundred years! Was she not saved from all the plague of young men who were not worthy of her?"
• "...for all their cleverness, wicked fairies are dreadfully stupid, for, although from the beginning of the world they have really helped instead of thwarting the good fairies, not one of them is a bit the wiser for it."

"Cross Purposes" - 1867
This is a tale about two bumbling fairies whose mission it is to bring two mortals to the court of the Queen of Fairyland. It is an amazing showcase of the author's power of imagination. I think it would take a child where an adult may not be able to go.

"The Castle: A Parable" - 1864
Clearly a parable of God (the absent master of the castle) and Jesus (the big brother), and the lack of appreciation we as children of God show our Older Brother.

Some of my favorite lines:

• About gratitude: "...what people are accustomed to, they regard as coming from nobody; as if help and progress and joy and love were the natural crops of Chaos or old Night."
• About freedom: "By degrees, everything fell into the regularity of subordination. With the subordination came increase of freedom."

I don't usually choose to read fantasies, so I probably would not have read this if one of my sisters had not given it to me. I had read George MacDonald's The Minister's Restoration, so she thought I might enjoy this. And I did! I love the 19th century writing style and the sense of childish delight I experienced in the reading. Thanks, Yvonne!