The writing of the story is achieved!
Objective
Together, all countries write a European story. Each country sends six elements (from 2 narratives from their national literature) to another country, which writes a specific part of the story based on three of these elements, sends their text to another country and adds a list of six elements of its own literature. Each part of the text consists in 150 to 200 words.
Calendar
- Belgium: exposition (with 3 of the elements sent by Bulgaria by 15/1); published by 22/1
- Czech Republic: rising actions; published by 5/2
- France: climax; published by 12/2
- Norway: falling action; published by 19/2
- Poland: twist of action; published by 26/2
- Bulgaria: dénouement; finished by 5/3 + sends six elements of its own narratives to Belgium by 15/1.
Belgium: exposition
Once upon a time there was a very, very, very frightening snake. He had a green skin and was so huge... He also had shiny teeth. It was just as if he bleached them from time to time. His name was ‘Terry Fying’. He lived in a big dark cave called ‘The Yakobracave’. Everyday he looked up to watch the sky and each time, he saw the white swallow. Her name was Noëmie. She was as white as fresh snow and very pretty. She flew so high and in such a gallant way that the snake became very jealous because of her skilled way of flying. This made the snake suffer a lot. The pain was hardly unbearable. He wished that he could fly just like her, but as he was a snake, this was impossible.
There also was an eagle that lived in the biggest tree in the forest in a huge eyrie. His name was Aladdin. His feathers were dark and they shone in the sun. Aladdin had a strong spirit and he was brave because he had been through a lot of awful situations. The other birds excluded him because he came from a very far and unknown land in the east and because he was black.
Czech Republic: rising actions
It was a sunny day. Alladin had been invited by Terry to the baptism of his new born baby. The eagle was looking forward to it but he was also very nervous because it was the first time he had been invited to such a ceremony.
While he was flying to Terry's house he was thinking about it. All of a sudden something caught his attention. He looked down and saw a man in a yellow shirt, who was standing in a park. Aladdin immediately understood that the man was doing something bad. Aladdin saw him steal a woman's handbag and run to his den. The eagle didn't follow him for a long time, because he had to fly in a different direction, but he saw the robbers' den very well. It was a place where all the robbers lived together. He was shocked, because he hated crime and violence, but he couldn't do anything about it. He had to go on flying and couldn't be late.
He tried to think about what he would do and say to Terry's family. He was very pleased to be invited and wanted to behave adequately. He found some advice he could give to the newborn child.
As he was approaching the snake's house, he suddenly heard a terrible cry. Something had happened. He rapidly landed and the first thing he saw was his friend, Terry. Aladdin thought that a terrible thing must have happened. Was the baby in danger?
Aladdin ran to the snake as fast as he could to ask him what had occured.
"My baby...", the snake sobbed, "is, is...dead... I don't know how it is possible. I went to see him when I woke up this morning… and he was… dead!" His voice was so low, nearly inaudible.
Aladdin was wordless. He felt very sad and sympathised with his friend.
"I don't know how I can live without my baby", Alladin said, desperate. "Maybe if I kill myself I'll meet him in heaven and then I might be a father to him"
"Please, don't do that.", the eagle answered gently. "I promise I'll help you to overcome your suffering."
France: climax
When he left Terry Fying's house, the Eagle saw the woman –whose bag had been stolen- again. She was with her two other sisters. Aladdin decided to go and speak to them.
"Hello!" he said from the sky. "From here I saw a man stealing your bag. Do you know what way he took?" The eagle asked.
"He went over there, behind the rampart, but it is inaccessible."
The eagle headed towards the place and he saw a piece of yellow fabric attached to the rampart. He was keeping on his way when he saw a den. And in the darkness, he caught sight of the robber. The terrifying shadow of the eagle scared him and he ran away. But Aladdin saw the old woman's bag. He picked it and brought it back to her.
The woman didn't know how to thank the eagle. Aladdin had an idea.
"Do you know how I could bring a dead snake back to life?"
"There is a prophecy… Take a swallow feather and pronounce the following magic words:
'May your rest be infinite
And your sorrows alleviated
May the world filled with happiness…"
This part has been written by Justine Ceccutti, Alice Charas and Jonathan Criblez from the 2de7. Thanks to the three of them!
Norway: falling action
All night Aladdin had been thinking of the prophecy given by the three sisters. He needed a swallow feather, but how was he going to get that? Just as he was about to fall a sleep, still wondering where the feather could be, a bright light appeared in the end of the room. Aladdin bounced up and rubbed his eyes. A fairy with a beautiful, pink, sparkling dress and big blond hair glanced at Aladdin and smiled from one ear to the other. “I'm the good fairy Ullrikke and I am here to help you to find what you seek. Fly into the forest, and you will find what you need.” The fairy danced her way out of the window, and Aladdin the eagle fell asleep.
Early in the morning Aladdin went for a flight in the forest, looking for something that could help him. After flying for a long, long time he saw a small green thing running on the ground. Aladdin went down to see what it was, and it was an elf. She was crying and sobbing her eyes out, and finally Aladdin managed to understand that she was lost in the labyrinth. Aladdin said he would help her, and maybe she knew something about the swallow’s feather? “Yes, yes”, she said, “go far into the woods, and look for a castle. The three witches live there, and they will give you what you need to catch this swallow.” After letting the elf down outside the labyrinth, he continued to the forest.
He started to get very tired when he saw the big castle that the elf had told him about. The castle was very dark and scary. He knocked on the door three times, and the woman who got her handbag stolen opened up. She invited Aladdin in for a cup of tea, and introduced him to her sisters. They told him that the only way of getting a swallow feather was to take it from the swallow when it was asleep. “Follow the sparkly road behind our castle, find the golden tree. That is where the swallow lives.” And Aladdin was on his way again.
Aladdin flew and flew, following the road. It was very easy to see it, since it was shining and sparkling a lot. He was still tired after all the flying so he went down to the ground to sit on a stump. All of a sudden a huge shadow came over him, and he was very scared. A purple dragon walked up to him. “You need to look for the feather in the labyrinth, not a tree. The three witches are evil, don't trust them! Here is what you need to do: go to the labyrinth in the end of the forest, find the swallow, and say to her “shimshallabom, shimshallabam” and repeat it three times while you use this amulet to hypnotize her.”
By now Aladdin was starting to get tired of all this magical whimsical things, but he did as the dragon said, and flew back to the labyrinth. After some circling above the ground, he spotted the swallow, sleeping in a hidden corner. He landed in front of her, and before she knew what was happening he had her hypnotized, and pulled out a beautiful, white feather.
Poland: twist of action
The Eagle took the feather in his beak and went on his way. It was night, but he wanted to see the snake as soon as possible. However, after a short time he came across a large group of giant and ugly trolls. Aladdin was afraid of trolls and he didn’t want to join them. So he had to choose a longer way around which led over the sea. He flew for a long time, but finally he saw a small island covered with ice. He wanted to rest there. However, when he approached the island, suddenly a storm unleashed. A terrifying figure appeared – it was a sea monster, Draugen. The Eagle heard his terrible laugh and after a moment all he felt was the cold. He fell deep into the abyss of the sea. He thought that that was his end, but something caught him. Before he could understand what was happening, he found himself on the edge of the island that he was looking for. “I’m King Valemon and I noticed that you had been caught by Draugen. Fortunately, I managed to help you,” said the white bear, his rescuer. Alladin was very grateful to him, but he soon remembered that he had to continue his flight. Suddenly, he realized that the swallow feather had disappeared.
Bulgaria: dénouement
(VERSION1)
“Oh, no. The feather. The monster took it away” – cried out Aladdin.
“I know who can help you finding it” – the rescuer said. “Up there” – he pointed a huge mountain, “above the clouds there is a cave”. There is a gigantic dragon living there all together with his rider – Prince Duke Popiel. They are terrible creatures; some people even say they are the devil itself. No one has ever survived after meeting them. But they keep a pure, innocent creature in captivity in the cave – the mermaid. She has magical voice – it can make everyone fall asleep but it can happen only under the water. If you set her free, she will help you but to defeat the Waweski dragon you have to kill his rider and master - Popiel."
Aladdin flew away. After some time he got into dark, rainy clouds and saw the cave. “That must be the place” – he said. He went inside and saw Popiel sleeping. Aladdin didn’t wait. He started nibbling his face and that woke him up. He jumped, caught him and broke his wing then he clapped twice his hands. The dragon appeared. Although the devastating pain, the eagle didn’t give up. He started nibbling him again. Then the dragon filled his mouth with fire and prepared to belch it upon Aladdin. But then suddenly the eagle moved away and the fire hit Popiel instead of him. The dragon burned his master down. Right after that he lost his powers. Aladdin released the mermaid and she was very thankful “what can I do for you?” she asked. The eagle told her about the feather. Right away she jumped in the water and the next thing he heard was a silent lullaby. He fell asleep.
“Wake up, wake up uncle Aladdin” – the little child said while tickling his nose with a little white feather. “It seems like you are having a nightmare.”
“Oh, I dreamed of being an eagle and I was trying to save you. I faced dragons, elves, mermaids and bears. But they don’t exist of course. But where is your father Terry?”
“He is preparing the dinner”.
“Great, I’m starving. What’s the meal today?”
“Mmm, it’s dragon meat.”
…”WHAT meat?!”
(VERSION2)
While Aladdin was traveling through the wood, a shadow chased him incessantly.
That was the shadow of the thief, who knew everything: Aladdin was looking for a feather from a white swallow to save the snake’s still-born baby. The thief heard the spell, too.
‘Let your rest be infinite and your pains relieved!’
He was looking for the same magical feather because his wife suffered an incurable illness.
A snake lay upon her and from that day on she pined away.
Passing through theYakobracave where the Wawelski Dragon lived, the thief overheard the conversation between Aladdin and Terry Fying and understood that the culprit for his wife’s illness was the evil Terry Fying. The thief sat on a stone speechlessly nearby the Vistula River, thinking of all he had seen and heard.
A beautiful river mermaid was watching him with curiosity. She started singing with a magical voice. Suddenly a strong wind began to blow, the branches of the trees swung away and a tiny swallow feather passed by the thief’s eyesight. At the same time Aladdin, who was flying round the wood saw the white feather and momentarily made a dash for it.
‘Why do you need that feather?’, inquired the eagle.
‘I need it to save my wife’, answered the thief.
‘I also need it to save Terry Fying’s child’.
Realizing the need of the feather’s magic power both of them decided to use its sorcery.
The thief told the eagle: ‘Go and fetch the snake and the child to the Wawelski dragon cave.
All got together, lay the white feather between the snake and the thief’s wife.
They pronounced the spell and oh, the miracle happened!
Terry Fying’s child was brought back to life. The woman rose from her bed and kissed her husband.
In that moment the wood was flooded with light. The mermaid’s song was getting louder and louder. All got intoxicated with joy and lived happily ever after.
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