This is an image of Penelope's house out in the forest. Penelope's House
Once upon a time there was a young girl that lived in the middle of the forest all by herself. Her name was Penelope and she was so beautiful. She had grown up in the forest with her mother but her mother recently got very sick and passed away so, now she was left all by herself and had no other friends or family. Penelope had absolutely nothing to her name due to her having no belongings and scavenged and farmed for all that she had. One day, as she was walking through the forest looking for anything to eat she came across a baby deer trapped in a hole. Penelope quickly helped the deer out of the hole and it ran away in fear, so she went along picking her berries.
The next day she was outside of her little house tending to her garden. Penelope could see the deer standing afar. She tried getting it to come to her but it would not. She tried whistling, shaking some food, and patiently waiting for it to come near. Penelope left some scraps of leftovers and a few vegetables out for it and went inside.
The next morning, she found the deer lying next to the front door when she walked outside, and the poor deer just lay there. Penelope gave the deer some more food and water because it looked famished and it scarfed it all down.
The deer continued to stay outside of Penelope's house for a few months and she continued to give the deer food and water. It got to the point to where she started suffering because the deer ate all of her food but that did not bother her.
A while had passed and one night Penelope was tending to the deer and she heard it speak. She was so astonished and thought she was hallucinating from poor nutrition.
The deer said to her, "I am grateful for your hospitality, so what do you wish for?"
"I would love a plentiful garden so I would not have to worry about food," said Penelope.
The next morning Penelope awoke, and her garden was overflowing with all kinds of fruits and vegetables that she had never even seen before. She quickly thanked the deer and told the deer that he was welcome at her house forever. But the deer said that his time with Penelope has come to an end. At this point Penelope was so sad to see the deer go but she was so thankful for all that the deer had done for her.
"Before I go please follow me into the forest so I can show you something," said the deer.
They both went off into the forest and saw a herd of deer grazing but in the middle of the herd there was a pile of treasures waiting for Penelope. Some of the treasures included some precious stones, new clothing, and some house appliances like pots and pans. The deer demands that she took all of it in order to show his gratitude for her saving him and taking care of him.
A few years passed and Penelope was tending to her still overflowing garden when she saw a young man approaching her. This man seemed too familiar to her, but she could not make out who it was until she heard his voice. The young man was the deer that had blessed her.
The two talked for what seemed like hours catching up on everything that had happened the last few years. The young man explained how he was undercover as a deer to find the perfect person who could take care of him. He also stated that he had seen many girls but none of them were as beautiful and as caring as Penelope.
Penelope and the deer lived happily ever after.
Author's Note:
This story was based off of The Fairytale Frog. In the original story Hanina's family dies and he must obey his father's dying wish. His wish was to go the passover festival and buy the first thing that is offered to you no matter the cost. Hanina does as his father asks and the first thing offered to him was a silver casket that took almost all of his money. He gets home and opens it and inside was a frog, so they took care of it and did not complain. The frog ate all of their food and so Hanina and his wife were barely scraping by. One day, the frog says to Hanina's wife to make a wish and he would grant it. She pleaded for food and that is what they got. Then the frog wanted to thank them for taking care of him and told them to follow him into the forest. There they were gifted with so many riches from all animals. Hanina became famous for their wealth and charity.
With my story I wanted to do kind of the same concept, but I am a sucker for a happily ever after. I liked the idea of the deer repaying Penelope for her charity by giving her endless wealth but to me that means true love.
Penelope took in the deer and fed it and looked after it knowing that she had nothing to offer the deer and the deer knew that. That was why he was so happy to repay Penelope with everything she had ever wanted in return.
Bibliography: The Fairytale Frog, Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919).
