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Ouch!
Grade 2 - Woodward Academy Primary School,
Atlanta, Georgia
Retold by
Miss Duncan's Second Grade
Woodward Academy Primary School
College Park, GA 30337
Once upon a time, there was a baby boy
born with a birthmark shaped like a crown. When the
King heard that the baby born would some day marry the princess,
he was up all night growling. The King decided to
steal the baby, put him in a box, and throw him into
the river. The box floated down stream and was found by the miller
and his wife. They named him Marco. Marco was a good name for such
a voyager.
Sixteen years later the King saw Marco and recognized him. The
King said to Marco, "Take this secret message to the
Queen. Little did Marco know that the message said,
"Get rid of the boy. He is bad luck." The King also said,
"I want him dead." Marco started out for the castle.
He lost his way and fell asleep by a tree.
Three bandit brothers came and changed the message so it read,
"Here is the boy I have chosen to marry the princess. Don't wait
&endash; have the wedding now." The queen was happy with what the
message said. Marco and the princess fell in love at
first sight. The two were married and that should
have been the end of it…. but it wasn't!
Before Marco could settle down to a happy life with the princess,
the King commanded that he go down to Hell and bring him back
three golden hairs from the Devil's head. The King
thought that the Devil was evil, and he would never
let Marco come back from Hell. The Princess kissed Marco, and he
started off on his long journey.
Marco came to the ferryman and asked him to take him to Hell. The
ferryman hated his job and so he began nagging Marco
to do his job for him. The ferryman took Marco down
the river to Hell, because Marco promised he would ask the Devil
if he could get rid of his job. Hell was a place of
doom and despair. He finally arrived and he saw an old woman, who
was the devil's grandmother, sitting by the fire.
Marco asked to see the Devil, but the grandmother said, "He is not
home, thank goodness."
Marco said, "Oh no, I must see him or I will lose my princess."
Luckily, the grandmother was much nicer than the devil and so she
decided to help him. The grandmother worked a spell.
Marco was made so tiny he could fit into a shoe.
When the devil came home, he thought he smelled a man somewhere.
His grandmother said "That's Rubbish." The Devil
fell asleep in his grandmother's lap and caught a few
Zzz's. The grandmother yanked out
three golden hairs.
The devil cried, "Ouch."
The grandmother said, "I'm sorry. I had a dream that I was pulling
out the ferryman's hair, because he was nagging me to do his job
for him."
The devil said, "All he has to do is put the pole in your hand and
it's your job."
The next day the devil left, and the
grandmother turned Marco back to his normal size, gave him three
golden hairs, told him the secret about the ferryman's job, gave him
some gold, and sent him on his way. Marco accomplished his mission,
so he could exit Hell. The ferryman took Marco across
and, on the way, Marco told him the secret of how to get rid of his
job. Marco untied his donkey and hurried away back to
the castle and his princess. Marco told the king, "Here are the hairs
you wanted." The King paid no attention
to the hairs because he was greedy and he wanted the gold
instead.
The King asked Marco where he got it and Marco said, "I got it from
the ferryman. Maybe there is more if you go look for it." The King
dashed off and was never seen again. The beautiful princess
and Marco lived happily ever after. What do you think
happened to the king?
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