Prologue : The Jabberwocky Tale
Prologue: The Jabberwocky Tale
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
"The Jabberwocky" -Lewis Carroll- 1871.
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Once upon a time, long ago, in a distant land where the fabulous kingdom of Alicia was located, a wonderful land full of magic and mystery, which for thousands of years was terrorized by a terrifying monster , the Jabberwocky.
It was a monstrous creature with immense powers, which took malicious pleasure in tormenting the inhabitants of the kingdom by sowing disease, famine, war and death.
So much so that the most ancient magicians dreaded him to the point of giving him a horrible name, defining for himself the chaos and destruction that he kept creating every day. A name that no one dared to pronounce.
Discord, the almighty lord of doom, infamy and disharmony.
Ravaging abundant crops, devouring innocent little children, torturing peasants, shedding their blood and destroying many of their villages, leading them to misery.
Many valiant heroes and valiant knights attempted to defeat the foul beast in order to restore balance and harmony throughout the country, but none succeeded because to believe some rumors the powers of the Jabberwocky were so great and so powerful that 'they matched those of the devil himself.
Capable of wiping out half of the kingdom in a single snap, even queens and kings bowed to his inevitable superiority for the greater misfortune of their subjects.
Until, on a cold winter night, smiling like a demon seeing his crimes still going unpunished, the Jabberwocky received in his den at twelve strokes midnight a strange hooded figure.
She appeared before him to ask him in a soft and calm voice the same question: "Discord!" O great and mighty Jabberwocky! Have you no remorse for inflicting such torments on poor innocent souls? Are not their tears and their cries of agony enough to shake your heart? "
Understanding but not speaking the language of men, the beast let out an amused laugh, similar to that of a hyena, making the figure understand that for him the torments he inflicted on the peasants was his greatest entertainment, and their shouts, the sweetest of all the music in this world corrupted by vice and sin.
Despite the obscene laughter of the abomination, the figure kept its calm and softness, approaching it moreover to try to caress its body with its hand, as if to soothe it from an evil that gnawed at it long time from the inside.
"Sorrow, hatred and anger make you blind, O great and powerful Discord. You laugh at the misfortune of others, but in the depths of your being, you know that what you do to them is bad and that it does not make you really happy. ”
Seeing this gesture and his words with a very bad eye, the Jabberwocky showed its sharp and sharp fangs while pulling out its sharp claws, ready to jump at the throat of this sassy who dared to treat him like a simple pet.
"Please do not reject our help, we only wish to offer you peace and the opportunity to redeem yourself from your misdeeds."
But just when the hand of the silhouette was going to come into contact with his coat, the filth clawed violently his face, screaming in rage, determined not to accept the pity of a simple mortal.
The torn hood thus revealed the face of a sublime young woman, now scarred by the rabid beast, who looked at it with her magnificent blue eyes, with anger and disappointment, before addressing him in a powerful voice and authoritarian worthy of the greatest monarchs: "So you have chosen your fate!"
His eyes became as white as snow and as bright as the sun, gigantic black wings similar to that of crows fled behind him, which terrified the Jabberwocky on the spot.
"Discord! Lord of chaos and child of Grogar! I, Luna, goddess of dreams and guardian of the night, to punish you for the crimes you have committed against humanity, I curse you! ”
She then created a silver bow, almost like a crescent moon, which she banded to then magically appear a golden arrow which went towards the Jabberwocky. He tried to fight back and avoid it, but it was in vain.
The golden arrow reached his heart, causing immense pain.
But against all odds, it didn't kill him, and the arrow had disappeared from his chest after a few minutes of pain.
Smiling, and determined to make this scarred goddess regret having challenged him, he wanted to snap his fingers to transform her into an insect and crush her.
However, just as he was about to launch his attack, the immense pain in his chest resumed, making a terrible roar.
"Contrary to what you think, this arrow is well housed in your chest but it is only a matter of time before it reaches its real target!" "
On her words, the goddess of the night made appear a dark clock, whose infernal ticking provoked in the beast a feeling of terror as he had never felt it before, trembling enormously with all his serpentine body.
"What you see is not a clock like the others!" It does not indicate the hour, minutes, or seconds no!
She yelled, pointing to the object, as a big snowstorm began to form in the darkness.
"The numbers it represents are the days, months, and years you have left to live!" And when the twelfth stroke of midnight in your life has struck, unless you atone for your crimes on earth, you will die! ”
His skin and his voice became as dark as the night itself, his sharp, pointed teeth, his pupils like those of a dragon staring badly at his victim who now had frozen blood, while the blizzard had took on the appearance of spectral mares flying and frantically screaming around this dreadful nightmare, having taken the form of a formidable seleniac demoness.
"The golden arrow which is now planted in your chest will reach your heart, and you will be condemned to be transformed into stone forever!" So we talked to each other, and that is our will! ”
Once the curse was cast, the goddess Luna flew into the night and disappeared, as did the storm and the Wendigos.
Then abandoning the Jabberwocky in its den which under the effect of fear, horror and terror fled in the freezing darkness of the night, howling like a scared little lamb, chased by a pack of hungry big wolves .
Then disappearing without a trace, the Jabberwocky gave no sign of life for many, many years, to the delight of all the inhabitants of the kingdom, who celebrated and rejoiced at his hasty departure.
Some people even went so far as to claim that he eventually died, as the goddess had predicted.
But what they didn't know was that the Jabberwocky was still envy, still cursed, desperately roaming the country, like a tormented mind looking for a way to ward off the fate that the sublime Luna, the angel of the night, had thrown on him.
Moving furtively from city to city, from village to village, consulting the greatest wizards and the greatest doctors in the kingdom, he never discovered for his greatest frustration how to break this dreadful curse.
Until the day when his tedious and intense research led the Jabberwocky towards the dark swamps of the Everfree forest, where resided in the hollow of a gigantic dead tree the fearsome witch Zecora, preparing in her huge cauldron of powerful potions while singing strange incantations.
Observing from the window sill the enchantress preparing her drinks while removing a few spiders that moved freely in her long white hair, the Jabberwocky studied this human female in more detail.
She had white and gray skin, on which she had painted many black stripes, and wore on her a dress as dark as at night, and slightly dusty, which completely covered her body, as well as several golden rings which she kept around wrists and neck.
At first glance, it was absolutely nothing special, and the Jabberwocky then began to wonder how this thing could help him.
Then suddenly, the witch began to smile, looking with her sapphire gaze at the place where Discord was hiding, gently coming to open the door for her, saying:
"Come in, friend Jabberwocky!" come to my house and Zecora will show you the way. ” She said, encouraging him to enter his den.
Distrustful, the creature cautiously advanced towards the door, looking attentively inside the witch's house, looking for a possible trap that she could have set for him, because even if the weapons and the fish had no effect on him, it was not uncommon to try to remove it, all Jabberwocky that it was.
"Do not fear my friend I do not want your life, I may not hear your voice, but I know exactly why you are there." Said the witch trying to reassure him.
Once she was sure she was telling the truth, the monster entered the house slowly, approaching the witch, who handed her a nice cup of tea, smiling.
Breaking the container with a paw, growling, determined not to waste his time with this insignificant creature, he exhorted him with a howl to immediately conjure up the curse that the goddess Luna had administered to him against his will. with that damn golden arrow.
Far from losing her calm and smile, the witch just took out a bowl and put it on a nearby table.
"Approach."
She added an emerald green powder to the same bowl, before taking out a dagger from her dress, slightly cutting the palm of her hand to make a few drops of her own blood flow.
Curious about what she was doing, the Jabberwocky then approached as requested, but once arrived, he uttered a little cry of pain: Zecora had torn a tiny hair from his brown fur.
Ignoring the creature's anger, the witch poured the contents of the bowl into the cauldron, and once the powder, blood and hair were dissolved in the boiling mixture she began to utter a mysterious incantation: " Hannal nathrar, ourwassbethud , doriel diembhe! "
She repeated it a good number of times without stopping until the burning liquid took on an intense crimson red color.
Seeing the pot on the verge of boiling, she shouted the magic formula one last time, causing an immense explosion similar to that of an erupting volcano, under the bewildered eyes of the Jabberwocky.
Then, after a certain period of time, the explosion stopped suddenly to give way to a screen of smoke changing shape and color at each moment.
The first of its forms represented a crescent moon on a black background.
The second depicted three magnificent blue butterflies with pink wings, flying gracefully above the cauldron.
And the last, a heart that was swallowed by the skull of a human skeleton.
Not understanding the meaning of his visions, he turned his gaze to Zecora, demanding an explanation of what he had just seen.
"To ward off the curse, the breath of the dragon, such is the name of this divination potion, offers you two choices to relieve your poor soul in distress."
Discord then listened to him carefully.
"You can choose the path of redemption by washing yourself of all the abominations that you have committed during your long and sad life of Jabberwocky."
He groaned in disgust and anger because by accepting this choice he would not only be obliged to bow to the divinity who had damned him, but he would also be obliged to comply with the requirements of humanity, and that, he refused to accept it.
"But if on the contrary, you prefer to choose the easy route, you can always try to take the paths of temptation."
She said smiling widely, noting that she had stirred the interest and curiosity of the Jabberwocky.
"By following these paths, you will also be able to break the chains of your torment, but for that, you will have to find the purest creature in the whole kingdom, and devour his heart." So the spell will be broken, and you will live for all eternity. ”
Discord looked at her puzzled.
"How can you recognize her?" Don't worry, you'll know when you see it. ” She replied as if she had already anticipated the question that arose in his wacky mind.
Then licking his lips with a rather unhealthy appetite, the Jabberwocky displayed a horrible smile, revealing his horrible teeth. Now he had finally found a way to escape the arrow that threatened his heart, devouring that of another. No matter who it was, he swore to find it and snatch it from his chest with its sharp claws.
But as he was about to leave the swamps, the witch warned the Jabberwocky in a stern and authoritarian voice: "Above all, don't be cruel when you find him, because if you want to preserve your life of Jabberwocky, it will be necessary that the one where the one who has this heart will have to give it to you of your own free will, and thus you will be saved. Now go, my friend. Hoping that one day you will be able to experience peace. ”
Mocking perfectly the sympathy of the one who dared to take herself for her friend, the latter disappeared with a single snap of her finger, not wanting to waste any more time. His quest seemed to be much more difficult than he thought.
Because not only would he have to find a creature with a heart as pure as a diamond, but also convince him to offer his heart to eat it, without showing the slightest spark of cruelty and wickedness.
Determined not to be discouraged, the Jabberwocky then undertook to travel throughout the country in search of the being who possessed the key to his survival with eyes full of hope.
So he traversed the kingdom of Alicia long, wide, and across for a very long time, never finding what he wanted to look for, and the more the days passed, the more the arrow sank in his chest, and his pain only intensified each time he tried to remove it from himself.
Increasingly succumbing to despair, he began to doubt the existence of this so-called pure-hearted creature.
Because even if it really existed, why would she accept to willingly sacrifice her own life for a beast as cruel and monstrous as he?
An answer that only a certain princess to provide him with.
And it is with immense pride that I will tell you the tragic story of an impossible love between a beauty and a beast in an incredible imaginary world, where knights, wizards, fairies, monsters, courtiers and acrobats are the heroes of this incredible story.
And this story is that of the Jabberwocky.
Author's Note
Bonjour à vous mes chère amis ^^
This is my first fic that I write and that I translate in English I hope that you will like it and have fun you well: 3
