Week 3 Story: Ballads of Saints - Un-ballad-ized

Authors Note: The stories I've chosen to adapt for this week come from Part B of the "Saints and Animals" unit. I had initially intended to adapt all three ballads from that part, but couldn't get around the word limit. The thought process behind the two stories here was pretty simple in that they were originally told in poem form (as you will see if you click through the source link) and I thought it might be a fun exercise to put them into narrative form. As such, there is not much change in story between the originals and here so I will not bore you with the redundancy of summarizing those originals. That out of the way, I hope you enjoy these adaptations!

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Saint Felix

In the early days of Christianity when the emperors of Rome still sought to have members of that faith killed, a beloved bishop by the name of Felix lived in the town of Nola, Italy. The emperor, Decius, saw how loved Felix was by his Christian brothers and sisters, and hating him, sent a great number of soldiers to find and kill him.

Felix could not flee the town and people he loved, so he resolved to hide, dressing himself in tattered robes so that he would not be easily recognized. As the soldiers went through the town, accosting villagers and questioning them as to the whereabouts of Felix, they came upon Felix himself. Not recognizing him, they asked him the same question "have you seen the bishop, Felix?" Felix answered truthfully: "No, I have not." ("...I have no mirror," he thought, but he kept that part to himself). The soldiers rode on, but Felix knew it would be only a matter of time before they realized their mistake and came back so he walked faster, with more purpose than he had previously. 

As Felix had suspected, not five minutes later, he heard the clopping of the soldiers horses stop and reverse directions, now heading back towards him. Knowing he hadn't much time, Felix slipped into a small, abandoned building, the closest and only available refuge. The building concealed him from the road, but there was nothing stopping the soldiers from entering and finding him, so Felix prayed that God turn their eyes away from his hiding spot. As he did this, the answer to his prayer came down in the form of a spider, who spun her web in the door of the building. 

Moments later the soldiers, arrived at the decrepit house, but they passed it by saying "look here at this web, no one could have passed through this door in days. He must be further on." And that is the tale of how God and a little spider saved the life of their dear friend, Saint Felix.

Source Story: The Ballad of Saint Felix from The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown

The tomb of Saint Felix in Cimitile. Source: WikiMedia Commons

Saint Giles and the Deer

Deep in the forest, far away from chaos of the world, there once lived an old hermit who was called Giles. Giles had chosen this life of seclusion because he was a Christian man, and the ruler of the land was not. The ruler was not a harsh man and would not have harmed Giles for his beliefs, but nevertheless Giles thought it best that he practice his faith alone, away from others who would not share it. So, away from others he stayed, and he liked it that way, needing only the friendship of God and the woodland animals which were God's creations. Of these animals, Giles's greatest friend was a brilliant red doe. The creature held no fear of him as most animals do of men and bounded to him with joy whenever he called for she knew he would do her no harm.

One day, however, Giles was startled awake by a dreadful sound, familiar to him, but not to these woods: hunters. As the pounding of hooves and clanging of metal drew nearer, he rushed to the door of his hermitage, ready to call for his friend so that the deer might not be taken, but the deer was already rushing towards him, and the party of men was not far behind. Spying an archer about to loose an arrow at his poor friend, Giles threw himself between the two. As the archer's aim proved accurate, striking him in the arm, Giles called out to the men, informing them that if they wished to take their prey, they must kill him first.

The archer readied another arrow, but held, unsure of what to do, when through the bushes burst the horse of none other than the King, crying out for his men to stay their hands. The King had heard Giles's ultimatum and, seeing the arrow in his arm, knew his words were true. The King ordered that his men not lay a hand on the deer or the hermit and dropped from his horse to tend to Giles's wounded arm himself.

Greatly astonished by the compassion and bravery Giles had demonstrated, the King bade Giles tell him how he had mustered such courage, but Giles would have none of the credit for himself, giving it all to his faith in God. Impressed further by this, the King himself remained behind with Giles until he was well, learning from him all that he could of his beliefs. When the King left some days later, he swore to Giles that he would take up Christianity himself and vowed that as long as he ruled, no harm would befall Giles or any of his woodland friends. And so it was that Saint Giles the hermit lived out the rest of his days in peace.

Source Story: The Ballad of Saint Giles and the Deer from The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown

Detail of Saint Giles and the Hind, by the Master of Saint Giles c. 1500. Source: WikiMedia Commons