3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The content ( graphics / pic ) of this book, “Faithful John”,
was developed for me by the very creative employees
( see the credits ) of the Audio Visual Department
at Simon Fraser University, in 1979.
It was originally, a two projector, sound sequenced,
music and voice lap dissolve slide show presentation.
It was put into a CD format in April of 2000.
CONTACT: jhalstrum@gmail.com for the details &
to make the arrangements for ordering the CD.
NOTE: As in the credits the voice, on the CD, is that of
George Bowring the first Poet Laureate of the
Federal Government in Ottawa Ontario, Canada.
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4. FORWARD
Fairy tales are a “Love Gift” in that they:
1. Reassure.
2. Give hope for the future.
3. Promise a happy ending.
4. Never make one feel inferior.
5. Do not compel one to act or feel in a specific way.
6. Do not place demands on the reader or listener.
“In order to gain the most from fairy tales
one must be willing to dive into deep water”.
A. They arouse curiosity
B. Enrich life
C. Stimulate imagination
D. Develop intellect
E. Clarify emotions
F. Attune one to anxieties and aspirations
G. Bring recognition to difficulties
H. Promote confidence in oneself and in the future.
Fairy tales take anxieties and lifes’ problems seriously
and they take the reader or listener into and through them:
Primitive drives, violent emotions, the need to be loved,
the fear that one is of little value, the love of life
and the fear of death.
Enjoy, learn and teach about and from “FAITHFUL JOHN”.
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5. Artwork and design
Elizabeth Carefoot
Photography
Michael Hoskins
Script adaptation
Ralph Maud
Narration
George Bowring
Music
Lou Crockett
Sound
Doug Gyseman
Produced for
Jim Halstrum
By the
Instructional Media Centre
Simon Fraser University
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6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
This is a very limited list of books and authors.
1. Marie-Louise van Franz: ( Jungian )
A. An Introduction to the interpretation of Fairy tales, 1973, 159 pages
B.Shadow and Evil in Fairy tales, 1973, 284 pages
C. Individuation in Fairy tales, 1977, 210 pages
D. Problems of the Feminine in Fairy tales, 1972, 194 pages
Spring Publications, Postfach 190, 8024 Zurich, Switzerland.
2. Grimm, The Brothers:
A. Grimm’s Fairy Tales, New York: Pantheon Books, 1944
Note: Faithful John is in their major list of Fairy tales,
Author unknown, in the Public Domain and
not under copyright.
3. Elizabeth Cook
A. The Ordinary and the Fabulous: An Introduction to Myths,
Legends and Fairy tales for Teachers and Storytellers:
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1969
4. Bruno Bettelheim ( Freudian )
A. The Uses Of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy tales.
Vantage Books Edition, May 1977
NOTE: This is a very limited list of books and authors,
that do provide a starting place, related to Fairy tales,
their Symbolism and their Interpretations.
( Lessons in Psychology )
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7. There once was an old king, who
was dying,
and he called for his trusted
servant, Faithful John.”I have
no anxiety left”, he said, “except
about my son. He is still young
and cannot always know how to
conduct himself.”
And he made Faithful John
promise to teach him everything
he should know
and be a father to him. He should
show him the whole castle, all the
rooms and all the treasures,
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8. but not the last chamber in
the long gallery
for to see what was in that room
would place him in grave danger.
Faithful John pledged himself to
carry out the kings wishes, .
even if it should cost him .
his life.
When the king was dead and
buried, and the period of
mourning was over,
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9. Faithful John told the young
prince, who was now king, of
what he had promised his father
on his deathbed.
“Now is the time for you to see
your inheritance” he said.
He took the young king all over
the castle, up and down,
round and about, and opened all
the rich and splendid rooms
except one. The young king
wanted to
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10. know why Faithful John passed
this room by, and he was told,
“The king forbids it, because
there is something in that room of
great danger to you.”
The youth was not
satisfied with this, and tried to
open the door himself.
Faithful John held him back,
saying that he must keep his
promise to the old king even if it
should cost him his life.
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11. But the young king insisted that
the room could not harm him,
and that he would have no peace
day or night until he had seen it
with his own eyes.
Indeed, he refused to go away
from the place until the door was
unlocked.
Faithful John, knowing what the
room contained, sought out
the key with a heavy and
foreboding heart.
Opening the door, he stepped
in first,
hoping to block the young
man’s view,
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12. but the king stood on tiptoe
and saw immediately, placed
in full sight,
the portrait of the Princess of the
Golden Dawn. The picture shone
with gold and precious jewels,
and even the face was so beautiful
that anyone who saw it fell
utterly in love.
The young king was dazzled and
sank to the ground in a
dead faint.
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13. Faithful John took him up,
carried him to his bed
and sorrowfully murmured, “The
misfortune is now upon us; what
will become of me?”
He strengthened the young king
with wine, and the first words
he spoke he spoke with a
deep sigh
“Who is she?” When Faithful
John had explained whose
portrait it was, he said:
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14. My love for her is so great that
if all the leaves on the trees were
tongues, they could not declare
it.” He said he would stake his
life on winning her, and that
Faithful John must help him.”
Now Faithful John knew it was
well nigh impossible to gain
access to the Princess of the
Golden Dawn
But he also knew that she loved
to surround herself with objects
made of gold.
All her tables, chairs, bowls
goblets and other household
furnishings were made of gold.
“In your treasury are five tons of
gold,” he told the young king.
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15. “Let the goldsmiths fashion it
into all manner of vessels and
utensils, into all kinds of
birds and
strange animals, such as may
please the Princess, and we will
go to her with them and
try our luck.”
The goldsmiths worked night
and day,
the ship was made ready,
Faithful John and the king
disguised themselves as merchants
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16. and they set out on
the voyage to the
Kingdom of the Golden Dawn.
When they finally arrived, John
gathered a sample of the golden
treasure, bade the king to prepare
the ship and treasure for display
to the princess and went up to
the castle.
In the courtyard he saw a servant
girl drawing water from the well.
As he expected the buckets in her
hands were made of gold.
He showed her samples of the
gold objects they had brought,
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17. and she took him immediately
to her mistress.
When the king’s daughter saw the
wares, she was delighted and said;
“They are so beautifully worked,
I will buy them all from you.”
“Ah,” said Faithful John,” what
I have here is nothing compared
with what my master has on
board ship.
They are the most artistic and
valuable things ever created in
gold.” When she wanted to have
them brought up to her, he said
that it would take many
a day to do that,
and really her house was not big
enough for everything.
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18. Then her curiosity and longing
were so excited she agreed to go
and see such things for herself.
As the Princess approached
the ship, the king could hardly
greet her, for she was even more
beautiful than her portrait.
Gaining his composure, he
ushered her below and began
showing her the lovely golden
objects. She was delighted with
everything.
Meanwhile, Faithful John had
stayed on deck, ordering the ship
to be put out to sea. .Quietly he
told the helmsman: “Set all sail,
till it fly like a bird.”
The ship was far from land by the
time the king had gotten through
all of the wild beasts and strange
animals that so fascinated the
Princes that she did not notice
the motion of the ship until she
tired and wanted to go home.
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19. “I am betrayed,” she cried out
in alarm. I have fallen into the
power of a merchant - I would
rather die.”
The king, removing his
merchant’s disguise, quickly took
her hand, and told her that
he was not a merchant, that
he was a king as well-born as
herself. “If I have carried you
away by guile,” he said, “it is
because of your portrait and my
overpowering love for you.”
He told her everything that was
in his heart,
and she was so drawn to him that
she willingly consented
to be his wife.
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20. It so happened that as John sat
on deck, three ravens landed on
board the ship, and
Faithful John understood what
they were saying to each other.
“He hasn’t got her yet” said the
first raven.
“Oh yes he has” said the second
raven “she is sitting there with
him in the ship.”
“What good will that do him?”
said the third.
“When they reach land
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21. a red horse will leap forward to
meet him, and the Prince will
want to mount, but if he does
the horse will fly away with
him into the air.” “Is there no
remedy?” asked the second raven.
“Oh yes,” chimed in the first, “if
someone else jumps on the horse
and slays it
the young king will be saved.”
“But,” said the third raven,
“nobody knows to do that
and if they did, the king will still
not gain his bride
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22. because when they go into the
castle his wedding shirt will be
laid out looking as though
made of gold, but
it is really pitch, and when the
king puts it on
it will burn him to the bone.”
when the second raven asked if
anything could be done
about that
the first raven said that if
someone wearing gloves threw
the shirt in the fire, the young
king would be saved.”But what’s
the good of that,” said the third,
“If after the wedding
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23. the young queen turns pale
during the dancing and falls
down dead “But if someone
immediately picks her up
and draws three drops of blood
from her right breast,
she will come to life again,”
said the first raven.
“What good is that?” replied
the third raven. “Whoever does
that, and tries to tell the young
king, will become stone from the
crown of his head to the sole of
his foot.”
Having said all this, the ravens
flew on, leaving John very pensive
and sad. At length, however, he
said to himself:
I will save my master, even if it
bring destruction on myself.
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24. So that when they arrived on
shore - the red horse sprang
forward,
Faithful John pushed the king
aside and mounted
the horse and killed it.
All of the court said “it was
shameful to kill the beautiful
horse that was to have carried the
king to his palace,
but the king sided with John.
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25. When they reached the castle
there was the wedding shirt
as the ravens foretold,
looking bright and attractive
but Faithful John seized it
with gloves on
and threw it in the fire, where it
burned like pitch.
Again, the attendants
complained, but
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26. the king defended Faithful John.
And now the wedding was
solemnized and the
dancing began.
Faithful John watched the
Princess all the time
and when she suddenly turned
white and fell to the ground
he picked her up, carried her to
the bedchamber,
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27. knelt beside her, and sucked three
drops of blood from
her right breast
and immediately she
breathed again.
The young king, ignorant of why
Faithful John had done
such a thing,
had him thrown into prison.
Next morning he was condemned
and led to the gallows.
When he stood on high and was
about to be hanged - he decided
to explain his actions no matter
what the consequences.
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28. “I am unjustly condemned,” he
cried out to the king, “I have
always been true to you.”
Then he told what the ravens had
said and why he had been obliged
to do what he did.
The king was instantly convinced
of the truth of what Faithful John
said, and ordered him released.
But with the last words of
his explanation
Faithful John had toppled
over, a stone.
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29. There followed many years of
anguish for the king and queen.
The king had the stone brought
to his own room,
and whenever he looked
at it he wept.
The queen gave birth to twin
sons, who grew and gave their
parents much joy, but their
happiness was not complete.
One day while the queen was
away at prayer and the children
were playing beside their father,
the king turned to the statue as
he often did, and sighed: “If only
I could bring you to life again,
Faithful John.”
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30. And then amazingly the stone
spoke to him. “You can bring me
to life again if you use for that
purpose what is dearest to you.”
The king jumped up and cried
that he would give anything in
the world. “Then said the stone
“if you cut off the heads of your
two sons with your own hand
and sprinkle me with their blood,
I shall be restored to life.”
The king was terrified at this
thought, but trusting in Faithful
John, who had died for him
he drew his sword and
with his own
hand cut off the children’s heads.
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31. And when he had smeared the
stone with their blood, life
returned to it
Faithful John stood once more
safe and sound before him. “Your
trust shall not go unrewarded,”
he said,
and he took the children’s heads
and attached them again to their
bodies. He rubbed the wounds
with their blood, and they
became whole, and went on
playing as though nothing had
happened.
Then the king was full of joy, and
when he saw the queen coming
he hid Faithful John and the
children in a big cupboard,
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32. and asked her casually if she had
been at prayer. “Yes,” she said, “I
have been praying that Faithful
John might be restored to us.”
‘Dear wife,” said the
king, “that can be accomplished,
but it will cost us our little sons,
whom we must sacrifice.” The
queen turned pale, and her heart
was full of terror, but she said:
“We owe this to him, for his great
fidelity.” Then the king rejoiced
that she thought as he had,
and opened the cupboard and
brought forth Faithful John.
“God be praised, he is delivered,
and we have our little sons also,”
and the king told how everything
had occurred.
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33. And they lived together happily
for the rest of their lives.
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