Storytelling for Week 3: Ailbe Finds His Mother

There once was a boy named Ailbe and although he was just a little child, his parent despised him. They treated him horribly. Growing up he was forced to do all the housework and treated like a slave. They never showed him any love but he still tried so hard to make them want him. Always doing everything they demanded of him, he still kept a smile on his face. He was an optimistic child, even though his upbringing gave him every reason not to be.

One day when Ailbe was fetching water from the well, he ran across a wolf. He was scared of the wolf and ran home without the water. This angered his parents and they started to yell at him.

"What is wrong with you, stupid child! You are not to step foot into this house until you have fetched the water!" screamed his mother

Ailbe turned away, looking defeated. He knew that he had to get the water or else he would be in trouble. He did not want to disappoint his parents. So Ailbe turned right around and headed down the path to fetch the water but when he got to the well, he saw the wolf again. Startled, he turned and started running back to the house. He stopped half-way there, knowing that if he was to dare to go back to the house without the water he would be punished severely.

Ailbe fought the urge to run away again and began heading towards the well but this time he noticed something different. For some reason, all his fear disappeared when he saw the wolf. He noticed that she was taking care of her baby wolves. He didn't know that mothers could be so kind.

"Hello boy," he heard the wolf say. "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

At first he was shocked that he could understand this wolf. He felt somewhat connected to her.

"Sit down and have some water," the wolf said.

So Ailbe sat down. He had never experienced someone being so nice to him. He did not want to leave her side. So he sat, talking with her the rest of the night until he finally curled up next to her and fell asleep. When Ailbe woke up the next morning he knew that he would be in trouble.

"I have to get home," Ailbe cried, "Mother and father will be so angry!"

Tears filled his eyes. He was scared of what would happen when he went home. He got up and started to walk back to his house but before he could take a step, he saw his parents. They were angry.

"How dare you not return home!" His father screamed, while raising his hand to prepare to hit Ailbe. Ailbe closed his eyes, preparing for what was sure to happen, but the wolf saw all of this and was not going to let her new friend be hurt. She jumped in front of him and started to growl at the boys parents.

Frightened, his parents screamed, "Fine then! You can have the boy! We didn't want the pathetic child anyways!" They turned and ran away from the wolf and Ailbe.

"That's fine with me," replied the wolf, "I am quite fond of the boy anyways."

From that day on, Ailbe lived with the wolf and finally became a part of a loving family. The end.

Ailbe and his wolf-mother.

Authors note: I based my story off of the story The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe. This story was about a boy who was abandoned by his real parents and the wolf took him in and raised him. When he was older, a prince found him and took him away from the wolf and raised him to be a great man. Ailbe had never forgotten about his wolf-mother and ended up saving her from hunters. He took care of her the rest of his life for the rest of their lives.
I changed my story to be that his horrible parents kept him. I thought that it would be interesting from that perspective because then it would be that the wolf had to save him later on. I left out the part of the prince altogether because I did not feel that it fit in with the version of the story that I wanted to tell. I wanted to show how things would have been different if he had to deal with his parents until he was a little older and then he was able to consciously choose who he wanted to be with, his horrible parents or the nice wolf that helped him.
Story source: The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900).