The Sailor-Boy’s Tale (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Karen Christenze Dinesen
- First Published: 1942
- Type of Plot: Fantasy
- Time of Work: About 1865
- Setting: Mediterranean Sea; Bodø, Norway
- Principal Characters: Simon, Nora, Ivan, Sunniva
- Genres: Short fiction, Fantasy
- Subjects: Magic or magicians, Nineteenth century, Europe or Europeans, Ships, Sailing or sailors, Sea or seafaring life, Scandinavia or Scandinavians, Boys, Ocean, Norway or Norwegians
- Locales: Mediterranean, Bodø, Norway
The Story
While en route from Marseilles to Athens during a gale, the young sailor-boy Simon spots a bird that is stuck high in the rigging of his ship. Seeing that the bird is a peregrine falcon, the boy climbs up in order to free it. The ungrateful falcon rewards Simon for his kindness by hacking him in the thumb so hard that he bleeds, and the boy responds in kind by giving the bird a strong blow to its head.
Two years later Simon experiences the full consequences of this seemingly unimportant incident. He is now a crew member on another ship that is docked in...
[The entire page is 1296 words long]
