The Young Slave: Cursed Encounters and Haunting Revenge
What if swallowing a rose leaf could change your life forever? Join us for a spine-chilling special on Tales of Bedlam, where your hosts, Knob Twister and Sofa Sitter, unravel the bizarre and eerie story of "The Young Slave" by Gian Battista Basile. Listen as we recount the strange journey of a baron’s sister, Lisa, who mysteriously becomes pregnant after an unusual encounter with a rose leaf, leading to a series of haunting events and a fairy’s curse. With our signature humor, we dissect the oddities and hidden morals of this enchanting yet spooky tale, making sure you'll experience both chills and chuckles.
This episode is a replay from 2019-2021; please ignore any announcements during the episode.
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The following is the imagined ending written by Micah (Knob Twister)
Then he sharpened the knife upon the pumice stone and gave it to Lisa’s little doll. To the amazement of those attending the feast, the doll drew breath and hefted the knife with both hands. Proceeding to stab repeatedly at the fine breast of the Baron’s wife. Time and time again, the knife cleaved deep into her chest till her heart sprung forth in a crimson fountain. Speckling the now horrified onlookers with the hot blood. Blood rot with jealousy and hatred. The little doll once more drew breath and cried, “Can you hear me now bitch!”
I do not know if I agree entirely with the “moral” of this tale, “Heaven rains favor on us when we least expect it.”
But the tale has many parallels to other fairy tales I adore.
The forbidden room from Grimm’s “Bluebeard” (episode 20) and the blame placed upon women for their curiosity.
The fairy’s curse, which is much more descriptive in this story, is also in “Sleeping Beauty.”
The request for gifts, "I want nothing but a doll, a knife, and a pumice-stone,” is also found in “Beauty and the Beast.”
Speaking to inanimate objects from which a rescue develops, also found in Grimm’s “Goose Girl.”
There are even some similarities with “Snow White” seven caskets rather than seven dwarfs; the instrument of death was a comb stuck in her hair, and it was a bite of apple stuck in Snow’s throat.
Giambattista Basile (February 1566 – February 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. His collections include the oldest recorded forms of many well-known (and more obscure) European fairy tales.
