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Hello, my name is Hans, and I'm making the dangerous journey up Germany's Rhine River to reunite with my family in the Netherlands. We were separated when I had to fight for our kingdom in another land, but I hope to return home safely. The river flows north, so, hopefully, all I have to do is ride the current on my boat and find a safe place to sleep at night.
It's getting dark on my first day of traveling, so I start looking for shelter. Up ahead, a dilapidated-looking castle is coming into view. I paddle my boat to shore, store it behind a tree and then make my way up the path to investigate this ruin. Everything looks fine at first, but I can hear strange noises coming from a room deep within the castle. I am determined not to be afraid; I have fought many battles and should not fear something as simple as sound.
I enter a vast chamber, coming to a halt when I see a small boy in the corner of the room. Instinctively, I draw my sword, just in case something dangerous is afoot.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here all alone, boy?" I ask commandingly.
The boy, seemingly unafraid, replies, "My name is Jonas, and I was sent here to this haunted castle by my brethren so I can learn how to shudder! The king himself came up with this idea. Everyone's tried scaring me with so many things so far—fake ghosts and dead bodies—but nothing has worked. I cannot yet shake with fear."
"What an odd wish that is," I say, "Why would you go through so much to accomplish that goal? Is that why you are here now?"
"Yes," Jonas says excitedly, "I've been here for two nights already. On the first night, a bunch of voices and animals tried to scare me. But I told the vocal beings they were being foolish and killed any beast that attacked. Then a cursed bed appeared and ran around when I laid down on it! It was fun for a while, but I got tired and slept on the floor."
I listen in shock, wondering how this little child could be so bold.
"Last night, a bunch of skeletons fell down this chimney, trying to terrify me by removing their heads from their bodies. I just threw their skulls at the bodies, though. It was fun making their bones scatter!" continued Jonas.
Amazed, I wonder what would happen tonight, but I lay down to rest as I am so weary from my travels. A noise wakes me up sometime later, and I sit up, scrambling into a corner as I see six men enter the room, carrying a coffin. They take no notice of me, walking up to Jonas and lifting the lid of the coffin to show him the body inside.
Jonas yelped, yelling, "This body is that of my cousin! I must try to save him!"
So, Jonas attempts to warm the corpse up, but as soon as he touches it, the body springs up and tries to strangle him! I run to Jonas's side, and, together, we slam the lid closed on top of the body. Quickly as they came, the men leave again, taking the body with them.
"If that doesn't make you shudder, Jonas, I don't know what will," I say to the boy, who looks visibly distressed but did not shake through the whole encounter. We fall back asleep and awake in the morning when a king enters the room.
"Jonas," the king announces, "I have seen that you cannot shudder. You have beaten my challenge, and so you may have my daughter's hand in marriage."
I make my way out of the castle, confused by this whole ordeal but determined to put distance between myself and this strange place.
Author's Note: This story is an adaptation of "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was." Most of my rendition stays faithful to the original. A boy unable to shudder faces a series of challenges set by the people in his kingdom in the original. The king of this land promises the boy that he can marry his daughter if the king's challenge does not work. The boy confronts fake ghosts, spends a night under gallows hung with dead bodies, and travels to a haunted castle for three nights. The events in my story on these three nights (the voices, animals, cursed bed, skeletons, and the men carrying the casket) also occur in the original. A couple more things do happen in the original. One such event is when an older man challenges the youth, saying he can beat an anvil into the ground. The boy ends up tricking the man and hits him with an iron rod. I didn't include this because I think it's too morbid and unnecessary. After the king allows the boy to marry his daughter, however, she is the one who teaches him how to shudder by dousing him with a bucket of ice-cold water. My character, Hans, tells the tale from a first-hand point-of-view. Hopefully, this allows the reader to engage more with the plot and create images in their head.
Bibliography: "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was" from the Brothers Grimm.
Image Information: Castle in Ogrodzieniec by Jakub Hałun (source: Wikimedia).
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