Transactional Analysis Fairy World E-Book

Martina Naubert

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 191

Beschreibung

The Transactional Analysis Fairy World is a collection of new fairy tales written for adults who consider their inner growth a never-ending process. The short stories are written in style and language of traditional fairy tales. Fairy tales have an unconscious impact on the reader or listener. That is why, even though these stories are based on the philosophy of Transactional Analysis, anybody can enjoy reading them without any knowledge on theory or models. The stories are self-contained without fixed sequence, taking place in the same kingdom with many characters featured throughout. The tales break open traditional role models without losing fascination of their historical ancestors.

Leseprobe

My dearest thanks to Annemieke and Paulus, who supported me during this work with such valuable feed-back.

The stories

The ‘Transactional Analysis Fairy World” is a collection of new fairy tales written for adults who consider their inner growth a never-ending process. The short stories are written in style and language of traditional fairy tales. Fairy tales have an unconscious impact on the reader or listener. That is why, even though these stories are based on the philosophy of Transactional Analysis, anybody can enjoy reading them without any knowledge on theory or models. The stories are self-contained without fixed sequence, taking place in the same kingdom with many characters featured throughout. The tales break open traditional role models without losing fascination of their historical ancestors.

The author

Martina Naubert is a trained Transactional Analysis facilitator (DGTA Germany). She has been working as Management Consultant and trainer for over 25 years. During this time, she held the position of Director of Human Resources, and later became CEO in a major corporation in Italy. During her many years of experience, she worked with people at all levels of employment, including top management. This allowed her to gain a great deal of experience in solving a wide range of problems at a very practical level. As a writer, Martina Naubert has drawn from the richness of her extensive background to create a number of adult fairy tales which can be used to either gain individual insight into one's personal growth or simply for one's reading pleasure. Either way, readers will be the richer for bringing these fairy tales into their lives. Martina Naubert was born in Vancouver, Canada, grew up in former West Germany and is now living with her family in Bologna, Italy. She continues to do in-depth work with Transactional Analysis.

Content

The Secret Little Book

The Embroidered Coat

The Lord of the Knights

The Golden Glasses

The Two Snake Charmers

The Magic Die

The Blue Key

The Enchanting Water Fairy

Courage Challenged

Four Red Horseshoes

The King’s Messenger

Three Pearls

The Bear’s Treasure

“We think fairy tales are for children. Nonsense! As if we wanted to live in a world without fantasy at any age!”

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)

The Secret Little Book

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, lived two millers. Each of them owned a beautiful mill. One was built at a clear creek in the south of the kingdom and the other at an equally refreshing little river in the north. Everybody in the kingdom knew them as the Miller of the North and the Miller of the South. Both were wealthy men, because they ground whole-wheat flour of an excellent quality. Even the cook of the royal castle purchased from them.

One day, it happened that a group of farmers, who all had their grain ground at the mill, came to see the Miller of the North. They asked his permission to take a little water from the creek in order to sprinkle their fields on hot summer days. The Miller thought about their request. He was worried that the big wheel of his mill might no longer turn strong enough in case they took too much water from the creek. The thought worried him. But he was afraid that if he refused their request, they would go to have their grain ground by the Miller of the South. So he did not say anything and agreed. He told himself that he could still discuss the matter if there was a problem in the future.

The miller had a secret little book where he noted everything he never spoke out. This little book was his hidden treasure. One day, he was certain, it would prove how good a man he had always been!

So he went ahead and noted all his worries. Soon he felt better and forgot all about it.

While the farmers were busily digging ditches, the cook of the royal castle stopped at the mill. He asked the miller to sell all his flour to him, because he had to prepare a big feast. The miller thought about his request. He needed a little stock of flour as all the bakeries in the kingdom of the north and south counted on him for running their business. If he sold all the flour to the Royal Cook he would have nothing left for the bakeries. However, because the Royal Cook was an important man of high influence, the miller did not say a word. He told himself that he could still discuss the matter later, if it should cause a problem. Until then, he would note all his worries in his little secret book. Soon he felt better and forgot all about it.

The next day the Royal Cook came back to load all bags of flour onto his carriage. Along with him was the youngest Princess who had never seen a mill before. Her mother had sent her to watch and learn about the life and the business of the people in the kingdom, so she could be a good Queen one day.

While the Royal Cook loaded the big bags onto his carriage, the Miller of the North showed the little Princess the big wheel that turned the heavy grinding stones to produce the flour. While listening and watching carefully, the little girl joyfully patted and cuddled the miller’s cat.

When the Royal Cook had finished his work and was ready to drive back to the castle, the little Princess begged the miller to give her the cat as a present to remember the beautiful visit to his mill.

The miller thought about her request. Without a cat, all the mice who loved the grain in the mill, would surely take over. And a mice plague in a mill could be a very serious situation! But alas, it was the royals’ little daughter who had asked him, and he did not dare to refuse. He let her have the cat. He told himself that he could still discuss the matter later, if the problem should grow out of hand. And once again he noted his worries in his little secret book. Soon he felt better and forgot all about it.

The days passed happily and the Miller of the North did not think of his notes in his secret little book anymore. Until one morning, he awoke and no longer heard the familiar turning sound of the cracking wooden wheel. He rushed outside to see what had caused this unusual silence.

It was a terrible shock!

The once clear creek had turned into a tiny little trickle and the big wheel stood totally still.

“Dear me! Dear me!”, cried the Miller of the North tearing out his hair with great despair. “What misfortune! There is not enough water anymore to keep the mill working! Dear me! Dear me!”

He remembered the request of the farmers and he decided to go see them immediately and withdraw his permission to take water from his creek.

When the first farmer saw him approaching, he friendly waved his arm and shouted: “I say, you do come at the right moment! It saves me the travel! Surely you bring my flour for which I have given you my grain?!”

The Miller of the North remembered the Royal Cook to whom he had sold all the flour in stock, including that of the farmer.

“Dear me!”, he cried to himself. “What can be done? All the flour is in the castle! Dear me!”

So he decided to drive to the castle and demand that a part of the flour should be returned.

Quickly he ran back to the mill in search of his little secret book, where all proof of his favour was noted. However, the moment he opened the door hundreds of mice rapidly scattered. They had built their nests in every corner of the mill and even all around the big wooden wheel that no longer turned.

“Dear me! Dear me!”, cried the Miller of the North. “A mill with mice is the good miller’s ruin! Dear me!”

He remembered the gift to the little Princess and decided to request back his cat. He would go to the castle immediately and take along the secret little book. At this point, only the King and the Queen themselves could help him out of his misery!

He saddled his horse and rode towards the castle, which was visible from far on a hill in the middle of the realm.

“Dear Queen and dearest King”, whined the Miller of the North when he had arrived. “I am the most pitiful man in the kingdom! I have always been a good and upright person. I have given everybody what they wanted. This little book carries the proof of it! But, alas, nobody cares for my wellbeing! In return for my kindness they have ruined me!”

And he went on telling precisely how it had happened that his mill now was without water to turn the big wheel, that there was no flour left in stock and most of all, that he was punished with a plague of mice.

The Queen and the King listened carefully.

Finally, after long consideration, they came to a decision.

“Dear Miller of the North, we cannot help you in this matter”, the King spoke. “There is no law on how much water you have to leave to the farmers. There is no law on how much flour you have to sell. And there is no law that obliges you to give away your cat - not even to a Princess. You have to solve this matter yourself.”

“That’s not fair!”, cried the Miller of the North.

He did not want to accept that he had created his fate himself. He stomped away furiously, out through the big castle’s gate. With each step he became more aggravated, as he knew deep inside that the King and the Queen were right.

And the farther he went on, the more his grudge grew into an outrageous inner fire.

Full of irrepressible fury he was about to burst and turned - puff - into an evil dragon. Driven by sheer anger he swallowed every single page of the secret little book without even chewing and stomped towards the forest, spitting fire each step of his way.

At the same time, some farmers spoke to the Miller of the South as well.

They also asked to be allowed to draw water from the little river for their ditches. Like the Miller of the North before, the Miller of the South also thought that he needed the water to turn the big wheel. And he also did not want to upset the peasants, because they had been good customers to him for many years. So he answered:

“If you want to dig the water behind my mill, that shall be fine with me! Once the water has turned the wheel, you can use it for your fields."

A little later the castle's master chef came to buy all his flour supplies for an excellent feast in the castle. But the Miller of the South replied:

"I can only give you two-thirds of my supply. I need the rest to carry on my business."

The Royal Cook became angry with him and pointed out that the flour was for the royal court. He threatened to tell the Queen and the king.

But the Miller of the South suggested with all his courage:

"If you buy some potatoes and chestnuts from the farmers, I can prepare flour of a different kind for you. It's not as fine as whole wheat flour. But you can create new dishes, which will be a wonderful surprise for your guests!"

The idea appealed to the master chef and he agreed.

When he later that week brought the potatoes and chestnuts into the mill, the youngest Prince jumped off the wagon. His sister had told him about the mill, where she had been given the beautiful cat. He also wanted to see a mill and take a cat as a gift.

The Miller of the South feared as well that the King would be angry with him if he did not comply with this request. Already, and only with the utmost courage and wisdom, had he persuaded the master chef to buy some different flour. Therefore, he was not comfortable when he answered the little Prince:

"I cannot give you my cat. I need it to catch mice and keep the mill clean."

Angrily the little Prince crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"The Miller of the North gave my sister a cat!", he huffed.

The master chef also looked grimly at the Miller of the South.

"Well", the miller replied wisely, "perhaps the Miller of the North had two cats and could therefore give one away? However, I only have this one. I may give it to you, but only after the last mouse is trapped. If you want to wait until then, we shall agree?"

The little Prince thought about it. The offer seemed fair to him and after a while he nodded in agreement.

He did not continue to insist on his wish and rode back with the cook to the castle.

As the Miller of the North was no longer seen, from that day on, all the farmers carried their grain to the Miller of the South. His cat continued to catch mice and since she was well nourished and healthy, next spring she gave birth to six little kittens in a corner of the mill. The Miller of the South chose the smallest among them and brought it to the castle to the little Prince, redeeming his promise earlier than he had anticipated.

Soon the Miller of the South had to expand his mill and hire apprentices because he could not manage to do all the work by himself anymore. He also mounted blades on the roof of his mill so that he could use both, water and wind, to grind grain. His mill grew into a big and flourishing business and became famous throughout the kingdom and beyond.

But since that day, a wicked dragon was feared in the deep forest, bringing dread and fright to anyone who would venture to go there.

The Embroidered Coat

One day, a tailor and a seamstress made their entrance in a small town far away, where way up, on top of the hill, there was a royal castle with a King and a Queen.

The tailor and the seamstress were dressed in strange long garments and the woman wore a red dot in the middle of her forehead. People had never seen anything like it before, which caused them to interrupt their activities and turn their heads as they walked by.

The strange couple bought a house at the end of the road and put up a large sign. From that day on everybody could read in large letters: "TAILORING".

Soon they got settled and not long after a little baby girl was born.

The two tailors were very nimble with needle and thread and exceedingly skillful with the fabrics they had brought along from a foreign country. Soon many people started to have their garments for special occasions tailored by them and their business was thriving.

The daughter grew up into a pretty young girl and learned the craft from her parents. She wore, like her mother, a red dot on her forehead and by that time the people in the kingdom did not find it strange anymore.

They could have been the happiest family in the whole kingdom, if it had not been for little vicious habits that had taken over their routine in all these years.

In the morning the seamstress got up and started a fire, so it would be cozy and warm in the room. Her husband would eat a piece of bread, drink a cup of warm milk and then go to work well-nourished and with renewed energy. He pulled his nightcap off his head, threw it carelessly on the kitchen table and started working. Thus, every morning he began his day cheerfully whistling, for he was well rested and always in a good mood.

His wife, however, gave a loud sigh every time she saw her husband being careless and because he did not want to spoil his good mood, he whistled all the louder.

Ever since they had come to this distant kingdom, this had become their morning routine.

At noon, the woman sent her daughter to the bakery to buy fresh bread for the meal. At that hour, it was the tailor’s task to fetch firewood for the stove so his wife could cook the meal.

"I’ll do it right away", he always said, "I'm just going to finish this one seam!"

And so he plunged his head back into his work until the daughter came home again. Since the girl did not want her parents to quarrel about the firewood, she ran out right away and brought an arm full of wood into the kitchen. But as much as she tried, every time her dress got dirty and her mother gave another deep sigh.

Ever since they had come to this distant kingdom, this had become their routine every noon.

In the evening the man finally put aside his work, rubbed his eyes and stretched himself. Then he stood up from his place and stepped outside for a little walk in front of the house. And again, his wife gave a deep sigh, even louder than the one in the morning and the one at noon. He always heard it, but since she never spoke, he did not see any need to turn around and talk to her about it. Instead, he would quickly go outside.

Eventually, his wife would rise from her work, and gather the fabric remnants, which he always left scattered on the table. She sighed again and began to fold them before storing them away into the chests used for this purpose.

Ever since they had come to this distant kingdom, this had become their evening routine.

It had been like this for a long time, day after day, month after month, year after year and the tailor and his daughter had gotten used to the fact that the seamstress would spend many hours sighing. Until one day, however, when she had run out of alleviating sighs.

The wife had begun to make a new winter cloak for her husband, so he would be able to deliver their creations to customers far away, even in the cold season. Whenever she had had a little spare time, she had work on it.

That day, she took the almost finished coat in her hands and began to embroider it in fine letters:

Nightcap in the bed box! Fabric remnants in the chest!

And in particularly large letters she embroidered: FIRE WOOD!!!!

In order for the words to be legible, she had the blacksmith forge a metal thread, similar to those used for the royal knight’s chain armor.

She worked for many days at the new embroidery. This was a laborious task, but she found her work thoroughly satisfactory and it made her feel very good about herself. From then on, no more sighs escaped her chest.

Her husband was in the best of moods because his wife had ceased to sigh before the day began. The daughter was pleased because her mother no longer moaned when she dirtied her dress and in the evening the tailor was relieved when he went for walks without hearing his wife sighing. Now, all three of them actually believed that they were the happiest people in the whole kingdom.

Until one day, when the first snow fell, the tailor had to go out to deliver a new dress to the wife of the administrator at the royal castle. The lady dressmaker prepared the package for delivery. She handed it over to her husband and said:

"It has become cold. Take this new coat here, which I have tailored for you for the winter. I put a lot of effort in the embroidery. You may read my stitching carefully as you are on your way. "

And thus, she closed the door behind her husband and went back to work. She busied herself for many hours, more carefree and happier than she had been for a long time.

She eagerly awaited her husband's return.

But he did not come back home.

It became dark and a cold wind started whistling around the house. A heavy snowstorm came down and the blizzard was so bad that one could hardly see the other houses on the opposite side of the road.

At that sight the lady dressmaker became afraid and she said to her daughter:

"Your father is not yet back. Maybe he cannot find the way with all the snow? We have to go look for him!"

The girl wrapped herself in a blanket and hurried out to her friends. She managed to get the son of the blacksmith and the two brothers of the mayor to ride off with their horses to search for the tailor.

Soon they found him sitting rigidly in a pile of snow at the roadside, in front of the town gate.

The young lads tried to pull him onto one of the horses, but the man's cloak was so heavy that they could not lift him. So they called more friends for help. Only when there were six lads did they succeed in hoisting the tailor onto a handcart and drag him home.

There they put him on a chair in front of the fire, so that the snow, which covered him from head to toe, would melt.

"Take off the coat. It's warm in here, you don't need it here anymore!", said the daughter and wanted to remove the garment from him.

But she could not strip off the coat.

The lady dressmaker and the girl pulled both with all their might, each at one sleeve, but neither the cloak nor the tailor moved an inch.

"It is not possible," wailed the tailor. "I cannot move."

The seamstress and her daughter stood in front of the father not knowing what to do. He seemed tied to the chair by his cloak.

"The coat surely is frozen and it is so stiff that you cannot take if off!", the daughter spoke to her father. "If you stay here in front of the fire, the ice will melt eventually and it will be soft enough tomorrow morning!"

According to this plan they put more firewood into the oven and lay down to sleep.