How the Three-Eyed Cąȶ Got It's Tail Pulled

Because of its nature, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ loved playing tricks on people and spirits alike. Therefore, when it came to the people's world, it didn't take long for the Three-Eyed Cąȶ to find joy in tricking people. People acted so very differently from each other and had a wide range of emotions, expressions, and feelings that the spirits of Nӕse didn't have. As a trickster spirit, nothing gave the Three-Eyed Cąȶ more pleasure than tricking someone who was too prideful. The rich, beautiful, and talented were its favorite targets.

Reaching one small village one day, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ strolled along in its invisible form. The Three-Eyed Cąȶ enjoyed using its invisible form to observe new places and pick out those who it could later play tricks on. It just so happened that at that moment a young man was talking to a young woman. The man, dressed in fine clothing and hold rare flowers, was clearly from a wealthy family. He was offering the flowers to the woman, who was the plainest woman Three-Eyed Cąȶ had ever seen. And yet, the woman held a proud confident air about her. Eavesdropping, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ held back laughter as the man proclaimed feelings of love and devotion, repeatedly mentioning his family's wealth. The woman listened politely but, when the man was finished, she smiled flatly.

"Thank you for your interest in me," the woman said, "but as you have just pointed out, you are from a wealthy and powerful family. You are only passing through this small village. It would be a terrible sin against the Deity if I were to take your hand in marriage. What could a poor village girl like me ever offer you."

Without another word, the woman turned and left the man standing alone. Intrigued the Three-Eyed Cąȶ followed the woman. Over the next week, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ saw no less than six men propose marriage to the woman, but she turned them all down. Both amused and annoyed by the woman's arrogance, for she was not beautiful at all and from an average family, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ decided that she would be its next trick victim. And what better way than to target the woman's pride by getting her to marry it.

Arriving the next day in the guise of a wealthy, handsome man, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ approached the woman. It had learned from watching the other men what not to do. It acted modestly and did not even broach the topic of marriage. Instead, it merely engaged her in conversation and then left after. Confused the woman watched the Three-Eyed Cąȶ leave. The next day the Three-Eyed Cąȶ came again and talked with the woman for a long time then left. On the third day, the woman finally asked the Three-Eyed Cąȶ for its name, but it merely smiled and left.

On the fourth day, the woman asked the Three-Eyed Cąȶ to walk with her, to which the Three-Eyed Cąȶ consented, knowing that it was making progress. It gleefully imaged the wedding ceremony where it would change itself from a handsome man to a squawking crow, startling the woman and embarrassing her. As they walked, the woman fell silent, contemplative.

"Is something the matter?" the Three-Eyed Cąȶ asked.

"Yes," the woman sighed, "but it isn't right for me to burden you with my problems."

"Please tell me," the Three-Eyed Cąȶ said.

"I will tell you for I feel I can count you as a friend. You see I desperately want to marry," the woman sighed.

"Then why don't you?" the Three-Eyed Cąȶ asked, smiling inwardly.

"I cannot be married without my parents' permission," the woman said glumly.

"That does not seem so hard," the Three-Eyed Cąȶ said.

"For a normal woman it wouldn't be, but my parents no longer speak to each other. See they were not supposed to marry but did anyway. Their pride eventually got in the way and they went their separate ways."

The woman paused, looking forlornly over the river they walked next to. The Three-Eyed Cąȶ listened intently. If all she needed was her parents' permission, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ could get that easily.

"To marry, I would need both my parents to be present and for them to give consent at my wedding," the woman continued. "But that will never happen, which is why I turn down every man that asks me."

"If a man were able to bring your parents to you, you would concede to marry him?" the Three-Eyed Cąȶ asked.

"Oh yes, in a heartbeat," the woman beamed wistfully.

"Then I will go get them for you," the Three-Eyed Cąȶ proclaimed.

"You will?" she gasped.

"If you will agree to marry me," the Three-Eyed Cąȶ nodded. "I just need to know where to find them."

"Well, my father lives in that direction," the woman pointed to a thick set of woods on the other side of the river. "Past the woods is a swamp, thick with marsh planets. My father lives there."

"How will I know him?" the Three-Eyed Cąȶ asked.

"He is the largest bullfrog in the swamp!" the woman exclaimed as if this was common knowledge.

Confused, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ looked at the woman. The largest bullfrog? The Three-Eyed Cąȶ did not know much about how humans reproduced. Reproduction had only begun twenty years before when Death entered the world. Before that everyone that ever existed had been created by the Deity. They had neither aged, died, nor given birth.

"Your father is a bullfrog?" the Three-Eyed Cąȶ asked skeptically.

"Oh, yes, I look just like him," the woman nodded.

Pointing to her eyes, which were a dark muddy green, she smiled.

"See my eyes are the same color as his skin," she announced proudly.

Studying her eyes, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ saw that the woman did indeed have eyes the same color as a bullfrog's skin. Nodding, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ asked, "And your mother?"

"My mother lives in the opposite direction," the woman sighed, suddenly sad again. "I love her dearly, but she is the most stubborn yew in the mountains."

"A yew?" the Three-Eyed Cąȶ asked, confused once again.

"Yes, a rocky sheep," the woman nodded. "See I have inherited her soft fur."

The woman pointed to her black curly hair, which was indeed as soft as a rocky sheep's wool. Convinced, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ nodded again. With a bit more instructions, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ left to find his to-be bride's parents.

Seeking the father first, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ traveled for several days through the thick woods until it reached the swamp the woman had described. It was a large, deep swamp that smelled of stagnant water. Scrunching its nose, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ searched the edges of the swamp, but to no luck. With great impatience, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ splashed into the thick, sticky waters. Soon, it found the largest bullfrog and attempted to talk to it, but the moment the Three-Eyed Cąȶ mentioned the woman and her mother, the bullfrog jumped away. Realizing the bullfrog must really hate talking about his wife, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ chased after him. After several hours, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ became frustrated and finally captured the bullfrog father. Dragging itself out of the swamp, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ cursed as it was not only soaked but muddy and smelly. Yet there was no time to waste.

Taking the bullfrog dad, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ trudged to the mountains and looked for a black rocky sheep. It took days, but he finally found a flow of rocky sheep with a single black yew. Approaching the yew, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ tried to talk to her, but she said nothing, ignoring him to chew on grass. The Three-Eyed Cąȶ kept trying and trying, all the while doing its best to keep a hold on the bullfrog dad, who squirmed at every chance. However, the yew continued to chew grass. Once again frustrated, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ tried to push the yew towards the woman's village, but the creature wouldn't move an inch. The woman had said her mother was the most stubborn yew. Becoming angry, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ got a rope and tied it around the yew. Dragging the yew behind him, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ started the long trek back to the village. The stubborn yew made traveling difficult. The Three-Eyed Cąȶ could only move the yew a few inches at a time. It could have moved the yew faster, but that would have hurt the yew and the Three-Eyed Cąȶ didn't want to hurt the woman's mother. The bullfrog father did not help either. If the Three-Eyed Cąȶ didn't have a tight enough grip, the bullfrog father jumped away and the Three-Eyed Cąȶ had to hunt the bullfrog father down.

Yet after over a week, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ managed to get both the yew mother and bullfrog father back to the village. Still, in its human disguise, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ looked haggard, dirty, smelly, and overall terrible. The people of the village stared opened mouthed as the Three-Eyed Cąȶ walked through town, dragging the yew mother and carrying the bullfrog father. The woman stood in the middle of the village square in the middle of rejecting yet another suitor when she spotted the Three-Eyed Cąȶ. Smiling, she crossed her arms as the Three-Eyed Cąȶ approached, staggering from exhausted.

"I have returned," the Three-Eyed Cąȶ proclaimed. "With your mother and father to marry you."

Tilting her head, the woman smiled sweetly at the Three-Eyed Cąȶ as people gathered around to see what was going on.

"My mother and father?" the woman said, pretending to be confused. "What do you mean? I only see a yew and bullfrog."

"They are your parents," the Three-Eyed Cąȶ said, annoyed. "I brought them so we could wed."

Laughing, the woman met the Three-Eyed Cąȶ eyes and the smile on her face now told the Three-Eyed Cąȶ that it had been tricked. Dropping the rope and the bullfrog, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ stared at the woman.

"Why would you trick me like this?" the Three-Eyed Cąȶ asked angrily.

"Because you were too prideful," the woman said smugly. "Thinking that you would trick me just because I am plain and you are handsome."

Shocked, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ didn't know what to say. As she walked away, the Three-Eyed Cąȶ thought it had never seen a human woman that was so beautiful.