Storytelling for Week 4: The Old Man and the Demi

The Old Man and the Demi

"Say, Demi!"

"Yes, Master?"

"I'm hungry."

"Want me to get some food?"

The old man smiled slyly, turning his head away from the large, muscular demon, hiding the grin on his face. "Why, yes, that would be excellent.”

The hulking demi got slowly to his feet and trundled off into the woods. The old man watched him go, the fingers of one hand dipping into the warm waters of the deep river that he sat next to.  Basking in the light of the sun shining down in the cloudless sky, the old man took a deep, satisfied breath and waited.

The demi came back with a large stag cradled in his sinewy arms. He laid the flaccid creature before the old man.

The old man yawned.  “Can’t you bring back something bigger than that? This stag would not even do for a snack!”

The demi frowned, but obediently went back into the woods.

The old man scrambled to his feet and seized the animal by his long horns. With a grunt of exertion, he dragged the beast to the river and shoved it into the roiling, white-capped waters. The creature was quickly carried away by the fast-moving stream, and the old man sat down contentedly as he waited for the demi to return.

The demon came back a few minutes later, this time dragging the carcasses of three young does.

The old man yawned again. “You disappoint me, demi. Surely you know that I require more than just three does to satisfy my lunchtime hunger? Bring me some bigger beasts!”

The demi sulked and reluctantly retreated back into the wood’s dark recesses, but this time an impressively cunning thought entered into his characteristically un-cunning mind. Rather than immediately hunting for more animals, the demi kept to the shadows at the outer perimeter of the forest and watched his master for a short time.

The demi gasped as he saw the old man hurriedly grab the three does the demon had brought to him and throw them into the river.

Anger rose up in the demi, but caution kept him from charging straight toward the old man and trying to kill him right then and there. Even though the old man had cruelly wasted the gifts that the demi had worked so hard to get for him, he was still a powerful foe who could turn boulders to dust and squeeze the water from rocks, as he had demonstrated upon their first meeting. It would not do to attack him directly.

The demi thought long and hard on what to do, and finally another clever thought found its way into his head. The demon smiled happily and eagerly stomped off back into the depths of the wood.

The old man had grown very bored and impatient since his servant was taking so long to bring the elder his ostensible sustenance. Finally, the demi appeared, this time dragging the limp forms of a pair of jackals and a pair of wolves.

“These will fill you?” the demi asked, a slightly enigmatic smile playing across his wide face.

The old man sighed. “Better, but still not enough. Bring me yet more!”

The demon sighed in turn and made a show of skulking back towards the woods. When he had once again disappeared from sight into the dark shadows cast by the thick trees of the forest, the demi once again turned around to observe the old man’s actions.

The old man started to do what he had done previously. He unceremoniously grabbed all four canines by their tails and began to drag them toward the river. However, as soon as he yanked on the animals’ tails, the wolves and jackals thrashed to life, lips curling back to reveal razor sharp teeth. Low, dangerous growls rose up from their throats.

The demi smiled as he watched the old man gasp in surprise, his hands losing their grip on the animals’ tails as he staggered back. The demon had but knocked out the wolves and jackals, and it was the old man’s rude yank on their tails that had awakened them.

The canines lithely rolled to their feet and made to surround the old man, their paws padding slowly, silently across the grass as they closed in with their prey.

Crying out in fear, the old man threw himself into the river behind him. The old man, however, could not swim. It had been thanks to the demi that the old man had crossed that same river weeks before, and without the aid of the demon’s power, he could only flounder helplessly as the river’s strong current swept him away, never to return.

Author's Notes: This story is based on "The Cunning Old Man and the Demi" from the Georgian Folktales unit. The original story has the old man using his wits to convince a demi (a demon) that he is a powerful being, and thus acquires the supernatural being as a servant. The demi eventually catches on when a jackal and a wolf tell him that the old man has been throwing the carcasses the demon has been giving him into the river (an act which also provided the canines some nice, free food). The demi gathers together a posse of wolves and jackals and makes to confront the old man, Unfortunately for the demi, the old man sees the pack and says to the demon, "Dost thou not owe me more than ten wolves and jackals?" Sensing betrayal, the wolves and jackals attack and kill the demi. Deciding that this is too cruel a fate for a relatively innocent creature, I re-wrote the story with the demi coming out on top. I use a lot of the same story elements, but made it to where the demi, who still foolishly believes in the old man's great power, unexpectedly uses his wits to get revenge on the trickster. 

Rioni River, Georgia (Wikipedia Commons)

Bibliography Information:
Title: Georgian Folktales
Author: Marjory Wardrop
Year published: 1894
Web source: Un-textbook