Extra Credit Reading, Week 8: Lang Fairy Tales, Part A

 These notes are from "The Envious Neighbour" from The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (1901).

• I wanted to do notes over this story because it's about a dog!! When I saw "envious neighbor" I thought they would be fighting over land or a lady, but I was pleasantly surprised that the neighbor is jealous of their pet dog. 
• A little old couple has a dog instead of a child, they love this and treat it well. 
• But this dog is magic! I love this dog
• So the man is working on the garden,  when he notices that the dog is digging at a little spot. 
• The dog starts to bark, alerting the man of something
• Like a good owner, the man digs to where the dog is gesturing. Always trust your dog!
• When he digs it up, it's treasure--go little doggy
• Now the family is rich! Word travels (not always a good thing...)
• A neighbor hears about the dog and wants to "borrow" him so that he can also get rich
• Owners say "No!", but the man insists. 
• The dog is lent out to the man--and he expects treasure
• When the dog barks at a tree, the neighbor is excited
• The man only digs up bones, though. No treasure. 
• Since the man is evil, he kills the dog :(
• He lies to the family, and tells them that their dog randomly died. 
• The owner of the dogs is, of course, heart broken. 
• He brings home the dog and the family gives it a nice funeral/ceremony 
• He dreams of the dog giving him advice (cut down a tree, and make mortar)
• The man hesitates, but his wife tells him to trust the dog (what a good boy!)
• When he follows the advice, the wood of the tree brings him gold!
• Again, he is rich!
• Here comes the neighbor, ready to screw things up again
• He asks to borrow the mortar. The couple is nice and allows it
• He thinks he will get gold, but the gold turns into nasty berries 
• He destroys their stuff again!
• The dog again appears in the owners dream. He gives them advice and sprinkles ashes on a tree in front of the king.
• When he does this, flowers bloom! And the man is rich (again)
• The envious neighbor again tries to copy this, and steals some of the owner's ashes. 
• it doesn't work
• Instead, the neighbor blinds the king!
• As punishment, he is thrown in jail. He comes to a "miserable end" lol.
• Okay! So to write this, I would definitely make a haunted dog ghost story. The dog haunts the envious neighbor and causes him all kinds of problems. I would make this less about the owners, and more about the neighbor. He has to be punished for hurting the dog and stealing from the neighbors. 
• It would work nicely in my haunted portfolio.  

Image Info:

Sparkle Dog with Butterfly

Found on: Wagwalking.com