FOOL OF THE WORLD AND THE FLYING SHIP.

By Sean Rodriguez and Ben Egan

Overview:

Long ago there was a Czar that was presented a ship from a prince for the hand of his daughter, the Czar refused and proclaimed that if anyone in the land could make a flying ship he would wed his daughter to that ship builder. In the forest region of the country there lived and old couple that had three sons. Two of them were very clever and manipulative; the other one was very foolish but kind. The two clever brothers found the proclamation that the Czar had written and decided to con the father into giving them money so that they could “build the ship”. Ultimately the two brothers spend all the money on food and drink, leaving the family at home being worried about them. However, as the two brothers were eating in the forest an old man approaches them to ask for food. They two brothers refused, even though they had a huge abundance. The old man leaves them and the brothers get lost.

Overview:

The youngest brother (Peter) , goes to look for his lost brothers only taking a meager amount of food. He then comes across the area of which his brothers were eating at previously to take a much needed break. The old man then approaches him to ask for some food and even though Peter has only a short amount of food he agrees to give him food. When Peter reaches into his satchel he finds a feast, he then happily shares a fine dinner with the old man and tells him about the “proclamation of the flying ship”. As Peter stumbles to sleep, the old man builds a ship out of snow, sticks, and feathers from a snow bird. Peter then wakes up to discover the flying ship and the old man tells him that he must always accept whoever wants to hitch a ride..

Overview:

So then Peter embarks to go to the palace of the Czar, along the way he receives all sorts of passengers. He receives a sharpshooter, who can spot anything from far away. He then gets a farmer, who has hay that can cool down any fire. Later on he gets a man with insatiable hunger, and a man with insatiable thirst. Then there is a runner, who has to tie up one of his legs so that he doesn’t run around the world. Next there is a spy with big ears, that can hear anything from a long distance. Finally there is a woodsman whose saplings can morph into soldiers. The passengers all want employment from the Czar as they arrive to the Czar’s palace. They get there, however, the Czar’s chief advisor saw that the travelers were all peasants instead of noblemen and told his master who was greatly displeased by this. So the advisor gives the travelers a set of impossible tasks they must complete in order to see the Czar. The first was to completely finish every item of food and drink at a large banquet.

Overview:

The banquet was exceedingly large for a normal man, however the man with an insatiable hunger managed to eat every morsel of food on the table. The man with the insatiable thirst finished off the drinks, leaving the table completely empty. Upon completing this, they were asked to take a bath. Before they did so, the spy with big ears overheard the orders that the fire for the baths would receive more wood so that Peter and his friends can be boiled alive. As they were heading towards the bath, the farmer snuck away and used his cold straw to put the fire out. Having survived that ordeal, the last task was that the party must fetch healing water from a far away lake, in five minutes. The runner then unties his legs and runs to the lake at supersonic speed. After a few minutes the spy with big ears hears that the runner is asleep and has the sharpshooter shot an arrow near the runner to awaken him. The runner wakes up and runs back to the palace just in time.

Overview:

Having completed all the tasks, Peter is then able to approach the Czar. When conversing with the Czar, he accidentally insults him and is thrown into the dungeons with his companions being thrown out of the castle. When thrown out, the woodsman threatens the Czar that he will return with a massive army in the morning to rescue Peter. Overnight the companions plant the woodsman’s saplings and they emerge as humanoid soldiers within the morning, surrounding the palace. Upon seeing this, the Czar becomes frighten and surrenders to the companions’ requests. The first request is that the companions are to be employed under the Czar. The second is to free Peter from the palace dungeon. The last being to allow Peter to marry the princess. The Czar meets their demands and they all live prosperous lives.

History:

It was first passed on orally throughout the Czarist history of Russia and its surrounding Baltic regions.

The tale that was first written down by the Scottish poet, Andrew Lang in 1884. It was included in his collection of fairy tales, “The Yellow Fairy Book”.

Another variation of the tale was written in 1916 by an English author by the name of Arthur Ransome. It was included in his book “Old Peter’s Russian Tales” that turned out to be the most popular variation.

In 1990 there was a stop-motion-animated film of it by Cossgrove Hall Films.

Then in 1991 it was put into audiotape form by Rabbit Ears Production that featured Robin Williams.

Similarities:

Elements of the story are present within Terry Gilliam’s 1988 film, “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”.

They are also present in the manga, “One Piece” by Eiichiro Oda.

Themes:

The story teaches us to become generous to others, as Peter gave food to the old man and allowed strangers refuge on his ship.

One’s good deeds are often repaid in strange and wonderful ways.

Being deceitful and manipulative will come back to bite you later on.

Elements of Fantasy:

The flying ship itself. The old man that’s a wizard. Peter’s companions. Healing water. Robin Williams!

Sources:

Vose, Francis. Fool of the World and the Flying Ship. Cossgrove Hall Films. 1990. Film

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/russian/oldpetersrussiantales/fooloftheworld.html

http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/019.htm Oda, Eiichiro. One Piece: Romance Dawn. Shonen

Jump. 1997. Gilliam, Terry. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

Columbia Pictures. 1988.