Where the Heck is the Stag?

 

Cover artist unknown

The unidentified writer and artist who brought us the story "The Enchanted Stag," which appeared in Let's Pretend #1 (May/June 1950), have left me a little confused. Charming art and a script that effectively generates a proper fairy tale ambiance leave us with an entertaining little tale. But where the heck is the stag? Despite the story's title, there isn't a stag to be found.

We also seem to start in the middle of an ongoing story. Perhaps the publisher used the second part of a longer tale, knowing we'd be given enough information to follow along. Perhaps the stag was involved earlier in the story. That's just a theory. It really doesn't matter, because what we have is fun.

Anyway, we start with the girl Daray and her younger brother on the run in the woods. Helpful expository dialogue tells us they are running away, because a witch had put a spell on their father and turned him against them.

 They stop to get a drink from a brook. This brook, though, talks, warning them that anyone who drinks from it will turn into a faun. The young brother discards this warning, drinks, and promptly turns into a faun.

They eventually find an abandoned house and move in. Daray cleans the place up, while her brother openly regrets that he can't help much because he's now a faun. Hey, kid! Can you still walk? Got two hands? THEN YOU CAN PUSH A BROOM, CAN'T YOU?

Eventually, the faun is spotted by a hunting party led by the king. They trail the kid back to the house. The king, fortunately, turns out to be a good guy. He takes in both the kids to care for them.

Seven years later, Daray is grown up and marries the king. But remember the witch who originally drove her into the woods? She's still around, with a plan to dispose of Daray and get her daughter to marry the king. (How this ties into her driving the kids away from their dad years later isn't explained.)

The witch's daughter, in disguise, enters the castle and gets into everyone's good graces. Then, while Daray is resting after giving birth to a child, the witch and her daughter drug her and toss her out of the castle to her death.

But NEVER MATCH WITS WITH A DRUGGED QUEEN WHEN DEATH IS ON THE LINE! Daray returns as a ghost. The king figures out what's going on and brings Daray back to life with Love's True Kiss. The witch and her daughter are arrested, which also breaks the spell on Daray's brother, who returns to being human.

Which is the first indication that his original transformation was because of the witch and not some random enchanted stream. The point of the transformation isn't addressed.

It sounds like I'm making fun of the story and it IS flawed in terms of story construction. Even a fairy tale should proceed from Point A to Point B in an internally logical manner. But, as I said, the art is charming. Heck, even when it's creepy (when Daray is tossed from the castle), it's still charming. And the story is a nice one despite the sloppy plot. Heck, maybe the story problems do result from shortening a longer tale. 

Decide for yourself. You can read this one HERE.