The two stories placed for review are “The Adventures of Aladdin” by Brothers Grimm and “The Bride comes to Yellow Sky” by Stephen Crane.
Brothers Grimm were Jacob and Wilhelm . They were German scholars and writers. They jointly initiated a historical dictionary of German and compiled an anthology of German Fairy Tales. The present story is from that anthology.
Stephen Crane is adored as the first fiction-writer of America. “Maggie :A girl of the Streets” , “The Red Badge of Courage” are his widely acclaimed novels , while “The Open Boat” and “The Blue Hotel” are his famous short stories.In the story “The adventures of Aladdin” Brothers Grim emphasize the fact that the sacred union of two hearts, that of Aladdin and Halima can hardly be torn apart. Aladdin wins the magic oil-lamp which blesses with a prosperous and affluent life.
The genie which presents itself at the beck and call of Aladdin even helps him to impress the Sultan with his power and pelf and thus win his daughter Halima’s hands in marriage.But as Halima is kept in the dark about the old oil-lamp, she sells it out to an old magician in disguise of a merchant and loses all precious possessions in a jiffy. But, Aladdin gets the feel of the matter and putting the magic ring on his finger he begins to rub it and reaches the place where his palace has been whisked off and by dint of his wit , he kills the wizard , frees his Halima and all treasures get restored to him by grace of the genie. Brothers Grimm drive the message unbreakable union of two minds can work wonders.
Marriage binds two hearts with a never-to-be-severed bond and it adds strength to the mind of the couple during all rough times.In the next story “The Bride comes to Yellow Sky”, Stephen Crane narrates the tale of Jack Potter’s marriage with an aged lady at San Antonio and his arrival to Yellow Sky at a crucial moment when a drunk ,notorious hooligan, Scratchy Wilson waylays in front of his house with a gun, howling his name for a fight. But, when he learns that Jack Potter, the town marshal has married recently, he retreats.In this story, the narrator has an eye on the details .
He keeps on talking about the journey Jack undertakes with his newly-wedded wife from San Antonio to Yellow Sky, from an unfamiliar crowd to an “innocent and unsuspecting community”. Even the first-time experience of the bride while journeying by a parlor-car has been talked about at length. The inward suffering of qualms of conscience by Jack because of his hasty decision to marry this girl is not lost sight of too. Not even Scratchy Wilson’s arrogant, inebriated entry into the scene has gone poorly portrayed.
And lastly, mounting of the tension and its viable easing off is really laudable.The two short stories have peculiar charms of their own. There are immediate points of similarities and dissimilarities. Firstly, Brothers Grimm narrate a fairy tale, where magic, unreal actions have their own appeal.
While Stephen Crane’s story is planted into the real-life situations, that can always happen in the day-to-day world. Brothers Grimm create a situation in which Aladdin has to wage a witty fight against a wizard to free his wife Halima. In the other story, Stephen Crane places Jack Potter against Scratchy Wilson and shows the latter to beat a retreat when he learns that Jack Potter has just returned with his wife and he is not with a weapon to fight back. Thus, Wilson displays much human values than the wizard of Brothers Grimm’s story.
In Aladdin’s story marriage is consummated with much effort by Aladdin , whereas the news of marriage itself acts as a talisman for the safety of Jack Potter.Both the stories are delightful read, but I recommend the latter because of its proximity to real-life situations and the touch of humanity at the end of it.
