Household Tales · Chapter
The Beam explained
An enchanter performs a trick with a cock carrying a heavy beam, but a wise girl sees through the illusion and exposes it as a straw.
What happens
An enchanter performs a trick with a cock carrying a heavy beam, but a wise girl sees through the illusion and exposes it as a straw. The enchanter vows revenge and later humiliates her on her wedding day by making her believe she is wading through water when she is actually standing in a field of blue flax, leading to her being ridiculed and chased away.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs when the sisters, driven by envy of the Queen’s beauty and their o…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Magic and the Supernatural
The enchanter uses magic to deceive the crowd, and the girl's clover grants her insight to see through the illusion.
- Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished
The enchanter is initially driven away in shame for his deception, but later the girl is humiliated despite her earlier virtue.
Characters to notice
- the enchanter
Performs illusions and seeks revenge after being exposed.
- the girl
A wise girl who sees through the enchanter's trick and later becomes a bride humiliated by him.
Key passages
“He had a cock brought in, which lifted a heavy beam and carried it as if it were as light as a feather.”
The enchanter made a rooster lift a beam that seemed heavy but was actually light as a feather.
Describes the initial illusion performed by the enchanter.
“Aha! Where are thine eyes that thou takest that for water?”
The enchanter mocked the bride for mistaking a field of blue flax for water.
The enchanter's taunt reveals the second illusion on the wedding day.
