Post # 5: Summary of Chapters 16-20

Chapter 16: Of the Three Surgeons

In this chapter, David and the huntress return to her laboratory and David discovers that she experiments by putting the heads of children onto the bodies of the animals who most suit them. She then hunts them for sport and keeps their heads as trophies. The huntress reveals to David that she plans to put him on a fox's body because she believes him to be cunning. And she is right about that, for it is not too long after that David begins to plan his escape.

Chapter 17: Of the Centaurs and the Vanity of the Huntress

In this chapter, David tricks the huntress. He tells her about "centaurs", which are half human and half horse. He convinces her that they are the perfect hunters and that she should become one. The huntress falls for his trap and makes a deal with him that if he helps her become a centaur, she will allow him to go free unharmed. He agrees and she tells him how to fuse her torso to the horse's body with a special salve that she has. David begins the procedure, but instead of applying the salve, he runs away, leaving her on the table cut in two. She rolls off the table and comes after him, but all of the her misfit experiments (that she let go free because she had no use for them) come after her and rip her apart.

Chapter 18: Of Roland

In this chapter, David finds his way back to the main road and continues on his journey. After a while, he meets a man named Roland, who claims to be a soldier. They talk for a bit about where David is from and why he cut the bridge ropes and Roland asks David to assist him with the task he is trying to complete. In return, Roland will help David get to the king safely. David gladly accepts this offer and the two depart on Roland's horse, Scylla. They ride until they come to what David knows to be a war tank (Roland has never seen one since it comes from David's world). They investigate and find many men dead, skinned, and hanging from trees. An old man nearby tells them that it was a "beast" who did this. The old man then spits on the ground, and in this spit David can see back into his world, where his father, Rose, and Georgie dance in a field, happy without him. The old man taunts David about being all alone and eventually reveals that he is actually the crooked man in disguise. David gets angry and cuts the crooked man, who then disappears. After telling Roland about what just happened, the two depart. We also learn at the end of the chapter that the wolves have finally found a way across the chasm.

Chapter 19: Of Roland's Tale and the Wolf Scout

In this chapter, Roland tells David about the new religion that the king tried to force onto his followers and they discuss the difficulty in believing in a "higher power" when so many bad things happen (like the death of David's mother). David also gets to hear Roland's First Tale, which is based on the story of "The Goose-Girl". It is about a servant who steals his master's (the prince's) identity. He marries the princess and lives a good life while the true prince works with pigs all day. The king finds out and asks the traitor what he would do with such a man, and the servant-turned-prince does not realize that it is his situation the king is describing and says that he would put such a man in a barrel full of nails and have him dragged by horses until he dies. This becomes the servant's punishment for the crimes he has committed. After hearing the story, David tells Roland that he would not give as harsh of a punishment if he were the real prince. The next morning, Roland tells David what the task is that he wishes to fulfill. He is trying to find out what happened to his friend Raphael, who he believes tried to save a cursed woman from an enchantress who put her into an eternal sleep in a flying castle surrounded by thorns. David and Roland continue towards the castle, while a wolf is now following them. He is a scout sent by Leroi to kill David while the other wolves and Loups wait for more to join their army. The crooked man secretly kills this scout and saves David's life, but only because he wants David all to himself.

Chapter 20: Of the Village, and Roland's Second Tale

In this chapter, Roland and David reach a small community where they plan to stay overnight at a man named Fletcher's house. Fletcher tells the travellers about a beast that lives underground who killed one of their men while they were out. Roland tries to convince the people of the community to abandon their homes so that the beast can be trapped inside the community and killed. Fletcher also tells David and Roland of other travellers who passed through on their way to the Fortress of Thorns. The children in the house ask for a story, so we hear Roland's Second Tale (which is based on "Beauty and the Beast"). It is about a man named Alexander, who constantly proves himself to be the best and most courageous knight. One day he gets badly injured and is taken in by a woman who has her face covered. After taking care of him for weeks, the knight falls in love with this woman and asks her to show him her face. She reveals a tiger-like face, and Alexander's love is not strong enough for him to get over her appearance, so she eats him. After hearing this story, Fletcher and Roland discuss the plan to kill the beast more in-depth, and decide that the woman and children will take as much as they can carry and hide in nearby caves, while the men capture and burn the beast alive.

My Thoughts/Questions:

-huntress=evil (to answer my previous question)
-David is showing his ability to solve problems, growing as a person
-I think Roland and Raphael are more than "friends"
-are they going to help defeat the beast?
-what is Roland's quest?
-illusion and reality is a HUGE theme in this novel