William Tell (A Swedish Folktale)

William Tell shooting the apple off son's head
                                  
Many years ago there lived a man beside the lake Lucerne  in Switzerland. His name was William Tell. William was a brave and strong man, he was a crossbow expert too.
 Gessler the mayor of the town near William's house was a cruel and  arrogant man.People were afraid of him and did not like him.Gessler hung his hat on a pole under the linden tree of town and ordered that all the townsfolk must bow before his hat. 
One day William and his young son, Walter visited the town and passed by the linden tree. There,William refused to bow before Gessler's hat. As a result ,William and his son got arrested by Gessler's men.
''Bow to my hat , otherwise I will kill you.'',angry Gessler shouted.
''I won't. Do whatever you want to .'',William said fearlessly.
''Alright, I give you a chance to save your life..... if you shoot an apple off the head of your son in a single attempt, I will set you free.'',said the cruel man. Gessler's men made little Walter stand under the tree and put an apple on his head.
William split the apple with an arrow from his crossbow. 
 Gessler noticed that William took out two arrows from his quiver,not just one.
''Why did you take out another arrow?'',He asked William.
''I would have used it to shoot you if my son had got killed.'' ,William replied.
 ''Guards,take him to my castle he will spend his whole life in the prison.'' Gessler said angrily. His men brought William to the boat.
When the boat was moving on it's way to the castle, there arose a big storm on lake Lucerne.
''Please, allow us to remove William's shackles, he can save us, he can steer the boat.'' The frightened soldiers begged Gessler. 
Gesslers allow them to do so.
While William was steering the boat, he saw that there was a rock in front of the boat,he soon jumped from the boat to that rock. Boat hit the rock and Gessler and his men fell into the water.
''What have you done !? I will not leave you and the people of town   alive.'' Crazy Gessler screamed in anger.
William Tell shot Gessler with one of his arrows. It was the end of  the life of cruel Gessler. 
                                      A Swedish folktale retold by-Aunt Mary 
   
Folktale

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6 comments:

  1. Felicity Grace TerryNovember 16, 2015 at 9:38 PM

    Loving this folkstory though I had no idea its origins were Swedish.

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    1. Aunt MaryNovember 18, 2015 at 8:36 AM

      Hello Tracy,
      William Tell was a very popular Swedish folk hero. I am glad that you liked the tale, thank you so much for reading :)

      Delete
  2. UnknownNovember 21, 2015 at 10:24 AM

    The simplicity of folk tales is endearing, I still enjoy reading them. Loved reading this Swedish folk tale. Thank you Aunt Mary....I like your pseudonym too. :)

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    1. Aunt MaryNovember 23, 2015 at 10:28 PM

      Hey Somali,

      Yes.Reading folktales indeed brings joy! :)
      You're welcome .Glad that you like it. :)

      Thanks for the visit. :)

      Delete
  3. Balqis DBJNovember 27, 2015 at 4:11 PM

    There are always lessons to learn from folk tales. I enjoyed reading this one. Thank you for sharing, Aunt Mary. :)

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    Replies
    1. Aunt MaryDecember 9, 2015 at 7:11 AM

      Yes, That's why I love reading folktales and sharing them. I am so glad that you liked the tale.Thank you so much Balqis :)

      Delete

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