How Alana Escaped the Ogre's Den

(as performed by Aidos Brock of Clinove)

Once upon a time, there was a pretty young girl--we will call her Alana--who was very proud, and she never failed to find some reason or another for sending away every young man who came to court her. One was too fat, another was too thin, this one had red hair, that one had big feet.

To put it simply, she refused all her suitors.

Finally, her mother picked a Punkin Berry and had it put on the top of a very tall pole. "Do you see that Punkin Berry?" she asked. "The one who climbs up and gets it will be your husband."

Alana had no objection to this; but her reasoning was that she did not think any young man could climb so slender and lofty a pole. They sent notices far and wide and appointed a day for any climbers to show their agility.

When the day came, a crowd of young men presented themselves, and the last to arrive was handsomer and more beautifully dressed than any of the others. Nobody knew that he was an ogre in disguise, and Alana admired his appearance so much that she said to her mother "I hope he will get the Punkin."

One by one the young men tried to climb the pole, and one by one they failed to climb high enough to grab the Punkin Berry, and had to come down without it. However, when the ogre's turn came, he easily climbed to the top of the pole and brought the Punkin Berry down with him. Then he said to Alana, "Come now, let us go to my house."

So Alana put on her best dress, got into the ogre's carriage, and went away with him. The way there was uneventful, and before long, they came to the cave where the ogre lived, and he said to his wife, "I will be away until evening. Stay with my housekeeper until I return."

Alana went inside, and the housekeeper--whose name was Sophia--said, "Oh, you have taken a bad husband. You have married an ogre."

Alana was terrified when she heard what he really was, and she said to the wise woman "Can you tell me how I can escape this place?"

"Listen closely," Sophia replied "Go and hide in the Combusken house, and spend the night there. It is time to give the Combuskens their evening meal. You will find a sack of Cornn Berries just inside the door. Let them have all of the Cornn Berries they can eat, especially the lead male. It is the duty of the lead male to awaken his master in the morning, and if he has a full stomach, he will oversleep and give you a better chance to get away. Start as soon as you can see, and take these four jewels with you. If you find the ogre chasing you, sing to one of the jewels to summon the spirit inside."

Alana did everything that Sophia told her to do, and in the earliest gray of the morning she left the Combusken house, carrying the four jewels Sophia had given her inside her handkerchief.

The lead male Combusken had eaten so much that he overslept, giving Alana a huge head start, but when he woke up, he began to cry, squawk, and generally make a racket. The ogre woke with a jump from all the noise, and started at a tremendous pace after his wife. She saw him coming and invoked her first jewel--Imultaos, ame no hao bakezo...

This summoned a Hao, who conjured a thick forest, and the ogre could neither get through it nor over it, and in the time it took to go get an axe and cut through the forest, Alana was far ahead of him.

Before long, Alana saw him coming again, and invoked the second jewel, a diamond--Furiya, shuru shamato...

This song of power summoned a Talvi, who created an icy wall so high the ogre could not climb over it, and by the time he found a hammer strong enough to break the wall down, Alana was ahead of him.

But before long, Alana heard him coming and invoked her third jewel, a ruby--Jao wiisha nes chiel com yutuul...

This summoned a Palon, who created a long line of fire behind her, and in the time it took the ogre to find enough water to put out the fire, Alana had ran still farther ahead.

As the rooftops of the town came into view, Alana saw the ogre coming again. She invoked her last jewel, a sapphire--Rou iitsa ron selga vichii...

This summoned a Vesi, who created a river just wide enough for her to safely cross. When the ogre tried to follow her, he fell in the water and sank like a rock.

Alana made it home safely, and told the townsfolk of her harrowing adventure. Word of her bravery spread to the royal palace, and the prince of the land offered his hand in marriage to Alana. Alana accepted, and they were married not long after. But she kept the four jewels of power with her, just in case she needed their power again.