Week 13 Story: The Alligator

Inspired by Munachar and Manachar from Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

The Alligator

There once was a small town on the outskirts of a great, soggy swamp. The townspeople lived happy, simple lives in the forest. They harvested mushrooms, fished, and sometimes ventured out of the swamp to enjoy the sunshine in surrounding fields. Although the air was muggy and the swamp deep and dangerous, children enjoyed playing outside and their parents did not worry about them. This is because they had an understanding with the larger swamp animals; alligators in particular were not allowed within the bounds of the village. 

One spring, a tragic loss occurred. A young couple sent their two children to play in the swamp on a warm afternoon and at nightfall, only one child returned. They frantically asked her what had become of her sister, and the child, gasping through tears, replied that an alligator had eaten the other girl. 

The parents knew that they had to do something. They went immediately to the house of the mayor and explained what had happened. After a long moment of thought, the mayor finally lifted his head and said to the parents, 

"We will not let this happen again."

****************************

The mayor's first move was to make a decree. He announced early the next morning that all alligators were under suspicion, and any that entered the boundaries of the town would be killed on sight. He also announced the hiring of an alligator hunter, who was to identify the alligator who ate the child and hunt it down. 

The newly hired alligator hunter set out into the woods to find the alligator. However, it wasn't long before the townspeople realized that the alligator hunter was a scam artist, and had tricked the mayor out of a substantial amount of the town's funds. They furiously surrounded the mayor's house, demanding a better solution. 

The mayor thought once again and devised a new idea. His new plan was to hire someone who could catch the fraudulent alligator hunter: an alligator hunter catcher. 

Days passed and there was no news either from the alligator hunter or from the alligator hunter catcher. The mayor began to worry that something had happened to the alligator hunter catcher. The townspeople agreed, and as a group they decided to send out one more person. This job called for an expert in tracking town alligator hunter catchers: an alligator hunter catcher finder. 

The alligator hunter catcher finder departed from the town, and began the search for the previous hiree. 

Alligators by Florida Fish and Wildlife via Flickr

***************************

Several more days passed, and the townspeople were again growing frustrated. 

Suddenly, a great noise echoed from the swamp. Out of the woods bolted first the alligator, then right on its tail the fraudulent alligator hunter, who had accidentally found the alligator and chosen to hunt it down. Next came the alligator hunter catcher, waving legal papers in the face of the hunter, and lastly the alligator hunter catcher finder, with a first aid kit in hand. 

The four characters stumbled and fell on each other in one giant heap while the townspeople gathered around. Although they were furious with the alligator, the scam artist, and the other subsequent failures, they could not help but laugh. 

The mayor took back the payment he had given the alligator hunter and used it to hire security guards. From then on, the town lived in relative peace in the middle of the swamp. 

Author's note: This story is very loosely based on Munachar and Manachar (linked above), as well as on a play I wrote when I was about eight years old. The plot of Munachar and Manachar is nothing like this one, but it is a cumulative tale. This means that it features repetition, and every repetition adds an element to the sequence. I was feeling really uninspired by the plots of the Celtic fairy tales, but I very much enjoy this style of story. It reminds me of the Rattlin' Bog.