"A Wondrous Oriental Tale of a Naked Saint"

“A Wondrous Oriental Tale of a Naked Saint” has both traditional and nontraditional characteristics of a fairy tale, but it is still a fairy tale. Because this story is a literary fairy tale, we can tell that it was written for a more literate and educated audience. It goes into greater detail than the typical fairy tale, but is much shorter when compared with “The Philosopher’s Stone”. In this sense, this tale is about the same length as a traditional fairy tale. The line, “At one time there was a naked saint who lived in a remote cave near a small river” resembles the typical beginning of a fairy tale that would read something like “once upon a time there was a king who lived in a castle...”. In terms of magic, there are no talking animals, but the magic spell placed on the man is broken in the end. There is also some sense of repetition (the cycle the saint is stuck in, anger to sadness), but it does not have to be blatantly stated or repeated word for word for the reader to understand. Finally, there is a physical transformation of sorts, but we are told that the saint is “like a tiger” and “like a snake” in his actions; therefore it’s not an obvious, true transformation.

However, this story also deviates from a few traditional characteristics of the fairy tale. First of all, the characters are not flat. The saint immediately starts developing from the beginning of the story, and he develops until the story’s end. Secondly, while the story does name an undefined place where the saint lives, the cave, the tale opens with a description of native people from the Orient. It gives the reader an actual idea of where the tale will take place and allows the reader to envision the setting. I think this story should be considered a fairy tale because while it diverges some, it still maintains many qualities of what we deem a traditional fairy tale.