Woman's Journey: The Legend of the Handless Maiden

Once upon a time there was a miller. For years, he had been patiently serving his family and community by grinding out flour from grain brought to him by his neighbors and in return, earned an honest living. His horse pulled the great stone wheel around and around and slowly the corn was ground into soft, white flour. For many years, he lived in peace and harmony with his wife and innocent young daughter.

One day the Devil appeared at their door and told the miller, "For a fee, I will show you how to grind your grain with much less effort and much faster." The miller, intrigued, made a bargain with the devil, thinking, "anything that takes less work and gives greater out-put would make our lives much easier."

"What is your fee?", the miller asked.

"That which stands behind the mill," replied the Devil.

Recalling that the only thing which stood behind the mill was an old tree, the miller quickly agreed.

The Devil then showed the miller how to build a water wheel, create gears, and build the supporting infrastructure so that the flowing river did the work of turning the heavy grinding wheel. The delighted miller found that he could easily grind much more flour than before and the wealth of his family increased. Life was so much easier and all his family members had more leisure time to enjoy their lives. Neighbors all admired the creativity and resourcefulness of the miller for his new invention, and he recognized how he had become so much more important in the community.

One day soon after, the Devil appeared again at the miller's door and demanded payment of his fee. Together, the two walked through the mill, passing through the back door to the mill. There, the miller encountered his young daughter standing beside the old tree. The Devil, to the miller's horror, claimed the daughter as his fee. The miller was disconsolate, but was unwilling to give up the expanded productivity of his mill or his important new status in the community, so he reluctantly gave his daughter to the Devil. The Devil chopped off her hands and carried them away. His daughter stood and said nothing.

For some time, the handless maiden was content with her situation and did not complain. After all, all her needs were met and everything was done for her. There was enough money to have servants in the household, and she did not have to do anything that would require hands. Gradually however, she grew unhappy, depressed and withdrawn. Her mechanically served life became less and less pleasant, until finally, she began to weep and could not stop. Her parents could not see what she had to complain about; they now had their work and community projects and felt life was definitely better.

Finally, one night while her parents and all the servants were sleeping, she slipped out of the house and fled into the forest. Deep in the forest, scratched by the briars and bruised by her flight, she began to learn how to survive on her own. Gradually, she learned how to care for herself and at last found peace and solitude in the quiet naturalness of the Woods.

One day, during her daily walk through the Woods, she encountered a swamp. Struggling through the mud and pools of still water, she stumbled upon a beautiful landscaped garden. Hungry and weary from her struggle through the wasteland, she sees within the garden a pear tree. Without hands, she was only just able to reach one pear with her teeth and satisfy her hunger. Feeling she should not take more than she needs, she ate only one. Tired by her journey however, she stayed in the garden for several days, eating one pear a day to survive.

Unknown to her, her beautiful garden was the king's garden. One day, the king's gardener noticed that someone had been eating pears from the tree and tells the king. Both men then waited in hiding nearby to see who was taking his pears. The two saw the pathetic sight of the handless maiden struggling to eat her single pear of the day, and the king fell head over heals in love with her.

The king took the handless maiden home with him and made her his Queen. She implored him that she could not possibly be his Queen without her hands, but he assured her that he will take care of her and she will not need her hands.

She found nevertheless that it was very difficult to be Queen without her hands. She had to at least be graceful and beautiful, and greet and entertain guests at royal occasions. So the king called his magicians and commanded them to create a pair of silver hands for his queen. With her new silver hands, she became the talk of the court, and the fame of her grace and beauty spread throughout the land. But within the heart of the Queen, something was deeply wrong; she found that she felt isolated somehow, alone, purposeless, useless. She felt that other people lived, but she did not; she only watched from a distance.

In time, the Queen bore the King a son. Without real hands of course, the Queen could not care for the infant, but with all the servants, there was really no need for her to work. As she watched the servants care for her child, the Queen began to weep and could not stop her tears. She wanted to care for her own baby, but could not. So silently, in the dark of night, she wrapped her arms about her baby and slipped back into the forest.

During her flight through the forest, the Queen found that she must ford a rapidly flowing stream. In crossing, she faltered, and her baby slipped from her metal hands into the water. Panicking, she cried to her servants to save her child, forgetting for an instant that she was alone. But realizing that there was now no one else but herself to save her baby, she plunged her useless silver hands into the stream to grasp at the child. Somehow she found the strength to hold the child, and when she drew the child from the water, she saw that a miracle had occurred. Her useless silver hands had been transformed into hands of flesh and blood! Her heart broke, and she held the baby and cried throughout the night, washing the lost years of mechanical living away with her tears.

The Queen never returned to live at the King's castle, but remained in the Forest, living her life close to the Earth. The King, still loving her, built for her a lovely cottage, respecting her preference to do for herself and her need to be true to the simple, natural things of life. Here, close to nature, she found her own true self and the freedom to live as she pleased. And so, he lived the life he needed to be happy, and she did as well, each being true to their own natures and needs.