Discussion: The Sacrifice and the Scholar

[Tio_Narratore]

I received the following comments on my story The Sacrifice and the Scholar, and found them thoughtful and interesting.

"If I rely on stories like this, I will never fully understand the desire to inflict/receive pain. The man cannot figure why he blames GIRL for his own arousal. Sure, he's mad at missed opportunities to study the cats. But it seems he is too much a voyeur/observer rather than a thinker, like I would imagine a scholar to be. It's so obvious, why does he have so much confusion: It's animal nature, and he owes his arousal to same base instincts.

I once collaborated on a novel with an author who blamed the woman for making him "mad with want" enough to punish her, but never explaining WHY in the story. It frustrated me as co writer, because I had more insight from my own personal experience, as to why men wanted to switch women, and vice versa. Maybe someday I can make the research public.

Would have loved more insight into her mind too, other than she loved his raw strength when he switched her, and loved that she could have a certain degree of influence over his urges. I can relate to that.

It's commonly reported that men resort more quickly to violence and animal instinct and women act out of psyche/heart. There is a point where the two can merge, and you did portray that at the end. I just wish I could see more fiction where the point of connection shines out like a thorn tied heart."

I have my own views on the story, of course, but I would like to hear, and discuss, the issues further with any interested readers.

Here's a link to the story, if you are interested.

http://www.literotica.com/s/the-sacrifice-and-the-scholar

 

[Artina Heartflash]

I received the following comments on my story The Sacrifice and the Scholar, and found them thoughtful and interesting.

"If I rely on stories like this, I will never fully understand the desire to inflict/receive pain. The man cannot figure why he blames GIRL for his own arousal. Sure, he's mad at missed opportunities to study the cats. But it seems he is too much a voyeur/observer rather than a thinker, like I would imagine a scholar to be. It's so obvious, why does he have so much confusion: It's animal nature, and he owes his arousal to same base instincts.

I once collaborated on a novel with an author who blamed the woman for making him "mad with want" enough to punish her, but never explaining WHY in the story. It frustrated me as co writer, because I had more insight from my own personal experience, as to why men wanted to switch women, and vice versa. Maybe someday I can make the research public.

Would have loved more insight into her mind too, other than she loved his raw strength when he switched her, and loved that she could have a certain degree of influence over his urges. I can relate to that.

It's commonly reported that men resort more quickly to violence and animal instinct and women act out of psyche/heart. There is a point where the two can merge, and you did portray that at the end. I just wish I could see more fiction where the point of connection shines out like a thorn tied heart."

I have my own views on the story, of course, but I would like to hear, and discuss, the issues further with any interested readers.

Here's a link to the story, if you are interested.

http://www.literotica.com/s/the-sacrifice-and-the-scholar

Would have been more accurate for her to have said, "The ending shines like a pearl heart in THE DRAGON'S CLAW.

hugs

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Would have been more accurate for her to have said, "The ending shines like a pearl heart in THE DRAGON'S CLAW.

hugs

The Dragon's Claw grips the pearl, but not as a cage. It is a setting for the jewel's power to be displayed and exercised.

For myself, to address some of the questions raised by Anonymous...

After finishing the tale, reading it, and thinking on it as a reader, I saw that
the girl accepted that she'd be a sacrifice to the dragon, and so she was, realizing that it was the dragon who came to get her. As for the scholar, he seemed to be the dragon to me as well. He held the "secret" to the lack of water, and, like a dragon, he stood as an anomaly, an academic in the wild rather than a university. And there he was as well, like a dragon, given to fits of uncontrollable rage at things he didn't understand. In the end, the Sacrifice seemed effcetive in taming the dragon.

But that's just what I saw in it; the reader's comments and questions have me looking at it again, and I'm looking forward to seeing some other readers' comments on it...

hugs to you, too, Heartflash

 

[Artina Heartflash]

Curious:

Any personal pref/reason/symbolism for his choice of switch? Or was it a random grab, and meant to accumulate its own symbolism at story's end?

I noticed it was first described as "hazel switch". Then at end it was referred to as "hazel wand". A bit of magical ideal?

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Another note on Dragon's first. There are many dragons in the world, and we sometimes wonder what they look like. It may have been answered in the "folk tale" by Jay Williams (illustrated by Mercer Mayer) entitled "Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like." It's a children's book that, like so many children's books, is very appropriate for adults. Here's a link to a review; the third paragraph fairly summarizes the tale:

http://brookeshelf.wordpress.com/20...helf-everyone-knows-what-a-dragon-looks-like/

Now to switches and wands...

Far from random, the hazel is one of the mystical trees of the ancient Celtic realm. The nuts from the nine hazel trees that lined the banks of the Shannon fed the Salmon of Knowledge and, through him, gave knowledge to the Druids. A "switch" is a thin, green and supple, branch or withe used as a whip. So, the scholar in the woods (Druid?) cuts a switch to vent his angry frustration. A "wand" is a different story, and magic may be part of it. My referrent, though is to Yeats' "The Song of Wandering Aengus," where the hazel wand catches a "glimmering girl."

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;

And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

And always remember, knights may slay dragons, but maidens subdue them. (Cf, The Epic of Gilgamesh where Enkidu, the Wild Man, is made "like a god" by a woman from the temple who teaches him "the womanly arts." Translations usually name her a 'harlot' or 'prostitute,' but sex was a holy calling in Sumeria. Take a look at "The Hymns of Innana" for more on this; this is the most comprehensive source on the goddess, and the best I've seen for accuracy.

http://www.amazon.com/Inanna-Queen-Heaven-Earth-Stories/dp/0060908548#_ ).

Thanks again for the discourse.

 

[Handley_Page]

I'm not usually a fan of BDSM (I cannot get my head round the concept of "desired pain", nor the desire to inflict it).
Your story is fascinating and puzzling. Not being used to such things, dare one hope it is allegorical in some way, perhaps ?
But beautifully written.

PS. Why is it that Dragons are always painted as bad ?
Why do they seem to represent the concept of evil in some way ?
I think I'll have to do something about this.