"The Fox and the Maiden's Cock"
"The Fox and the Maiden's Cock" is a well-told fable that tells the story of the god Qingu's japes with two fertility gods, Elenea and Nyphros. There are many iterations and versions, some which depict Qingu as a goodhearted jester messing with a prideful Fey, and some which show him as a lustful glutton that cannot help but be infatuated with the Sweet Paramour. In both versions, the Fox—Qingu—ends up carrying the Rooster—Nyphros—off as Elenea—sometimes in dove form and sometimes as a winged Celestial—chases after them. The story has a strong trickster as hero element, as well as an etiological explanation for the cycle of the seasons.
Summary
This is the tale of the "Fox and the Rooster" as told in Luka Madauros's "Book of Little Stories," a compilation of myths, legends, and folktales commonly told in the province of Placidia during the Palladian Empire:
One day long ago, Qingu the Fox was wandering around the forest, looking for something to eat. It was winter, and there was scarcely a creature to be found outside of their den. Qingu could have looked for them but he was feeling slothful. He came upon a group of mortals huddled together for warmth. They looked even colder than he did and their faces were nearly blue from frost.
"Do you have anything to eat?" asked Qingu. "I am so very hungry."
Some of the mortals tried to shoo Qingu away, fearing that he was feral. But the elder of the group stopped them. He went over to Qingu and said, "I am sorry, Fox, but we have nothing to eat ourselves. The game is thin and we have nothing but last season's furs to warm ourselves. Our youngest has even passed away from the frost. Here, take her coat. It will warm you more than it will warm her corpse."
Qingu took the small coat. It was made of white rabbit skin and very soft. He was sad and still so very hungry, but the mortals had no food so he went away wearing the small coat. This is why foxes turn white in the winter and red in the summer.
Qingu kept wandering through the snow when he came upon the sound of laughter. Qingu continued to walk until he found himself in the beautiful Feywild. Through the trees, Qingu spotted Elenea the Swan and Nyphros the Rooster playing in the magically warmed snow. Elenea had snuck back to see from her husband in the warmth and wilds of the Feywild but Winter remained in the Material Plane, for all the Heavenly Counciland the Seelie Court did not know that she had returned to them.
Qingu watched them sing and dance and his mouth began to water. Nyphros was plump from his mother's palace. An idea jumped from Qingu's head. He walked out of his hiding place and told Elenea that her mother, Porcia, had a present for her back up in the Celestial Mountains. Elenea frowned but then flew off to see what her mother had for her.
With Elenea gone, Nyphros grew wary. "Back beast! I am no fool! I know you'd like nothing more than to feast on proud fowl."
But Qingu smiled sadly and said "I would never dream of it. For you truly are the Heir of the Fey! I'd heard your father, the Scarlet Prince, sing long ago and you are nearly as good as him!"
The Rooster blushed but then he snarled and puffed out his chest. "Nearly as good? My dear Fox your ears have withered in this drab place. I am my father's equal—nay, I am even greater than he! He never had the crooning quite right and his pitch was ever so a-kilter! My cock crow is louder and sweeter than any in all the Realms! I pray you remember that!"
"Perhaps I was mistaken," said the sly Fox. "But you have been away from the Fey for several weeks and your powers must be drained. I would not wish to force you to don the rooster's cowl, for I know you would be unable to take it off for quite a while."
"See here!" squawked the Rooster. "I have more power in a single one of my glorious feathers than you have in your whole pelt! I shall show you just what a cock I can be!"
Nyphros donned his animal form and transformed into a large rooster. He was indeed a handsome cock, with green and gold and red feathers, a crimson beard, and flashing amber eyes. He closed his eyes and began to crow, a long and dramatic poem. He sang of how many fey he had bedded before he spied his wife and how many wept when they saw him married away. He sang that winter came, not because of his wife the Spring Maiden, but because of all those who wailed in the Feywild when he was not there.
All the while, Qingu the Fox crept closer and closer to Nyphros the Rooster until he was upon him. Then a shout was heard from the edge of their clearing. "RUN NYPHROS! MY BROTHER IS UPON YOU!" said Elenea, the Swan. The Rooster opened his eyes to see the gleaming teeth of the Fox. Qingu grabbed Nyphros and dashed into the forest, laughing all the way as the Rooster in his arms cawed and wailed, for he could not change back to his divine form so drained.
Elenea the Swan gave chase and the two dashed between the trees of the forest. Elenea cried out, "Stop brother! Ask of me anything, anything at all and I shall give it to you! My price is but my fowl husband, my foolish bird! Please, dear brother hear my plea!"
When QIngu heard this, he was reminded of the mortals in the forest, so cold and alone. He remembered the little child who's white coat he now wore. He stopped and turned to his sister Elenea. "I will give you this boastful bird back to you for only one price: teach the mortals to grow things as you grow them, O Maiden of Spring."
Elenea scoffed, for her powers were the same as her mother's and they had held them in secret with great jealousy. But she then looked to her trembling husband and sighed and said, "Very well. I will teach them the Green." Qingu released the Rooster. For a moment, the snow cleared and the sun returned, happy that in spite of winter's harshness, some joy had been brought about this day.
Today, winter still comes each year, hard and cruel. But mortals now know how to harness the Green so when the cold winds blow, the wise have something stored away to share with one another.
Historical Basis
The agreed upon cosmology of the Heavenly Council does not perfectly match with the famous myth of Nyphros in "The Fox and the Maiden's Cock," wherein Nyphros and Elenea are tricked by Qingu the god of fortune in the middle of winter. Some claim that on occasion, Elenea snuck back to the Feywild without informing Winter of her actions, and that is how the myth squares with the cosmology reported within the Heavenly Codex. However, it is equally likely that the truth has been muddled over the course of a millennia of retellings and now the myth preserves some half-truths.
Variations & Mutation
The most widely-read retelling of "the Fox and the Maiden's Cock" comes from Murex the Faun's infamous philosophy and folklore compendium, the Travelogue.
As you all know, Elenea the Ever-Devoted, lives in the Feywild three-out of the four seasons of the year. One winter, when she and her husband, Nyphros were with her family in the Celestial Mountains, the young Qingu, who had never seen the Sweet Paramour before, spied the Fey Prince bathing and making love to several minor gods and goddesses in the Mountain pools. Qingu was shocked at Nyphros’s infidelity, but was also overcome with lust and desire for the handsome Fey.
Qingu licked his chops greedily and said, “the Sweet Paramour is like a proud stallion among a herd of unworthy mares. I crave his warm embrace, I wish to ride him and know the fortune of the Ever-Devoted. I am a young god, this is true, no more than a year from my father’s womb, yet I have the lust of a bull in heat. How shall I seduce this Fair vision”
When Nyphros emerged from the pool and bid farewell to his companions, the young Qingu revealed himself to him. “I have seen you and your sinful coupling with those whom are not your wife, Sweet Paramour of the Seelie Court. Yet I will not tell my father or mother or sister if you show me the affection of a true lover.
The Sweet Paramour laughed and agreed. Each night, Uriah, the Sun Radiant returned to the Celestial Mountains to feast with the pantheon of gods, and upon the Sun’s returning to his brilliant place among the heavens, handsome Nyphros and young Qingu would find a place far away from the other gods and make love until Uriah’s return. Their tryst continued for nine days and nine nights. On the tenth night, fair Elenea looked for her husband, for she desired his embrace.
“Wherever is my husband, my sweet love, for whom I became a woman for? Wherever is the one who warms my bed at night and protects my spirit from the Scarlet Unseelie and their ilk? Wherever is he who listens to my troubles and wipes my tears when I see the mortal suffer? Wherever is he who sings me songs of honey, who writes me poems of beauty, who dances before me just as a cock struts for his hen? Wherever is my Nyphros?” cried out Elenea.
The Sweet Paramour heard his wife’s cries despite the ecstasy of his embrace with the Fortune’s Dispatch. For though he had come to know many in the carnal arts, he did love Elenea and was moved by her cries. Guilt and shame washed over Nyphros and he pulled away from Qingu.
“Why have you pulled away, paramour?” asked Qingu.
“My wife calls for me,” said Nyphros.
“Stay, you have your wife three seasons out of four. It is only just that I have you for one,” said Qingu.
“Your touch is kind and good but I must away. My wife calls for me,” said Nyphros.
“Your wife is beautiful, more beautiful than any goddess in all Celestia. But I am young and will not be forever,” said Qingu.
“Your skin is smooth, your muscles grand, your form elegant and perfect, but I must away. My wife calls for me,” said Nyphros.
“Your wife is devoted and honorable, she keeps you on the path to divinity, ‘tis true. But I am passion, I am ecstasy, and my mind will not always be so enrapturing,” said Qingu.
“You have the wisdom of a great lover and the touch of a blessed courtesan, but I must away. My wife calls for me,” said Nyphros.
At this, Qingu grew angry. As Nyphros’s form became that of a rooster and the Sweet Paramour flapped off to the sound of his wife, Qingu transformed into a fox and grabbed the Rooster Nyphros. The Rooster squawked and Elenea heard her husband. The Ever-Devoted flew forth. The Fox ran with the Rooster down the mountain slopes towards the mortal plane with Elenea close behind. But Qingu was clever, and knew the mountains well. Elenea was loosing speed to the Fox and the Rooster. The Rooster then had an idea. The Cock said to the Fox, “I will pledge myself to you, oh clever fox that you might be able to devour me whenever you wish, if only you open your jaws and tell me how much you love me.” Young Qingu could not control his thoughts and opened his mouth, prepared to vow eternal love for Nyphros. But then the Sweet Paramour jumped from the Fox’s fangs and fluttered up to his wife. The two returned to the Feywild and Qingu grew up to become a wiser god, having learned the perils of temptation.
Cultural Reception
Many cultures believe "the Fox and the Maiden's Cock" to be the true origin of spring or at least an articulation for the cycle of the season. However, the versions told vary wildly, and so too do the interpretations of the actors within them. Those who are more devoted to the Heavenly Council or to Qingu prefer the Madauros version while those who consider themselves Fey animists or Murexites argue that the Travelogue gives a more accurate account of what transpired between the three deities. However, such disagreement has caused more than simply angered soapboxes. The "heresy" of the Murex version has been used as justification in the Emerald Straits for the oppression of Murexites, the burning of copies of the Travelogue, and even religious violence between the two sects.
In Literature
The two most complete accounts of the myth's main versions come from Luka Madauros's Book of Little Stories, a compilation of myths, legends, and folktales commonly told in the province of Placidia during the Palladian Empire; and Murex the Faun's infamous philosophy and folklore compendium, the Travelogue.
In Art
The Fountain of Qingu located in the Piazza Iskendra of Whitehill is a famous example of Palladian sculpture that captures the myth. A white marble fountain covered in moss and discolored from time. In the center of the fountain’s pool stands a laughing androgynous humanoid with a fox’s head and carrying a large rooster as a beautiful woman with elegant wings chases after him. Marble foxes, roosters, and doves run about the statuary.
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