In the story “The Hundredth dove” by Jane Yolen you get to know a fowler named Hugh who would supply the king’s table with birds (Doves). The big birds he would use his bow to hunt with. But then for the smaller birds Hugh would use a net that is soft and so fine that no bird would get hurt. And Hugh’s big problem for this story is he needs to get one hundred birds for the Kings wedding feast.
Now for the beginning of the story the King calls Hugh to the king’s presence. The king said that he is getting married in one week. Then Hugh meets the Kings soon to be wife. When Hugh stared at her Hugh thought she was “as neat as a bird, slim and fair, with black eyes the most beautiful person he as ever seen”. Then Hugh took the tiny hand that was offered to him and did not dare to kiss the gold ring that glittered on her finger. Then that is when the king tells Hugh he wants one hundred birds for the wedding. But then Lady Columbia the bride gasped and held up her hand “Please do not serve them sire” but then the “King said” I have spoken. Do not fail me fowler.”
Hugh was not going to fail the King. So then Hugh went right back to his cottage deep in the forest where he lived and started searching the net for snags and snarls and weakened threads and removed them with great care. After a day and night he was done. Before dawn Hugh set out into the forest. He waited a whole day neither moving nor a sleep. At dusk doves came, settling over the sky like gray mist. And when they were down in a greedily feeding, Huge swung over with the net and got 21 doves in the net. Then he went back home and went to sleep.
The next morning Hugh again he threw his net at dusk and caught twenty fat gray dove and one single white one. The white dove slipped through his net as easily as air and escaped. Since that day Hugh has been hunting for 5 days and only caught nineteen doves. Hugh was one was only one dove left from getting one hundred doves. On the sixth day Hugh caught the white dove and it ends up being the queen which is the white dove and Hugh ends up killing the white dove. And the next day Hugh went back to the castle with 99 live doves and one dead one but in the end there was no wedding!
I believe that this story was very weird! In a way to me it sounded random. It’s all about the fowler getting doves for the king’s wedding. First what’s kind of weird that the author would write about something that is kind of not so boring. Then the second weirdest thing is that one of the Doves happened to be the queen. And then Hugh kills the queen (as a Dove) when she is offering gold, silver and so many other things and Hugh ends up killing her! It just seemed like a lot of it did not make since and it in a way sounded random.
In the end the fowler gave up hunting and lived on berries and fruit for the rest of his life. Every day he made his way to clear to throwing out grain for the birds. But though songbirds and sparrow ate his grain, and swallows came at his calling, he never saw another dove again.
