The Trajedy of A Princess: An Old-Fashioned Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived a princess. She was a beautiful and pure princess, obedient and smart. Her name was Tamar and she wore lovely gowns and lived in a grand and glorious kingdom. She had one brother, Absalom (who was very handsome) and many half-brothers and sisters. Her mother was a princess, the daughter of the King of Geshur.

Tamar's oldest half-brother, Amnon, was the crown-prince, the son that would become king. Amnon thought Tamar was beautiful. He thought he loved her. He wanted her so much that he would become sick in his stomach when he thought about her. He was very frustrated because he knew that he could not marry his sister. So, day after day he moped around and did not eat.

A wicked and crafty man, named Jon, saw how Amnon was acting. He asked him, "Why are you, the son of the king, looking so ill and acting so depressed? Tell me!"

Amnon said, "I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother and I cannot marry her, I cannot have her."

Jon suggested that Amnon trick Tamar so that he could be with her. Amnon thought this was a good idea, so he pretended to be sick. His father, the king, went to him when he heard Amnon was sick; Amnon was his favorite son, his first-born and heir to his throne and he loved him very much.

The king said, "Son, what is it you need?"

"Please, let Tamar come to me and cook for me and feed me. I want to see her and be with her." So the king sent Tamar to Amnon's house to cook for him and feed him.

When Tamar arrived she made cakes of bread; she kneeded them and baked them while Amnon watched. When the cakes were done, she brought Amnon the food, but he refused to eat.

"Send everyone away, I want to be alone, but you stay!"

After everyone left, Amnon said, "Now, bring the food to me here in my bedroom and feed it to me from your hand." Tamar brought him the food. Amnon grabbed her and said to her, "Come, lie with me, my sister, come into my bed."

Tamar was shocked and afraid, "Brother, don't do this thing, do not violate me, this is not done in our kingdom; do not do this disgraceful thing! If you do, what will happen to me? Where will I get rid of my disgrace? And what will happen to you? You will be called wicked and a fool! The people of our nation will laugh at you! Ask the king, he will allow you to marry me!"

But Amnon would not listen to her, he wanted her, he took her and raped her. Then, in his guilt, he hated her, he hated her more than he loved her. So, he said to her, "Get up and get out!"

"No!" Tamar said to him. "Sending me away is a greater wrong that what you have already done to me; marry me or pay my bride price, make this right, but do not send me away!"

But Amnon would not listen to her. He called to his servant and said, "Get this woman out of here and lock the door after she is gone."

The servant did as he was told. Tamar was wearing a lovely gown, one that only a virgin princess can wear. In her grief and despair, she put ashes on her head and tore her clothing as a sign of a great calamity and her great distress. She went from Amnon's house, with her hand on her head, weeping loudly.

Her brother, Absalom found her, and said, "Did Amnon hurt you, did he violate you? Be quiet now, my sister; he is your brother, he is family. Don't take this thing too hard. You can live in my house."

The King heard all that Amnon had done and he was very angry, but he did nothing. He left Tamar in her brother's care.

Absalom did not do or say anything either, but he hated Amnon for what he had done and he made plans to do evil to his half-brother.

Tamar lived in Absalom's house, a desolate woman, ever after.

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Hoping people see AND do something if a princess they know needs them,
k8t
k8t(at)faceofagirl(dot)com

(This fairy-tale is true and can be found in 2 Samuel, Chapter 13 of the Bible. Because the king did nothing, terrible consequences ensue for the whole family, not just Tamar.)
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