LORETTA ELLEN BRADY

Retold by The Legendary Connection

TLC#00201

Babette and Antone were two children who lived with their father, a poor woodcutter, and their mother on a steep mountain, overlooking a vast forest. Their mother made fine lace that Antone sold at the market in town, but no matter how hard they worked, they only had enough to eat simple meals like bread and broth. Despite their poverty, Babette and Antone were happy kids. But their parents worried about ten-year-old Antone because they could not afford to send him to school. Their mother taught him reading and math at home, but they knew it was Antone’s dream to attend school.

Antone longed to be a great scholar so he could one day help his family. “Mother,” he’d say, “I’ll be a great scholar, and you won’t have to worry anymore. Father will have oxen, you’ll have a satin dress, and Babette will have real dolls instead of turnip ones.”

But Babette, who was five years old, loved her turnip dolls because Antone carefully made them for her. Antone painted them with faces and gave them corn-silk hair and little cabbage leaf dresses. She took them with her wherever she went and sang them lullabies as she rocked them to sleep.

To help his family earn money, Antone tended a little vegetable patch in which he grew pumpkins. He would harvest the pumpkins and carve jack-o-lanterns to sell in the town near Halloween. One Halloween night, while Antone was carving jack-o'-lanterns, Babette, who had never seen a Halloween celebration in town, listened wide-eyed as Antone described how kids dressed up as goblins and played pranks in the village. “Oh, Halloween must be just like Christmas!” Babette exclaimed.

“It’s fun, Babette, but not as big as Christmas,” replied Antone. He finished carving the last jack-o’-lantern and piled it into his cart.

“Oh, let’s go to the village and join the fun!” begged Babette. But Antone shook his head, explaining, “Mother doesn’t have time to make us costumes, and it’s too dark for us to find our way home through the forest.”

Babette cried, and though it made him sad, Antone knew they couldn’t go. But then he had an idea. “How about I make us a Halloween party right here at home?”

Babette quickly agreed, and after dinner, instead of going to bed, they put on their white nightgowns over their clothes as “ghost costumes” and crept outside. Antone went to light the candle in their jack-o’-lantern, but it was gone! They turned to see the jack-o’-lantern starting to roll down the hill on its own, calling, “Catch me if you can!”

Antone and Babette chased after it as it rolled through the vegetable patch, and suddenly, the carrots, turnips, and cabbages sprang up and followed the jack-o’-lantern down the hill, singing, “It’s Halloween! Let’s all dance!”

Antone and Babette chased the runaway vegetables into the forest, where they met witches and black cats. One witch, who was actually quite friendly, let Babette ride on her broomstick. The jack-o’-lantern then led all the vegetables to an underground forest, where glowworms lit up a dance floor. Antone and Babette joined in, playing games and dancing with the pumpkins, turnips, and other vegetables.

During their celebration, Antone became worried about his vegetable patch. “If you are all here and running away, then I will never earn enough money to go to school,” Antone cried. “We will take care of it, just trust us and play with us,” replied the jack-o-lantern. And so Antone and Babette danced, laughed, and played all night long.

After a night of laughter and dancing, a rooster crowed, signaling morning. One of the witches offered to take Antone and Babette home on her broomstick. As they flew over the forest, the witch handed each of them a small bag. “Take these and keep them safe,” she said. When they arrived back home, the witch disappeared, leaving behind a big black cat to guard them.

When Antone’s mother woke them in the morning, they showed her the bags. Inside, there were gold coins! No matter how many coins they took out of the bags, the bags never emptied of gold coins. From then on, their family had everything they needed. Antone went to school, and Babette had beautiful dresses, though she still loved her turnip dolls best.

Each Halloween, the witch would return with her broomstick, and Antone and Babette would join her for another magical night with the talking vegetables. And the black cat stayed with them always, bringing good luck and making sure they were happy, year after year.

Original Source: “The Green Forest Fairy Book.” Gutenberg.org, 2024, www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/35458/pg35458-images.html#Page_248. Accessed 14 Oct. 2024.