Pipee, the Heroic Agaran Dog (For Andrea) by Chipka
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Description
In response to Andrea’s invitation to digifiddle an image she’d originally posted, I decided to take up the offer, go with her original children’s-book illustration theme…and well….
…I thought of Pipee: the much-beloved dog at home in Agaran Children’s Literature.
I remember (fondly) the first Pipee adventure I’d ever read. It was giddy and oozed with creativity. For those unfamiliar with Pipee, he’s an accordion-playing dog who lives in a small town populated by other animals. (In modern stories, Pipee and his friends actually live in Pekkur.)
Anyway, Pipee, the heroic dog, lives in a small and colorful cottage in an unnamed village, somewhere in Agara. He enjoys a close friendship with a spectacle-wearing salamander who invents all sorts of bizarre and exquisitely-elaborate and whimsical contraptions, and a woodlouse who also happens to be an acrobat in the circus—sometimes, he’s a trapeze artist, at other times, he works as a cannon ball, fired through flaming hoops…the circus in question is run by a curmudgeonly vole who figures in later stories.
In Pipee’s first story, there’s a dragon with a toothache. No one knows he has a toothache, however, as being a dragon, he’s not in the habit of telling people things they need to know. The pain in his mouth makes him cranky and he flies around the countryside, breathing fire on things. Everyone is quite upset, as you might imagine; and, it falls to Pipee, Salamander, and Woodlouse to come up with a plan. Salamander, who is quite smart, decides to feed honey cakes to the dragon, because as every salamander knows, honey cakes put dragons to sleep.
Pipee and Woodlouse go through town and convince all of the shoestring weavers to pool their talents and build a very long string—it turns out to be rather colorful, too, since the shoestring weavers in question can’t agree on a single color! They complete their task. Pipee and Woodlouse take the kilometers-long string to Salamander.
Lucky for everyone, Salamander, having fed honey cakes to the rampaging dragon, also knows how to pull teeth. He explains this to Woodlouse, because Woodlouse is small enough to sneak up to sleeping dragons and loop colorful strings around their hurting teeth. Woodlouse does this (after a brief side adventure involving cats who happen to also be river pirates, off to steal a tower that they plan to take to Hungary so that Atilla the Other Hun can complete his extensive collection of towers and pay them handsomely with golden milk saucers.) Pipee and Salamander (at the appointed time, and with the use of a rather complicated winch and pulley system, devised by Salamander) pull on the string, and—pop!—the dragon’s sore tooth is yanked free. Because the dragon had his fill of honey cakes, he remains out cold until much later. When he wakes up, he’s prepared for his daily fire-breathing rampage, only no longer has a reason for it since his mouth is no longer sore.
After a bit, the dragon learns that Pipee, Salamander, and Woodlouse are responsible for removing his bothersome tooth, and in children’s fairy-tale logic, is eternally grateful. And, in accordance to fable-based children’s tales (especially from Agara) the dragon left for the winter (as is common for dragons) but returned every spring to breathe fire on winter’s last remaining clouds, melting them so that farmers had water for their crops.
Directly after the adventure, Pipee went home and had a nice nap.
As you can guess, this is one of my favorite Agaran children’s stories…and well…more of them really should be translated into English. They’re far richer and more engaging than my second-hand telling here.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little trip into Agaran children’s lore, and I hope you’re all having a great week.
Andrea's original image can be seen HERE.
Comments (14)
KatesFriend
What a wonderful story. It would be great to see a full translation if this is any indication of its breadth and charm. Yes, I'd like to know more about Salamander and his day saving inventions. No doubt he is an amphibian of great learning. I agree that Dragons are a terribly misunderstood species. People fear them to often and for the wrong reasons. They can be quite friendly most of the time. But I had no idea that honey cakes put dragons to sleep! Perhaps it is some kind of natural fermentation process in the dragon's digestive system that produces mead directly into the blood stream. You see how your writing gets me pulled into these worlds so quickly. I look forward to more of this culture.
beachzz
And they all lived happily ever after!! Omg, Chip, --Attila the OTHER HUN??? LMAO!! This is so funny, so great, I just love it!!!
myrrhluz
I have read of little people that borrow things, church mice and a long suffering church cat, a witch in apprenticeship, who gets help from Wee Free Men, and many more enchanting children's tales, but I had never read one from Agara before! How wonderful to have such a gaping hole filled! I hope you relate more of these tales! What wonderful characters! I like Salamander! Of course, Attila the other Hun collects Towers! What else! He's probably trying to compensate for not having the fame of that other guy. I love the shoestring weavers not being able to agree. What wonderful arguments over the merits of blue over red, while Pipee and Woodloose impatiently tap there feet. (That's a lot of feet!) I could go on and on! This was such a joy to read! Excellent postwork on Andrea's great image too!
kgb224
Outstanding work and story my friend.
durleybeachbum
WHAT A DELIGHT! Your brain must be a seething broth of words and ideas each bubbling to the surface and then rolling back under to make way for yet another germ to pop to the top! I shall print this off and experience the joy of reading it again and again. It has tinges of Tolkein without the tedium(Germaine Greer once famously called The Lord of the Rings 'the ramblings of a senile old man, and I was really relieved that it wasn't just me who didn't like it!). It has the comfy narrative style of 'The Wind in the Willows' (which I still find myself half believing), but most of all it is essential Chip! Your gift of describing so lucidly truly new creatures and surreal situations and making them completely believable is extraordinary. This tale fits perfectly into the Northern European Folk tale genre, but the extra 'je ne sais quoi' that your fertile grey cells bring to it lifts it to a different and delicious place. THANKYOU! I love childrens' literature, when can I buy the whole book?
SIGMAWORLD
Well done.
helanker
OH, that was indeed a super lovely story, Chip. I really enjoyed it. You maneged to make a beautiful scene of Andreas Photo too. Even with words beneth.
MrsRatbag
OMG, Chip, you should sell that story ! What a wonderful bit of fancy, I'd certainly pay to read it!
flavia49
fabulous work!! love the image and the tale!
auntietk
Oh, my friend, you have outdone yourself! You have me grinning from ear to ear, laughing out loud, and reading short excerpts to Bill, who (I'm sure) would rather I just hush up and let him read it for himself! LOL! This is absolutely splendid. Your postwork of Andrea's image is well done, but your addition of Agaran catalpa leaves and a bit of Agaran text moves it into a whole 'nother realm! I loved my first introduction to Agaran children's literature. It has a yummy richness, great depth, and loads of charm!
bmac62
Just read all of the above...and feasted my eyes on your postworked version of Andrea's original. Great stuff. I have read a lot of childrens literature. My father started me off as a small boy and I carried on the tradition with my two daughters when they were little. You've got the knack...intriguing, not too scarry, but a little just to keep a youngster riveted...and filled with good humor and vivid imagination. You sure you want to write Sci-Fi for adults? Maybe you're showing us another path to writer's success. J.K. Rowling has done remarkably well with the genre... Loved the entire piece.
sandra46
stellar work, Chip! i'm awed!
jocko500
wonderful work
moochagoo
Wonderful story and lovely picture !