Storytelling Week 2: The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe

The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe

Once upon a time, a beautiful baby boy was born into a wretched family. The mother and father did not have the time or means to support a baby so they decided to get rid of the child. The two took their child deep into the woods were they left it to starve and die.

A few hours passed and the child, Ailbe, fussed and fussed as he grew hungry, cold, and lonely. A mother wolf entered the area looking for food to take back to her young children, when she spotted the child. The mother, though hungry, liked the sight of the child and his bright blue eyes that seemed to match hers. Her motherly instincts overcame her and she slowly picked up the child in her mouth, and hurried home to her cave.

At the cave she introduced the child to her baby wolves and explained how he would now be their new brother. They were to help him adjust, and treat him with as much love as she had for the child. Ailbe then grew up in the cave, learned to walk on all four legs, and nourish himself with food he hunted with the others. He was a natural at being a wolf.

Two years later, when they were out hunting in the woods one day, they heard the sound of foreign footprints. Startled, they started to scurry. And then the sight of a man on a hoarse appeared. The man saw Ailbe and was disturbed by the fact there was a naked two year old rummaging around the forest. He got down and scooped up the frightened child and started to gallop away.

When the child realized what was going on he fought, bit, and clawed to try and get away. He was very frightened and began to howl for help. When the mother and her wolf children realized what was going on they ran as fast as they could to keep up with the horse, but they fell too far behind. They howled back to him in sadness.

Turns out that the man who scooped up Ailbe was a prince and from that day forward, Ailbe was taught to act like a human and had a new lovely princess for a mother. Although, he never forgot his wolf-mother and missed her dearly.

Ailbe grew up to be a Bishop and was well respected in the community. One day, his father and a group of people went hunting. Ailbe didn't believe in hunting because of his past and for that reason he always stayed behind, and on this particular day, it was good that he did. Ailbe stayed in the town where very soon he heard commotion in the streets. He went out and saw a wolf coming near. The two locked eyes and their hearts filled with love as the two recognized each other. It was the mother wolf. She scurried towards him where he sheltered her. He then told everyone that the hunt was over and they were forbidden to ever hurt the wolf and her family.

The two embraced and didn’t want to let go of each other. After that, the two caught up and Ailbe told her all about being a human and how much he had missed his wolf days. After that they made a point to have dinner as a family every night with the other wolves at the palace. They enjoyed cake and other luxuries together. After dinner, they even played a game of tag and Ailbe learned to walk on four legs again, although, he still struggled with keeping up with the others. They were all reunited and it felt so good and the love between the wolf-mother and son had never been stronger. 

Photo Retrieved from Health 4 U and Pets.

Wolf Embracing a Man.

Author's Note

For this story my main objective was to read the story once and do my best to replicate it. I am currently trying to build my use of creativity, so I tried to use detail in the post. Other than that, I liked the original story so much that I didn't change much as far as the plot goes.
Saints and Animals: The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe

Bibliography

Story source: The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900).