Summary of the Story "The Hundredth Dove" (BBS Second Year)

The Hundredth Dove

Jane Yolen

Characters:
- Hugh- A fowler or hunter/ A man who hunts wild birds for his food and entertainment
- A King
- Lady Columba - A neat, slim and fair woman, who has come in disguise of a white dove
- A white dove

Summary:

The story “The Hundredth Dove” written by Jane Yolen is a fairytale, which tells us that we should not misuse power, and we should follow our head or mind not only heart.

At the beginning of the story, the main character, Hugh is called by the king. The king was on his plan of getting married to Lady Columba within a week. When Hugh sees Lady Columba, his heart feels warm. The lady is as neat as a bird, and she is slim and fair with dark eyes. The lady has worn a gold ring on her finger, so the fowler tries to kiss her glittering gold ring. The king orders Hugh to catch one hundred birds for his wedding feast. Then he moves out to catch hundred doves because he takes his master’s words as his main duty.

One the first day of his hunting, he catches twenty-one doves. Out of them, he catches twenty fat gray doves and one white slim fair dove. Unfortunately, the white one escapes, but he is determined to capture it. For the following four days, the same thing happens. Till the fourth day, he collects eighty doves. On the fifth day, he catches only nineteen gray doves, but there is not the white dove. After this, he has altogether ninety-nine doves, and now he need only one dove to complete his task, so he decides to catch the white dove at any cost. On the sixth day, he becomes successful to trap the white dove in a net. The female dove has a glittering gold ring around its leg. The dove requests him to free her. She even tells him that if he releases her, she offers him gold, silver, fame and fortune, but he rejects all the things because he believes that serving his master is his main purpose. Then the dove promises him that if he releases her, Lady Columba becomes his love. After this, he notices the golden ring on the dove’s feet and remembers Lady Columba. He begins trembling, and his heart also begins pulsing madly. He feels burning in his chest. Then he looks down at the dove when the dove is smiling and her black eyes are shinning. His heart is telling him something, but his sense of duty stops him from listening to his own inner voice. Ultimately, he closes his eyes and twists the dove’s neck because he feels that the dove can escape again.

Next day, Hugh goes to the king’s kitchen taking ninety-nine lived ones and one dead dove, but there is not wedding because Lady Columba has come in the disguise of the white dove. After this, the hunter gives up hunting, starts feeding grain to the birds and also starts living on eating fruits. For the recollection of the dove, he hangs that gold ring around his neck.