Reading Notes: Saints and Animals, Part A

(Saint Kentigern, Flickr)

My favorite story from Part A of the reading for this week was "Saint Kentigern and the Robin."  I think this story resonated with me the most because it was a story about Kentigern when he was a boy, and as a result demonstrated his growth and development.  The setting is Saint Servan's school for boys, where Kentigern is a student.  To use a modern phrase, Kentigern is a "teacher's pet," one of the best pupils and certainly Saint Servan's favorite.  Kentigern's peers are jealous of this favoritism, and so they make plans to sabotage Kentigern so that he loses his status.  The first strategy that the other boys employ is putting out the fire that Kentigern is supposed to watch overnight.  But this plan fails when Kentigern is able to revive the fire with just his breath.  Then his peers kill Saint Servan's favorite bird, a robin that would sing praises to God with the saint, and blame it on Kentigern.  But Kentigern, distraught, prays for a miracle so that his name might be cleared, and his tears falling onto the robin brings it back to life.  In the end, the other boys are punished for their lies and schemes, Kentigern gains additional favor in Saint Servan's eyes, and no one bothers Kentigern at school again.

It seems like the primary moral of this story is that deception and jealousy will not get you anywhere, especially when the innocent are harmed in the process.  Although the story does not make that message explicit anywhere, Kentigern is obviously the hero of the story, and the way it is written implies that Kentigern is an admirable person who should be emulated.

If I were to re-write this story, I would want to write it from Kentigern's perspective, either with close third person or first person perspective.  The story was very character-driven, being about Kentigern's life.  Because the original story was in omniscient third perspective, the readers know what mischievous plots the other boys are planning long before Kentigern himself knows them.  I think the story would be more thrilling and unexpected if it were only from Kentigern's perspective, so that the readers can be just as surprised as Kentigern when anything happens.

Biography: Saint Kentigern and the Robin, from The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown.