The ‘Ugly’ Girl

A Yahgahn Fable

Some time back, there was a Trelli girl named Paedorrah who never played with the other children, though they always came to her house wanting her to play. They rarely saw her because she would go off on her own to play. When they did see her, she just sat there talking to a small Grahbahscia worm—her pet, Guiimis.

One day, a moderately large group of children were watching Paedorrah talk with her pet worm, and they began to whisper amongst themselves.

“What do you think she talks with him about?” asked one named Hiahnin.

“I think she is seeking out his wisdom to find out answers to questions she has about the world,” said Yethrone.

“No, no. I believe that she’s trying to teach him tricks so that when she is finished teaching him, she will show us how well he does them,” said Piicbahnis Enventii.

Yethrone looked at Piicbahnis. “Tricks? Why would she not play with us because she was teaching a worm tricks? She is obviously seeking out his wisdom.”

Hiahnin sighed. “Will you two stop arguing? Neither one of you is going to convince the other that either belief is right. As long as it is not provable, either one of you could be right. Or maybe neither of you knows. None of us know. My personal opinion is that she is simply lonely, but cannot force herself to face us for whatever reason.”

“Then,” started Yethrone, “let us face her instead!”

“No,” said Hiahnin, “I don’t think that’s a—“ the other two ran off, toward Paedorrah. “Good idea…” she sighed. “Wait!”

Yethrone and Piicbahnis burst into the place that Paedorrah was at. Paedorrah saw them coming, screamed briefly, and then covered her face.

“Hi! I’m Yethrone! What’s your name? Why do—“

“MY TURN TO SPEAK! I’m Piicbahnis, we always see you here off by yourself talking with your pet worm. We watch you ‘cause we’re curious—”

“Yeah, Piicbahnis thinks you’re teaching that worm tricks, but I think—“

“He thinks that you’re consulting the worm’s wisdom, but I think my idea is better. So what do you—”?

“SHUT UP YOU TWO!” shouted Hiahnin. By now, Paedorrah was crying. Hiahnin went up to Paedorrah, the other two still arguing silently with each other. (They argued for the fun of it.)

“Hello. This must all be overwhelming to you, but these two goofballs were right. We’ve been watching you because we’re curious to know why all you ever do is talk to your pet worm. Are you lonely?”

“Go away! You don’t want to see me. I’m ugly. My mother had the gall to name me Paedorrah.”

“We have never seen your face, and it does not matter to us anyway.” Hiahnin countered. “Why do you think yourself ugly?”

“Because I am. I have seen myself in the water, and I am ugly.”

“Please let us see. As I said,” she said, giving Yethrone and Piicbahnis a look full of meaning, “what you look like does not matter to us.”

“Do you promise not to laugh?”

“We would not be mean to you. We will not laugh, no matter what.”

Paedorrah sat up slowly, and even more slowly she pulled her arms away from her face. When her face was finally revealed, Hiahnin jumped a little. Paedorrah had not seen her jump. Yet Hiahnin had not jumped because she was ugly; she had jumped because Paedorrah was… well… not ugly. She was as beautiful as her name implied.

“You are stunned to see such an ugly face, right?”

For another few moments Hiahnin still did not reply. Then finally, she said, “Paedorrah… I… I see nothing wrong with your face. In fact… I was so stunned because it’s so… beautiful!”

Yethrone and Piicbahnis nodded their agreement. “I agree,” they both said at once.

“You… no! You lie!” Paedorrah covered up her face again.

Hiahnin looked angry. “I would not lie to you about anything, ever. In fact, my friends all joke that I should have been named Brutally Honest. If you were ugly, I would tell you. But you are not! You are beautiful!” She got down on her knees and tried to comfort Paedorrah. “And even if you were ugly, it would not matter to us.”

“YOU LIE! I’m ugly!”

“Why should it matter? It does not to us!”

Paedorrah did not answer that. She just wept.

Looking confused and helpless, Hiahnin finally got a great idea. “Yethrone, would you go get Negar-gruntis, Ehkvenis, and Kohrin? And also, please bring a bowl of water with enough surface area so Paedorrah can see herself in it?”

Yethrone nodded and left. Minutes later, she was back with the others. Negar-gruntis was a Duenicallo with one eye missing; Ehkvenis’s body was scarred from an attack by a carnivorous tree, and Kohrin had a large growth on her forehead.

“Paedorrah,” said Hiahnin, “I have brought three with us here to show that we would not care if you were truly ugly, and a bowl of water to show you that you have not been disfigured. You are not ‘ugly.’ It is our belief that all people are beautiful, even if disfigured. You see, Negar-gruntis has one eye missing, but he is still a powerful hunter and a nice person. Ehkvenis was attacked by a carnivorous tree and has been disfigured by scars, but she is a wonderful poet, writer, and artist. She is also very fun to play with. And Kohrin has an ugly growth on her head, but she is such an outgoing and nice person that no one even notices her disfigurement.”

“Truly,” said Kohrin. “It matters not what one looks on the outside. For it is the inside—the mind, the essence, the soul—that counts.”

Paedorrah took the bowl and looked at her reflection in the water. She stared at it for a long time, and then looked up at the three new arrivals.

“Will you play with us?” asked Piicbahnis.

Paedorrah continued to stare blankly at Kohrin, Ehkvenis, and Negar-gruntis for several minutes. Then she looked briefly in the bowl. Finally, she slowly turned her gaze to Piicbahnis.

“You all care so much about me that you’ve gone to much trouble to get me to play with you. I might as well thank the effort. Yes, I will play with you.”

So they played together that day, and almost every day after that. Several weeks after that day of change, Paedorrah looked in the water at her reflection and smiled. Thanks to the love of her friends, she finally was able to love herself. She loved her friends for helping her out of her trouble.

The moral of this story is that self-love is necessary. One must be able to love oneself before one can love others. Know that all people are beautiful.

The End