Determination

Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. In the short story “The Hundredth Dove” by Jane Yolen, Hugh is the king’s loyal fowler, not one who would disappoint the king. Hugh, a kind hearted man always obeyed the king. No matter what he always carried out his tasks as given. Then one day he was sent out to catch one hundred doves for the king’s upcoming wedding. Hugh was one of the best fowlers in the land and caught ninety-nine doves in the first five days. Huge couldn’t catch one dove. It was different compared to the others. Hugh wouldn’t give up until he caught that one white dove, because he was feeding off his determination to please the king.

 The fowler would never do anything to anger the king he always did as commanded. No matter how hard the task was. He lived by the motto Servo “I serve.” He was, how do you say it, he was… Determined. He was able to wake up every morning and love to do what he does and when he pleases the king it makes him feel ten times better. He loves being out in the woods with all the animals, it’s like his home. In the story they describe how he knows the woods like a loved one he knows every tree and every bush. 

Hugh may have been determined but he was as gentle as mother is to her child. He never wanted to harm any of the birds. This was obvious just in the way that he would catch these birds. He made a hand woven silk net so he could lightly toss it over the smaller birds and he used a bow for the larger birds, but he never actually shot them. He would never want to cause them any pain. His job was to catch them not kill them. So Hugh did his job. He has never killed a bird in his live. That is until he gets a slap in the face, which shows him that being determined isn’t always the greatest thing in the world.

Determination may end in devastation. Hugh found this out the hard way. He was so determined to get a hold of the one white dove he got upset, which made him want it more. Soon he found the beautiful bird in his hands. Maybe it wasn’t a bird. The author made me kind of curious in the way she described this fine bird, and the king’s future queen. Black eyes. That’s what tipped me off, they both had black eyes. Also the queen did not want the king to serve the birds at their wedding. Then when Hugh finally caught the white dove, she spoke to him, the queen. She asked to be released. She said if he were to let her free the queen would be his true love, this was another clue. But Hugh wouldn’t listen. The next day he had presented ninety-nine living birds to the king, also there was one stiff bird that no longer had a pulse. Huge had strangled the white dove in his own hands. Huge would never forgive himself for what he had done to that poor bird.

Even though the fowler carried out his task and gave the king hundred birds, the wedding was canceled; maybe because the bird was the king’s fiancé.  All Hugh wanted was to please the king he never wanted to hurt the bird.  He was devastated, he gave up hunting. He lived off of berries for the rest of his life. He never wanted to hurt another dove.