The Bateleur’s Tale:
A Tarot Story for Children
by Diana Sobolewska
Chapter I
Once upon a time there was a young man who made his living
by travelling from fair to fair. He would do tricks for
people, and everyone would laugh and clap and throw some
pennies. But one day, this young man, whose name was The
Bateleur, decided he had had enough of doing the same tricks,
again and again. Each town he visited looked the same.
Each person who clapped, he felt he had seen a thousand
times. He was bored. So he folded up his little table,
packed up his few belongings and decided to go on a long,
long voyage. He wanted to discover the world! He wanted
some adventure!
Chapter II
But he didn’t know where to go. So he stopped off
at a lady’s house for direction. Her name was The
Popess. She was a very wise woman and many people went
to see her when they had questions. He begged her to give
him some advice. “I don’t know where you must
go, but I can tell how to go”, she said. “You
must listen to what your heart says. If your heart says
go right, go right. If it says go left, go left.”
Chapters III and IV
The Bateleur decided to go right, and he reached a castle.
In this castle lived an Empress and an Emperor. The kind
Empress welcomed him herself, and provided him with food
and a bed to sleep in for the night. The Emperor was a
powerful Emperor, but a just one, and his people loved
him. The Emperor gave The Bateleur permission to travel
through his lands.
Chapter V
Next morning, the Bateleur thanked the Empress and the
Emperor for their kindness, and went on his way. He walked
many miles, over hills and dales, and reached a forest.
But as it happens sometimes in forests, he got lost. He
began to feel scared, lonely and hopeless. He cried out “What
am I going to do now?”
While he was sitting with his head in his hands, The
Pope came by. The Pope was a friend of The Popess who had
already helped The Bateleur at the start of his journey.
Do you remember her? The Pope cheered up the Bateleur and
gave him a map to guide him out of the forest.
“ Good-bye and go well”, said The Pope. “Never
forget, that if you have a map, you cannot get lost.”
Chapter VI
With the help of the map, The Bateleur walked to the end
of the forest, and reached a meadow, with fruit trees and
sheep grazing there. It was so beautiful, that he hesitated
to go on. “Maybe I’ll just build a cabin and
live here for the rest of my life.” “But if
I stay here, I’ll never know what is beyond the horizon.” “ Travelling
like this can be so tiring.” “But it would
be a shame to abandon my dream.” The poor Bateleur
just couldn’t make up his mind whether to continue
his journey or not.
Just then the sun set. Never have you seen a scene like
this. The sky was suddenly golden, red, orange, pink and
violet with blue glints peeping from behind some cottonwool
clouds. The birds filled the air with their evening songs.
The Bateleur was amazed, and felt such peace and Love in
his heart, that he hesitated no longer. “If this
is part of the world I am to discover, then my choice is
made. I will continue my journey.”
Chapter VII
After a good night’s sleep on some soft grass,
he was awakened by the sound of wheels. A man was driving
past on a cart pulled by two horses. “Hail to you,
man,” The Bateleur cried out. “Will you sell
me your fine cart and horses? I have gold pieces in my
bag and will pay you well.” The man agreed to sell
him his horses and cart. How proud our Bateleur was now. “This
is wonderful!”, he shouted. “I can make my
horses gallop and I feel like a charioteer! I will call
my cart a Chariot! And it will take me to the end of the
world!!”
Chapter VIII
But our friend was not paying attention. He was driving
too fast and hit a large stone in the road. He veered off
to the left, and his cart crashed into a cabin. The cabin
was all in pieces. So was the cart. “Ooooh!” cried
an angry voice. “Look what you have done to my cabin!” A
lady come out from behind some trees where she had been
hanging her washing. “Now how are you going to pay
me for this! Justice must be done!” The poor Bateleur
had no money left in his purse - he had spent it all on
his horses and cart. But as he was an honest man, and felt
terrible about having destroyed the lady’s house,
he gave his horses to her. And he continued his journey
on foot, not feeling too pleased with himself at all, as
you can imagine!
Chapter VIIII
An old man was walking slowly on the road in front of
him. He was The Hermit and was known far and wide. He would
go from village to village, teaching people how to find
the truth. His carried a stick to support him. He carried
a lantern to guide him at night. The Bateleur caught up
with him. “Good day, sir”, he said. The Hermit
looked at him for a long time. Then he said “Good
day to you, Bateleur.” “How do you know my
name?” asked the Bateleur. “It is written in
your eyes, and I can read your eyes”, said the Hermit. “You
know my friend, most people think that time passes. Actually,
it stays where it is.” And then suddenly he disappeared.
One minute he was there, one minute he wasn’t. The
Bateleur rubbed his eyes and thought “I must be dreaming.”
Chapters X and XI
So much had happened in such a few days! The Bateleur
had met so many people, seen so many new things, had done
so much! It was starting to make his head turn! It was
like those Wheels of Fortune he would see at the fairs
he used to travel to. You would turn the Wheel, but would
never know what you would win. “Hmmm”, he thought! “Life
is full of unexpected surprises. Life requires courage”,
he thought. “To conquer life, one needs Strength.”
Chapter XII
And so he pondered on life and its twists and turns.
He pondered on what he had left behind. He pondered on
what he had gained. He pondered on what he had lost. He
felt in between two worlds - like he was hanging upside
down! “Today, I’m like a Hanged Man!”,
he laughed. “Just hanging here and pondering!”
Chapter XIII
Goodness, how our Bateleur has changed. One can hardly
recognise him anymore! He was just a young man who knew
little about life at the beginning of our story. All he
knew before were his tricks, his fairs, and the few towns
of his county. He had changed so much in such a short time. “It’s
funny”, he said. “I feel like I’m not
really me anymore. But at the same time, I am me. I Can’t
Put a Name on this feeling of mine.”
Chapter XIIII
He continued on his path, and came to an inn. In return
for a few of his old tricks to entertain the innkeeper’s
guests, he was given food and shelter for the night. And
that night, he had a dream. He dreamt an angel came to
visit him. “I am your guardian angel”, she
said to him in his dream. “My name is Temperance.
Whenever you need me, call out for me and I will give you
peace.”
“ What a beautiful dream”, sighed the Bateleur
when he woke up.
Chapter XV
He washed and went down to the dining hall for breakfast.
At his table was a rather evil looking man. The man said, “I
saw your tricks last night. If you join up with me, I can
take you to places where we can become rich! I will teach
you some tricks that will make people want to give us all
their money! I will teach you tricks that will give you
power over people! What do you say?”
The Bateleur thought that it would be nice to be rich.
But something about that man made him think of The Devil.
And he remembered what the Popess told him so long ago: “If
your heart says go right, go right. If it says go left,
go left”. He thought of The Temperance who had visited
him in his dreams to talk about peace, and he knew that
with this Devil man he would never find peace.
“ No thank you”, he said politely to the
Devil man, and he got up from the table and left the inn.
Chapter XVI
The Bateleur was not happy. He no longer knew what he
was travelling for. He no longer found his journey exciting.
He felt that it had no purpose. He said to himself “What
is my place in the world? Who cares about me? No-one misses
me. No-one cares if I live or die. If I do tricks, people
clap and then forget about me. No-one needs me.”
He felt suddenly that his past life had been thrown down
from a high Tower and had shattered into a thousand pieces.
He walked lonely down the highway and when at last night
fell, he sat down wearily under a tree and waited for sleep
to come. It was a stormy night, and the rain fell on his
face.
Chapter XVII
Do you remember the last time The Bateleur was worried?
Yes, that’s right! He saw that beautiful sunset.
Now the night had fallen, and the sun had already set.
But just before he shut his eyes, the clouds opened in
the sky, and there shining brightly was a Star. He looked
at this Star and it twinkled at him, and it seemed to say
to him: “My friend, be of good cheer. Who knows what
tomorrow will bring?” The Bateleur gave a little
smile, the rain stopped falling and he fell asleep feeling
much happier.
Chapter XVIII
Just before dawn, he woke up. His Star had gone, but there
was the Moon looking down at him. The Moon looked so old,
like an ancient, beautiful mother. He thought “The
world is mysterious. It’s like the Moon. Who has
ever seen the other side of the Moon? There are secrets
to be discovered. Let me continue my journey and see what
these secrets can teach me.”
Chapter XVIIII
When morning came, the Sun shone in all its glory. It
dried The Bateleur’s wet clothes, it warmed his body.
He lay on the grass, and listened to the birds singing,
the bees humming. He watched the butterflies flit past.
He saw a little green frog hopping by on his way to the
nearby pond. A squirrel scurried up a tree.
Chapters XX and XXI
And suddenly, like a trumpet from the heavens calling
people triumphantly to make a final Judgement on their
life, the Bateleur realised that he was part of the World.
The World was no longer outside of him, but in his heart.
He was the World, just like the grass, the birds, the bees,
the butterflies, the frog and the squirrel.
Epilogue
And the Bateleur was free. And freedom was good. He could
be want he wanted to. A genius or a Fool.
And he was content.
And that is the end of the story. Now close your little
eyes and go to sleep.
Diana Sobolewska is known for her love and passion for
the Tarot de Marseille. She is also the founder of the Tarot Study Forum.
This story first appeared on Aeclectic
Tarot, reproduced with author’s kind permission.
The highly recommended Jean Noblet Tarot
Deck reproduction by Jean-Claude
Flornoy used in this article is available at www.letarot.com
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