Book Review: 'The Last Unicorn' - "Chapter 1"

Now we begin The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. 

First edition cover. Source

The Last Unicorn was published in 1968, the same year as the book and film of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the book I am concurrently reviewing with this one. The film adaptation was released in 1982 under directors Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass of Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc., the studio mostly known for their holiday television specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Here Comes Peter Cottontail. And as mentioned in a previous post, the author of the book wrote the screenplay for the film.

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Chapter 1, simply titled "Chapter 1," starts off in an unnamed forest where a unicorn resides. She is described as a creature with a white coat, a long neck, pointy ears, and a long horn. Basically what the movie depicts her as, which is on point with the book description.

The unicorn as she appears in the film. Source

The author then goes on to mention that unicorns are immortal and that they rarely mate.

One day, two men on horseback ride through the forest, hoping to catch some deer. The unicorn follows them from a distance, overhearing their conversation. The older man suspects that a unicorn may be in the woods because it is always springtime there and that there is only one unicorn left in the world. The younger man scoffs at the older one and states that unicorns probably never existed at all. After a while the older man states that his great-grandmother used to tell him that she saw a unicorn. After some more dialogue, the hunters turn around and leave the forest.
 

The unicorn takes in what the older hunter said previously and wonders is she truly is the last of her kind. The thought bothers her for a while, until one night she decides to leave her forest in search for other unicorns. 

She keeps following the road out of the forest and into various landscapes and towns. One morning, the unicorn is spotted by a man who attempts to catch her, thinking she is a horse instead of a unicorn. She runs away and vows never to go through a town unless necessary.

One day, a butterfly lands on the unicorn's horn and begins to utter various verses and rhymes. The unicorn asks him what her name is, to which the butterfly replies "Rumpelstiltskin...Gotcha!"

The butterfly remains with her for the rest of the day until nightfall. Then out of nowhere he finally states that she is a unicorn. Amazed, the unicorn asks if he knows where the others of her kind are. The butterfly answers that the other unicorns were driven to the Valley of the Shadow by a creature known as the Red Bull (not the energy drink!). The unicorn asks for more info, but the butterfly flies away into the night before she could get a response.

The unicorn stops for the night to take a nap. While asleep, nine wagons roll up on the road. An old woman is driving the front wagon with a sign that reads "Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival." The woman, Mommy Fortuna herself, spots the sleeping unicorn and stops the horse carrying the other wagons. She calls two men from the wagons behind her to come and look at the creature. One of the men is small like her and named Rukh, and the other man is a tall and skinny magician who is unnamed. Wanting to capture the unicorn and put her in the last empty cage, Mommy Fortuna tells the men to tear down the ninth cage and rebuild it around the unicorn and warns them not to touch the creature or else their hands will turn into donkey hooves. She puts a spell on the unicorn so that she does not wake, and the men get to work.

They build a cage around the unicorn, and as they walk away, the tall magician turns to see the unicorn waking up from her slumber surrounded by bars.