Book Review: 'The Last Unicorn' - "Chapter 2"

"Creatures of night, brought to light." Source

When we last left our characters in Chapter 1, the unicorn had just been captured by Mommy Fortuna and her two henchmen, Rukh and the magician who has not been named yet. The latter character has been built up to be the more sympathetic henchman to both the reader and to the unicorn. I knew this would be the case, and I also know who the magician's name is before reading this chapter, because I've seen the movie.

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The nine wagons of Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival have been arranged in an open field so visitors can marvel at the creatures contained in the cages. Mysteriously, Mommy Fortuna is nowhere to be seen.

Rukh leads a crowd to the various cages like a museum tour guide and explains each creature inside each cage as well as its backstory. He shows the audience a manticore, a dragon, and a satyr. 

Meanwhile, the magician stands beside the unicorn's cage and says to her that he should not be near her per Mommy Fortuna's request. The unicorn does not pay attention to him as she keeps moving back and forth in the cage.

The magician invites the unicorn to look around at the other cages and tell him what she sees inside each one. Rukh leads the crowd to the cage containing Cerberus. The unicorn looks at the cage and realizes that the creature is actually a dog. Somehow the crowd is being tricked into seeing the normal creatures as something other than themselves, similar to how people mistook the unicorn for a horse in the previous chapter. Looking at the other named creatures, she observes that the "satyr" is an ape, the "dragon" is a crocodile, and the "manticore" is a lion. Yet she sees their fake selves at the same time in the cage looming over the real animals. The unicorn infers that the creatures in the cages have some kind of spell cast on them.

Rukh invites the crowd to yet another cage. This time it is the "Midgard Serpent," but of course it is actually a boa. An onlooker asks Rukh how the snake could be both wrapped around the world and also in the cage at the same time, and Rukh gives a very silly and contrived explanation about why that is.

The unicorn asks the magician who he is, and he responds that his name is Schmendrick.

Rukh leads the crowd to the cage containing "Arachne," a spider said to have beaten Athena in a weaving contest. Of course the creature is really just a regular spider spinning a web.

The unicorn looks at the cage closest to her own and realizes to her horror that the creature inside is a real legendary creature, the harpy Celaeno.

As Rukh and the crowd get closer to the unicorn's cage, Schmendrick leaves the unicorn's presence, but not before telling her that he is her ally and he will help her any way he can.

After introducing the crowd to the unicorn, Rukh points the onlookers toward the last cage which contains an old woman named Elli, who is Old Age itself.

After the crowd leaves, the unicorn looks at the last cage and realizes "Elli" is actually Mommy Fortuna in disguise.

Mommy Fortuna leaves her cage and goes to the harpy's cage. The harpy tries to break free, but the old woman snaps her fingers and toughens the bars of the cage, keeping the creature inside.

The unicorn asks Fortuna where the Red Bull is located. The woman does not answer her question. Angry, the unicorn demands that she and the harpy be set free since they are real mythical creatures. Fortuna states that it would be better for the unicorn to stay with her carnival since no one can actually see her as a unicorn except the Red Bull.