Belle is a girl who is dissatisfied with life in a small provincial French town, constantly trying to fend off the misplaced affections of conceited Gaston. The Beast is a prince who was placed under a spell because he could not love. A wrong turn taken by Maurice, Belle s father, causes the two to meet.

Belle is a girl who is dissatisfied with life in a small provincial French town, constantly trying to fend off the misplaced affections of conceited Gaston. The Beast is a prince who was placed under a spell because he could not love. A wrong turn taken by Maurice, Belle s father, causes the two to meet.

Investigating the role animals play in religion, Henry sees a desert ritual in which spiritual seekers illegally smoke the poisonous skin of a Sonoran toad. And, in the snake-handling churches of Appalachia, he finds even Christianity has room for a surprising role for dangerous animals.