Tag: 07. Quest

A journey undertaken to achieve a goal

The Quest of Cleverness

A once-stupid prince, dismissed by his teachers, embarks on a transformative journey across many lands, gaining wisdom and magical treasures: a singing bird, a gnawing beetle, and a strong-winged butterfly. With these gifts, he rescues a captive princess from a land of giants, returning home celebrated for his cleverness and bravery. His adventures prove that learning often thrives beyond books and conventional schooling.

Source
Tales of Giants from Brazil
by Elsie Spicer Eells
Dodd, Mead and Co. – New York, 1918

► Themes of the story

Hero’s Journey: The prince embarks on a transformative adventure, gaining wisdom and magical treasures.

Quest: The prince undertakes a journey to rescue the captive princess from the land of giants.

Sacred Objects: The magical bird, beetle, and butterfly serve as powerful artifacts aiding the prince’s mission.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Brazilian peoples

Once long ago there lived a king who had a stupid son. His father sent him to school for many years hoping that he might learn something there. His teachers all gave him up as hopelessly stupid, and with one accord they said, “It is no use trying to teach this lad out of books. It is just a waste of our valuable time.”

At length the king called together all the wisest men of his kingdom to consult them as to the best way to make the prince wise and clever. They talked the matter over for a year and a day.

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It was the unanimous opinion of the wise men of the kingdom that the lad should be sent on a journey through many lands. In this way he might learn many of the things which his teachers had not been able to teach him out of books.

Accordingly the prince was equipped for his journey. He was given fine raiment, a splendid black horse upon which to ride, and a great bag full of money. Thus prepared, he started forth from the palace one bright morning with the blessing of the king, his father, and of all the wise men of the kingdom.

The prince journeyed through many lands. In one country he learned one thing, and in another country he learned another thing. There was no country or kingdom so small or poor that it did not have something to teach the prince. And the prince, though he had been so insufferably stupid at his books, learned the lessons of his journey with an open mind.

After long wanderings the prince arrived at a city where there was an auction going on. A singing bird was being offered for sale. “What is the special advantage of this singing bird?” asked the prince.

“This bird, at the command of its owner, will sing a song which will put to sleep any one who listens to it,” was the reply.

The prince decided that the bird was worth purchasing.

The next thing which was offered for sale was a beetle. “What is the special advantage of this beetle?” asked the prince.

“This beetle will gnaw its way through any wall in the world,” was the reply.

The prince purchased the beetle.

Then a butterfly was offered for sale. “What is the special advantage of owning this butterfly?” asked the prince.

“This butterfly is strong enough to bear upon its wings any weight which is put upon them,” was the answer.

The prince bought the butterfly. With his bird and beetle and butterfly he travelled on and on until he became lost in the jungle. The foliage was so dense that he could not see his way, so he climbed to the top of the tallest tree he saw. From its summit he spied in the distance what looked like a mountain; but, when he had journeyed near to it, he saw that it was really the wall which surrounds the land of the giants.

A great giant whose head reached to the clouds stood on the wall as guard. A song from the singing bird put this guard to sleep immediately. The beetle soon had gnawed an entrance through the wall. Through this opening the prince entered the land of the giants.

The very first person whom the prince saw in the land of the giants was a lovely captive princess. The opening which the beetle had made in the wall led directly to the dungeon in which she was confined.

The prince had learned many things on his journey, and among the lessons he had learned was this one: “Always rescue a fair maiden in distress.” He immediately asked what he could do to rescue the beautiful captive princess.

“You can never succeed in rescuing me, I fear,” replied the princess. “At the door of this palace there is a giant on guard who never sleeps.”

“Never mind,” replied the prince. “I’ll put him to sleep.”

Just at that moment the giant himself strode into the dungeon. He had heard voices there. “Sing, my little bird, sing,” commanded the prince to his singing bird.

At the first burst of melody the giant went to sleep there in the dungeon, though he had never before taken a wink of sleep in all his life.

“This beetle of mine has gnawed an entrance through the great wall which surrounds the land of the giants,” said the prince to the captive princess. “To escape we’ll not have to climb the high wall.”

“What of the guard who stands on top of the wall with his head reaching up to the clouds?” asked the princess. “Will he not spy us?”

“My singing bird has put him to sleep, too,” replied the prince. “If we hurry out he will not yet be awake.”

“I have been confined here in this dungeon so long that I fear I have forgotten how to walk,” said the princess.

“Never mind,” replied the prince. “My butterfly will bear you upon his wings.”

With the lovely princess borne safely upon the butterfly’s wings the prince swiftly escaped from the land of the giants. The giant on the wall yawned in his sleep as they looked up at him. “He is good for another hour’s nap,” remarked the prince.

The prince returned to his father’s kingdom as soon as he could find the way back. He took with him the lovely princess, and the singing bird, and the gnawing beetle, and the strong-winged butterfly. His father and all the people of the kingdom received him with great joy. “Never again will the prince of our kingdom be called stupid,” said the wise men when they heard the account of his adventures. “With his singing bird and his gnawing beetle and his strong-winged butterfly he has become the cleverest youth in the land.”

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The Beast Slayer

A poor man sold his three daughters under duress, gaining immense wealth but later facing their loss. Years later, his son sought the sisters, using magical items to find them married to kings of fishes, rams, and pigeons. After reuniting, he defeated a beast threatening his youngest sister and married a giant princess. Transforming into a giant, his legend endured for generations.

Source
Tales of Giants from Brazil
by Elsie Spicer Eells
Dodd, Mead and Co. – New York, 1918

► Themes of the story

Quest: The protagonist embarks on a journey to find his three sisters, demonstrating determination and bravery.

Family Dynamics: The narrative centers on the relationships between the brother and his sisters, highlighting themes of familial loyalty and sacrifice.

Sacrifice: The father initially sacrifices his daughters under duress, and later, the son risks his life to reunite and protect his family.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Brazilian peoples

Once upon a time there was a man and his wife who were very poor. The man earned his living making wooden bowls and platters to sell and worked early and late, but wooden bowls and platters were so very cheap that he could barely support his family no matter how hard he worked. The man and his wife were the parents of three lovely daughters. They were all exceedingly beautiful, and the man and his wife often lamented the fact that they did not have money enough to educate them and clothe them fittingly.

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One day there came to the door of the poor man’s house a handsome young man mounted on a beautiful horse. He asked to buy one of the poor man’s daughters. The father was very much shocked at this request. “I may be poor,” said he, “but I am not so poor that I have to sell my children.”

The young man, however, threatened to kill him if he refused to do his bidding; so finally, after a short struggle, the father consented to part with his eldest daughter. He received a great sum of money in return.

The father was now a rich man and did not wish to make bowls and platters any longer. His wife, however, urged him to keep on with his former occupation. Accordingly he went on with his work. The very next day there came to his door another young man, even handsomer than the other, mounted upon even a finer horse. This young man made the same request that the other had done. He wanted to buy one of the daughters.

The father burst into tears and told all the dreadful happenings of the day before. The young man, however, showed no pity and continued to demand one of the daughters. He made fearful threats if the man would not yield to his request, and the father became so frightened that he at length parted with his second daughter. The first young man had paid a great sum of money, but this one paid even more.

Though he was now very rich the father still went on making bowls and platters to please his wife. The next day when he was at work the handsomest young man he had ever seen appeared riding upon a most beautiful steed. This young man demanded the third daughter. The poor father had to yield just as before, though it nearly broke his heart to part with his only remaining child. The price which the young man paid was so very great that the family was now as rich as it had once been poor.

Their home was not childless very long, for soon a baby son came to them. They brought up the boy in great luxury. One day when the child was at school he quarrelled with one of his playmates. This taunt was thrown in his face: “Ah, ha! You think your father was always rich, do you? He is a rich man now, it is true, but it is because he sold your three sisters.” The words made the boy sad, but he said nothing about the matter at home. He hid it away in his mind until he had become a man. Then he went to his father and mother and demanded that they should tell him all about it.

His parents told the young man the whole story of the strange experiences through which they had obtained their wealth. “I am now a man,” said the son. “I feel that it is right that I should go out into the world in search of my sisters. Perhaps I might be able to find them and aid them in some way. Give me your blessing and allow me to go.”

His father and mother gave him their blessing, and the young man started out to make a search through all the world. Soon he came to a house where there were three brothers quarrelling over a boot, a cap, and a key. “What is the matter?” asked the young man. “Why are these things so valuable that you should quarrel over them?”

The brothers replied that if one said to the boot, “O Boot, put me somewhere,” the boot would immediately put him anywhere he wished to go. If one said to the cap, “O Cap, hide me,” immediately the cap would hide him so he could not be seen. The key could unlock any door in the whole world. The young man at once wanted to own these things himself, and he offered so much money for them that at last the three brothers decided to end their quarrel by selling the boot, the cap, and the key and dividing the money.

The young man put the three treasures in his saddle bag and went on his way. As soon as he was out of sight of the house he said to the boot, “O Boot, put me in the house of my eldest sister.”

Immediately the young man found himself in the most magnificent palace he had ever seen in his life. He asked to speak with his sister, but the queen of the palace replied that she had no brother and did not wish to be bothered with the stranger. It took much urging for the young man to gain permission from her to relate his story; but, when she had once heard it, everything sounded so logical that she decided to receive him as her brother. She asked how he had ever found her home, and how he had come through the thicket which surrounded her palace. The young man told her about his magic boot.

In the afternoon the queen suddenly burst into tears. Her brother asked what the trouble was. “O dear! O dear! What shall we do! What shall we do!” sobbed the queen. “My husband is King of the Fishes. When he comes home to dinner tonight he will be very angry to find a human in his palace.” The young man told her about his magic cap and comforted her fears.

Soon the King of Fishes arrived, accompanied by all his retinue. He came into the palace in a very bad temper, giving kicks and blows to everything which came in his way, and saying in a fierce, savage voice, “Lee, low, lee, leer, I smell the blood of a human, here. I smell the blood of a human, here.”

It took much persuasion on the part of the queen to get him to take a bath. After his bath he appeared in the form of a handsome man. He then ate his dinner, and when he had nearly finished the meal his wife said to him, “If you should see my brother here what would you do to him?”

“I would be kind to him, of course, just as I am to you,” responded the King of the Fishes. “If he is here let him appear.”

The young man then took off the magic cap by which he had hidden himself. The king treated him most kindly and courteously. He invited him to live for the rest of his life in the palace. The young man declined the invitation, saying that he had two other sisters to visit. He took his departure soon, and when he went away his brother-in-law gave him a scale with these words: “If you are ever in any danger in which I can help you, take this scale and say, ‘Help me, O King of the Fishes.'”

The young man put the scale in his saddle bag. Then he took out his magic boot and said, “O Boot, put me in the home of my second sister.” He found his second sister queen of even a more wonderful palace than his eldest sister. Her husband was King of Rams and treated the newly found brother of his queen with great consideration. When the young man had finished his visit there the King of Rams gave him a piece of wool saying, “If you are ever in any peril in which I can help you pull this wool and ask help of the King of Rams.”

With the aid of his magic boot the young man went to visit the home of his youngest sister. He found her in the most magnificent palace of them all. Her husband was King of Pigeons. When the young man departed he gave him a feather telling him if he was ever in any danger that all he had to do was to pull the feather and say, “Help me, O King of the Pigeons.”

All three of the young man’s brothers-in-law had admired the power of his magic boot and they had all advised him to visit the land of the King of Giants by means of it. After having left each of his three sisters full of happiness in her costly palace he felt free to act upon this advice, so by means of his magic boot he again found himself in a new country.

He soon heard on the street that the King of the land of Giants had a beautiful giantess daughter whom he wished to give in marriage if she could be persuaded to choose a husband. She was such a famous beauty that no one could pass before her palace without eagerly gazing up in hopes of seeing her lovely face at the window. The giant princess had grown weary of being the object of so much attention, and she had made a vow that she would marry no one except a man who could pass before her without lifting his eyes.

The young man became interested when he heard this and at once rode past the palace with his eyes fixed steadily on the ground. He did not give a single glance upward in the direction of the window where the beautiful giant princess was watching him. The princess was overcome with joy at the sight of the handsome stranger who appeared as if in response to her vow. The king summoned him to the palace at once and ordered that the wedding should be celebrated immediately.

After the wedding the giant princess soon found out that her husband carried his choicest treasures in his saddle bags. She inquired their significance and her husband told her all about them. She was especially interested in the key. She said that there was a room in the palace which was never opened. In this room there was a fierce beast which always came to life again whenever it was killed. The giant princess had always been anxious to see the beast with her own eyes, and she suggested that they should use the key to unlock the door of the forbidden room and take a peep at the beast.

Her husband, however, gave her no encouragement to do this. He decided that it was too risky a bit of amusement; but one day when he had gone hunting with the king and court the princess was overjoyed to find that the magic key had been left behind. She at once picked it up and opened the forbidden door. The beast gave a great leap, roaring out at her, “You are the very one I have sought,” as he seized her with his sharp claws.

When her husband and father returned from their hunting trip they were very much worried to find that the princess had disappeared. No one knew where she was. After searching through the palace and garden all in vain they went to the place where the beast was always kept. The prince recognized his magic key in the door, but the room was empty. The beast had fled with the giant princess.

Once more the young man made use of his magic boot and soon was by the side of the princess. The beast had hidden her in a cave by the sea and had gone away in search of food. The giant princess was delighted to find her husband whom she had never expected to see again and wanted to hasten away from the cave with him at once.

“You have got yourself into this affair,” said her husband. “I can get you out again, I think, but I believe that it is your duty to at least make an effort to take the beast’s life. Perhaps when he comes back to the cave you can extract from him the secret of his charmed life.”

The princess awaited the return of the beast. Then she asked him to tell her the secret of his charmed life. The beast was very much flattered to have the giant princess so interested in him, and he told it to her at once. He never thought of a plot. This is what he said: “My life is in the sea. In the sea there is a chest. In the chest there is a stone. In the stone there is a pigeon. In the pigeon there is an egg. In the egg there is a candle. At the moment when that candle is extinguished I die.”

All this time the prince had remained there, hiding under his magic cap. He heard every word the beast said. As soon as the beast had gone to sleep the prince stood on the seashore and said: “Help me, O King of the Fishes,” as he took out the scale which his brother-in-law had given him. Immediately there appeared a great multitude of fishes asking what he wished them to do. He asked them to get the chest from the depths of the sea. They replied that they had never seen such a chest, but that probably the sword-fish would know about it.

They hastened to call the sword-fish and he came at once. He said that he had seen the chest only a moment before. All the fishes went with him to get it, and they soon brought the chest out of the sea. The prince opened the chest easily with the aid of his magic key, and inside he found a stone.

Then the prince pulled the piece of wool which his second brother-in-law had given him and said, “Help me, O King of the Rams.” Immediately there appeared a great drove of rams, running to the seashore from all directions. They attacked the stone, giving it mighty blows with their hard heads and horns. Soon they broke open the stone, and from out of it there flew a pigeon.

The beast now awoke from his sleep and knew that he was very ill. He remembered all that he had told the princess and accused her of having made a plot against his life. He seized his great ax to kill the princess.

In the meantime the prince had pulled the feather which his third brother-in-law had given him and cried, “Help me, O King of the Pigeons.” Immediately a great flock of pigeons appeared attacking the pigeon and tearing it to pieces.

Just as the beast had caught the princess and was about to slay her, the prince took the egg from within the slain pigeon. He at once broke the egg and blew out the candle. At that moment the beast fell dead, and the princess escaped unharmed.

The prince carried the giant princess home to her father’s kingdom and the king made a great festa which lasted many days. There was rejoicing throughout the whole kingdom because of the death of the beast and because of the safety of the lovely princess. The prince was praised throughout the kingdom and there is talk of him even unto this very day. The prince had cut off the head of the great beast and the tip of its tail. The head he had given to the king, but the tip of the tail he kept for himself. The beast was so enormous that just the tip of its tail made a great ring large enough to encircle the prince’s body. One day, just in fun, he twined the tip of the beast’s tail around his waist. He immediately grew and grew until he became a giant himself, almost as tall as the king of the land of giants, and several leagues taller than the princess. It is not strange that a man who became a giant among giants should be famous even until now.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The Adventures of a Fisherman’s Son

A fisherman trades his newborn son to a river giant for abundant fish, casting the baby into the river. Raised in the giant’s underwater palace, the boy grows into a handsome, brave youth. Defying the giant’s rules, he escapes with a magical black horse. In a distant kingdom, he wins a princess’s love and proves his heroism, ultimately marrying her, though his parents remain unaware of his fate.

Source
Tales of Giants from Brazil
by Elsie Spicer Eells
Dodd, Mead and Co. – New York, 1918

► Themes of the story

Divine Intervention: The river giant’s involvement in the fisherman’s life, offering abundant fish in exchange for the newborn son, signifies the influence of supernatural forces on human affairs.

Quest: The fisherman’s son embarks on a journey from the river giant’s underwater palace to a distant kingdom, seeking freedom and a new life, which is central to the narrative.

Forbidden Knowledge: The son’s defiance of the river giant’s rules and his subsequent escape suggest a pursuit of hidden truths and the consequences of seeking forbidden paths.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Brazilian peoples

Long ago there was a man and woman who lived in a little mud hut under the palm trees on the river bank. They had so many children they did not know what to do. The little hut was altogether too crowded. The man had to work early and late to find food enough to feed so many.

One day the seventh son said to his father, “O, father, I found a little puppy yesterday when I was playing on the river’s bank. Please let me bring it home to keep. I have always wanted one.”

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The father consented sadly. He did not know how to find food for the children, and an extra puppy to feed seemed an added burden. He went to the river bank to fish that day with a heavy heart. He cast his net in vain. He did not catch a single fish. He cast his net from the other side with no better luck. He did not catch even one little piabinha.

Suddenly he heard a voice which seemed to come from the river bed itself, it was so deep. This is what it said: “If you will give me whatever new you find in your house when you go home I will give you fisherman’s luck. You will catch all the fish you wish.”

The man remembered the request which his seventh son had made that morning. “The new thing I’ll find in my house when I get home will be that puppy,” said the man to himself. “This will be a splendid way to get rid of the puppy which I did not want to keep anyway.”

Accordingly the man consented to the request which came from the strange voice in the depths of the river. “You must seal this covenant with your blood,” said the voice.

The man cut his finger a tiny bit with his sharp knife and squeezed a few drops of blood from the wound into the river. “If you break this vow the curse of the river giant will be upon you and your children for ever and ever,” said the deep voice solemnly.

The fisherman cast his net where the river giant commanded, and immediately it was so full of fish that the man could hardly draw it out of the water. Three times he drew out his net, so full that it was in danger of breaking. “Truly this was a fortunate bit of business,” said the man. “Here I have fish enough to feed my family and all I can sell in addition.”

As the fisherman approached his house with his enormous catch of fish one of the children came running to meet him. “O father, guess what we have at our house which we did not have when you went away,” said the child.

“A new puppy,” replied her father.

“O no, father,” replied the child. “You have not guessed right at all. It is a new baby brother.”

The poor fisherman burst into tears. “What shall I do! What shall I do!” he sobbed. “I dare not break my vow to the river giant.”

The fisherman’s wife was heartbroken when she heard about the business which her husband had transacted with the river giant. However she could think of no way to escape from keeping the contract which he had made. She kissed the tiny babe good-bye and gave it her blessing. Then the fisherman took it down to the river bank and threw it into the river at the exact spot from which the deep voice had come.

There in the depths of the river the river giant was waiting to receive the new born babe. He took the little one into his palace of gold and silver and mother-of-pearl with ornaments of diamonds, and there the baby received excellent care.

Time passed and the little boy grew into a big boy. At last he was fifteen years old and a handsome lad indeed, tall and straight, with eyes which were dark and deep like the river itself, and hair as dark as the shades in the depths of the river. All his life he had been surrounded with every luxury, but he had never seen a single person. He had never seen even the river giant. All he knew of him was his deep voice which gave orders in the palace.

One day the voice of the river giant said, “I have to go away on a long journey. I will leave with you all the keys to all the doors in the palace, but do not meddle with anything. If you do you must forfeit your life.”

Many days passed and the lad did not hear the voice of the river giant. He missed its sound in the palace. It was very still and very lonely. At last at the end of fifteen days he took one of the keys which the river giant had left and opened the door which it fitted. The door led into a room in the palace where the boy had never been. Inside the room was a huge lion. The lion was fat and well nourished, but there was nothing for it to eat except hay. The boy did not meddle with anything and shut the door.

Another fifteen days passed by, and again the lad took one of the keys. He opened another door in the palace which he had never entered. Inside the room he found three horses, one black, one white, and one chestnut. There was nothing in the room for the horses to eat except meat, but in spite of it they were fat and well nourished. The boy did not touch anything and when he went out he shut the door.

At the end of another fifteen days all alone without even the voice of the river giant for company, the lad tried another key in another door. This room opened into a room full of armour. There were daggers and knives and swords and muskets and all sorts of armour which the boy had never seen and did not know anything about. He was very much interested in what he saw, but he did not meddle with anything.

The next day he opened the room again where the horses were kept. This time one of the horses,–the black one,–spoke to him and said, “We like hay to eat very much better than this meat which was left to us by mistake. The lion must have our hay. Please give this meat to the lion and bring us back our hay. If you will do this as I ask I’ll serve you for ever and ever.”

The boy took the meat to the lion. The lion was very much pleased to exchange the hay for it. The lad then took the hay to the horses. All at once he remembered how he had been told not to meddle with anything. This had been meddling. The boy burst into tears. “I shall lose my life as the punishment for this deed,” he sobbed.

The horses listened in amazement. “I got you into this trouble,” said the black horse. “Now I’ll get you out. Just trust me to find a way out.”

The black horse advised the boy to take some extra clothes and a sword and musket and mount upon his back. “I have lived here in the depths of the river so long that my speed is greater than that of the river itself,” said the horse. “If there was any doubt of it before, now that I have had some hay once more I am sure I can run faster than any river in the world.”

It was true. When the river giant came back home and found that the boy had meddled he ran as fast as he could in pursuit of the lad. The black horse safely and surely carried the lad beyond his reach.

The black horse and his rider travelled on and on until finally they came to a kingdom which was ruled over by a king who had three beautiful daughters. The lad at once applied for a position in the service of this king. “I do not know what you can do,” said the king. “You have such soft white hands. Perhaps you may serve to carry bouquets of flowers from my garden every morning to my three daughters.”

The lad had eyes which were dark and deep like the depths of the river, and when he carried bouquets of flowers from the garden to the king’s daughters the youngest princess fell in love with him at once. Her two sisters laughed at her. “I don’t care what you say,” said the youngest princess. “He is far handsomer than any of the princes who have ever sung of love beneath our balcony.”

That very night two princes from neighbouring kingdoms came to sing in the palace garden beneath the balcony of the three princesses. The two oldest daughters of the king were proud and haughty, but the youngest princess had love in her heart and love in her eyes. For this reason she was one whom all the princes admired most.

The lad from the river listened to their songs. “I wish I looked like these two princes and knew songs like theirs,” said he. Just then he caught sight of his own reflection in the fountain in the garden. He saw that he looked quite as well as they. “I too will sing a song before the balcony of the princesses,” he decided.

He did not know that he could sing, but in truth his voice had in it all the music of the rushing of the river. When he sang even the two rival musicians stopped to listen to his song. The two older princesses did not know who was singing, but the youngest princess recognized him at once.

The next day a great tournament took place. The lad from the river had never seen a tournament, but after he had watched it for a moment he decided to enter. He went to get the black horse which had carried him out of the depths of the river and the arms he had brought with him from the palace of the river giant. With such a horse and such arms he carried off all the honours of the tournament. Every one at the tournament wondered who the strange cavalheiro could be. No one recognized him except the youngest princess. She knew who it was the moment she saw him and gave him her ribbon to wear.

The next day all the cavalheiros who had taken part in the tournament set out to slay the wild beast which often came out of the jungle to attack the city. It was the lad from the river who killed the beast, as all the cavalheiros knew. When they returned to the palace with the news that the beast had been slain, the king said, “Tomorrow night we will hold the greatest festa which this palace has ever witnessed. Tomorrow let all the cavalheiros who are here assembled go forth to hunt for birds to grace our table.”

The next day the cavalheiros went out to hunt the birds, and it was the lad from the river who succeeded in slaying the birds. None of the other cavalheiros were at all successful. The two neighbouring princes who were suitors for the hand of the youngest princess made a contract. “We cannot let this stranger carry off all the honours,” said one to the other. “You say that you killed the beast, and I will say that it was I who killed the birds.”

That night at the festa one prince stood up before the king and told his story of slaying the beast, and the other prince stood up and told how he had killed the birds. The other cavalheiros knew that it was false, but when they looked around for the cavalheiro who had done the valiant deeds they could not find him. The lad from the river had on his old clothes which he wore as a servant in the garden and stood at the lower part of the banquet hall among the servants.

When the king had heard the stories of the two princes he was greatly pleased with what they had done. “The one who killed the beast shall have a princess for a bride,” said he, “and the one who killed the birds he too shall have a princess for his bride.”

The youngest princess saw the lad from the river standing among the servants and smiled into his eyes. The lad came and threw himself before the king. “O my king,” said he, “these stories to which you have listened are false, as all these assembled cavalheiros will prove. It is I who killed the beast and all the birds. I claim a princess as my bride.”

All the assembled cavalheiros recognized the lad in spite of his changed appearance in his gardening clothes. “Viva!” they shouted. “He speaks the truth. He is the valiant one of us who killed the beast and the birds. To him belongs the reward.” The youngest princess had a heart filled with joy. The wedding feast was celebrated the very next day. The river giant found out about it and sent a necklace of pearls and diamonds as a wedding gift to the bride of the lad whom he had brought up in his palace. The fisherman and his wife, however, never knew the great good fortune which had come to their son.

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The Most Beautiful Princess

A prince embarks on a quest to save his ill father but is captured by a giant while chasing a magical hare, later revealed as an enchanted princess. Freed by the princess, the prince fails to save his father and becomes a wandering fisherman. Reunited, they outwit a giant and a mystical fish, proving the princess’s beauty at a royal festa. Her enchantment is broken, leading to a joyful marriage.

Source
Tales of Giants from Brazil
by Elsie Spicer Eells
Dodd, Mead and Co. – New York, 1918

► Themes of the story

Quest: The prince embarks on a journey to find a hare to prepare broth for his ailing father.

Cunning and Deception: The prince and princess employ clever strategies to outwit the giant and a mystical fish.

Love and Betrayal: The developing romantic bond between the prince and the princess is central to the story.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Brazilian peoples

Long ago there was a king who was very ill. He wanted a hare killed to make him some broth. His only son, the prince, set out to find one. As the prince walked along the path to the forest a pretty little hare ran out of the hedge and crossed his path. He at once started in pursuit. The hare was a very swift runner. The prince followed her into the deep forest. Suddenly the hare ran into a hole in the ground. The prince kept in sight of her and soon found to his dismay that he was in a big cave. At the rear of the cave there was the most enormous giant he had ever seen in his life.

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The prince was terribly frightened. “Oh, ho!” said the giant in such a deep savage voice that the cave echoed and re-echoed with his words. “You thought you’d catch my little hare, did you? Well, I’ve caught you instead!”

The giant seized the prince in one of his enormous hands and tossed him lightly into a box at one end of the cave. He put the cover on the box and locked it down with a big key. The prince could get only a tiny bit of air through a little hole in the top, and he thought that he never could live. Hours passed. Sometimes the prince slept, but more often he lay there thinking about his sick father and what he could ever do to get out of the box and back once more to his father’s side.

Suddenly he heard the key turn in the lock. The cover was lifted, and he saw standing before him the most beautiful maiden he had ever seen or dreamed of. “I am the hare you followed into the cave,” said she with a smile. “I am an enchanted princess and, though I have to take the form of a hare in the daytime, at night I am free to resume my own shape. You got into this trouble following me into the cave and I am so sorry for you that I am going to let you out.”

“You are so beautiful that I could stay here for ever and gaze into your lovely eyes,” said the prince.

“You would see only a hare in the daytime,” replied the princess. “It is not always night. Besides, the giant may return at any moment. He just went out on a hunting trip because he thought that you would not make a sufficiently big supper for him. Don’t be foolish. I’ll show you the way out of the cave and then you must hurry home as fast as possible.”

The prince thanked her for all her great kindness to him and acted upon her advice. He went home by the nearest path, but when he reached the palace his father was already dead. The palace was wrapped in mourning.

The prince was so overcome with grief that he felt that he could not keep on living in the palace. After his father’s funeral he went away as a wanderer. He changed clothes with a poor fisherman whom he met by the river, for he did not wish to be recognized as the prince.

Dressed as a poor fisherman he wandered from one kingdom to another. He caught fish for his food, and he soon recognized the fact that the net which the fisherman had given him as part of his outfit was a most wonderful net. The biggest fish in the sea could not break through. “This net must have the special blessing of Nossa Senhora upon it,” said the prince.

In the course of his wanderings the prince arrived at a city where a great festa was being held. The palace was decked with gay banners. Every afternoon the messenger of the king rode up and down the city streets proclaiming, “The princess of our kingdom is the most beautiful princess in all the world.”

The prince remembered the beautiful princess who had let him out of the giant’s cave. “Surely this princess cannot be as beautiful as she,” said the prince. “I am going to see this princess with my own eyes and find out.”

Accordingly the prince went to the palace gate to watch for the princess. Soon she came to the balcony and leaned over the railing. She was very beautiful, but her nose was just a tiny bit crooked. She did not compare at all with the princess of the cave.

“This princess is not by any means the most beautiful one in the world,” said the prince dressed as a fisherman. “I know where there is a princess who is much more beautiful.”

The people standing by heard him. His words were at once reported to the royal guards. They seized him roughly and took him to the king.

“So you are the fisherman who says that my daughter is not the most beautiful princess in the world?” said the king sternly. “You say, I hear, that you know a princess who is much more beautiful. I am a just king or else I should order that you be put to death immediately. As it is, I’ll give you the chance to prove what you say. If you are unable to fulfil your boast and show me this princess who in the opinion of my court is more beautiful than my daughter, you shall lose your life. Remember that you will have to bring her here to my court to have her beauty proven.”

“Thanks, your majesty,” said the prince. “If you will allow me two weeks to fulfil the contract, and if you’ll prepare a festa for the night two weeks hence, I’ll endeavour to present the most beautiful princess in the world to your assembled court.”

The king was astonished at the fisherman’s words, for he had not thought that a poor fisherman like him knew many princesses. However, he allowed him to depart in search of the princess.

Then the prince hurried home and once more walked toward the forest by the same path he had gone the day he went in search of the hare for his father’s broth. He soon found the place where the hare had crossed his path, and he did his best to remember the course they had followed as he pursued her into the forest.

In the forest he saw evidences of what looked like a flood. The water had washed away every trace of the entrance of the cave. He dug and dug at the place where he thought it ought to be. He found nothing which seemed like the cave’s entrance.

He dug and dug at a new place near by and soon he found his way barred by a massive door. The entrance to the cave was securely shut by it. The prince knocked at the door with all his might.

Soon the door was opened a tiny bit and the face of a little old woman looked out. “I am the ama of the princess,” she said. “I think you are the prince she was expecting to return to deliver her from all the terrible calamities which have befallen her.”

“What has happened to my beautiful princess who saved my life?” asked the prince. “I am indeed the prince, but I am surprised that you should recognize me in my fisherman’s garb.”

“The princess told me that I would know you by the smile in your eyes,” replied the old ama. “I did not look at your clothes at all. I looked at your eyes. You have the smile in them though your face is sad. Come into the cave, and I will tell you all that has happened.”

When the prince was inside the cave she hastily barred the door and said, “When the giant returned he was terribly angry at the princess because she had let you escape. He seized her roughly and put her into the box in your place. The princess had thrown away the key to the box when she let you out; and, search as he would, the giant was unable to find it again anywhere. That made him even angrier than before. All day he sits on the top of the chest when the princess is in the form of the hare. At night when he goes away he causes a great river to flow around the entrance to the cave. He has placed a huge fish as guard to the entrance. This fish swims up and down before our door and calls out such vile names at the princess, that, when she is in her own form, she stays in the box and stuffs cotton in her ears. You got here just as the giant had left. The water must have risen as soon as you were inside our door. I hear the fish now.”

Even as she spoke the prince heard the voice of the fish. It said such terrible words that the prince was glad that the princess was in the box with cotton in ears. “You get into the box with the princess,” he said to the ama. “I am a good swimmer and I am going to open the door and swim out. The box is made of wood that will float; so, inside of it, you and the princess will float out to safety.”

“How will you ever swim past this terrible fish?” asked the old ama.

“Do not fear,” replied the prince. “I have with me a net which is so strong that the biggest, fiercest fish in the world cannot break it. I will catch the fish in it. Just wait and you will see. In the meantime take the cotton out of the ears of the princess and tell her that I am here. Quiet her fears and stay in the box for a few moments.”

The old ama got into the box as the prince had commanded. Then he unbarred the great door. The fish swam at him fiercely, but the prince quickly entangled him in his strong net. Holding him fast in the net, the prince swam up to the surface of the water and was soon on the bank of the raging river. Then he killed the fish and scaled it and put the scales in his pocket.

The box had floated up to the surface of the water as the prince had said it would. The prince threw his net over it and drew it to land. The ama and the beautiful princess stepped out. The princess was so lovely that the prince fell upon his knees before her. The sight of her great beauty almost blinded his eyes.

“I knew all the time that you would come back again,” said the princess. “I knew that you would deliver me from my troubles, but you have been a long time getting here.”

The prince told the princess all that had happened to him. “You saved my life from the giant,” said he. “I am very glad to have had an opportunity to save your life for you. Now I must ask you to again save my life.” Then he told about the festa at which he must display the most beautiful princess in the world or forfeit his life.

“I’ll gladly go to the festa with you,” said the princess. “It is fortunate that it is held at night.”

The Princess and her ama travelled quickly with the prince to the kingdom which claimed to possess the most beautiful princess in the world. It was already the night of the appointed festa when they arrived. The king’s army was drawn up to slay the prince. No one dreamed that the poor fisherman would be able to bring any princess at all with him, much less a beautiful one. The prince hid the princess in the box which the old ama carried on top of her head.

When the poor fisherman stood before the king with an old ama standing by his side, a great laugh ran through the king’s court. “We knew that the fisherman would never be able to bring a princess more beautiful than our own lovely princess,” said the courtiers one to another. “But see what he has brought in her place!” Then they laughed and laughed until they could hardly stand.

The king’s soldiers stepped forward to seize the fisherman to put him to death. “Grant me just one moment more of life,” begged the prince.

The king nodded his head and the prince put his hand into the pocket of his fisherman’s coat. He pulled out a handful of silver scales. The most beautiful silvery cloud filled the room.

“Just a moment more,” begged the prince. Then he pulled a handful of golden scales from out his pocket. The most beautiful golden cloud filled the room.

“Please just another little minute,” asked the prince and he pulled out a handful of jewelled scales from his pocket. The most wonderful sparkling cloud of jewels fell about them. As the cloud cleared away there stood the most beautiful princess any one had ever seen or dreamed of between the old ama and the prince in the fisherman clothes.

The soldiers drew back. The king looked at the floor and so did all the courtiers. “You have won your wager,” said the king when he could find his voice. “Our daughter is not the most beautiful princess in the whole world. I see myself that her nose is a tiny bit crooked.”

The prince and princess and the old ama went back to the prince’s own kingdom where the wedding of the prince and princess was celebrated with a great feast. From the moment that the fish scales fell upon the princess her enchantment was broken and she never became a hare again. She and the prince lived together happily in the prince’s palace, and the giant never troubled them again, though they were always careful to keep away from the forest.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The Boy and the Violin

A lonely boy inherits a violin, pouring his soul into its music. His melodies draw forest creatures into a whimsical, dancing procession, eventually reaching the land of giants. The spectacle makes the sorrowful giant princess laugh for the first time, fulfilling the king’s challenge. Rewarded with half the kingdom, the boy becomes a prince, his enchanting music ensuring harmony among the giants and beasts alike.

Source
Tales of Giants from Brazil
by Elsie Spicer Eells
Dodd, Mead and Co. – New York, 1918

► Themes of the story

Quest: The boy embarks on a journey that leads him to the land of giants, culminating in a significant achievement.

Harmony with Nature: The boy’s music creates unity among various animals, showcasing a deep connection with the natural world.

Transformation through Love: The boy’s melodies bring joy to the sorrowful giant princess, indicating a transformative power of emotional connection.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Brazilian peoples

Once upon a time there was a man who had an only son. When the man died the son was left all alone in the world. There was not very much property–just a cat and a dog, a small piece of land, and a few orange trees. The boy gave the dog away to a neighbour and sold the land and the orange trees. Every bit of money he obtained from the sale he invested in a violin. He had longed for a violin all his life and now he wanted one more than ever. While his father had lived he could tell his thoughts to his father, but now there was none to tell them to except the violin.

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What his violin said back to him made the very sweetest music in the world.

The boy went to hire out as shepherd to care for the sheep of the king, but he was told that the king already had plenty of shepherds and had no need of another. The boy took his violin which he had brought with him and hid himself in the deep forest. There he made sweet music with the violin. The shepherds who were near by guarding the king’s sheep heard the sweet strains, but they could not find out who was playing. The sheep, too, heard the music. Several of them left the flock and followed the sound of the music into the forest. They followed it until they reached the boy and the cat and the violin.

The shepherds were greatly disturbed when they found out how their sheep were straying away into the forest. They went after them to bring them back, but they could find no trace of them. Sometimes it would seem that they were quite near to the place from which the music came, but when they hurried in that direction they would hear the strains of music coming from a distant point in the opposite direction. They were afraid of getting lost themselves so they gave up in despair.

When the boy saw how the sheep came to hear his music he was very happy. His music was no longer the sad sweet sound it had been when he was lonely. It became gayer and gayer. After a while it became so gay that the cat began to dance. When the sheep saw the cat dancing they began to dance, too.

Soon a company of monkeys passed that way and heard the sound of the music. They began dancing immediately. They made such a chattering that they almost drowned the music. The boy threatened to stop playing if they could not be happy without being so noisy. After that the monkeys chattered less.

After a while a tapir heard the jolly sound. Immediately his threetoed hind feet and fourtoed front feet began to dance. He just couldn’t keep them from dancing; so he, too, joined the procession of boy, cat, sheep, and monkeys.

Next the armadillo heard the music. In spite of his heavy armour he had to dance too. Then a herd of small deer joined the company. Then the anteater danced along with them. The wild cat and the tiger came, too. The sheep and the deer were terribly frightened, but they kept dancing on just the same. The tiger and wild cat were so happy dancing that they never noticed them at all. The big snakes curled their huge bodies about the tree trunks and wished that they, too, had feet with which to dance. The birds tried to dance, but they could not use their feet well enough and had to give it up and keep flying. Every beast of the forests and jungles which had feet with which to dance came and joined the gay procession.

The jolly company wandered on and on until finally they came to the high wall which surrounds the land of the giants. The enormous giant who stood on the wall as guard laughed so hard that he almost fell off the wall. He took them to the king at once. The king laughed so hard that he almost fell off his throne. His laugh shook the earth. The earth had never before been shaken at the laugh of the king of the giants, though it had often heard his angry voice in the thunder. The people did not know what to make of it.

Now it happened that the king of the land of giants had a beautiful giantess daughter who never laughed. She remained sad all the time. The king had offered half his kingdom to the one who could make her laugh, and all the giants had done their very funniest tricks for her. Never once had they brought even a tiny little smile to her lovely face. “If my daughter can keep from laughing when she sees this funny sight I’ll give up in despair and eat my hat,” said the king of the land of giants, as he saw the jolly little figure playing upon the violin and the assembly of cat, sheep, monkeys and everything else dancing to the gay music. If the giant king had known how to dance he would have danced himself, but it was fortunate for the people of the earth that he did not know how. If he had, there is no knowing what might have happened to the earth.

As it was, he took the little band into his daughter’s palace where she sat surrounded by her servants. Her lovely face was as sad as sad could be. When she saw the funny sight her expression changed. The happy smile which the king of the land of giants had always wanted to see played about her beautiful lips. A gay laugh was heard for the first time in all her life. The king of the land of giants was so happy that he grew a league in height and nobody knows how much he gained in weight. “You shall have half my kingdom,” he said to the boy, “just as I promised if any one made my daughter laugh.” The boy from that time on reigned over half of the kingdom of giants as prince of the land. He never had the least bit of difficulty in preserving his authority, for the biggest giants would at once obey his slightest request if he played on his violin to them. The beasts stayed in the land of the giants so long that they grew into giant beasts, but the boy and his violin always remained just as they were when they entered the land.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The Magic Flight

A young man seeks fortune but falls for Rosalie, a giant’s magical daughter. To win her, he completes impossible tasks with Rosalie’s help, angering the giant and his wife. They flee, using magic to escape relentless pursuits. Though separated after seven years by his lost memory, Rosalie uses wit and persistence to restore his love, reuniting them in triumph.

Source
Ethnology of the Mayas of
Southern and Central British Honduras
by John Eric Thompson
Field Museum of Natural History
Anthropological Series, Pub.274, Vol.17.2
Chicago, 1930

► Themes of the story

Quest: The protagonist embarks on a journey to earn money and win Rosalie’s hand, facing numerous challenges set by the giant.

Cunning and Deception: Rosalie uses her wit and magical abilities to help the protagonist complete the impossible tasks and outsmart her father.

Love and Betrayal: The love between the protagonist and Rosalie drives the plot, leading to their eventual reunion after overcoming obstacles and a period of separation.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about Maya people

Once upon a time a young man started out from home to earn some money. After traveling some time, he came to a hut where there lived a giant with his three daughters. The young man was very attracted by the youngest daughter, and determined to stay there if he could. Accordingly he asked permission of the giant. The giant consented on condition that the young man completed certain tasks that he would set him. “I have always,” said the giant, “had a keen desire to take my bath immediately on getting out of bed instead of having to go all the way down to the lake. Tonight you will bring the lake up to the hut, so that when I get up in the morning I can sit on my bed and dangle my feet in its water. Here is a basket in which you can fetch the water.”

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The young man was entirely nonplussed, but he decided to consult his sweetheart, the giant’s youngest daughter, whose name was Rosalie. Rosalie told him to go to sleep and not to worry, that she would see to the transfer of the lake. That night when the rest of the household slept, Rosalie went down to the lake, and with her skirt she swept up the water to her father’s bedside.

When the giant awoke, he was very surprised to find the water lapping the leg posts of his bed. Taking a large pot, he threw it into a very deep river, and bid his daughter’s suitor bring it forth. The young man dived in many times, but failed to locate the pot at such a great depth. Then Rosalie came to his rescue. They arranged to go together that night, and Rosalie would dive in. The boy was to call her name when she was at the bottom, otherwise she would be unable to rise again to the surface. This they did, and the following morning the giant found the pot once more in the house.

The next task that the giant set the young man was to make a milpa of a hundred mecates, clear the forest, burn, sow, and at midnight of the same day bring him a load of corn on the cob from the same milpa. The young man set to work at daybreak, but by sunset he had achieved practically nothing. Then Rosalie stretched out her skirt, and promptly all the forest was felled. By magic too she dried the bush, burnt it, sowed the corn, caused it to grow, and gathered the young maize cobs, so that her lover was able at midnight to take the cobs to her father. The giant was now thoroughly annoyed, and consulted with his wife how they could get the best of the presumptuous youth. They decided to give him a trial of horsemanship.

They arranged that the woman should turn herself into a mare, the giant would become the saddle and stirrups, and Rosalie should be turned into the bridle. Rosalie, however, overheard this conversation and warned her lover, bidding him not to spare the mare and the saddle, but to treat carefully the bridle.

Next morning the giant bid the young man go out into the savanna, where he would find a mare already saddled. He was to mount her and bring her back to the house. Meanwhile the giant and his wife and Rosalie took a short cut through the forest, and by the time the young man arrived they had already converted themselves into the mare and its saddle. The boy, who had armed himself with a good stout cudgel, jumped onto the mare’s back and before the mare had a chance to buck, he began to belabor her as hard as he could. The mare, or the old lady, whichever one cares to call her, was so benumbed by the shower of blows that the youth rained on her that she was quite incapable of making any attempt to throw her rider. After a few minutes she sank exhausted to the ground.

The boy returned to the hut, where a little later he was joined by the exhausted and belabored giant and his wife.

The boy had now completed his four tasks, but the giant, going back on his bargain, told him that there were yet other tasks to perform. That night Rosalie and her lover decided to run away, as the giant and his wife would still be suffering from the effects of the thrashing they had received. When all were asleep, Rosalie took a needle, a grain of salt, and a grain of saskab (white earth), and spitting on the floor, stole softly out of the house to meet her lover outside.

At daybreak the giant called to Rosalie to get up. “It’s all right, Tata, I’m getting up, I’m dressing my hair,” replied the spittle, which Rosalie had spat on the floor. The spittle spoke with the voice of Rosalie, so the giant suspected nothing. A little later the giant again called to Rosalie to know if she were not yet dressed. Again the spittle replied that she was dressing her hair. The old lady, however, was suspicious and, going into Rosalie’s room, discovered the trick that had been played on them. By this time the spittle was almost dry and could only reply to her in a whisper.

Then the giant set out in pursuit of the fleeing couple. As the giant was rapidly overtaking them, Rosalie turned herself into an orange tree, and the youth disguised himself as an old man. When the giant reached the spot, he asked the old man if he had seen the fleeing couple.

“No,” replied the youth in his disguise of old man, “but refresh yourself by eating some of these oranges.” The giant did so, and promptly lost all desire to pursue farther the fleeing couple, as the oranges were magical. He returned to his hut and explained to his wife that he was unable to overtake them.

“You are an old fool,” answered the old lady. “The orange tree was Rosalie.” For she, too, was gifted with magical powers.

Again the giant set out in pursuit. When the giant was once more on the point of overtaking them, Rosalie turned the horse on which they were riding into a church, her lover into the sacristan and herself into an image of the Virgin. When the giant reached the spot, he asked the sacristan if he had seen anything of the missing pair. “Hush!” replied the youth in his guise of sacristan, “you must not talk here, the priest is just going to sing mass. Come in and see the beautiful Virgin we have inside.”

The giant then went inside to view the statue of the Virgin, with the result that he lost all interest in the pursuit, and returning once again to his hut, explained to his wife how after seeing the beautiful Virgin he had no further desire to capture his daughter and her abductor.

“You double fool,” cried the old lady, “the Virgin was Rosalie. You are too half-witted to be of any use. I’ll catch them.” Thereupon the old lady set out to overtake them. Rosalie and the youth travelled as fast as they could, but the old lady went faster and gradually overtook them. When she was almost within reaching distance, Rosalie cried out to her lover, “We can’t fool her, we’ll have to use the needle.”

Stooping down, she planted the needle in the ground, and immediately an enormous thicket grew up. For the moment they were out of danger. As the old lady laboriously cut her way through the thicket, the lovers fled on. At last the old lady got clear of the thicket. Once more she set forth in pursuit, gradually overtaking the couple. When once more her mother had nearly reached them, Rosalie threw down the grain of saskab. Immediately a great mountain reared itself aloft. Once more the lovers fled away, as the old lady pantingly toiled toward its summit, then slowly down the far side.

At last she was clear of the mountain and once more catching up on the fleeing lovers. Just as she was on the point of reaching them, Rosalie threw down the grain of salt, and immediately an enormous sea was formed behind them. Rosalie became a sardine, her lover a shark, and the horse a crocodile. The old lady waded into the water, trying to catch the sardine, but the shark drove her off.

“All right,” cried the old lady, trembling with vexation and disappointment, “I bid you remain here in the water seven years.”

At the end of the seven years they were able to come out of the sea, and they returned to the town where dwelt the parents of the youth. Rosalie, however, could not enter the town because she had not been baptized. Accordingly, she sent her lover into the town, bidding him return with half a bottle of holy water, and on no account was he to embrace his grandparents; for in that case he would straight away forget his Rosalie.

The young man reached his home and greeted his grandparents, but he would not permit them to embrace him, much to their consternation. Feeling tired, he resolved to rest awhile before returning to Rosalie with the holy water. Soon he was fast asleep, whereupon his grandmother, bending over him, softly kissed him. Consequently when he awoke, he had no longer any recollection of Rosalie.

For days Rosalie waited outside the town for the return of her lover. At last one morning, seeing a small boy playing on the edge of the town, she summoned him, and persuaded him to fetch her some holy water. The boy did so, upon which Rosalie bathed herself in it and entered the town. There she heard that her lover was on the point of marrying another girl at the behest of his grandparents.

Rosalie proceeded to the home of her former lover, but he failed to recognize her. However, she succeeded in having the marriage postponed three days. Then she prepared a great feast, to which she invited all the elders of the town as well as her former lover. In the center of the table she placed two dolls she had made. One was in the image of her lover, the other had her features.

The guests arrived and sat down to the feast. In the middle of the festival Rosalie suddenly pulled out a lash, and proceeded to lash the doll in the form of her former lover.

“Don’t you remember how you had to fetch the water with the empty basket,” she cried, and “whang” sung the lash. But as the lash struck the doll, the man cried out with pain. Again Rosalie addressed the doll.

“Don’t you remember the pot at the bottom of the river, and how I brought” it up for you?”

Again the whip sung through the air as it descended on the doll’s back. Again the young man gave a shriek of pain. Still the memory of his former love for Rosalie was lost.

“Don’t you remember the milpa you had to make, and the corn on the cob I prepared for you?” Rosalie asked the doll.

“Whang,” sung the whip, as once more it descended on the doll’s back. Once more the youth cried out in agony as he felt the blow that had been given the doll in his likeness. Rosalie then asked the doll if it remembered the seven years in the sea. The whip fell once more on the doll’s back. Again the youth cried out with pain; then the memory of the past returned to him, and forgetting his bride to be, with a cry of joy he threw himself into Rosalie’s arms.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The King and His Son

A prince embarks on a mystical journey marked by divine interventions and trials orchestrated by his father, the King. He extinguishes a fire, gains a wife, and creates a city with her prayers. His father, driven by jealousy, challenges him with impossible tasks, ultimately leading to the discovery of a treasure and a mysterious figure summoned through an ancestral book, resulting in the city’s doom.

Source
Moorish Literature
   romantic ballads, tales of the Berbers,
   stories of the Kabyles, folk-lore,
   and national traditions
The Colonial Press,
   London, New York, 1901

► Themes of the story

Divine Intervention: The prince’s journey is marked by divine assistance, such as when his plea to God brings rain to extinguish the fire blocking his path.

Quest: The prince embarks on a journey to fulfill his father’s demands, seeking his mother’s spirit and a mysterious figure, embodying the quest motif.

Family Dynamics: The complex relationship between the prince and his father, driven by jealousy and the setting of arduous tasks, highlights intricate familial interactions.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Berber peoples

Translated by J. Rivière
and Chauncey C. Starkweather

He had a son whom he brought up well. The child grew and said one day to the King, “I am going out for a walk.”

“It is well,” answered the King. At a certain place he found an olive-tree on fire.

“O God,” he cried, “help me to put out this fire!”

Suddenly God sent the rain, the fire was extinguished, and the young man was able to pass. He came to the city and said to the governor: “Give me a chance to speak in my turn.”

“It is well,” said he; “speak.”

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“I ask the hand of your daughter,” replied the young man.

“I give her to you,” answered the governor, “for if you had not put out that fire the city would have been devoured by the flames.”

He departed with his wife. After a long march the wife made to God this prayer:

“O God, place this city here.”

The city appeared at the very spot. Toward evening the Marabout of the city of which the father of the young bridegroom was King went to the mosque to say his prayers.

“O marvel!” he cried, “what do I see down there?”

The King called his wife and sent her to see what was this new city. The woman departed, and, addressing the wife of the young prince, asked alms of him. He gave her alms. The messenger returned and said to the King:

“It is your son who commands in that city.”

The King, pricked by jealousy, said to the woman: “Go, tell him to come and find me. I must speak with him.”

The woman went away and returned with the King’s son. His father said to him:

“If you are the son of the King, go and see your mother in the other world.”

He regained his palace in tears.

“What is the matter with you,” asked his wife, “you whom destiny has given me?”

He answered her: “My father told me, ‘Go and see your mother in the other world.'”

“Return to your father,” she replied, “and ask him for the book of the grandmother of your grandmother.”

He returned to his father, who gave him the book. He brought it to his wife, who said to him, “Lay it on the grave of your mother.” He placed it there and the grave opened. He descended and found a man who was licking the earth. He saw another who was eating mildew. And he saw a third who was eating meat.

“Why do you eat meat?” he asked him.

“Because I did good on earth,” responded the shade. “Where shall I find my mother?” asked the prince.

The shade said, “She is down there.”

He went to his mother, who asked him why he came to seek her.

He replied, “My father sent me.”

“Return,” said the mother, “and say to your father to lift up the beam which is on the hearth.” The prince went to his father. “My mother bids you take up the beam which is above the hearth.” The King raised it and found a treasure.

“If you are the son of the King,” he added, “bring me someone a foot high whose beard measures two feet.” The prince began to weep.

“Why do you weep,” asked his wife, “you whom destiny has given me?”

The prince answered her, “My father said to me, ‘Bring me someone a foot high whose beard measures two feet.”

“Return to your father,” she replied, “and ask him for the book of the grandfather of your grandfather.”

His father gave him the book and the prince brought it to his wife.

“Take it to him again and let him put it in the assembly place, and call a public meeting.” A man a foot high appeared, took up the book, went around the city, and ate up all the inhabitants.

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The Child

A boy’s journey begins with a thorn in his foot and escalates into a chain of exchanges: thorn for egg, egg for hen, hen for goat, and so on, culminating in a young girl. Through cunning swaps and demands, he repeatedly takes back his possessions until he proposes marriage to the girl, connecting each trade in a whimsical tale of persistence and barter.

Source
Moorish Literature
   romantic ballads, tales of the Berbers,
   stories of the Kabyles, folk-lore,
   and national traditions
The Colonial Press,
   London, New York, 1901

► Themes of the story

Cunning and Deception: The narrative centers on the boy’s use of deceitful tactics to reclaim his possessions and advance his position.

Quest: The boy embarks on a journey with a specific goal, encountering various challenges and exchanges along the way.

Moral Lessons: The tale imparts lessons on the consequences of deceit and the complexities of human interactions.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Berber peoples

Translated by J. Rivière
and Chauncey C. Starkweather

A child had a thorn in his foot. He went to an old woman and said to her:

“Take out this thorn for me.”

The old woman took out the thorn and threw it away.

“Give me my thorn,” and he began to cry.

“Take an egg.”

He went to another old woman, “Hide me this egg.”

“Put it in the hen’s nest.”

► Continue reading…

In the night he took his egg and ate it. The next day he said to the old woman: “Give me my egg.”

“Take the hen,” she answered.

He went to another old woman, “Hide my hen for me.”

“Put her on the stake to which I tie my he-goat.”

At night he took away the hen. The next morning he demanded his hen.

“Look for her where you hid her.”

“Give me my hen.”

“Take the he-goat.”

He went to another old woman, “O old woman, hide this goat for me.”

“Tie him to the sheep’s crib.”

During the night he took away the buck. The next day he claimed the buck.

“Take the sheep.”

He went to another old woman, “O old woman, keep my sheep for me.”

“Tie him to the foot of the calf.”

During the night he took away the sheep. Next morning he demanded his sheep.

“Take the calf.”

He went to another old woman, “Keep my calf for me.”

“Tie him to the cow’s manger.”

In the night he took away the calf. The next morning he asked for his calf.

“Take the cow.”

He went to another old woman, “Keep my cow for me.”

“Tie her to the foot of the old woman’s bed.”

In the night he took away the cow. The next morning he demanded his cow.

“Take the old woman.”

He went to another old woman and left the old dame, whom he killed during the night. The next morning he demanded his old woman.

“There she is by the young girl.”

He found her dead.

“Give me my old woman.”

“Take the young girl.”

He said to her: “From the thorn to the egg, from the egg to the hen, from the hen to the buck, from the buck to the sheep, from the sheep to the calf, from the calf to the cow, from the cow to the old woman, from the old woman to the young girl, and now come and marry me.”

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The Apple of Youth

A king with five daughters seeks husbands for them. A stranger wins the youngest’s hand and suggests a novel way for all daughters to choose their suitors. After marriage, the king demands a magical apple granting eternal youth. The youngest son-in-law braves an ogress’s city to retrieve the true apple, restoring the king’s youth. Named heir, he ascends the throne after the king’s death.

Source
Moorish Literature
   romantic ballads, tales of the Berbers,
   stories of the Kabyles, folk-lore,
   and national traditions
The Colonial Press,
   London, New York, 1901

► Themes of the story

Quest: The protagonist embarks on a journey to obtain the magical apple that grants eternal youth.

Sacred Objects: The apple itself is a powerful artifact imbued with mystical significance, capable of restoring youth.

Trials and Tribulations: The protagonist faces challenges, including navigating the ogress’s city and obtaining the apple, to achieve his goal.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Berber peoples

Translated by Réne Basset
and Chauncey C. Starkweather

There once lived a king who had five daughters and no sons. They grew up. He wanted them to marry, but they would not have any of the young men of the city. A youth came from a far country and stood under the castle, beneath the window of the youngest daughter. She saw him, and told her father she would marry him.

“Bring him in,” said the King.

“He will come to-morrow.”

“God be praised,” said the King, “that you are pleased with us.”

The young man answered, “Give me your daughter for a wife.”

► Continue reading…

“Advise me,” said the King.

The stranger said, “Go and wait till to-morrow.”

The next day the young man said to the King: “Make all the inhabitants of the city come out. You will stand with the clerks at the entrance to the gate. Dress your daughters and let them choose their husbands themselves.”

The people began to come out. The eldest daughter struck one of them on the chest with an apple, and they said: “That daughter has chosen a husband. Bravo!” Each one of the daughters thus selected a husband, and the youngest kept hers. A little while afterward, the King received a visit from one of his sons-in-law, who said to him, “What do you want us to give you?”

“I’ll see what my daughters want,” he answered. “Come back in six days.”

When they went to see their wives the King said to them, “I will ask of you a thing about which they have spoken to me.”

“What is it? We are anxious to know.”

“It is an apple, the odor of which gives to the one who breathes it youth, no matter what his age may be.”

“It is difficult,” they answered. “We know not where it can be found.”

“If you do not bring it to me, you cannot marry my daughter.”

They kept silent, and then consulted with each other. The youngest said to them, “Seek the means to satisfy the King.”

“Give us your advice—-“

“Father-in-law, to-morrow we shall bring you the apple.” His brothers-in-law added: “Go out. To-morrow we will meet you outside the city.”

The next day they all five met together. Four of them said to the other, “Advise us or we will kill you.”

“Cut off your fingers,” he said.

The first one began, and the three others did the same. The youngest one took them and put them into his game-bag, and then he added, “Wait near the city till I come back.”

He went out into the desert and came to the city of the ogress. He entered, and found her ready to grind some wheat. He said to the ogress, “Show me the apple whose color gives eternal youth to the old man who smells it.”

“You are in the family of ogres,” she said. “Cut a hair from the horse of their King. When you go into the garden cast this hair into the fire. You will find a tree, from which you must pick five fruits. When plucking them do not speak a word, and keep silence on your return. It is the smallest fruit that possesses the magic power.”

He took the apple and went back to the city, where he found his companions. He concealed in his breast the wonderful fruit, and gave the others to his brothers-in-law, one to each. They entered the palace of the King, who was overjoyed to see them, gave them seats, and asked them, “Have you brought it or not?”

“We have brought it,” they answered.

He said to the eldest, “Give me your apple first.”

He took a mirror in his left hand, and the fruit in the right hand, bent down, and inhaled the odor of the apple, but without results. He threw it down upon the ground. The others gave him their apples, with no more success.

“You have deceived me,” he said to them. “The apples do not produce the effect that I sought.”

Addressing, then, the stranger, he said, “Give me your apple.”

The other son-in-law replied: “I am not of this country. I will not give you my fruit.”

“Give it to me to look at,” said the King. The young man gave it to him, saying, “Take a mirror in your right hand and the apple in your left hand.”

The King put the apple to his nose, and, looking at his beard, saw that it became black. His teeth became white. He grew young again. “You are my son,” he said to the young man. And he made a proclamation to his subjects, “When I am dead he shall succeed me on the throne.” His son-in-law stayed some time with him, and after the death of the King he reigned in his place and did not marry the other daughters of the King to his companions.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page

The Magic Napkin

A taleb offered 100 mitquals to anyone willing to sell themselves, and a man accepted. The taleb used him to retrieve a magical box from the earth, but the man kept it secret. After being abandoned and recovering, he discovered the box contained magical wonders, including genii and dancers. This led to a royal invitation, a marriage to the Sultan’s daughter, and eventually becoming the Sultan himself.

Source
Moorish Literature
   romantic ballads, tales of the Berbers,
   stories of the Kabyles, folk-lore,
   and national traditions
The Colonial Press,
   London, New York, 1901

► Themes of the story

Trickster: The taleb deceives the man into retrieving the magical box, showcasing cunning behavior.

Forbidden Knowledge: The man uncovers hidden magical wonders within the box, delving into secrets beyond ordinary understanding.

Quest: The man’s task to retrieve the magical box serves as a journey undertaken to achieve a specific goal.

► From the same Region or People

Learn more about the Berber peoples

Translated by Réne Basset
and Chauncey C. Starkweather

A taleb made a proclamation in these terms: “Is there anyone who will sell himself for 100 mitquals?” A man agreed to sell himself. The stranger took him to the cadi, who wrote out the bill of sale. He took the 100 mitquals and gave them to his mother and departed with the taleb. They went to a place where the latter began to repeat certain formulas. The earth opened and the man entered it. The other said to him, “Bring me the candlestick of reed and the box.” He took this and came out keeping it in his pocket.

“Where is the box?” asked the taleb.

“I did not find it.”

► Continue reading…

“By the Lord, let us go.”

He took him to the mountains, cast a stone at him, and went away. He lay on the ground for three days. Then he came to himself, went back to his own country, and rented a house. He opened the box, found inside a silk napkin, which he opened, and in which he found seven folds. He unfolded one. Genii came around the chamber, and a young girl danced until the day dawned. The man stayed there all that day until night. The King came out that night, and, hearing the noise of the dance, he knocked at the door, with his vezir. They received him with a red h’aik. He amused himself until the day dawned. Then he went home with his vezir. The latter sent for the man and said, “Give me the box which you have at home.” He brought it to the King, who said to him: “Give me the box which you have so that I may amuse myself with it, and I will marry you to my daughter.” The man obeyed and married the Sultan’s daughter. The Sultan amused himself with the box, and after his death his son-in-law succeeded him.

Running and expanding this site requires resources: from maintaining our digital platform to sourcing and curating new content. With your help, we can grow our collection, improve accessibility, and bring these incredible narratives to an even wider audience. Your sponsorship enables us to keep the world’s stories alive and thriving. ♦ Visit our Support page