A poor woman longed for a child. One day, she saw a little snake in the forest and said that even snakes had children; the little snake offered to be hers. The woman and her husband raised the snake. When it was grown, it wanted to marry, and not to another snake but to the king's daughter. The father went to ask, and the king said that the snake should have her if he could turn all the fruit in the orchard into gold. The snake told his father to gather up all the pits he could find and sow them in the orchard; when they sprang up, all the fruits were gold.
The king then demanded that the walls and paths of his palace be turned to precious stones; the snake had his father gathered up broken crockery and threw it at the walls and paths, which transformed them, making them glitter with the many coloured gems.
The king then demanded that the castle be turned to gold; the snake had his father rub the walls with a herb, which transformed them.
The king told his daughter, Grannonia, he had tried to put off this suitor but failed. Grannonia said that she would obey him. The snake came in a car of gold, drawn by elephants; everyone else ran off in fright, but Grannonia stood her ground. The snake took her into a room, where he shed his skin and became a handsome young man. The king, fearing that his daughter was being eaten, looked through the keyhole, and seeing this, grabbed the skin and burned it. The youth exclaimed that the king was a fool, turned into a dove, and flew off.
Grannonia set out in search of him. She met a fox and traveled with him. In the morning as the princess remarked on the wondrous sounds of the birdsongs, the fox told her the birdsong would be even better if she knew what the birds were saying: that a prince had been cursed to take a snake's form for seven years, that near the end of the time, he had fallen in love with and married a princess, but that his snake skin had been burned, and he had struck his head while he fled, and was now in the care of doctors. The fox then told her that the blood of the birds would cure him, and he caught them for her. Then he told her that his blood was also needed; she persuaded him to go with her and killed him.
She went to her husband's father and promised to cure the prince if he would marry her; the king agreed and she cured him. The prince refused because he had already pledged himself to another woman. The princess, pleased, revealed that she was that woman and they married.
Analysis
Motifs
The urging of her father to marry the beast because he had promised her represents a factor clearly present in arranged marriages. This tale has been interpreted as symbolically representing an arranged marriage; the bride's revulsion to marrying a stranger being symbolized by his bestial form.[4]
The episode of the heroine overhearing the animals that talk about how to cure the ailed prince occurs in tale type ATU 432, "The Prince as Bird".[5]
Adaptations
The tale was also part of Fairy Tales of the Allied Nations, a compilation of fairy tales by famed illustrator Edmund Dulac, with the name The Serpent Prince.[6]
Variants
In a Belarusian tale published by folklorist Lev Barag [ru] and translated as Der Krebs als Zarensohn ("The Crab as Son-in-Law"), a old couple suffers for they have no son. One day, the old man captures a crab in a bucket and the animal tells him he wants to be his son. Some time later, the crab son asks his father to go to court and ask for the hand of the czar's daughter in marriage. The czar laughs at the silly proposition and orders the poor man three tasks for his crab son: to build a bridge encrusted with gold and silver between the palace and the old couple's hut; to plant a tree along the road that yield golden and silver fruits, and to have a marching band with fine garment and a fine horse. The crab prince tells his father not to worry, and goes to the lake where he was found; he takes off his crab shell and summons the fishes and crabs to provide him with the tasks. The czar admits his prospective son-in-law must be someone magical and marries one of his daughters to the crab. The princess discovers the crab prince becomes a handsome man at night and tells her sisters as rebuttal to their mockery, and her sisters say they will burn the shell. That night, while the crab prince and the princess are asleep, they burn the shell; the crab prince awakens, sensing something is afoot, and learns of the burnt shell. He admonishes his wife and tells her to find him after wearing down three pairs of iron boots, three iron canes and eating three iron loaves of bread. He summons his magical horse Sivko-Burko, his father's mount, and vanishes into the sky. The princess follows through with his directions and walks a long road: she meets on the way her sisters-in-law, who shelter her and each give her an item (a cloth embroidered with gold and silver, a golden and silver haircomb, and a spinning wheel with a spindle). Her third sister-in-law advises her to reach the next town with a bazaar, open up shop and put the items on show, for a noblewoman will come to buy the objects, but she must refuse money and ask to sleep with her husband for three nights. Twice it happens, but the princess fails to awake her husband, because the noblewoman gave him a sleeping potion. He only awakens on her third attempt and recognizes her.[7]
See also
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
^Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. pp. 146-147.
^Dulac, Edmund. Edmund Dulac’s Fairy-Book: Fairy Tales of the Allied Nations. New York: George H. Doran Company. 1916. pp. 31-44.
^Barag, Lev. Belorussische Volksmärchen. Akademie-Verlag, 1968. pp. 253ff.
January 06, 2023
enchanted, snake, snake, italian, fairy, tale, giambattista, basile, wrote, variant, pentamerone, andrew, lang, drew, upon, this, variant, inclusion, green, fairy, book, aarne, thompson, type, 425a, search, lost, husband, others, this, type, include, black, bu. The Enchanted Snake or The Snake is an Italian fairy tale Giambattista Basile wrote a variant in the Pentamerone 1 Andrew Lang drew upon this variant 2 for inclusion in The Green Fairy Book 3 It is Aarne Thompson type 425A the search for the lost husband Others of this type include The Black Bull of Norroway The Brown Bear of Norway The Daughter of the Skies The Enchanted Pig The Tale of the Hoodie Master Semolina The Sprig of Rosemary East of the Sun and West of the Moon and White Bear King Valemon 2 Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Analysis 2 1 Motifs 3 Adaptations 4 Variants 5 See also 6 ReferencesSynopsis EditA poor woman longed for a child One day she saw a little snake in the forest and said that even snakes had children the little snake offered to be hers The woman and her husband raised the snake When it was grown it wanted to marry and not to another snake but to the king s daughter The father went to ask and the king said that the snake should have her if he could turn all the fruit in the orchard into gold The snake told his father to gather up all the pits he could find and sow them in the orchard when they sprang up all the fruits were gold The king then demanded that the walls and paths of his palace be turned to precious stones the snake had his father gathered up broken crockery and threw it at the walls and paths which transformed them making them glitter with the many coloured gems The king then demanded that the castle be turned to gold the snake had his father rub the walls with a herb which transformed them The king told his daughter Grannonia he had tried to put off this suitor but failed Grannonia said that she would obey him The snake came in a car of gold drawn by elephants everyone else ran off in fright but Grannonia stood her ground The snake took her into a room where he shed his skin and became a handsome young man The king fearing that his daughter was being eaten looked through the keyhole and seeing this grabbed the skin and burned it The youth exclaimed that the king was a fool turned into a dove and flew off Grannonia set out in search of him She met a fox and traveled with him In the morning as the princess remarked on the wondrous sounds of the birdsongs the fox told her the birdsong would be even better if she knew what the birds were saying that a prince had been cursed to take a snake s form for seven years that near the end of the time he had fallen in love with and married a princess but that his snake skin had been burned and he had struck his head while he fled and was now in the care of doctors The fox then told her that the blood of the birds would cure him and he caught them for her Then he told her that his blood was also needed she persuaded him to go with her and killed him She went to her husband s father and promised to cure the prince if he would marry her the king agreed and she cured him The prince refused because he had already pledged himself to another woman The princess pleased revealed that she was that woman and they married Analysis EditMotifs Edit The urging of her father to marry the beast because he had promised her represents a factor clearly present in arranged marriages This tale has been interpreted as symbolically representing an arranged marriage the bride s revulsion to marrying a stranger being symbolized by his bestial form 4 The episode of the heroine overhearing the animals that talk about how to cure the ailed prince occurs in tale type ATU 432 The Prince as Bird 5 Adaptations EditThe tale was also part of Fairy Tales of the Allied Nations a compilation of fairy tales by famed illustrator Edmund Dulac with the name The Serpent Prince 6 Variants EditIn a Belarusian tale published by folklorist Lev Barag ru and translated as Der Krebs als Zarensohn The Crab as Son in Law a old couple suffers for they have no son One day the old man captures a crab in a bucket and the animal tells him he wants to be his son Some time later the crab son asks his father to go to court and ask for the hand of the czar s daughter in marriage The czar laughs at the silly proposition and orders the poor man three tasks for his crab son to build a bridge encrusted with gold and silver between the palace and the old couple s hut to plant a tree along the road that yield golden and silver fruits and to have a marching band with fine garment and a fine horse The crab prince tells his father not to worry and goes to the lake where he was found he takes off his crab shell and summons the fishes and crabs to provide him with the tasks The czar admits his prospective son in law must be someone magical and marries one of his daughters to the crab The princess discovers the crab prince becomes a handsome man at night and tells her sisters as rebuttal to their mockery and her sisters say they will burn the shell That night while the crab prince and the princess are asleep they burn the shell the crab prince awakens sensing something is afoot and learns of the burnt shell He admonishes his wife and tells her to find him after wearing down three pairs of iron boots three iron canes and eating three iron loaves of bread He summons his magical horse Sivko Burko his father s mount and vanishes into the sky The princess follows through with his directions and walks a long road she meets on the way her sisters in law who shelter her and each give her an item a cloth embroidered with gold and silver a golden and silver haircomb and a spinning wheel with a spindle Her third sister in law advises her to reach the next town with a bazaar open up shop and put the items on show for a noblewoman will come to buy the objects but she must refuse money and ask to sleep with her husband for three nights Twice it happens but the princess fails to awake her husband because the noblewoman gave him a sleeping potion He only awakens on her third attempt and recognizes her 7 See also Edit Wikisource has original text related to this article The Serpent Children s literature portalThe Blue Bird The Canary Prince The Green Knight The Snake Prince The Three Sisters Prince SoburReferences Edit Giambattista Basile The Pentamerone The Snake a b Heidi Anne Heiner Tales Similar to East of the Sun amp West of the Moon Andrew Lang The Green Fairy Book The Enchanted Snake Maria Tatar Off with Their Heads p 140 1 ISBN 0 691 06943 3 Aarne Antti Thompson Stith The types of the folktale a classification and bibliography Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no 184 Helsinki Academia Scientiarum Fennica 1961 pp 146 147 Dulac Edmund Edmund Dulac s Fairy Book Fairy Tales of the Allied Nations New York George H Doran Company 1916 pp 31 44 Barag Lev Belorussische Volksmarchen Akademie Verlag 1968 pp 253ff Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Enchanted Snake amp oldid 1107747289, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
