Animal Bridegrooms
The Aarne-Thomson Classification System A catalogue of over 2500 basic folklore plots, grouped by thier shared plot charicteristics, directly supporting the theory of architypal literary criticism*.
Tale Type 425 Animal Bridegrooms
* A type of critical theory that cross references anthropology and psycoanalysis in order to interpret a text by focusing on the universally recurring myths and archetypes in the narrative.
EAST OF THE SUN WEST OF THE MOON ONCE upon a time there was a poor husbandman who had many children and little to give them in the way either of food or clothing. They were all pretty, but the prettiest of all was the youngest daughter, who was so beautiful that there were no bounds to her beauty. It was late on a Thursday evening in autumn, and wild weather outside, terribly dark, and raining so heavily and blowing so hard that the walls of the cottage shook. They were all sitting together by the fireside, each of them busy with something or other, when suddenly some one rapped three times against the window- pane. The man went out to see what could be the matter, and when he got out there stood a great big white bear. “Good-evening to you,” said the White Bear. “Good-evening,” said the man. “Will you give me your youngest daughter?” Said the White Bear; “if you will, you shall be as rich as you are now poor. Truly the man would have had no objection to be rich, but he thought to himself: “I must first ask my daughter about this,” so he went in and told them that there was a great white bear outside who had faithfully promised to make them all rich if he might but have the youngest daughter. She said no and would not hear of it; so the man went out again, and settled with the White Bear that he should come again next Thursday evening, and get her answer. Then the man persuaded her, and talked so much to her about the wealth that they would have, and what a good thing it would be for herself, that at last she made up her mind to go, and washed and mended all her rags, made herself as smart as she could, and held herself in readiness to set out. Little enough had she to take away with her. Next Thursday evening the White Bear came to fetch her. She seated herself on his back with her bundle, and thus they departed.
When they had gone a great part of the way, the White Bear said: “Are you afraid?” “No, that I am not,” said she. “Keep tight hold of my fur, and then there is no danger,” said he. And thus she rode far, far away, until they came to a great mountain. Then the White Bear knocked on it, and a door opened, and they went into a castle where there were many brilliantly lighted rooms which shone with gold and silver, likewise a large hall in which there was a well-spread table, and it was so magnificent that it would be hard to make anyone understand how splendid it was. The White Bear gave her a silver bell, and told her that when she needed anything she had but to ring this bell, and what she wanted would appear. So after she had eaten, and night was drawing near, she grew sleepy after her journey, and thought she would like to go to bed. She rang the bell, and scarcely had she touched it before she found herself in a chamber where a bed stood ready made for her, which was as pretty as anyone could wish to sleep in. When she had lain down and put out the light a man came and lay down beside her, and behold it was the White Bear, who cast off the form of a beast during the night. She never saw him, however, for he always came after she had put out her light, and went away before daylight appeared. So all went well and happily for a time, but then she began to be very sad and sorrowful, for all day long she had to go about alone; and she did so wish to go home to her father and mother and brothers and sisters. Then the White Bear asked what it was that she wanted, and she told him that it was so dull there in the mountain, and that she had to go about all alone, and that in her parents’ house at home there were all her brothers and sisters, and it was because she could not go to them that she was so sorrowful. “There might be a cure for that,” said the White Bear, “if you would but promise me never to talk with your mother alone, but only when the others are there too; for she will take hold of your hand,” he said, “and will want to lead you into a room to talk with you alone; but that you must by no means do, or you will bring great misery on both of us.” So one Sunday the White Bear came and said that they could now set out to see her father and mother, and they journeyed thither, she sitting on his back, and they went a long, long way, and it took a long, long time; but at last they came to a large white farmhouse, and her brothers and sisters were running about outside it, playing, and it was so pretty that it was a pleasure to look at it. “Your parents dwell here now,” said the White Bear; “but do not forget what I said to you, or you will do much harm both to yourself and me.” “No, indeed,” said she, “I shall never forget;” and as soon as she was at home the White Bear turned round and went back again. There were such rejoicings when she went in to her parents that it seemed as if they would never come to an end. Everyone thought that he could never be sufficiently grateful to her for all she had done for them all. Now they had everything that they wanted, and everything was as good as it could be. They all asked her how she was getting on where she was. All was well with her too, she said; and she had everything that she could want. What other answers she gave I cannot say, but I am
pretty sure that they did not learn much from her. But in the afternoon, after they had dined at midday, all happened just as the White Bear had said. Her mother wanted to talk with her alone in her own chamber. But she remembered what the White Bear had said, and would on no account go. “What we have to say can be said at any time,” she answered. But somehow or other her mother at last persuaded her, and she was forced to tell the whole story, and how she continually went about in sadness, thinking how happy she would be if she could but see him, and how all day long she had to go about alone, and it was so dull and solitary. “Oh!” cried the mother, in horror, “you are very likely sleeping with a troll! But I will teach you a way to see him. You shall have a bit of one of my candles, which you can take away with you hidden in your breast. Look at him with that when he is asleep, but take care not to let any tallow drop upon him.” So she took the candle, and hid it in her breast, and when evening drew near the White Bear came to fetch her away. When they had gone some distance on their way, the White Bear asked her if everything had not happened just as he had foretold, and she could not but own that it had. “Then, if you have done what your mother wished,” said he, “you have brought great misery on both of us.” “No,” she said, “I have not done anything at all.” So when she had reached home and had gone to bed it was just the same as it had been before, and a man came and lay down beside her, and late at night, when she could hear that he was sleeping, she got up and kindled a light, lit her candle, let her light shine on him, and saw him, and he was the handsomest prince that eyes had ever beheld, and she loved him so much that it seemed to her that she must die if she did not kiss him that very moment. So she did kiss him; but while she was doing it she let three drops of hot tallow fall upon his shirt, and he awoke. “What have you done now?” said he; “you have brought misery on both of us. If you had but held out for the space of one year I should have been free. I have a step-mother who has bewitched me so that I am a white bear by day and a man by night; but now all is at an end between you and me, and I must leave you, and go to her. She lives in a castle which lies east of the sun and west of the moon, and there too is a princess with a nose which is three ells long, and she now is the one whom I must marry.” She wept and lamented, but all in vain, for go he must. Then she asked him if she could not go with him. But no, that could not be. “Can you tell me the way then, and I will seek you -that I may surely be allowed to do!” “Yes, you may do that,” said he; “but there is no way thither. It lies east of the sun and west of the moon, and never would you find y our way there.” When she awoke in the morning both the Prince and the castle were gone, and she was lying on a small green patch in the midst of a dark, thick wood. By her side lay the self-same bundle of rags which she had brought with her from her own home. So when she had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and wept till she was weary, she set out on her way, and thus she walked for many and many a long day, until at last she came to a great
mountain. Outside it an aged woman was sitting, playing with a golden apple. The girl asked her if she knew the way to the Prince who lived with his stepmother in the castle which lay east of the sun and west of the moon, and who was to marry a princess with a nose which was three ells long. “How do you happen to know about him?” inquired the old woman; “maybe you are she who ought to have had him.” “Yes, indeed, I am,” she said. “So it is you, then?” said the old woman; “I know nothing about him but that he dwells in a castle which is east of the sun and west of the moon. You will be a long time in getting to it, if ever you get to it at all; but you shall have the loan of my horse, and then you can ride on it to an old woman who is a neighbor of mine: perhaps she can tell you about him. When you have got there you must just strike the horse beneath the left ear and bid it go home again; but you may take the golden apple with you.” So the girl seated herself on the horse, and rode for a long, long way, and at last she came to the mountain, where an aged woman was sitting outside with a gold carding-comb. The girl asked her if she knew the way to the castle which lay east of the sun and west of the moon; but she said what the first old woman had said: “I know nothing about it, but that it is east of the sun and west of the moon, and that you will be a long time in getting to it, if ever you get there at all; but you shall have the loan of my horse to an old woman who lives the nearest to me, perhaps she may know where the castle is, and when you have got to her you may just strike the horse beneath the left ear and bid it go home again.” Then she gave her the gold carding-comb, for it might, perhaps, be of use to her, she said. So the girl seated herself on the horse, and rode a wearisome long way onward again, and after a very long time she came to a great mountain, where an aged woman was sitting, spinning at a golden spinning-wheel. Of this woman, too, she inquired if she knew the way to the Prince, and where to find the castle which lay east of the sun and west of the moon. But it was only the same thing once again. “Maybe it was you who should have had the Prince,” said the old woman. “Yes, indeed, I should have been the one,” said the girl. But this old crone knew the way no better than the others -- it was east of the sun and west of the moon, she knew that, “and you will be a long time in getting to it, if ever you get to it at all,” she said; “but you may have the loan of my horse, and I think you had better ride to the East Wind, and ask him: perhaps he may know where the castle is, and will blow you thither. But when you have got to him you must just strike the horse beneath the left ear, and he will come home again.” And then she gave her the golden spinning-wheel, saying: “Perhaps you may find that you have a use for it.” The girl had to ride for a great many days, and for a long and wearisome time, before she got there; but at last she did arrive, and then she asked the East Wind if he could tell her the way to the Prince who dwelt east of the sun and west of the moon. “Well,” said the East Wind, “I have heard tell of the Prince, and of his castle, but I do not know the way to it, for I have never blown so far; but, if you like, I will go with you to my brother the West Wind: he may know that, for he is much
stronger than I am. You may sit on my back, and then I can carry you there.” So she seated herself on his back, and they did go so swiftly! When they got there, the East Wind went in and said that the girl whom he had brought was the one who ought to have had the Prince up at the castle which lay east of the sun and west of the moon, and that now she was traveling about to find him again, so he had come there with her, and would like to hear if the West Wind knew where about the castle was. “No,” said the West Wind; “so far as that have I never blown; but if you like I will go with you to the South Wind, for he is much stronger than either of us, and he has roamed far and wide, and perhaps he can tell you what you want to know. You may seat yourself on my back, and then I will carry you to him.” So she did this, and journeyed to the South Wind, neither was she very long on the way. When they had got there, the West Wind asked him if he could tell her the way to the castle that lay east of the sun and west of the moon, for she was the girl who ought to marry the Prince who lived there. “Oh, indeed!” said the South Wind, “is that she? Well,” said he, “I have wandered about a great deal in my time, and in all kinds of places, but I have never blown so far as that. If you like, however, I will go with you to my brother, the North Wind; he is the oldest and strongest of all of us, and if he does not know where it is no one in the whole world will be able to tell you. You may sit upon my back, and then I will carry you there.” So she seated herself on his back, and off he went from his house in great haste, and they were not long on the way. When they came near the North Wind’s dwelling, he was so wild and frantic that they felt cold gusts a long while before they got there. “What do you want?” he roared out from afar, and they froze as they heard. Said the South Wind: “It is I, and this is she who should have had the Prince who lives in the castle which lies east of the sun and west of the moon. And now she wishes to ask you if you have ever been there, and can tell her the way, for she would gladly find him again.” “Yes,” said the North Wind, “I know where it is. I once blew an aspen leaf there, but I was so tired that for many days afterward I was not able to blow at all. However, if you really are anxious to go there, and are not afraid to go with me, I will take you on my back, and try if I can blow you there.” “Get there I must,” said she; “and if there is any way of going I will; and I have no fear, no matter how fast you go.” “Very well then,” said the North Wind; “but you must sleep here to-night, for if we are ever to get there we must have the day before us.” The North Wind woke her betimes next morning, and puffed himself up, and made himself so big and so strong that it was frightful to see him, and away they went, high up through the air, as if they would not stop until they had reached the very end of the world. Down below there was such a storm! It blew down woods and houses, and when they were above the sea the ships were wrecked by hundreds. And thus they tore on and on, and a long time went by, and then yet more time passed, and still they were above the sea, and the North Wind grew tired, and more tired, and at last so utterly weary that he was scarcely able to blow any longer, and he sank and sank, lower and lower, until at last he went so low that the waves dashed against the
heels of the poor girl he was carrying. “Art thou afraid?” said the North Wind. “I have no fear,” said she; and it was true. But they were not very, very far from land, and there was just enough strength left in the North Wind to enable him to throw her on to the shore, immediately under the windows of a castle which lay east of the sun and west of the moon; but then he was so weary and worn out that he was forced to rest for several days before he could go to his own home again. Next morning she sat down beneath the walls of the castle to play with the golden apple, and the first person she saw was the maiden with the long nose, who was to have the Prince. “How much do you want for that gold apple of yours, girl?” said she, opening the window. “It can’t be bought either for gold or money,” answered the girl. “If it cannot be bought either for gold or money, what will buy it? You may say what you please,” said the Princess. “Well, if I may go to the Prince who is here, and be with him to-night, you shall have it,” said the girl who had come with the North Wind. “You may do that,” said the Princess, for she had made up her mind what she would do. So the Princess got the golden apple, but when the girl went up to the Prince’s apartment that night he was asleep, for the Princess had so contrived it. The poor girl called to him, and shook him, and between whiles she wept; but she could not wake him. In the morning, as soon as day dawned, in came the Princess with the long nose, and drove her out again. In the daytime she sat down once more beneath the windows of the castle, and began to card with her golden carding-comb; and then all happened as it had happened before. The Princess asked her what she wanted for it, and she replied that it was not for sale, either for gold or money, but that if she could get leave to go to the Prince, and be with him during the night, she should have it. But when she went up to the Prince’s room he was again asleep, and, let her call him, or shake him, or weep as she would, he still slept on, and she could not put any life in him. When daylight came in the morning, the Princess with the long nose came too, and once more drove her away. When day had quite come, the girl seated herself under the castle windows, to spin with her golden spinning-wheel, and the Princess with the long nose wanted to have that also. So she opened the window, and asked what she would take for it. The girl said what she had said on each of the former occasions -- that it was not for sale either for gold or for money, but if she could get leave to go to the Prince who lived there, and be with him during the night, she should have it. “Yes,” said the Princess, “I will gladly consent to that.” But in that place there were some Christian folk who had been carried off, and they had been sitting in the chamber which was next to that of the Prince, and had heard how a woman had been in there who had wept and called on him two nights running, and they told the Prince of this. So that evening, when the Princess came once more with her sleeping-drink, he pretended to drink, but threw it away behind him, for he suspected that it was a sleeping-drink. So, when the girl went into the Prince’s room this time he was awake, and she had to tell him how she had come there. “You have come just in time,” said the Prince, “for I should have been married to-morrow; but I will not have the long-nosed Princess, and you alone can save me. I will say that I want to see what my bride can do, and bid her wash the shirt
which has the three drops of tallow on it. This she will consent to do, for she does not know that it is you who let them fall on it; but no one can wash them out but one born of Christian folk: it cannot be done by one of a pack of trolls; and then I will say that no one shall ever be my bride but the woman who can do this,61 and I know that you can.” There was great joy and gladness between them all that night, but the next day, when the wedding was to take place, the Prince said, “I must see what my bride can do.” “That you may do,” said the stepmother. “I have a fine shirt which I want to wear as my wedding shirt, but three drops of tallow have got upon it which I want to have washed off, and I have vowed to marry no one but the woman who is able to do it. If she cannot do that, she is not worth having.” Well, that was a very small matter, they thought, and agreed to do it. The Princess with the long nose began to wash as well as she could, but, the more she washed and rubbed, the larger the spots grew. “Ah! you can’t wash at all,” said the old troll-hag, who was her mother. “Give it to me.” But she too had not had the shirt very long in her hands before it looked worse still, and, the more she washed it and rubbed it, the larger and blacker grew the spots. So the other trolls had to come and wash, but, the more they did, the blacker and uglier grew the shirt, until at length it was as black as if it had been up the chimney. “Oh,” cried the Prince, “not one of you is good for anything at all! There is a beggar-girl sitting outside the window, and I’ll be bound that she can wash better than any of you! Come in, you girl there!” he cried. So she came in. “Can you wash this shirt clean?” he cried. “Oh! I don’t know,” she said; “but I will try.” And no sooner had she taken the shirt and dipped it in the water than it was white as driven snow, and even whiter than that. “I will marry you,” said the Prince. Then the old troll-hag flew into such a rage that she burst, and the Princess with the long nose and all the little trolls must have burst too, for they have never been heard of since. The Prince and his bride set free all the Christian folk who were imprisoned there, and took away with them all the gold and silver that they could carry, and moved far away from the castle which lay east of the sun and west of the moon.
Spills three drops of tallow on him
Breaks t
Given a candle to look at him in his sleep
Disobey’s husband
Told not to be alone with mother
Girl asks to visit family
Animal bridegroom turns human at night
Castle in a mountain
Embarks on long journey
Marries a beast
Youngest child of poor family
the spell
Husband dissappears to a far away palace Girl given three magical presents
Washes 3 drops of tallow off shirt to prove she is worthy
Girl blown by all four winds to the palace
Husband betrithed to other
Girl bribes other bride to get see husbands
Bride drugs husband
Eventually prince is told
By christians held hostage
“Well,” quoth the old woman, “yon’s for you.” So they took her in, and off they set.
IN NORROWAY, long time ago, there lived a certain lady, and she had three daughters: The oldest of them said to her mother: “Mother, bake me bannock, and roast me collop, for I’m going away to seek my fortune.” Her mother did so; and the daughter went away to an old witch washerwife and told her purpose. The old wife bade her stay that day, and look out of her back-door, and see what she could see. She saw nought the first day. The second day she did the same, and saw nought. On the third day she looked again, and saw a coach-and-six coming along the road. She ran in and told the old wife what she saw. “Well,” quoth the old woman, “yon’s for you.” So they took her into the coach and galloped off. The second daughter next says to her mother: “Mother, bake me a bannock, and roast me a collop, for I’m going away to seek my fortune.” Her mother did so; and away she went to the old wife, as her sister had done. On the third day she looked out of the backdoor, and saw a coach-and-four coming along the road.
The third daughter says to her mother: “Mother, bake me a bannock, and roast me a collop, for I’m going away to seek my fortune.” Her mother did so; and away she went to the old witch. She bade her look out of her back-door, and see what she could see. She did so; and when she came back, said she saw nought. The second day she did the same, and saw nought. The third day she looked again, and on coming back said to the old wife she saw nought but a great Black Bull coming crooning along the road. “Well,” quoth the old woman, “yon’s for you.” On hearing this she was next to distracted with grief and terror; but she was lifted up and set on his back, and away they went. Aye they traveled, and on they traveled, till the lady grew faint with hunger. “Eat out of my right ear,” says the Black Bull, “and drink out of my left ear, and set by your leaving.” So she did as he said and was wonderfully refreshed. And long they rode, and hard they rode, till they came in sight of a very big and bonny castle. “Yonder we must be this night,” quoth the Bull; “for my elder brother lives yonder;” and presently they were at the place. They lifted her off his back, and took her in, and sent him away to a park for the night. In the morning, when they brought the Bull home, they took the lady into a fine shining parlour, and gave her a beautiful apple, telling her not to break it till she was in the greatest strait ever mortal was in the world, and that would bring her out of it. Again she was lifted on the Bull’s back, and after she had ridden far, and farther than I can tell, they came in sight of a far bonnier castle, and far farther away than the last. Says the Bull, “Yonder we must be this night, for my second brother lives yonder;” and they were at the place directly. They lifted her down and took her in, and sent the Bull to the field for the night. In the morning they took the lady into a fine and rich room, and gave her the finest pear she had ever seen, bidding her not to break it till she was in the greatest strait ever mortal could be in, and that would get her out of it. Again she was lifted and set on his back, and away they went. And long they rose, and hard they rode, till they came in sight of the far biggest castle, and far farthest off, they had yet seen. “We must be yonder to-night,” says the Bull, “for my young brother lives yonder;” and they were there directly. They lifted her down,
THE BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY
took her in, and sent the Bull to the field for the night. In the morning they took her into a room, the finest of all, and gave her a plum, telling her not to break it till she was in the greatest strait mortal could be in, and that would get her out of it. Presently they brought home the Bull, set the lady on his back, and away they went. And aye they rode, and on they rode, till they came to a dark and ugsome glen, where they stopped, and the lady lighted down. Says the Bull to her: “Here you must stay till I go and fight the Old One. You must seat yourself on that stone, and move neither hand nor foot till I come back, else I’ll never find you again. And if everything round about you turns blue, I have beaten the Old One; but should all things turn red, he’ll have conquered me.” She set herself down on the stone, and by-and-by all round her turned blue. Overcome with joy, she lifted one of her feet, and crossed it over the other, so glad was she that her companion was victorious. The Bull returned and sought for her, but never could find her. Long she sat, and aye she wept, till she wearied. At last she rose and went away, she didn’t know where. On she wandered, till she came to a great hill of glass, that she tried all she could to climb, but wasn’t able. Round the bottom of the hill she went, came to a smith’s house; and the smith promised, if she would serve him seven years, he would make her iron shoon, wherewith she could climb over the glassy hill. At seven years’ end she got her iron shoon, clomb the glassy hill, and chanced to come to the old washerwife’s habitation. There she was told of a gallant young knight that had given in some clothes all over blood to wash, and whoever washed them was to be his wife. The old wife had washed till she was tired, and then she set her daughter at it, and both washed, and they washed, and they washed, in hopes of getting the young knight; but for all they could do they couldn’t bring out a stain. At length they set the stranger damsel to work; and whenever she began, the stains came out pure and clean, and the old wife made the knight believe it was her daughter had washed the clothes. So the knight and the eldest daughter were to be married, and the stranger damsel was distracted at the thought of it, for she was deeply in love with him. So she bethought her of her apple and breaking it, found it filled with gold and precious jewelry, the richest she had ever seen. “All these,” she said to the eldest daughter, “I will give you, on condition that you put off your marriage for one day and allow me to go into his room alone at night.” The lady consented; but meanwhile the old wife had prepared a sleeping drink, and given it to the knight who drank it, and never wakened till next morning. The live long night the damsel sobbed and sang: “Seven long years I served for thee, The glassy hill I clomb for thee, Thy bloody clothes I wrang for thee; And wilt thou not waken and turn to me?” Next day she knew not what to do for grief. Then she broke the pear, and found it filled with jewelry far richer than the contents of the apple. With these jewels she bargained for permission to be a second night in the young knight’s chamber; but the old wife gave him another sleeping drink, and again he slept till morning. All night she kept sighing, and singing as before:
“Seven long years I served for thee ............... Still he slept, and she nearly lost hope altogether. But that day, when he was out hunting, somebody asked him what noise and moaning was that they heard all last night in his bedchamber. He said: “I have heard no noise.” But they assured him there was; and he resolved to keep waking that night to try what he could hear. That being the third night and the damsel being between hope and despair, she broke her plum, and it held far the richest jewelry of the three. She bargained as before, and the old wife, as before, took in the sleeping drink to the young knight’s chamber; but he told her he couldn’t drink it that night without sweetening. And when she went away for some honey to sweeten it with, he poured out the drink, and so made the old wife think he had drunk it. They all went to bed again, and the damsel began, as before, singing: “Seven long years I served for thee .................. He heard, and turned to her. And she told him all that had befallen her, and he told her all that had happened to him. And he caused the old washerwife and her daughter to be burnt. And they were married, and he and she are living happy to this day, for aught I know.
Disobey’s husband
Told not to move while husband fight’s the old one
Animal bridegroom turns human at night
Castle in a mountain
Embarks on long journey
Marries a beast
Youngest child of poor family
Breaks the spell
Girl given three magical presents
Given iron shoes
Has to climb glass mountain to be reunited
Washes 3 drops of tallow off shirt to prove she is worthy
Prince fooled into thinking it was another
Husband betrithed to other
Girl bribes other bride to get see husbands
T
he Cabbage Stalk
Bride drugs husband
Eventually prince is told
By a hunter Climbs mountain
Three Gold Nuts
One time there was a man and he had three grown girls. One day he was a-fixin’ to go to the store and the oldest girl said “Daddy, I want you to bring me enough cloth to make me a dress the color of the sky.” And the next oldest run out and said, “Daddy, you bring me enough cloth to make me a dress the color of the rainbow.” The baby girl didn’t ask for anything, so he called her and said, “You haven’t asked for anything. I want to bring you something from the store, too, so what do you want?” She told as her sisters had asked for so much she guessed he wouldn’t have enough money to get much more, so all she would ask for was that if he seed any roses along the road to stop as he come back and pick her a basketfull. He promised her he would and went on. It was a long way to the store and it took him all day to go there and back. As he was coming back that evening he saw a big fine house by the road and it didn’t seem that anybody lived there. In the yard was some of the prettiest roses he ever seed. He went in and started picking some of them when he heard a voice say, “You pick them and I’ll pick you.” He stopped and started to go on home, but he thought I must have been mistaken and I must get some of them roses for my little girl. So he went back and started picking some more. Again he heard the voice, “If you pick them I’ll pick you.” He quit again and started to leave and the voice said, “You can pick all the rosies you want if you will give me the first thing that meets you when you get home tonight.” He thought a minute and he decided he would do that for he had an old dog that wasn’t worth a cent that always run out and met him. So he said all right, he’d do that. And he went ahead and just filled his basket with the prettiest rosies he could find. He went on home, pleased that he had got his baby girl such a pretty bunch of rosies. When he got in sight of home he saw
his baby girl just flying to meet him. He tried to get her to stop, but she wasn’t paying any attention to what he said and come right on just as hard as she could come and grabbed the basket of rosies. He began to cry. She asked him what was the matter and he wouldn’t tell her. All the time they was a-getting supper he just set around and looked like he was in deep trouble. All the girls tried to get him to tell what it was the matter with him, but he wouldn’t tell. While they was a-eating’ supper they heard something out at the gate saying, “Bring me out here my pay.” Then he told them about what he had heard as he was picking the rosies and what he had promised. They all just laughed and said, “Oh, just send it out the old dog, it won’t know the difference.” So they sent out the old dog and it come a-running back just a yelping and hollering like it was about to die and run under the floor and they couldn’t much it out anymore. Then they sent out the old sow and she come running back just a squealing and grunting like she was about to die and run in the stable and they couldn’t get her out any more. Then the oldest girl said, “I’ll go out and see if it will have me. I was the cause of it all by asking you to bring me a dress the color of the sky.” So she went out and they heard an awful racket at the gate and here she come back just as hard as she could come, a-crying and taking on, saying something was out there that she couldn’t see and it had jumped on her and nearly beat her to death before she could get away. And she crawled in the bed and they couldn’t get her out any more. Then the second oldest girl said, “Daddy, I guess if I hadn’t asked for a dress the color of the rainbow it wouldn’t a-happened, and it is all my fault. I’m going out and let it take me.” So she went out and they heard her screaming and taking on and back into the house she popped nearly beat to death and she went to bed and they couldn’t get her out any more. Then it hollered lowder than ever, “Bring me out here my pay.” The youngest girl began crying and her father began crying. She said, “I’ll have to go, Daddy.” and she went out to the the gate and there stood a big white bear. It said, “get up on my back.” And she crawled up on its back and away it went. It went on and on and on till at last they come to the finest house she had ever seen and the bear went in and told her to get off. Then it said, “This house and all that is here belongs to you. And I will be a man of a night and sleep with you and a bear of a day and lay under the bed, or I’ll be a bear of a night and lay under the bed and a man of a day and talk to you. Which had you rather I would be?” She thought a while and she didn’t like the idea of a bear laying under the bed of a night so she told him she had rather he’d be a man of a night and sleep with her. So that was the way
he was. He was a bear of a day and laid under the bed and first one place and another around the house. So it went on till it had been about a year and she had a baby. When the baby was about six months old she told her husband one night she would like to go back to her father’s and see him and her sisters. He told all right they would go, but he would have to be a bear all the time they were there and she must promise him that she would not tell about him being a man part of the time. And he said, “If you ever tell, I cannot ever change myself again and you will see me going up a mountain with three drops of blood in my shirt and you will never see me any more after that.” So she promised him she would never tell. And they went to see her folks. He let her and the baby off his back out at the gate and he crawled out in the bushes and she went on in. They were proud to see her and made a sight over the baby and wanted to know who its father was and where she had been and what she had been a-doin’. She told them she couldn’t tell. But they just kept right on and at last they said they would neither one of them ever eat a bite or drink a drop till she told them. She wouldn’t tell, but next morning they wouldn’t eat and she told them and just as she finished telling, she looked out through the window and saw her husband going over the mountain with a white shirt on and three drops of blood in the bosom of it. She left her baby with her sisters and she started out to hunt for him. She went on and on and on. She would stop to stay all night at a house and would find that he had stayed there the night before. But she could never catch up with him. At last one day she was going along just about to give up all hope when she met an old woman. The old woman asked her what was the matter and she told her what had happened. So the old woman gave her three little gold nuts and told her not to crack them until she was in the most trouble she ever was in her life. So she took the nuts and went on and on and on. Every night the folks where she stayed would tell her a handsome young man with three drops of blood in his shirt stayed there the night before. Several times she thought she would crack one of the nuts, but she decided to wait awhile. Then one day she was going along and she seed a whole heap of people, mostly young women, gathered up at a wash place and there stood her husband. She run up to him but she seed he didn’t know her at all. And the women was all trying to wash the three drops of blood out of his shirt. She asked them about it and they told her that he had said he was rich and would marry the woman who would wash the three drops of blood out of his shirt. They was almost fighting over who would wash next, and they would rub and rub and rub, but the drops of blood wouldn’t come out. They seemed to get plainer all the time; the more they washed. Then she remembered that the night she had rode away from home on his back when he was a bear that she had cried and that her nose had bled and three drops of blood had fell on the bear. She asked the women if she could try and they told her
after they had all had a try she could. So after a while she got the shirt and she just give it one rub and out come the blood and the shirt was just as clean as the dribins of snow, but before she could show it to him another girl standing by her snatched it out of her hand and run to him with it and said, “Look! Look! I’ve washed them out!” So him and the girl married that evening and invited everybody to stay all night at her parents’ house. His real wife knew now she was in the most trouble she ever was in her life and she went to stay all night there too, and that night she cracked one of her gold nuts. And it had a gold wheel in it and she began spinning and it spun gold thread. Oh, she was just filling the room with gold threads when the woman who had married her husband come in. “Oh, I must have that,” she said, “what’ll you take for it?” She told her she didn’t want to part with it, but she would give it to her if she would let her sleep with her old man that night. She said, “Well, I think you’re just as sorry as can be, but I’m going to take you up.” So she give him a sleepy dram that night and put a sleepy pillow under his head. They went to bed, and all night long she lay there by him saying, “Once you was a bear and I could have you, but now you are a man and I can’t have you.” But he was sound asleep and never heard a word she said. The next night she cracked another one of her gold nuts and it had a gold reel in it and she just began reeling up all the gold thread that the wheel was spinning. The other woman saw it and asked her what she would take for it. She said she didn’t want to part with it, but she would give it to her for another night’s lodging with her old man. She said, “You are just as sorry as a person can be, but I’m going to trade with you. I’ve just got to have that gold reel.” So she fixed the bed and give her husband another sleepy knew now she was in the most trouble she ever was in her life and she went to stay all night there too, and that night she cracked one of her gold nuts. And it had a gold wheel in it and she began spinning and it spun gold thread. Oh, she was just filling the room with gold threads when the woman who had married her husband come in. “Oh, I must have that,” she said, “what’ll you take for it?” She told her she didn’t want to part with it, but she would give it to her if she would let her sleep with her old man that night. She said, “Well, I think you’re just as sorry as can be, but I’m going to take you up.” So she give him a sleepy dram that night and put a sleepy pillow under his head. They went to bed, and all night long she lay there by him saying, “Once you was a bear and I could have you, but now you are a man and I can’t have you.” But he was sound asleep and never heard a word she said. The next night she cracked another one of her gold nuts and it had a gold reel in it and she just began reeling up all the gold thread that the wheel was spinning. The other woman saw it and asked her what she would take for it. She said she didn’t
want to part with it, but she would give it to her for another night’s lodging with her old man. She said, You are just as sorry as a person can be, but I’m going to trade with you. I’ve just got to have that gold reel.” So she fixed the bed and give her husband another sleepy dram and put a sleepy pillow under his head and he went off sound asleep and never heard a thing, but all night long his wife kept saying, “Once you was a bear and I could have you and now you are a man and I can’t have you.” The next day his father-in-law, or the father of the girl he had married there, told him he wanted to have a word with him. So they walked out and he said, “There’s something strange goes on in your room of a night. Just like someone saying the same thing right over and over, and it never stops. Don’t you hear it?” He told him he slept sound and didn’t hear anything. “Well now,” the old man said, “I want you to lay awake to night and listen and see what it is.” So that night she cracked the last one of the three gold nuts and it had a gold loom in it. It just started weaving up all the thread in the house and the other woman run in and said, “Oh, I must have that! What’ll you take for it?” She told her she didn’t want to part with it, but she would give it to her for another night’s lodging with her old man. “I know what you are,” she said, “you’re nothing but a low-down bitch, but I’m going to do it. Go on and sleep with him tonight, but it’s going to be the last night.” So she fixed the bed for them and give her husband a sleepy dram and put a sleepy pillow under his head. But he was supisious and he spit out the liquor and throwed the pillow out from under his head. And that night he heard his wife and found out who she was. So the next morning he told the old man he wanted a word with him and took him out and said, “I just wanted to ask you something. It’s this: If you had a lock and key and they key fitted the lock perfect and you lost the key and got another, and then later you found the old key and it fitted the lock better than the new key, which key would you keep?” The old man said, “Why I would keep the old key, of course.” Well, said the other man, “you can have back your daughter. I’ve found my old wife and she suits me better than your daughter.” And they went back home and he was never a bear again and they were happy.
See’s husband leaving
Disobey’s husband
Told not to tell husbands secret
Girl asks to visit family
Animal bridegroom turns human at night
Castle in a mountain
T
he Three Gold Nuts
Spills 3 drops of blood from her nose on him
Embarks on long journey
Marries a beast
Youngest child of poor family
Follows him for many days
Girl given three magical presents
Washes 3 drops of tallow off shirt to prove she is worthy
Prince fooled into thinking it was another
Husband betrithed to other
Girl bribes other bride to get see husbands
Bride drugs husband
Husband works out ploy
The Cabbage Stalk
THERE lived once a little maid who was the daughter of poor people. This girl had a cabbage which grew in her kitchen garden, and she was in the habit of watering it. The little maid was always watching the cabbage sprout to see when it would come to seed. One day she noticed that on the cabbage stalk there was formed a ladder by which one could descend into the ground. She went down these steps and quickly found herself in a splendid palace in which there was a table very well laid out, and a beautiful bed. The maid sat down at the table and partook of the good things laid upon it with avidity, and went up again along the cabbage stalk and returned home. Whenever she felt hungry she would secretly go down the steps on the cabbage stalk and feast upon the delicacies she found in the palace. The little maid was growing fat, much to the surprise of her father and mother, who never saw her eat anything. At night when her parents were gone to sleep she would very quietly descend the cabbage stalk, and lie down to sleep on a beautiful couch which she found prepared in the palace. The mother, who began to suspect her daughter, one night arose from her bed to follow her down the ladder. She watched and saw her daughter get upon her couch, in which there was a beast. The mother then lit a candle, went to the couch, and uncovered the bed clothes. Three drops of candle-grease fell upon the sleeping beast and immediately it became transformed into a prince. The prince then said to the mother:
“You little know the harm you have done me! You have broken my spell, and now I cannot marry your daughter!” He then told the little maid to leave the palace, and gave her a rock of gold, a pair of iron shoes, and a staff and said when the shoes were worn out to come again to see him in the palace. The little maid departed, and walked and walked on until at last the shoes began to wear out and she went about begging for alms. She met an old woman and she asked her to give her some things whilst she related her history to her. The old woman told her that she was no longer in time to marry the prince because there was a princess already in the palace who was destined for him. The old woman then gave her a rock of gold, a spinning-wheel, and a reel, and took leave of her, wishing her good luck. The maid arrived at the palace gate with her shoes and garments all torn, and begged for alms, and when the princess saw her standing on a rock of gold she sent to ask her for it. The maid replied that if she gave her the rock of gold she must allow her to go into the prince’s chamber and sleep there one night, The princess would not consent, but the prince’s mother told her to allow her to sleep at the prince’s feet, for there was no fear that he would be aware of it, as she would take care to give him a sleeping-draught. And so it happened the maid went into the chamber to sleep without the prince knowing it, and during the night as she awoke she began to say“Prince of love I have come many leagues, To see thee, oh, my Lord! My shoes are torn-My staff is travel-worn, Yet here I am come back to thee!” The prince made no reply to this, and as soon as the day dawned they sent her away; but the prince remained quite ignorant of her stay there. The maid, however, continued before the palace gate at her wheel spinning, and the princess seeing her sent to ask her for her spinning-wheel of gold. The maid replied that she would only give it to her on condition of her allowing her to remain and sleep in the prince’s apartment another night. The princess consented, but made her promise to leave the chamber early in the morning. The maid entered and again settled herself to sleep at the prince’s feet, and on awakening repeated her former appeal“Prince of love I have come many leagues, To see thee, oh, my Lord! My shoes are torn-My staff travel worn, Yet here I am come back to thee.” To this the prince, as before, made no reply, for he was fast asleep. The maid again left the chamber very early; but a valet who appeared to occupy an apartment next to the prince told him what he had heard repeated during the night. The prince was much astonished to hear it, and swore he would not take the usual draught next evening as he retired to rest. Next day the princess saw the maid again at her work before the palace, and as she remarked she had a golden reel she went to ask her for it. The maid replied that she would on condition that the favour she had begged for on the previous evening should be granted her once more. To this the princess said she consented, and sent the prince the usual draught to take that night. But the prince made only a pretence to drink it, and threw it away, and then ordered his valet to leave the chamber. During the night the little maid repeated-
“Prince of love I have come many leagues, To see thee, oh, my Lord! My shoes are torn-My staff travel worn, Yet here I am come back to thee!” The moment the prince heard her he felt very pleased, but the next moment he was much distressed in his mind because he remembered that he was already engaged to be married to the princess. He told the little maid to remain and not to leave his chamber. And when the marriage day arrived he asked the princess’s father to settle a question for him, which was this: that his apartment had two keys; the first had been mislaid and lost, but he ever had hopes of finding it: now that he had a new key which he had ordered to be made, the old one had appearedwhich ought he, he therefore asked his majesty to advise him, to keep? The king replied that in this case he advised him to retain the old one. The prince then recounted to his majesty the whole history of the little maid, and reminded him at the same time that he it was who had given the sentence. He married the little maid, and the princess went to another kingdom.
Spills three drops of tallow on him
Mother see’s beast lay down with daghter
Mother bcomes suspicios and follows gorl
Starts sleeping there
Castle in a mountain
Finds massive palace Embarks on long journey
Climbs down a ladder growing from it
Girl tends a cabbage
Breaks the spell
Husband dissappears to a far away palace
Girl given three magical presents Given iron shoes
Husband betrithed to other
Girl bribes other bride to get see husbands
T
he Black Bull of Norroway
Bride drugs husband
Eventually prince is told
By a valet
fight’s the old one
o visit family
human at night
leeping there
n a mountain
m her nose on him
Finds massive palace Embarks on long journey
mbs down a ladder growing from it Marries a beast Girl tends a cabbage
Youngest child of poor family
Prince fooled into thi
Girl blown by a
Husband
Girl must
Girl bribes ot
Bride drugs husb
Eventually prince is t
By a hunter Climbs mountain Husband works out ploy
By a valet By christians held hostage