Albanian Folktales – Shqipopedia | Encyclopedia Albanica

The Boy and the Earthly Beauty

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 22:04:45 +0000

Once upon a time there was a very rich man who had a wife and a son. When he was about to die, he gave his son some advice, the most important part of which was never to go to the village where the Earthly Beauty lived. The boy grew up and lived happy and content, not knowing in which village where the Earthly Beauty lived. But in the end, he was overcome by a great desire to visit her, although both his father and his mother had forbidden him to do so. One day, taking a big sack of gold coins with him, he set out to find the village where the Earthly Beauty lived.

On his way, he rested for a while at the house of an old woman who told him right away that the Earthly Beauty lived in the village and that many a young man had come and squandered his fortune just to catch a glimpse of her finger or her hand. When the boy heard this, he too burned with desire to see at least her hand, no matter what it cost him. After asking the old woman to show him the way, he set off for the maiden’s palace and asked to see the Earthly Beauty. Since he was quick to show the gold coins he had brought with him, the servants informed the maiden and she gave orders that he be let in. They put the boy in a corner of the room where he could catch just a glimpse of her finger. Then, taking away his gold coins, they threw him out, for the Earthly Beauty never showed herself completely to her admirers; the first time they just got to see her fingers, the second time her hand, and the third time her arm. When the boy got back to the old woman’s house, he was so overwhelmed and excited by what he had seen at the maiden’s palace that he could not wait to return. He resolved to go back home and fetch more money. He told the old woman what he had experienced and she encouraged him because she, too, was receiving gifts from him. The next day the boy got home, his heart full of desire for the Earthly Beauty. The moment he entered the house, he began looking for money so that he could return to the maiden as quickly as possible. When the poor mother saw that her son had squandered all of his money and been made a fool of by the maiden, she was saddened at first, and then angered. She tried to persuade him to change his mind, but it was all in vain. The boy was not to be swayed. In short, he took even more money than he had taken the first time, and set off once again.

When he got back to the Earthly Beauty, her servants cheated him a second time by showing him the maiden’s hand, taking his money and throwing him out again. In a short time, the boy had wasted his whole fortune on the Earthly Beauty without getting any closer to her. Very soon, although he had once been quite rich, he was as poor as a church mouse.

But he refused to give up, and so returned home to search through his father’s bedroom and cellar to try to find something of value to take to the maiden. To his surprise, he found a cap that made him invisible the moment he put it on. His mother could no longer see him, although she could hear his voice. He was delighted with the cap, for he believed that with its help he could win over the Earthly Beauty. So without hesitation, he took the cap and set off for the maiden’s village. When he arrived at the palace of the Earthly Beauty, he put the cap on and, being invisible, was able to get right into the maiden’s bedroom without being seen by her servants. Now he could see the maiden in all her beauty and stared at her in awe all night long until daybreak. Then he spoke to her. She could hear his voice, but could not see him. After the two had talked for some time, he told the Earthly Beauty who he was and, trusting in her love, revealed to her the secret of his cap. She snatched it from him, called her servants and ordered them to chase the boy away.

When the boy realized he had been deceived again, he was very sad indeed, because he had now given up all hope. In his misfortune, he returned home. But he could think of nothing but the maiden, because his heart was so full of desire for her. Again he went into his father’s bedroom and poked around looking for something else to take to the Earthly Beauty. Suddenly, he noticed a jug. Picking it up, he had a look at it, turned it around in his hands, and polished it a bit because it was very dusty. Immediately, a band of warriors appeared and addressed him, “What is your command, oh master? We are ready to serve you.”

At this, the boy reflected for a moment and said to himself, “Now I’m sure to win over the Earthly Beauty.” His heart began to rejoice, his eyes brightened and he set off once again to win the object of his desire.

On his way there, he spent the night at the house of the old woman again and sent her to the palace with a message for the Earthly Beauty that she should receive him. But hardly had the old woman begun to speak when the maiden summoned her servants and had the old woman tossed out. Much distressed, the old woman returned home and told the boy of the ill treatment she had suffered at the palace. He nevertheless persuaded her to go back a second time and tell the maiden that if she did not receive him courteously, things would look bad for her. Because of the boy’s urging and the gifts he had always given her, the old woman went back, though she knew very well that the Earthly Beauty would not listen to her. When the maiden saw the old woman coming, she became so furious that she ordered her servants to beat her and throw her out. And the old woman, wailing in sorrow, had to flee from the fists and clubs of the servants.

When the old woman returned and told the boy what had happened, he realized that courtesy would not get him any farther. He took his jug and rubbed it. The warriors immediately appeared and said to him, “What is your command, oh master? We are ready to serve you.” The boy dispatched them, all dressed in fine garments, to the palace of the Earthly Beauty to exercise until he called them back. Then he sent the old woman to the maiden once more to tell her that if she did not receive him voluntarily, he would come by force with the warriors she could see in front of her palace. When the maiden heard this and saw the warriors, she became frightened and immediately ordered that the boy be received with full honours. When the boy arrived, the palace dignitaries received him with such kind words that he was quite flattered. After a while he said to the maiden, “Since you have caused me such suffering, I am now going to send you to Tinglimaimun.” But the Earthly Beauty knew how to wrap him around her finger and he forgave her. Now that they had made peace with one another, the boy believed that she loved him and revealed to her the fact that all his power came from the jug. When he was not looking, the maiden took the jug from him and rubbed it, and immediately the warriors appeared and demanded, “What is your command, madam? What can we do for you?” The boy jumped up and shouted, “You’re my warriors, not hers!” But the warriors replied, “The jug is in the maiden’s hands.” She then spoke to them, saying, “Seize the youth and take him off to Tinglimaimun.” And they seized him and took him away.

Having arrived in this distant foreign land with no food and no friends, the boy wandered about in the wilderness looking for something to eat. Finally, he found a bunch of red grapes, and hungry as he was, he began to eat them. But to his horror and amazement, for every grape he ate, a horn grew out of his face. The boy was most distressed by his misfortune. However, because he was still hungry, he wandered around in search of something else to eat. At last, he found some white grapes. After he had eaten the first grape, a horn fell off. Indeed for every grape he ate, one of the horns fell off. Realizing that for every red grape a horn grew on his face, and for every white grape one fell off, the boy was very happy because he remembered the Earthly Beauty and realized he could take advantage of this lucky coincidence. With the red grapes, he would make horns grow on the maiden’s face, and then with the white grapes he would heal her again. This way, she would be his.

He quickly filled two baskets with grapes, one with red and the other with white, and set off swiftly to return to the land of the Earthly Beauty. After travelling for a long, long time, he came to an ocean where he had to wait for a ship. Sometime later he spotted a ship on the horizon, and as he had no handkerchief, he took off his trousers and waved them in the wind as a sign for the ship to come and pick him up. The ship approached, took the poor boy in rags on board and brought him back to his own country. He planned to sell the red grapes as soon as he arrived and at last his feet brought him right to the palace of the Earthly Beauty. There were no other grapes for sale as the season was over, so the boy’s grapes attracted the attention of the people in the palace. When the Earthly Beauty caught sight of the grapes, she decided she had to have them, and ordered her maid to fetch them for her. The unfortunate maid could not resist eating a grape herself and immediately a horn grew out of her face. She did not know where it had come from and hid in shame in her room. When the maiden demanded her grapes, the maid asked another servant to take them to her. The Earthly Beauty seized the grapes and ate them all with great pleasure. Immediately, her face was covered with horns. She was so horrified at this that she almost lost her mind. A few days later, since the horns would not go away, she sent for her physicians. She received the physicians on the condition that they would be beheaded if they did not heal her. The physicians went to treat the maid first, because they both had the same illness.

The boy knew now that his day had come and that he would be called on to heal the maiden. He wanted to make the Earthly Beauty more desperate than ever, so went away for a few days to prolong her illness and increase her grief. Then he adorned himself with fine garments, went to the palace of the Earthly Beauty where he announced that he was a physician, and promised to heal her. They warned him that he would be beheaded if he was not successful, and to this he agreed. He entered the palace and was sent first to the maid. He had brought the white grapes with him, but had squeezed them into a paste so that no one could see what they were. He began by asking the maid what she had and had not done and about her illness. “Be careful,” he said, “if you don’t tell me the truth, you will not be cured.” The maid told him everything and about the grapes she had eaten. He then gave her the medicine made of white grapes he had with him, and the horn fell off. The maid was cured.

When the Earthly Beauty heard this, she summoned the physician right away and could hardly wait to see him. He entered her chamber and again began by asking questions, as he had done with the maid, saying that he would only cure her if she told him the whole truth. She told him of all her deeds, and when she talked about the gold coins which she had repeatedly taken from the boy, he said to her, “Give me the money.” She also showed him the cap which she had stolen from the boy, but pretended to have forgotten the jug. The physician said to her, “There is something you have not told me yet.” Finally she brought out the jug which, like the cap and money, she had taken from the boy. Thereupon, he gave her the medicine and she was immediately cured. When the boy rubbed the jug, the warriors appeared and asked, “What are your wishes, my lord? You are our master.” The boy then turned to the Earthly Beauty, saying, “Now I have you in my power. I am the one you caused to suffer. You sent me to Tinglimaimun, but now it is my turn. I am going to marry you and take you home with me.” He commanded the warriors to seize her and take her back to his village, together with her palace and everything she owned. When the mother saw her son with the Earthly Beauty, the palace and all the treasures, she was overjoyed. And so they all lived together happily ever after.

[Source: Albanikê melissa (Bêlietta sskiypêtare). Syggramma albano-hellênikon periechon meros historias ‘Dôra Istrias – hê Albanikê fylê’, Albano-Hellênikas Paroimias kai Ainigmata, Albanika kyria onomata, Asmata kai Paramythia Albanika, kai Albano-Hellênikon leksilogion meta parabolês Albanikôn lekseôn pros archaias hellênikas. Syntachthen hypo E. Mêtku (Typ. Xenofôntos N. Saltê, Alexandria 1878), reprinted in Folklor shqiptar 1, Proza popullore (Tirana 1963). Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie.]

The Scurfhead

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 22:02:46 +0000

Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons. He also had a beautiful garden with a quince tree in it which bore only three quinces a year. Every time the tree bore fruit, a dragon came by and gobbled them up. The king desperately wanted to eat one of the quinces because they were so beautiful, but the dragon got them every time.

The eldest son decided to guard the quinces and went to his father to ask him for a net, a rattle and three candles to light his way in the dark. The father gave him what he asked for and the youth went into the garden and chose a place in the tall tree to wait for the dragon. The dragon arrived at midnight as usual and, seeing the light, guessed that a trap had been set for it. It therefore let out a frightening roar, threw itself with all its might against the tree, plucked a quince and was off in a flash. The youth was so frightened that he could not even move. The next morning he returned downcast and pale with fear to his father and told him what had happened. The father was very disappointed that his son had proved to be such a coward.

The second son then said, “This time I will go and guard the quinces!” At first the father did not want to let him go, for the second son was also a coward just like the eldest, but eventually he gave in. The second brother took a net, a rattle and light with him and set off for the garden to guard the quinces. That night, the very same thing happened. The dragon arrived, stole the second quince and disappeared, and the second son, having failed to put up any defence at all, was obliged to return to his father in shame.

The third son was a scurfhead. He was delighted at the failure of his brothers and went to his father saying that he too would go into the garden to guard the last quince. He gathered together everything he needed to guard the last quince, entered the garden and hid behind a tree. When the dragon arrived, the youth bravely lunged forth, struck the beast and wounded it so badly that it took flight. When the two older brothers saw how courageous the scurfhead had been they hung their heads in shame. They were jealous because they themselves had failed to fight the dragon. Nevertheless, when they heard their brother shouting and the dragon roaring, they ran to help him and the three of them pursued the dragon with fury until it disappeared into a hole in the ground. Standing in front of the hole, they talked to decide which of them would enter. The two older brothers were too afraid. Only the undaunted scurfhead was still willing to pursue the dragon. He tied two ropes around his waist, a black one and a white one, to be lowered into the cave, and they agreed on a signal. If he tugged on the white rope, everything was all right, but if he tugged on the black one, it meant he was in danger and they were to pull him up immediately to save his life.

And so the scurfhead entered the cave, looking for traces of the dragon. He wandered around for some time until he saw a small slab of iron on the floor, covering a hole. With all his might, he lifted the slab and descended three steps. At the bottom of the steps, he found a tiny house and knocked at the door. A fair maiden came out, one of the three Earthly Beauties. She welcomed him and asked him what he wanted. The scurfhead replied that he had come to slay the dragon which frightened everyone. The maiden replied, “The dragon is very strong indeed. If you want to slay it, you will first have to find out if you are strong enough to do so, otherwise you will be killed yourself. Anyone who does slay the monster will become known as the saviour of our country and I will take him for my husband.” As a sign of their betrothal, she gave him a spindle which could make gold. He threw it onto the floor and a golden apple appeared.

He then continued on his way, came across another house, and knocked at the door. The maiden who answered was even fairer and more attractive than the first. She too said that she would marry the man who slew the dragon. As a sign of their betrothal she gave him a bowl. When he placed the bowl on the floor, another golden apple appeared. He accompanied the maiden to a third house and knocked at the door. There, too, a maiden answered who was more beautiful and wondrous than the first two, who were her sisters. After she had welcomed him and they had talked for a while, she gave him a hen with twelve chicks as a sign of their betrothal because she, too, wanted to marry the man who would slay the dragon. Then she took him into the den of the dragon, who had not yet returned.

As he waited and pondered on how best to slay the dragon, he saw a crowd of people in the distance who were weeping and lamenting. They were accompanying the king’s daughter who was to be offered to the dragon, for the country was forced to offer one maiden a day to the dragon as payment for the water which it owned. The maidens were chosen by lot and that day the lot had fallen to the king’s daughter. The crowd brought the poor maiden to the dragon’s den and left her there. When the scurfhead saw the maiden sobbing and weeping, he felt sorry for her and asked her what was wrong. She told him her sad tale and he replied, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll save you.”.

At last the dragon arrived, still covered with blood from the wound it had received in the garden. The scurfhead had fallen asleep with his head in the maiden’s lap. When she caught a glimpse of the dragon covered with blood from the wounds it had received in the garden, she began to tremble and warm tears welled up in her eyes. One of the tears dripped onto the scurfhead’s face and woke him up. He sprang to his feet and asked the frightened maiden what had happened. Although she was speechless with fright, she managed to show by her glance that the dragon had arrived. The youth set upon the monster like a serpent, mortally wounding it so that it could neither stand nor move, and plunged straight into a well. When the dragon hit the bottom of the well, the water which the townspeople needed so badly began to gush forth. It formed streams which flowed through the villages, still crimson with the blood of the dying dragon. The maiden went to the scurfhead and thanked him on her knees, saying, “I will never forget you for saving me!” Then she filled her jug and returned to the palace.

When the king and queen saw their daughter return safe and sound, they were overjoyed and asked with great astonishment how she had escaped from the monster. The maiden recounted everything that had taken place and how an unknown hero in the dragon’s den had saved her. The king immediately gave orders for the hero to be summoned, for he was anxious to meet the man who had slain the dragon and saved his daughter. The youth was brought in and the king rose to welcome him, offering the boy a seat at his side. The king praised the scurfhead’s bravery and added, “Tell me what you would like to have. Don’t be afraid to ask, even if it is half my kingdom! I’ll give you whatever you want to pay you back for the service you have rendered us by ridding our kingdom of the dragon and by saving my daughter. I would also be very pleased if you would have my daughter for your wife.” The hero replied, “The honour and tribute you have paid me have made me very happy. I need nothing at the moment, but if I should ever be in need, I will gladly call on you for help.” He then departed content.

From there, our hero returned directly to the three Earthly Beauties who were impatiently awaiting him. They reminded him that they had given him their word that they were willing to marry him. He, too, spoke warmly to them, saying, “I have come to take all three of you with me. The two older sisters I will give in marriage to my brothers and the youngest one I will marry myself.” The three maidens made themselves ready and the four of them set off to return to the surface of the earth. The maidens took all of their belongings with them and went to the opening of the cave. There the scurfhead called his two brothers and they let down a rope. The scurfhead tied the rope around the eldest sister and shouted to his brothers to pull her up, explaining that she was to be the wife of the eldest brother. When they let down the rope again to pull up the second maiden, he explained that she was for the second brother. As soon as the two elder sisters had been pulled up, the youngest maiden, who was the prettiest of all, said, “I have an inkling that something terrible is going to happen to you. Your brothers have wicked intentions. They want to leave you down here forever and have me, the prettiest one, for themselves. But don’t be afraid. If they do leave you here, run back into the dragon’s den. There you will find two rams, a black one and a white one. You must seize the white one, which will take you back to the surface of the earth. Be careful not to seize the black one, because if you do, you will have to remain here and will be lost forever. I will never belong to your brothers, even unto death. I will wait for you until you come.” The two brothers then lowered the rope for the third time and pulled the maiden up. When they saw how beautiful she was and heard the scurfhead say that she was for him, they decided to abandon him in the cave below.

The scurfhead remembered what the maiden had advised him to do and ran back to the dragon’s den. There he found the two rams, the black one and the white one. But to his great misfortune he seized the black ram instead of the white one and was thus condemned to remain in the depths of the earth.

The poor lad wandered off, downcast and despondent in his misfortune. He happened upon an oak tree where he sat down in the shade. There he heard birds chirping and, looking upwards, he saw a nest of young eagles. He also noticed a snake slithering up the tree to devour the eaglets. The birds cried out as if begging him to save them from the snake. Taking pity on them, he jumped up, drew his knife and slew the snake. Then he returned to his resting place under the tree and fell asleep. When the mother eagle returned and saw the sleeping hero in the shade of the tree, she imagined that he intended to kill her babies, and set upon him. But the babies, by means of sounds and signs, made it clear to her that he had been their saviour, not their attacker. She flew off to the sea to moisten her wings and returned, sitting at the youth’s head with wings outstretched to protect him in his sleep. When he awoke, he saw the eagle hovering over him with its wings outstretched and thought that it intended to kill him. But the eagle calmed his fears, telling him in a gentle and soothing voice, “You saved my children. I am therefore indebted to you. I beg you to regard me as your servant and tell me freely what wish of yours I can fulfil to repay you.” The hero replied by asking, “But how could you repay me? You are a bird.” “I will do whatever you want,” responded the eagle. “All right,” declared the scurfhead, “I’d like you to take me back to the earth if you can. That is my only wish.” The bird replied, “That’s easy enough for me. But you must bring with you an oven full of bread, two roasts of mutton and a barrel of water for the journey. Pack everything on my back, climb on and we will fly back to the earth.”

The scurfhead recalled the promise of the king whose daughter he had saved from the dragon, went to him and asked for the things the eagle had demanded. The king was surprised at how little the scurfhead wanted in compensation for his great deed, but ordered that he be given everything he needed. The scurfhead then loaded everything onto the eagle, climbed onto its back and they took off, soaring into the air. They flew for a long, long time through wind and rain and finally, after great exertions, they arrived on the earth.

The youth was overjoyed at having escaped from the underworld and asked first of all whether his parents were still alive and how they were faring. When told that they were well, he thought it was high time that he made some money for them. The next morning he went for a walk and, lost in thought, came upon three feathers. He singed the tip of one of the feathers and suddenly three mares appeared, saying to him, “What is your command, master? We are here to serve you.” Although he was particularly delighted to have found a source of income, he told them after a moment’s thought to go their way and that he would call on them if ever he needed them.

He still wanted to find work and went to see a silversmith, asking if he could serve as the man’s apprentice. He said that he wanted no wages, only food and some old clothes. The silversmith saw that the youth was dressed like a noble and accepted him as an apprentice. One day, a herald arrived from the palace and told the silversmith that the king wished to see him. The silversmith was quite alarmed and went to the palace. There the king ordered him to made a spindle which could make gold. He said to the silversmith, “I want to marry off my eldest son, but his bride wants a spindle like the one she had when she was a child. I summoned you because you are the best silversmith of all. Have the spindle ready for me within three days or you will lose your head!”

Though the silversmith was very talented, he had no idea how to make such a spindle. Fearing for his life, he said nothing and returned home in dismay. The scurfhead, sitting at his work, saw his master returning in distress from the palace and asked him why he was so upset. The silversmith replied, “Hold your tongue! It is not your place to ask such questions.” But the scurfhead asked again and again until finally the silversmith told him about the spindle. The scurfhead allayed the silversmith’s fears and boasted that he could make such a spindle in one night. He would need only five kilos of nuts and plenty of good wine. Although the ill fated silversmith found this hard to believe, he took heart and went out to buy what the scurfhead had asked for.

The scurfhead locked himself in his room and began cracking open the nuts and drinking the wine. His frightened master tiptoed up to the door and looked in through a crack to see what the apprentice was doing. The sly fox, however, frightened his master even more by calling out, “Be off with you or you’ll ruin my work with your evil eye!” The next morning he gave his master the spindle he had received as a gift from the first Earthly Beauty. The silversmith was overjoyed and relieved when he saw the wonderful craftsmanship, and ran off to the king with it. The king, too, was very satisfied with the spindle and gave orders that the silversmith be given five cartloads of gold for his work. The silversmith accepted them and returned to give half the reward to his apprentice. The scurfhead, however, simply replied, “It is enough for me to know that my master is pleased with me.”

The next day, the eldest son was to be married and the silversmith was invited to the wedding. He wanted to take his apprentice with him, but the youth would not go. A lofty pole had been set up on a hill outside the town, with a golden apple and a bag of money hanging from it. The king sent heralds all over the kingdom to proclaim that anyone who could jump high enough to reach the apple would receive a royal gift. Many brave men arrived from all corners of the earth, but none could reach the apple. When the scurfhead heard of the proclamation, he singed one of his three feathers and one of the three mares appeared on the spot with garments of gold for him. Dressed in his golden garments, he mounted the mare and rode off to the pole where a large crowd had gathered. He called to them in warning and, taking a mighty leap, plucked the apple from the pole. Everyone was amazed at such bravery. And so, the struggle between the scurfhead and his brothers ended and he was rewarded with the prettiest of the three Earthly Beauties.

The Three Friends and the Earthly Beauty

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 22:01:45 +0000

A man died leaving his wife with child. Six months later she gave birth to a son. Though they were very poor, the woman raised the son well. When he turned fifteen, the youth asked his mother if she had any souvenirs to remember his father by. The mother replied that his father had left many things, but that she had been forced to sell everything off in order to raise the boy. Still the youth continued to pester his mother to find out whether there wasn’t something left over of his father’s. Finally she replied, “I have the feeling that his sabre may still be under the roof.” The youth asked his mother to lift him up onto her shoulders so that he could reach under the roof. There he found the sabre which, after such a long time, was now covered in rust and dirt. He cleaned the sabre and polished it until it shone again. He then slung it over his shoulder and said to his mother, “I am off on a journey to foreign lands.” His poor mother began to weep and lament and begged him not to leave. The next morning she said to him, “Take your father’s sabre, son, but cut my head off before you go!” The youth replied, “Which son has ever cut off his mother’s head? I beg you, mother, do not make it difficult for me and break my heart. Wish me good luck so that, God willing, I may return as soon as possible.”

Thereupon he changed his name, calling himself Kordha the Sabre, and inscribed this name on the sabre itself. Then he hugged his mother, and they kissed because they were to separate and wept many tears. Once they had said their good byes, the youth kissed his sabre for luck and departed, saying, “Farewell and please wish me well for I will not be back for six months.” After leaving the village, he wandered through the countryside for five or six hours until he came to a mountain. There was not a soul to be seen. The youth sat down on a flat patch of ground, drew his sabre, kissed it and placed it on his lap. Hardly had an hour passed when another youth of his age came by and greeted him. “Hello,” answered Kordha, “Where do you come from and where are you going?” “I am in search of my fortune,” replied the other. “I, too, am in search of my fortune. Let us become brothers and travel together.” They hugged and kissed and told one another their names: one was called Kordha and the other Ylli the Star. Then they set off together and walked until it got dark, when they lay down and went to sleep without dinner.

The next day they set off again in the same direction and after a while met another youth of the same age. They greeted one another and inquired of one another where they had come from and where they were going. The youth asked Kordha and Ylli if he could become their brother too. And so they became brothers, and the new boy said that his name was Deti the Sea. They all hugged and kissed and swore that they would be faithful to one another and that if anything should happen, they would all die together.

The three set off and arrived at a city. The king of the city had just had a wide moat dug and announced that he would give his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man who could jump over the moat, but that those who tried and failed to jump over the moat would have their heads chopped off. Many men had already attempted to jump over the moat and had fallen in, and the hangman had come straight away and chopped off their heads. When the three friends approached and found out that they had to jump over the moat, they thought for a while. Finally they agreed to take courage and jump, or all die together, though Deti had doubts, “Look how wide the moat is!. I’m afraid we won’t be able to jump across it.” Kordha then picked up a stone, gave it to Deti and told him to throw it across the moat. Then he asked, “Was it difficult to throw the stone over to the other side?” “No, but it weighed less than a hundred grams.” “Well, it won’t be any harder for me to jump across,” said Ylli. And in the twinkling of an eye, he grabbed the other two and, using all his strength, jumped with ease across the moat.

The people who had gathered on the other side were amazed. The king then ordered that the three of them be brought to him. They were put in a coach and driven to the king’s palace. “Which of you is to marry my daughter?” asked the king. Kordha replied, “Ylli will marry your daughter.” The king then ordered the marriage to be arranged and asked Kordha and Deti what their wishes were. Kordha replied that he wanted nothing for himself but that the king should give Deti a gift. A few days after the wedding, Kordha asked his brothers for permission to set off again. They were very sad and said to him, “Is our friendship to have lasted such a short time? How can you have the heart to set off and leave us?” Kordha replied, “Our friendship is eternal, but I must depart. I will leave a feather over your doorway. Pay attention to it, for if the feather ever drips with blood, you will know that I am in danger. You must set off immediately to find me, for I will be in great need of your help.” Then he kissed them and departed.

After travelling alone for several days, he came to a place where the road divided into seven. At the crossroads was a cottage in front of which sat an old woman. Kordha asked her to tell him where the roads led. One of the roads, said the old woman, led to the Earthly Beauty. Kordha immediately prepared to set out in that direction. But the old woman said to him, “No, my boy, you’ll lose your head there, and that would be a shame because you are still so young. Many kings with mighty armies have taken that road and never got to the end of it, and you want to go all by yourself?” He wrote something on the wall of the cottage and asked the old woman to point it out to the two brave young men who would come by and inquire about him, and to show them the road he was now taking. Then he set off down the road which led to the Earthly Beauty.

After continuing for a while, he came across a Kulshedra with six young. The Kulshedra charged and wanted to devour him, but the boy drew his sabre and slew it and all its young. Suddenly Kordha saw the palace of the Earthly Beauty rising before him. On his way up to it, he came across a spring of cool water at the side of the road and sat down for a rest. From the window of the palace, the Earthly Beauty caught sight of him and said to her Kulshedra, “Look there’s a brave young man coming all dressed in white.” The Kulshedra replied, “Look out the window and see whether he drinks the water with his hands or on his knees?” The boy knelt down, bowed his head and drank the water without using his hands. The Kulshedra said, “I fear this person.” Beside the palace was an appletree with fruit on it. When Kordha got closer to the tree, the Kulshedra looked out to see if he would jump up and pick the biggest apple. And Kordha jumped and plucked the apple off the tree, but did so by using his teeth and not his hands. When the Kulshedra saw this, it said, “Alas, there is no salvation from this boy!” Kordha approached the gate of the palace and entered straight away, calling out, “Hello to those within.” “How dare you enter here!” said the Kulshedra menacingly. And the boy answered angrily, “Why shouldn’t I? Afer all, you dared to enter!” The Kulshedra was furious and set upon Kordha, but he drew his sabre quickly and slit the Kulshedra into two pieces. And so he won the Earthly Beauty.

Several weeks passed and the kings heard that a brave young man had killed the Kulshedra and had married the Earthly Beauty. They set off in haste and arrived at the place where the road divided into seven. There they asked the old woman who it was that had travelled down the road leading to the Earthly Beauty. When she told them that the brave young man was but a youth sixteen years old, they took counsel and decided to attack him by surprise. They set off and did battle with him for twenty four days, but they could not defeat him and returned home having achieved nothing. After this initial failure, the kings went back to the old woman and asked her to go to the Earthly Beauty and inquire as to what power the boy possessed or what feats he had accomplished to win her. The Earthly Beauty recounted to the old woman what had happened, “He arrived in a fury,” she said, “slew the Kulshedra and won me.” Then the old woman told her to ask the boy what the source of his heroic power was. A few days later, the Earthly Beauty asked Kordha where he got his power, and the poor boy, because he loved her, revealed to her that it came from his sabre. If anyone were to take his sabre away from him, he would be lost. When the old woman heard this, she stole the sabre and threw it into the sea. Kordha became ill and lay down to die. The old woman returned gleefully to her cottage and announced to the kings that they could now win the Earthly Beauty easily without an army and without doing battle at all.

As the kings were about to begin their attack, Kordha’s friends noticed blood dripping from the feather and set off right away in search of him. Ylli took Deti by the arm and in no time they were standing beside Kordha, long before the kings arrived. They asked the Earthly Beauty where the sabre was. She told them that someone had stolen it and thrown it into the sea. Deti then rose and plunged into the sea, found the sabre and brought it back. As soon as the sabre was put in front of him, Kordha opened his eyes and said, “Look how long I’ve been sleeping!” But when he saw his brothers, he realized that he was in danger.

At that moment the kings arrived to do battle once again. They set upon him furiously but since Kordha had regained his health, he managed to fight the kings off once more and they returned home, vanquished. Kordha took the Earthly Beauty and all her possessions and set off with his friends to return home to his mother. When they arrived at the place where the seven roads met, he gave the old woman a present, saying to her, “This is for you because you did me a good deed by throwing my sabre into the sea. Please tell the kings who did battle with me that I have gone away and taken the Earthly Beauty with me. I am going home and if they still miss me, they can come and do battle with me again. I will be waiting for them. Farewell, old woman!” And so they parted.

First they all went together to the king who was Ylli’s father in law and asked his permission to take his daughter back to their country. The king replied, “You can go wherever you wish, but my son in law and my daughter must remain here.” “You can think whatever you want, but we’re going anyway!” Kordha retorted. And Ylli said to the king straight off, “I am not going to abandon my friends for the sake of the king’s daughter.” The king was furious and shouted, “I don’t care what he wants. You will have to leave him behind!” Kordha, too, became furious. “What do you mean, you don’t care? Do you intend to keep our brother Ylli here by force? The man who can keep one of us by force has yet to be born!” The king gave orders to his guards, saying, “Arrest the three of them and throw them into prison!” But Kordha asked the king to call his daughter first so that everyone could hear what she thought about this. The king ordered his daughter to be brought forth. Kordha said to Ylli, “Put one arm around your wife and the other arm around Deti, say farewell to the king and take off.” Astounded, the king called his guards and ordered them to post at least four watchmen at every door. Ylli stood up, walked to the middle of the room and said to the king, “Forgive me, father in law, and farewell!” Then he jumped out the window with his wife and Deti, and all three disappeared. Only Kordha remained behind. The king rushed to the window to see whether they had been crushed by the fall, because the window from which they had leapt was very high. When he saw that nothing had happened to them, he became so furious that he didn’t know what to do. He gave orders to kill Kordha. When Kordha asked why the king wanted to kill him, he replied, “Because it’s your fault that my daughter has left me.” Kordha then stood up, took the Earthly Beauty by the hand and started to leave. When the watchmen refused to let him pass, he drew his sabre and slew all four of them. And so he escaped and soon joined his friends.

When the king realized what had happened and that his watchmen had been killed, he ordered the army to pursue the brothers and bring them back dead or alive. When the three brothers saw that the army was following them, they stopped and waited for it to approach. The warriors sent a herald to tell them that it would be better for them to return peacefully to the king, for otherwise all the warriors would attack at once and annihilate them. The three answered, “Do what your king has ordered, for we shall not return.” The herald went back and reported that they would not return voluntarily. Then the whole army advanced against the three who were laying in wait for it calmly. When Kordha saw it coming, he rose and shouted, “Hey, wait a moment! What do you think you’re doing, friends? You will all be killed if you approach!” Although the soldiers were somewhat put off by his words, they did not believe him and continued their advance.

When Kordha saw that there was nothing more to be done, he told his friends to take the two women and go on ahead. All by himself, he drew his sabre and set upon the army, slaying seven hundred of them including their leader. When the remaining warriors saw that so many men in their ranks had been killed, and that their leader too was dead, they fled in panic. Kordha then departed and soon caught up with his brothers.

They continued their journey and three days later arrived at Kordha’s house. “Hello, mother,” they said to Kordha’s mother. She was confused and asked, “Who are you people calling me mother?” They replied, “Your son, who will arrive any moment, asked us to do so. We made a bet with him that you would not recognize him when he comes.” “Oh yes I would,” she replied, “I would recognize my son among five hundred men,” and began to cry thinking about her boy. Ylli then asked her which of the three was her son. She took a close look at the three boys, compared them and recognized Kordha as her son. She threw her arms around him, kissed him tenderly and embraced the other boys and the two women as well.

The three friends and their wives settled there and after a while, one of them asked, “Are we three friends or just two?” “We are three,” Ylli answered. “If we are three, then why do we have only two wives?” Deti jumped up and declared, “That doesn’t matter!” But Kordha responded, saying, “We will make you king of the whole country.”

And so Deti became king and reigned over the land for a long, long time. And the three remained the best of friends and loved one another like brothers for as long as they lived.

The Three Brothers and the Three Sisters

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 22:00:47 +0000

Once upon a time there lived three brothers and three sisters. The brothers married their sisters off, one to the sun, one to the moon and one to the south wind. After the sisters had been married for some time, the brothers said to one another, “Let us go and see how our sisters are faring.” And so they did. They took some food with them for the journey and set off. After they had gone a ways, darkness fell while there were crossing a plain at the foot of a mountain. They sat down, took out their food and made a fire. When they had finished their meal, the eldest brother said, “You two go to sleep and I will keep watch so that no one comes to rob or kill us.” The two younger brothers lay down to sleep and the eldest kept watch.

A Kulshedra, attracted by the light of their fire, approached, was delighted to see the humans and set upon the eldest brother keeping watch, to eat him up. The eldest brother shot and killed the Kulshedra, took out his sabre and chopped off its head, stuffing it into his bag. Then he threw the Kulshedra’s body into a ditch so that his brothers would not see it. He sat there for a spell, then he woke his brothers and they set out on their way. They spent the second night at a different place, made a fire again, ate supper and two of them lay down to sleep. That night the second brother kept watch and slew a Kulshedra, too. The third night, the youngest brother said he would keep watch. The two older brothers told him he should sleep instead because he was still too young, but he insisted and finally they allowed him to keep watch. A Kulshedra approached to devour the youngest brother, too. He shot at it but missed, for he was too young. The boy then drew his sword and slew the Kulshedra, but as the beast lay dying, it swished with its tail and put out the fire. The boy tried to relight the fire but did not know what to use. Finally, spying a small fire at the top of the mountain and set off for it.

On his way, he met the Mother of the Night and asked her where she was going. She replied that she was on her way to the dawn. He said to her, “Wait for me to light my fire.” She agreed, but he didn’t believe her and tied her up so that she could not let the day break. When he got to the fire, he saw a huge cauldron with twelve handles on top of it. He lifted the cauldron off and lit his fire. At that moment the thieves who owned the cauldron arrived. They asked him who he was and he replied, “I am a traveller. My fire went out so I came here to relight it.” “How did you manage to lift the cauldron off?” they asked. “There are twelve of us and when we want to lift the cauldron off the fire, each of us has to take a handle and we still have to strain with all our might.” “It doesn’t seem very heavy to me,” retorted the boy and lifted the cauldron again. “You are a good lad,” they replied. “We are off to rob the king and you’re just the one we need.”

So the thirteen of them set out. They broke a hole into the palace wall and entered the courtyard to steal the king’s horses. The boy remained outside and thought to himself, “I have never stolen anything. It would be better for me to slay the thieves instead and escape.” So he shouted to the thieves, “Come out quickly. Someone has betrayed us.” As they crawled through the hole, the boy chopped their heads off one by one. Then he threw his knife into the middle of the king’s courtyard, ran away, relit his fire, freed the Mother of the Night, awakened his brothers, and they set out on their way once again.

When the king got up the next morning, he saw the dead men and the knife in the courtyard and wondered what had happened. He gave orders that an inn be built at a crossroads. Anyone who stopped there was not to pay for the night but was instead to tell the story of all the good and bad deeds he had done in his lifetime. Many people stayed at the inn, eating and sleeping there without paying a cent. One day the three brothers happened by and stayed overnight at the inn. When they went to pay the next morning, the inn keeper said to them, “No one pays here. Instead, everyone must tell a story from his life.” The eldest brother told the story of what he had done with the Kulshedra. The second brother also told the story of how he had slain a Kulshedra. The youngest brother then began to tell the story of the Kulshedra and the twelve thieves who had wanted to rob the king. The inn keeper cried out, “So you’re the one the king is looking for!” The two older brothers continued on their way and the third brother was taken to the king. When the king had heard the story, he gave the boy his daughter in marriage.

There was a wedding custom in that land to release a lot of prisoners from jail. One of the prisoners was half man, half iron. When many of the prisoners were released and he was not, the half iron man began to weep. The king’s son in law took pity on the man and begged the king to release him, too, but the king had had him imprisoned for life. The son in law begged the king again and finally he gave way and freed the prisoner from his chains. The king’s daughter was standing nearby, and the moment he was released, the half iron man devoured her and disappeared. The king was so furious that he drew his sword to slay the son in law who was to blame for this misfortune. But the son in law declared, “I’ll find your daughter and bring her back. But first let me make some iron shoes and an iron cane because I have a long way to walk. Once I am equipped, I will return in one year and bring you your daughter.” When everything was ready, he set off.

That evening, he visited his sister who was married to the sun, and knocked at her door. She approached and asked, “Who is there?” “It is a human,” he replied. She opened the door and rejoiced to see her brother. After a while, her husband the sun arrived. Because the sister was afraid that the sun would devour her brother, she hid him in a chest. When the sun entered, he asked his wife what she had been cooking. “The same as always,” said the wife. “But I can smell meat,” said the sun. “No,” she replied, “there is no meat.” The sun, however, stood up and began looking around for the meat. The wife then said to him, “Eat me rather than my brother who arrived just before you came in.” “Let him out, I won’t eat him.” She got her brother out of the chest and the sun, too, rejoiced at meeting his brother in law. Then the brother asked the sun if he knew where a being who was half man, half iron lived. “We don’t know,” the two of them answered, “but go and ask the moon.”

The next evening the boy visited the second sister who was married to the moon, but they knew nothing of the half iron man either.

Then he visited the third sister who was married to the south wind. He asked again if they knew where the half iron man lived. The south wind answered, “I don’t know, but if you take this road before daybreak tomorrow, you will come across a falcon so huge that it cannot fly. Steal up to it, seize it by the head and say: I’ll kill you if you don’t tell me about the half iron man. Then it will tell you where the iron man lives and what you must do.” The brother set out at dawn and found the falcon. He did just as his brother in law, the south wind, had told him and the falcon said, “I know where he is, but first you must serve me many okas of meat and wait until my wings have grown back, for I am very old.” And so the boy waited until its wings had grown back. He prepared a lot of meat to feed to the falcon on their journey. Their destination was a mountain so high that no man had ever climbed it. The mountain was in another world, and it was there that the half iron man lived with the king’s daughter.

When they were finally ready, the boy climbed onto the falcon’s back, taking the meat with him, and the bird flew off. They flew higher and higher and he kept feeding the falcon pieces of meat until they got close to the mountain. When the meat was all gone and he had nothing more to feed to the falcon, the bird croaked, “Give me more meat.” “I haven’t got any more. It’s all gone.” “If you don’t give me more meat, I’ll throw you off.” Not knowing what else to do, the boy cut a piece out of the calf of his leg and gave it to the falcon. The next time the bird demanded meat, he cut a piece out of his thigh. Once they had arrived, he clambered off the falcon. When the falcon saw that the boy was covered in blood, he spit out the pieces of meat and the boy recovered immediately. The boy then went over to one of the palaces nearby and knocked at the door. His wife, the king’s daughter, opened and recognized him right away. “My husband!” she exclaimed joyfully. “How did you get here? Who brought you here?” He recounted all he had been through. As they were talking, the half iron man approached so she quickly hid her husband in the attic. The half iron man entered and asked, “What have you been cooking?” “The same as always.” “But I can smell meat.” By chance, he noticed the boy through a hole in the ceiling, went upstairs and sucked his blood out, picking up the skin and bones and throwing them outside. The falcon saw them, recognized them and exclaimed, “That’s the boy I carried here! I’ll go and get some swallow’s milk to bring him back to life.” Without delay, it flew off to a place between two mountain peaks where swallow’s milk was to be found. It landed, filled its beak and returned, pouring the milk into the boy who recovered immediately. The boy stood up, went back to his wife and told her that she must pretend to be sick. She was to say to the half iron man, “We have been together for such a long time now and you have never told me the source of your power. I am at death’s door. You have nothing more to fear from me.” Then he would tell her the source of his power. The boy went off and hid so that the half iron man could not find and devour him again.

The king’s daughter did as they had planned. She pretended to be sick and asked the half iron man what the source of his power was. “It is in my broom,” he told her. The next day when he was out, she burned the broom, but his power remained untouched. The wife pretended to be sick again and asked him once more about his power. This time he said, “My power is in a boar up on the mountain over there. The boar has a silver tusk and in it there is a hare. In the hare’s belly are three doves. There lies the source of my power.” The half iron man went back to work. The wife ran out, called her husband and told him what she had heard. The boy climbed the mountain where he met a shepherd tending his sheep and inquired about the whereabouts of a huge boar. “Don’t speak so loudly,” replied the shepherd. “If the boar hears us it will come and devour us.” The boy began talking even louder until the boar heard them and charged into their midst to devour them. But it could not assail the boy because he was carrying a knife. The boar said, “If only I had a stalk of arum to sharpen my teeth with, you’d see something happen!” Then the boy said, “If only I had some fried fish, cake and a cup of wine, you’d see something happen, too!” The shepherd immediately brought the boy and boar what they wanted. When the boar had eaten its arum and the boy his fish and cake, they set upon one another and battled until the boy had slain the boar. He examined its tusks and saw that one of them was indeed made of silver. Breaking it open, he found in it a hare, which he killed, and in the belly of the hare he found the three doves.

The moment the boy slew the boar, the half iron man fell sick. When the boy killed the hare, the half iron man became so ill that he could not get up. Then the boy killed two of the doves, took the third one and returned to the iron man’s bed. When he saw the boy approaching, the half iron man tried to get up but was not able to. And when the boy killed the third dove, the half iron man died.

The boy took his wife, mounted the falcon, flew back and returned to the king. The king rejoiced to see the two of them and had a splendid feast prepared in their honour.

[Source: Manuel de la langue chkipe ou albanaise par Auguste Dozon, consul de France. Grammaire, vocabulaire, chrestomathie (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1879), reprinted in Folklor shqiptar 1, Proza popullore (Tirana 1963). Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie.]

The Youth and the Maiden with Stars on their Foreheads and Crescents on their Breasts

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 21:59:27 +0000

Once upon a time there was a king who had three daughters. When he died, another man mounted the throne and ordered that no one in the country was to leave a light burning on the night of his coronation. Then the new king put on a disguise and went out into the streets alone. As he was walking through the streets of the city, he passed by the house of the three daughters and heard them talking to one another. The eldest daughter said, “If the king were to marry me, I would weave him a carpet so great that the whole army could sit on it and there would still be room left over.” The second daughter said, “If the king were to marry me, I would make him a tent with room for the whole army and more.” The youngest daughter said, “If the king were to marry me, I would give him a son and a daughter with stars on their foreheads and crescents on their breasts.” When the king heard this, he had the three maidens called to him the next morning and married all three. As they had promised, the eldest wove a carpet so great that the whole army could sit on it and the second daughter made a tent with room for the whole army.

After some time, the youngest wife became pregnant and the moment approached for her to give birth. On the day of the birth, the king went out riding. When he returned, he asked what his wife had given birth to. The two sisters answered, “A baby kitten and a baby mouse.” When the king heard this, he ordered his youngest wife to sit on the stairs so that everyone who passed by could spit at her. The sisters put the boy and the girl, to whom the youngest wife had given birth, into a box and sent a servant off to throw them into the river. There was a strong wind blowing that day and it carried the box to the other side of the river. On the bank of the river there stood a mill inhabited by an old man and old woman. The old woman noticed the box, took it into her cottage, opened it and saw the youth and the maiden with stars on their foreheads and crescents on their breasts. In great awe and amazement, she took the children out of the box and raised them.

After some time, the old woman died, and it was not long until death overcame the old man too. On his deathbed, he called the youth, saying to him, “My son, in the cave over there I have a bridle. But you must not enter the cave until forty days have passed.” When the forty days had passed, the youth entered the cave and found the bridle. The moment he put his hands on it and said, “I wish I had two horses,” the two horses appeared before him. He and his sister mounted the horses and rode back into the city where their father lived. There, the youth opened a coffee house and the maiden lived at home all by herself.

One day the king came to the coffee house because it was the best one in the city and saw the youth with the star on his forehead. He was so taken by the boy’s beauty that he returned home later than usual. When he got home, the sisters asked him why he was so late. He replied, “There is a youth who has opened up a coffee house. I have never seen such a beautiful boy in all my life. But the most amazing thing is that he has a star on his forehead.”

When the sisters heard this, they knew right away that it was the son of the youngest sister. They were furious and pondered on how to kill the youth. So they sent an old woman to the youth’s sister and she said to the maiden, “Your brother doesn’t love you at all. He sits in the coffee house all day, has fun and leaves you here all alone. If he loved you, he would bring you a flower from the Earthly Beauty to play with. That evening, the brother returned home and found his sister looking unhappy. He asked her, “Why are you so sad?” “Why shouldn’t I be,” she replied, “I am shut up here all day long. You can go out. If you loved me, you would go to the Earthly Beauty and bring me back a flower to make me as happy as you are.” The brother replied, “All right, you mustn’t be sad because of me.” He picked up the bridle and a horse appeared. He mounted it and rode straight off in the direction of a Kulshedra.

When the Kulshedra saw him coming, it said, “You are so handsome that it would be a pity to devour you. I will let you live.” The youth then asked the way to the Earthly Beauty. The Kulshedra replied, “I don’t know where she is. You will have to go and ask my older sister.”

The youth continued on his way and finally reached the Kulshedra’s older sister. It, too, wanted to devour him but, seeing how handsome he was, it set him free and asked where he wanted to go. The youth told the monster everything, but the Kulshedra did not know the way to the Earthly Beauty either and sent him on to the eldest sister. The eldest sister prepared to set upon the youth to devour him, but when she saw how beautiful he was, took pity on him and let him go.

The youth again asked the way to the Earthly Beauty and the Kulshedra replied, “When you get to her house, rub the door with your scarf and it will open. When you enter, you will see a lion and a lamb. Throw some brains to the lion and some grass to the lamb.” The youth went off and did exactly as the Kulshedra had told him. He rubbed the door with his scarf and it opened. He threw some brains to the lion and some grass to the lamb, and they let him pass. He then went into the house and removed a flower which he took back home to his sister. She was delighted and played with it.

Hardly had another day passed when the sisters sent the old woman to see the maiden again. “Did he bring you the flower?” the old woman asked. When the maiden told her that her brother had indeed brought her the flower, the old woman said to her, “That’s very nice, my maiden, but if you had the Earthly Beauty’s scarf, you’d be even happier.”

When the brother came home, the maiden was weeping and lamenting. He asked what was wrong and she replied, “How am I supposed to be happy with a simple flower if I don’t have the Earthly Beauty’s scarf?” The youth didn’t want to see his sister unhappy, so he mounted his horse and hurried off to find his sister the scarf.

The next morning, when the youth had gone to the coffee house, the old hag appeared again. She said, “You can consider yourself very happy to have such a brother who brings you whatever you wish. But you would be without equals if he brought you the owner of the scarf.” Once again the youth set off and went to the oldest Kulshedra who said to him, “Oh, young man, to go there and get the Earthly Beauty herself is not an easy task. You must keep your eyes open and try to find her ring, since the ring is the source of all her power.”

The youth departed once more, passed by the lion and lamb and entered the chamber of the Earthly Beauty. As he got closer, he saw that she was asleep. He approached her silently. As soon as he had slipped the ring off her finger, she awoke and realized that he had her in his power. So she accompanied the youth and in no time they were back at home and his sister was again delighted.

The next morning, the king entered the coffee house and when he returned home, he ordered that a feast be held in honour of the youth and his family. The two sisters, however, ordered the cooks to poison the food. That evening, the youth arrived with his sister and with the Earthly Beauty who was now his wife. The youth, his wife and sister ate nothing at the feast, although the king urged them to, for the Earthly Beauty had noticed that the food was poisoned. They had only two spoonfuls of the king’s stewed prunes.

When they stood up to leave the table, the king suggested that everyone tell a story. When the youth’s turn came, he told the story of his life, and the king recognized that he was the son of his youngest wife whom he had repudiated. He had the youngest wife brought back to him and had the two older sisters drawn and quartered. Then he made the youth his successor and they all lived happily ever after.

The Shoes

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 21:58:23 +0000

Once upon a time there was a king who had a wife and a daughter. When his wife became ill and knew that she was going to die, she called her husband and said to him, “Order a pair of shoes from the shoemaker, not too big and not too small. Tell him to come and measure my feet. When I die, send a servant from town to town with the shoes and marry the girl whom they fit.

When his wife died, the king sent the servant off with the shoes but he could find neither a woman nor a girl whom the shoes fit. The servant returned to the king and said to him, “We have found no women whom the shoes fit, their feet were either too big or too small.”

One day, the king’s daughter tried the shoes on to see if they would fit, never dreaming that the king would marry her. She slipped the shoes on and to her surprise they fit perfectly. At that very moment, the king called his daughter to bring him a glass of water. She arrived wearing the shoes, never thinking that her father would marry her, his own daughter.

When the king saw that she was wearing the shoes, he said to her, “I am going to marry you. Your mother said in her hour of death that I should marry the woman whom the shoes fit.” The daughter replied, “Well, if you really want to marry me, first have two big lamps made, about as tall and as wide as I am, and fashion them in such a way that they can be opened and closed with a screw.” He immediately gave orders that the lamps be made and three days later they were ready. The girl had the lamps set up in her chamber and hid in one of them. When her father arrived for the wedding, he could not find his daughter anywhere. He never thought of looking in the lamps. He was very upset that his daughter had escaped from him and therefore summoned the town crier, saying to him, “Take these lamps away and sell them. You can keep the money. I don’t want them anymore.”

The town crier went off to the next town to sell the lamps. There he saw a prince sitting at a window gazing out. The prince asked how much he wanted for the lamps. “Whatever you wish to give me, my lord.” The prince gave him a gold coin, took the lamps and set them up in his chamber.

This prince, who was engaged to the daughter of a king, had a habit of getting up in the middle of the night to eat. For this reason, various plates of food were always brought to him. That night, when he was sleeping, the maiden snuck out of the lamp and tried all the food. After she had finished eating, she washed her hands, went over to the sleeping prince and stroked him. Then she climbed back into the lamp. The youth awoke, stood up, noticed the soap suds and saw that all the food had been touched. The next morning he asked his servants, “Did you try my food, or was there a cat in my chamber nibbling at it?” “No,” they replied, “no cat entered your chamber. Why do you ask?” He ordered them to keep watch so that no cats entered his chamber. The next night, he found to his amazement that his food had been touched again. The third night he went to bed, but only pretended to sleep. The maiden crept out of the lamp, began to eat, and when she was finished, went over to his bed to stroke his hands. At that moment, the prince sat up and declared, “So you’re the one who has been trying my food! Although I am already engaged, I shall marry you because you are very beautiful.” And he married her, though without a wedding celebration.

A time came when the prince had to go off to war. He said to his wife, “I must go to war now. You stay here in this chamber and don’t go out. When I return after a long time, I want to find you here. I will order the servants to bring you food and whatever else you need. But you must hide in the lamp so that no one can see you.” And so he departed.

One day, the youth’s future father in law appeared. He entered the groom’s chamber and, finding the girl, asked her what she was doing there. Full of anger, he ordered the servants to throw her out of the palace and toss her into a patch of nettles so that she would burn herself and, not be able to stand up anymore, would die.

An old woman who used to visit this patch to gather nettles saw the maiden and asked what she was doing there. The maiden said to her, “They threw me into this patch of nettles so that I would burn myself because they are jealous of me. Please, oh please take me home with you, old woman. I will do all your housework, for you are very old.” “I can’t take you home with me for I am too poor,” the old woman replied. “That doesn’t matter,” said the girl, “I am willing to live anywhere you live.”

Some time later, the prince returned from the war. He waited for his wife to come out of the lamp but she was no longer there. He loved his wife so much and was so full of longing for her that he fell ill. Despite his illness, he got hungry, so he ordered his servants to call on everyone in the town to bring him pastry. The old woman, too, brought him some pastry which the girl had baked and in which she had hidden a ring he had given her as a wedding present. When the prince ate the pastry, he found the ring and recognized it immediately. He said to the old woman, “I will call upon you tomorrow.” “As you wish, my lord,” she replied, “but we are poor people.”

When he arrived the next morning, he looked all around at everything until he noticed a kneading trough leaning against the wall. He asked the old woman what was in it. “Cakes, my son, but please do not touch them because they haven’t risen yet.” “All right, I won’t,” he said, “just take them out so that I can see them.” He moved the kneading trough to one side and found his wife standing there. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Didn’t I tell you not to leave the lamp?” She told him what had happened and how his father in law had had her tossed into a patch of nettles, how the old woman had found her, taken her home and become like a father and a mother to her, and how she had baked the pastry with the ring in it. Then she asked him to make the old woman rich with gifts, because she had saved her from death. The prince gave the old woman two sacks of silver coins and took his wife home. Then, he called on his would be father in law and said to him, “Because of the wicked things you have done to my wife, I am breaking off my engagement to your daughter and won’t marry her anymore.” Then he showed everyone the girl who was already his wife.

The Maiden in the Box

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 21:56:37 +0000

Once upon a time there was a poor old woman who had one son. When the boy grew up, she said to him, “We are poor folk, my son. Now that you are grown up, you will have to look for a job so that we can live. I cannot feed you any longer.” The son realized that his mother was right and said to her, “Mother, I am not fit for hard work. Let us write to my godfather, the merchant in Smyrna. Let him take me on. Then I can send you money so that you will be cared for.” So they wrote to his godfather who agreed right away to take the boy on. The mother made him some clothes and sent him by ship to Smyrna. When he arrived, his godfather received him kindly and gave him a job in his shop. And since the godfather had no wife, he gave the boy money so that he would go to market and cook the meals.

One day, when the boy was sitting in front of the shop, he saw a porter carrying a box, shouting: “Box for sale! Whoever buys it will regret it, and whoever does not will regret it too.” When the boy heard this, he was intrigued for a long time by the strange words and then asked the porter how much he wanted for the box. “Five hundred piastres, my lad,” he replied. The boy, who had managed to save just that amount of money from his wages, paid the porter and took the box. He placed the box in a corner of the shop, hidden from his godfather. The following day was a Sunday and the boy went to market. Afterwards, he went to church, intending to make dinner as soon as he got back. When he left the church and went home to the shop, he found that dinner had already been prepared, a meal as good as any cook could make. He thought to himself, “Well, well, my godfather made the meal himself because I wasn’t here.” When the godfather arrived, the meal was served and they sat down to eat. The godfather tasted the delicious food and said to Constantine, as the boy was called, “I bet you, my son, that not even the king is enjoying such a wonderful meal today. You are the best cook in the land.” The boy, who thought that his godfather had cooked the meal and was just making fun of him, blushed and said nothing.

The next day, he bought some fish, took it home and went off to work. He intended to cook the fish for lunch. When he finished work, he returned home and found that the fish had been cooked already, and in such a delicious manner that the whole neighbourhood was enticed by the smell. “Oh,” he thought, “my godfather has done my job once again.” The godfather arrived and they sat down to eat. The godfather found the meal so delicious that he did not know how to praise the boy enough. Now the boy realized that his godfather had not made the meal at all and he was completely confused.

The next day he took home all the food he had bought, but instead of going to work he hid in the cupboard. All of a sudden, he saw a maiden step out of the box he had bought. The whole house radiated with her beauty. She immediately put on an apron and began to cook. He crept out of his hiding place, knelt before her and asked her if she was a human being or an angel. She answered, “Fear not, I am a human being. I am the daughter of the King of Egypt. One day, while spending the summer in Smyrna, I saw you and immediately fell in love with you because you are so handsome. When I returned to my father in Egypt, he wanted to give me away in marriage. But since I loved only you and knew that my father would never give me to you, I said to him, ‘I shall not marry.’ He became furious and ordered his servants to put me in a box and sell me secretly far away from Egypt. I asked the man to take me to Smyrna and sell me to you. So let us wait and see what my father intends to do, for he has no other children.”

When the boy heard that she was the daughter of a king, he fell to his knees again. But she caused him to rise and kissed him. Then they got married in secret, without telling his godfather. The next day, Constantine went in search of a ship and spoke to its captain, saying, “I am going to bring you a box. Take good care of it, as you would of your own eyes, and take it to my mother.” He then brought the box with the maiden in it to the captain who transported it with a letter to Constantine’s mother. In the letter, Constantine wrote that the woman in the box was his wife. The old woman received her with great love and kindness.

One day, a Jew came to the old woman’s house and, seeing the beautiful maiden, was seized with a passion to win her. Whenever he saw her at the door, he would immediately go up to sell his wares, but the maiden always went back into the house right away. The Jew returned day after day to see her, but she hid from him. He sent people to talk to her, but she refused to see them. Then the Jew became frustrated and wrote a letter to Constantine saying, “Your wife lets young men into the house without your mother’s knowledge. She is a wicked woman.”

When Constantine read the letter, he was so angry that he left Smyrna immediately and returned home. From her window, the maiden saw him coming. She ran down the stairs to open the door and gave him a kiss. There was a large river next to the house. When Constantine saw his wife, he was so furious that he did not wait to ask whether what the Jew had written him was true or not. Instead, he seized her and threw her into the river. Then he entered the house and asked his mother about the maiden. The mother told him everything the Jew had done to win the maiden and that she had always rejected his advances.

Constantine was so grieved that he wanted to die. He ran down to the river and had people search everywhere to see whether his wife had drowned. As she was nowhere to be seen, he took flight, like a madman, to the mountains.

Some fishermen were just spreading their nets when the maiden fell into the river and they fished her out of the water, half drowned, and wrapped her in a cloak. A Turk came along to buy fish. The fishermen said that they had caught nothing but a woman. When the Turk saw her, his heart was ablaze and he bought her from the fishermen for fifty thousand piastres. When the young woman woke up, she found herself beside the Turk. She recalled what had happened to her and asked the Turk, “What are you going to do with me now? If you take me with you and another man stronger than you sees me, he will take me away from you. Do you know what we should do? Give me some of your clothes so that I can dress up like a man. Then no one will know I am a woman and you can keep me.” He agreed. She took the clothes, went behind a bush and got dressed. The Turk’s horse was grazing nearby and, when she had finished changing, she mounted it and rode off. When the Turk wondered why she had not come back, he went in search of her, but she was gone. The poor man then set off too, half naked and without his horse.

The maiden rode for hours on end, from mountain to mountain, all through the night, until she arrived, without knowing it, in Egypt where her father reigned. Since the gates of the capital city were already closed and it was raining, she sat down outside.

At that time in Egypt, the king had just died and, since he had left no heir, his ministers took counsel and sent emissaries off in search of his daughter, who according to the king was lost. They searched for days but could not find her, and because the country needed a new king, the ministers said, “Since we have no child of the king, we shall, after this dreadful night of wind and rain in which anyone outside would have perished, take as our king the first person we see outside the city gates tomorrow morning.”

The next morning the maiden, still dressed as a man, almost dead from the cold and unaware of what was to happen, saw the gates being opened and the guards marching out. She mounted her horse and rode to the side to let them by. When they saw the handsome young man, they knelt at his feet, brought him into the palace and made him king.

The maiden ruled wisely and no one knew that she was a woman. She reigned over the kingdom so well that everyone loved her. Indeed, she was so loved by the people that they put her picture up at every public fountain in the country so that everyone fetching water would see her. The girl secretly ordered her servants to watch out for anyone who sighed on seeing her picture. They were to arrest him, take him to the palace and keep him there as long as she wished.

One day the Jew who had written Constantine the letter came by and, seeing the picture, sighed. When the royal servants noticed this, they arrested him and took him to the palace. The next day, the fishermen came by and sighed too when they saw the picture. So they were also taken to the palace. Then the Turk came by and he too was arrested when he sighed. Some time later, the husband happened to pass by a fountain and, seeing the picture, cried out, “It looks just like her. Oh, how I wish I hadn’t lost her!” He broke into tears and was therefore taken to the palace, too.

When the maiden saw that all those who had wanted to have her had been gathered together, she ordered her ministers to assemble in order to announce to her prisoners the sentences she would pass. They all assembled and she sat down as king in the middle of the room. She then had all the prisoners brought in and gave orders that none of them should speak without her permission. The king then began by asking, “Jew, why did you sigh when you saw the picture at the fountain? Be careful not to lie or I’ll have your head chopped off immediately!” The Jew replied, “What can I tell you, oh king? I saw that it was the picture of a woman.” He then proceeded to tell the whole truth, including the letter he had written because the maiden had refused to marry him. When he was finished, the king said to him, “Good, you have told the truth, sit at the side over there.” When the husband heard the Jew telling how he had slandered his wife, he rushed forth to strike him, but the king cried out, “Stay where you are, or you’ll be sorry!” And he stayed put.

The king then asked the fishermen why they had sighed. They answered that they had fished the woman out of the river and sold her to a Turk. “And you,” said the king to the Turk, “why did you sigh?” “I am the one,” he said, “who bought her. But she ran away from me before I got a chance to see her properly and took my clothes and my horse.” The ministers were puzzled and looked at the king, but she gave a sign that they should remain silent.

Then she asked her husband, “And why did you sigh?” “Oh, what an unhappy man I am,” he answered with tears in his eyes, “I was her husband and now I have lost her.” “No,” she replied, “you haven’t lost her at all. Wait for a moment until I come back.”

She went out of the room, changed into the women’s clothes she had worn when she was living with her husband and came in again. When the men saw her, their eyes bulged in amazement. The ministers recognized her as the daughter of the king, and her husband and the others recognized her as the maiden. First her husband came up to her, fell to his knees and asked for forgiveness. She caused him to rise, kissed him and had him sit at her side. She gave money to the fishermen and to the Turk. She pardoned the Jew whom the minister wanted to hang, but ordered him to leave her kingdom within twenty four hours. The heralds then announced that the king’s daughter had been found and there was great feasting. Constantine was made king and they have been feasting right up to the present day.

[Source: Gustav Meyer, Albanesische Studien. 6: Beiträge zur Kenntnis verschiedener albanesischer Mundarten, Sitzungsberichte der philosophischen-historischen Classe der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna 1896), 136, Teil 12, reprinted in Folklor shqiptar 1, Proza popullore (Tirana 1963). Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie.]

The Tale of the Youth who Understood the Language of the Animals

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 21:54:35 +0000

Once upon a time there was a youth who was neither poor nor rich. He owned a team of oxen and a herd of sheep and had a garden with many different fruit trees growing in it. Whenever the young man was in his garden and people passed by, he would invite them in and allow them to pick and eat whatever fruit they liked.

One day, when the young man was in his garden, a monk came by, so the young man invited him in, saying, “Won’t you come in and have something to eat?” The monk entered the garden and ate all he wanted. As the monk was about to leave, the young man said, “Take some fruit with you so you’ll have something to eat on your way.” The monk replied, “I am full. I don’t need anything more, but I would like you to tell me your wishes so that I can give you something too.” The young man retorted, “What could you give me?” “Whatever you want,” said the monk, “I can make you very rich. I can make you king. Or do you want the trees and stones to talk to you? I can give you honours, or would you like to learn the language of the birds and the animals? Which of these things would you like? Tell me and I will give it to you.” The young man answered that he would like to learn the language of the animals. The monk replied, “Then you will be able to understand their language, but don’t tell anyone or you will die.” The young man agreed, saying, “I won’t tell anyone. Please teach it to me!” All the monk then said was, “May you know it!” On hearing these words, the young man could suddenly understand what the animals were saying. He got up, went home and could now understand everything the birds and animals were talking about.

One evening he went out for a walk with his wife. They passed by the stable where the oxen, a mare, a donkey and other animals were kept. As they passed by, he overheard an ox talking to the donkey. The ox said to the donkey, “You don’t have any problems. You eat the same grass as I do and they leave you alone. As for me, the master yokes me to the plough and I have to pull it all day long. They don’t give me any food either. I have to forage for myself. They leave you alone and bring you food.” The donkey replied, “The humans are right when they say that oxen are stupid. God has given you horns instead of brains.” “Well, let me ask you a question,” said the ox, “if you are so clever. Tell me what I can do so that I won’t have to work.” “Tomorrow morning,” replied the donkey, “when the stable boy comes to take you out to the field, pretend you’re sick. Drool and don’t eat any grass this evening and the stable boy will think you really are sick. Then he’ll leave you alone.”

Thus spoke the donkey and the master heard everything from outside where he was sitting and listening. The wife asked him what he was listening to. “I’m only looking to see if the oxen are all right,” the man replied, and they went back into the house. The next morning the stable boy went out to get the oxen and take them to the field, and found that one ox was sick. He ran to his master right away and reported what had happened. The master replied, “Let the ox be sick. Leave him alone today. Take the donkey instead and yoke him to the plough with the other oxen.” So the stable boy went back, took the donkey and yoked him to the plough. The donkey had to work all day long until the sun set. He was so exhausted from his work that he could hardly walk. When he got back and they put him in the stable, the master went out to hear what the donkey would say to the ox. The donkey asked the ox, “Are you all right?” “I did what you told me,” replied the ox. “Well, get up quickly,” stated the donkey, “and eat your grass. You’ll have to be in good health by the time the stable boy gets back. Our master has been talking to the butcher, and if you’re still sick, they’re going to slaughter you tomorrow.”

When the ox heard this, he got up and began eating. He gobbled up the grass in front of him all at once. When the master, standing outside the stable, heard the nonsense the donkey had told the ox and saw how the ox was eating everything up, he had to laugh. His wife noticed him laughing and said, “What are you laughing about all by yourself like an idiot?” “Oh, I was just thinking of something,” said the man. But she would not give up and said, “No, you’re not thinking about anything. I think you can understand the language of the animals.” “No I can’t,” he replied, “I just had to laugh.”

A few days later, the lambs were to be separated from the mother sheep and taken up to the mountain pastures according to custom. And so the young man, his wife and their little son set off. The wife was pregnant again. Before they set off, she packed all sorts of things onto a mare which the man mounted, setting his son in front of him. When they had gone a ways, the wife said, “Let me ride too. I am getting tired.” So she mounted the mare too, although it was in foal. When they had gone a bit further, the mare’s foal, plodding along at its mother’s side, said to its mother, “Pull me. I’m getting tired.” The mare replied, “You’re walking all by yourself and you say you’re tired? I have four humans and a lot of baggage to lug and I’m carrying another foal. I can’t allow myself to get tired. I can’t wait for you any longer. Keep up with me if you want or fall behind.”

Since the man understood what the mare had said to her foal, he had his wife dismount. But his wife was still tired and was unwilling to get off. Indeed she got very angry. Finally they arrived at the mountain hut. The shepherds were busy catching a little lamb to slaughter and eat when they saw the man coming. The little lamb bleated, crying to its mother, “They’re going to get me, they’re going to slaughter me!” The sheep replied, “Alas, what can I do about it, my son? There’s nothing I can do! The jackals devour some of us and the humans eat the rest. Now they’ve got you too and the master is going to eat you. Just let them do what they want. We are in their hands.” The master said to one of the shepherds, “Let that little lamb go, and catch another one.” So they let it go and caught another lamb. But the second one began to cry too, calling for help from its mother, who answered, “May the master spare you! They’ve killed all the other lambs I’ve given birth to. And now they’ve got you, and will get me and all the other sheep too. There’s nothing I can do about it. The master does as he wishes.” The man told the shepherds to let the second lamb go, so they caught a third one which began to cry. Its mother replied, “I still have all the five lambs I’ve given birth to. The master hasn’t eaten any of mine. One of them will have to be sacrificed.” The master then told the shepherds they could roast the lamb. And so the shepherds slaughtered it, roasted and ate it. Afterwards they separated the little lambs from the mother sheep. The master remained in the mountain pastures, sleeping in a hut with his wife.

In the night, jackals and wolves appeared, surrounding the sheep and howling. They said to the dogs, “Stay where you are. We’re coming to get meat, but we’ll leave some for you.” The man owned two young dogs whom the shepherds cared for with love and affection and fed well. They got everything they wanted to eat. He also owned an old dog who had only two teeth left. All the others had fallen out. Sometimes they only gave the poor old dog a slice of bread, other times they gave him nothing at all. When the jackals and wolves ordered the dogs to stay put, the two young dogs replied, “We will bark, but we won’t come near you. Leave a sheep here near us tomorrow so we will have something to eat.” But the old dog said to the wild animals, “I am going to drive you away. I have two teeth left, and I’m going to sink them into your hides. My master has just arrived and I would be ashamed of myself if I didn’t. I have been living off his bread.”

The master understood what the two young dogs and the old one had said. The next morning he got up early to return home. On departing he said to the shepherds, “Call the dogs!” They assembled the dogs and the masters gave orders, saying, “Kill the two young dogs and give the old one some meat and milk.” The shepherds thought they had heard wrong and asked him, “We are to kill the young dogs and let the old one live?” The master replied, “Do as I have told you. Kill them right away in my presence.” So whether they wanted to or not, the shepherds had to kill the two young dogs and let the old one live.

When they had been home for some time, the wife began to weep and lament. Every time the husband gave her a chore she would groan and refuse to do it. Finally he asked her what was wrong. She replied, “What do you mean? I can see that you don’t love me the way other men love their wives.” “What kind of love do you mean?” asked the man, “I love you. We eat together, we drink together, we sleep together. What more do you want?” “If you really loved me,” she retorted, “you would tell me everything you know.” “What do you mean?” he inquired, and she said, “You were out two nights at the stable listening and laughing to yourself. Then, when we went up to the mountain hut, I had to get off the mare when it started neighing with its foal. Up in the pastures you only let them slaughter the third lamb. Yesterday morning, you had the two young dogs killed and let the old one live. You know something you’re not telling me about.”

Finally, the man said to her, “All right, I’ll tell you, though I’ll suffer greatly for it, because it will be the death of me.” The wife replied, “Go ahead and tell me, then you can die as far as I’m concerned.” The man said, “Get some bread and porridge ready, because I know I shall die as soon as I’ve told you.” While he talked, she got the food ready. She baked a loaf of bread, cooked the porridge, waiting impatiently for her husband to tell her everything, and was quite willing to let him die.

There was a dog in the house who understood what was happening and began to whimper. The man also had a lot of hens, and with them was a rooster. While the dog was whining, the rooster called the hens to him and beat his wings proudly so that the hens began to tremble and ducked down, pecking at the ground. The rooster gathered all the hens around him and then took his pleasure with them. The dog said to the rooster, “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, rooster? Don’t you feel sorry for our master? He is about to die and you have no sense of shame. You are crowing and taking your pleasure with the hens!” The rooster replied, “For heaven’s sake! I love our master because he gives grain to me and my wives. I have forty wives and only have to beat my wings for them to tremble. But he has only one wife and this wife has persuaded him to reveal his secret. And now he is to die! He should do something!” “What should he do?” asked the dog. The rooster replied, “If our master would listen to me, he would take his wife and lock her up. Then he would take a club of young hornbeam and beat her black and blue. That’s what he should do!”

The master understood what the rooster had said and did just that. He called his wife but instead of telling her his secret, he gave her a sound thrashing, threw her out and found himself another wife.

[Source: Holgar Pedersen, Albanesische Texte mit Glossar. Abhandlungen der philologisch-historischen Classe der Königl. Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften. Vol. 15 (Leipzig: Hirzel 1895), reprinted in Folklor shqiptar 1, Proza popullore (Tirana 1963). Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie.]

The Stirrup Moor

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 21:53:28 +0000

Once upon a time there was a king who owned a mare. It was his own personal mare and no one else was allowed to ride it. The mare had never had a foal. Nor did the king have any children. One day, he saddled the mare and rode out to find a potion so that his wife could bear children and the mare could have a foal. On his way, the king met an old man who asked him where he was going. The king replied, “I have set out to find a remedy because my mare, which I’ve had for ten years now, is infertile and my wife hasn’t had any children either.” The old man said, “Here, take this apple. Go home and peel it, and give the apple to the queen and the peelings to the mare. Then they will both become pregnant and give birth.” The king took the apple and returned to his palace. He gave the apple to the queen and the peelings to the mare, as the old man had told him to do. Both became pregnant and gave birth: the queen had a son with a star on his forehead and the mare had a foal with a star on its forehead. The king gave the stallion to his son and no one else was allowed to ride it. Everyone marvelled when the two rode out together.

Time passed and the youth turned twenty. He loved to hunt and went out every day with his stallion. One day, he lost his way and came to a river as big as the Vjosa. As he was riding along the bank of the river he saw a beautiful maiden on the other side who was also out hunting with her servants and hounds. The maiden was the daughter of a king, but her father was king of the jinns. She was therefore a jinn maiden, not a human being. When the youth saw the beautiful maiden he fell in love with her and returned day after day to the same place to see her. One day, he could stand it no longer. He spurred on his stallion and they leapt over the river to the other side. He then approached the maiden and spoke to her. The maiden asked him, “What are you doing on my land?” “I want to ask you a question,” replied the youth, “I am so full of longing for you. Do you love me or not?” The maiden looked at the handsome youth and fell in love with him, saying, “I love you five times more than you love me, but nothing will come of our love because of our families. Your father is a king and my father is a king, but your father is king of the humans and mine is king of the jinns. It simply won’t work out.” “But what can we do to stay together?” pleaded the youth, “for I will never give you up.” The maiden took a piece of toast out of her pocket and said to the youth, “Take this piece of toast and go back home. When you get there, pretend you are deathly ill and don’t eat anything they give you. Eat this toast instead when no one is watching. Then they will ask you what you want. Whenever they ask you, say you want nothing at all. In the end, they will ask you: Wouldn’t you like a girl? Just sigh deeply and they will understand that you love me and that we can’t be together.” Then the two separated.

The youth went home and became ill. They brought him food, but he would eat none of it. The king sent for all his physicians, for he had only one son, and he had no peer on earth. But however much the physicians examined him, they could not find out what was wrong. At that time, one of the king’s shepherds was on his way to bring the king a lamb and a gardener was on his way, too, to bring the king a melon. The two met on the road and asked one another where they were going. “I’m going to see the king,” said the first one. “So am I,” said the second, “because his son is ill.” They continued on their way and arrived at the palace where they offered their gifts. On seeing the youth, the gardener realized immediately that he wasn’t ill at all, but was in love. So he said, “Send all the people out of the room. You go too, my lord. Leave me alone with the youth. I think I can cure him.” The king replied, “I do hope so,” and sent everyone out of the room, leaving the gardener alone with the youth.

The gardener began by asking the youth what he wanted and mentioned all sorts of things. The youth replied time and time again, “There is nothing I want.” Finally the gardener asked, “Would you like the daughter of the king of the jinns?” The youth sighed deeply and replied, “Yes, indeed I would.” The gardener then said, “I will tell the king and when you get up, everything will be arranged.” The gardener went back to the king and said to him, “The youth is now in good health and has gotten up. As you can see, he has gone out to see his stallion. He had simply fallen in love with the daughter of the king of the jinns. You must bring her here as a bride for your son, otherwise he will be so distraught in his longing that you will lose him.” The king agreed right away. He sent a message to the king of the jinns inviting him to a banquet.

When the king of the jinns arrived, they celebrated for a whole week, eating, drinking, listening to music and playing games. Then the king of the humans said to the king of the jinns, “We have finally gotten to know one another and from now on we shall be friends. But I would like to go even further.” “As you wish,” replied the king of the jinns. “Give me your daughter as a wife for my son,” said the king, “then we will be relatives.” “Fine, I agree,” said the king of the jinns. And so, the two kings became relatives and exchanged rings. When the king of the jinns returned home, his wife greeted him and asked him, “How was it at the king’s banquet?” He replied, “They received me with hospitality and great honour and then we became relatives, for I have given our daughter in marriage to the king’s son.” When the queen heard this, she screamed, “You want me to give my daughter to the humans? Never! If you agreed to that, you did a very wicked thing!” She then stood up, took her daughter by the hand and went off to another corner of the world where another king of the jinns lived. She took her daughter there and left her with the other king of the jinns. Later, the mother died leaving the maiden all alone.

When the son of the king of the humans heard that the maiden had been taken away, he became ill again and went to his stallion to tell him his tale of woe. The stallion said to him, “Since you are going to die of longing for the maiden, go to your father and ask him to have his servants bring you your best clothes and to have them saddle me with two pouches of money. Then say to him: I want to go out into the courtyard and ride my stallion before I die, because I cannot give up the ghost without have ridden my stallion one last time with my best clothes on.” The youth did as the stallion had told him. Though the king agreed to all his son’s requests, he had guardsmen posted and locked the gates so that the youth couldn’t ride away. The youth went out of the palace, mounted his stallion and rode around in the courtyard for a while and then, suddenly, he shouted, “Farewell, father!” His father hardly had time to shout, “Catch them!” before the stallion and the youth had leapt over the walls and galloped off.

On their way, they arrived at a house with no doors or windows. A beautiful maiden who had seven brothers lived there. The brothers were off fighting with the king of Russia because he wanted to marry their sister and they had refused to give her up. They had therefore gone to war and had been fighting for five years. When the youth approached the house, which was more like a fortress, he took out his sword and struck the wall with it. A doorway opened where he had struck and the youth went through. On entering the house, he encountered the maiden all alone. She asked him, “Who are you and how did you get in here? There is a mighty king who has been fighting with my brothers for five years. No one is allowed to enter here.” The youth replied, “I haven’t come to do you any harm. I just want to see what’s going on. Tell me where your brothers are and I will go and make friends with them.” She replied, “My brothers are at the beach because some ships full of soldiers are coming tomorrow to do battle with them. The youth went out and struck the wall again, and the doorway disappeared. He went off to find the seven brothers. When he found them, they sat down to talk and he asked what they were doing there. They told him their problem, “Ten ships full of soldiers are coming tomorrow and we will have to fight.” The youth replied, “Don’t be afraid. I will stay here and fight with you.”

The next day, the ships full of soldiers arrived and the seven brothers got up to go into battle. The youth, however, said to them, “Wait a moment, let them get off the ships first, then we will charge and do battle with them.” “But there are so many of them,” said the brothers, “and only a handful of us. Once they get off the ships, we are lost.” The youth retorted, “Stay here and don’t worry.” So they let the soldiers get off the ships. The king’s son got up and mounted his stallion, stroking its mane and the forehead with a star on it. Then he took off his fez and set upon the soldiers. The two of them shone so brightly that the soldiers were blinded, and the youth was able to charge into their midst and slay almost all of them. He let a few of them live so that they would return home with their ships to tell the tale of their disaster. Then the youth returned to the brothers who took him home to their house nearby.

The soldiers who had survived reported to the king of Russia, “You have lost many soldiers, for there was a man there who shone as bright as the sun that we couldn’t see to fight him.” When the king of Russia heard this, he decided to give up.

The seven brothers took the king’s son home with them and kept him there for a month because they were afraid that the enemy would return. But no one came. Then they said to the youth, “You have saved us. Let us become brothers. We will give you our sister in marriage.” The youth replied, “All right, but I actually love the daughter of the king of the jinns and have set off to find her. When I return, I will take your sister with me.” And so they exchanged rings. The youngest of the seven brothers said he would accompany the youth. They kissed one another, said farewell and the two of them departed.

On their way, they saw an inn in the distance. The stallion said to the youth, “Do you see that inn? A Moor lives there who always sets a table at the roadside, but no one stops there to eat because everyone is afraid of him. His table is made of gold and so are the dishes, the plates, the spoons and the forks. You won’t even see that much gold at the king’s table. “Now,” continued the stallion, “we are getting closer to the inn. We’ll leave the boy here at the river so that no one can see him and go on ahead. When we approach the table, you get off and eat. But you’ll have to be quick and get back on me right away because the Moor has a mare that is swifter than any stallion on earth. We are now approaching someone selling hides. Buy five buffalo hides and cover my body with them, and put the saddle over them.” The youth did as the stallion had told him. He went over to the tanner, bought the hides, put them on the stallion and rode to the inn. There he found the table, got off and had something to eat. The Moor went over to the window and asked, “Who is down there?” The youth continued eating and didn’t answer. Then the Moor went out and mounted his mare. The youth finished eating and jumped on his stallion. When the Moor’s horse passed through the entrance to the inn, it neighed and the whole place was transformed into a lake so that the youth’s stallion and the mare were up to their bellies in water. The mare immediately set upon the stallion and the stallion upon the mare. The mare bit into the stallion and ripped off a whole buffalo hide in one piece. The stallion bit into the mare and broke one of its ribs. By the time the five buffalo hides had been torn off, the stallion and the mare were both exhausted. All the mare’s ribs had been broken and the two horses fell to the ground. The Moor and the youth fought with their swords. But no matter how often they struck one another, neither one was ever wounded. After the sword fight, they wrestled with their bare hands, but neither of them could win. When they got tired and had no energy left at all, the Moor said, “You are very strong indeed. Let us become brothers. I have seen the whole world, but I have never seen a person like you.” The youth replied, “All right, let us become brothers, although I don’t really trust you yet.” So the Moor gave his word and they trusted one another. The Moor took the youth with him and they went back to the inn. They called the other boy, took the horses with them and all went in together.

The black man, however, was not a real Moor, but the Earthly Beauty. When they entered the inn, the Moor went into another room to make coffee. There he took off his black skin and became the Earthly Beauty he actually was. Then he brought in the coffee, shook hands with everyone and welcomed them. When the men saw the beautiful girl, they began to tremble. The girl went back into the other room, put on the black skin again, and returned as the Moor, saying to the king’s son, “Did you see my sister who brought you the coffee?” “Yes, I did,” said the youth. The Moor continued, “I would like you to have her for your wife.” “All right, I’ll take her,” said the king’s son, “but first I have to find the daughter of the king of the jinns, then I’ll come back and take her with me.” And so they agreed and exchanged rings. Then the Moor said, “It is I who am the girl.” He took off his black skin and everyone could see that he was the beautiful girl. The Moor, who was now called the Stirrup Moor, said to the youth, “You won’t be able to find the maiden you’re looking for all by yourself.” He replied, “You are right. Let us go together if you it’s all right with you.” And so they spent a month at the house of the Stirrup Moor and, once the mare had recovered, the three of them set off.

They travelled a long, long way and eventually they arrived in another world. There, they came to a big river that was spanned by a bridge made of two parts. One part of the bridge was on one side of the river and the other part was on the other side. When they got to the bridge, the Stirrup Moor said, “We have arrived, so listen to what I have to say because you will have to repeat it to cross the bridge. Otherwise it will collapse and you will drown.” The Stirrup Moor went up to the bridge and said, “It’s me, bridge. I want to cross, but I can’t cross you like that.” The two parts of the bridge then rose and joined to make one bridge. The Stirrup Moor walked onto the bridge and crossed over. The others said the same thing and they too were able to cross to the other side.

Finally they reached the place where the daughter of the king of the jinns was living and entered the house of an old woman to spend the night. There they heard music, gun salutes, songs and dances as if a marriage were being celebrated in town and asked the old woman if someone was getting married. She replied, “Oh yes, the daughter of the king of the jinns is getting married. Another king is taking her away with him.” The Stirrup Moor asked, “When is the bridegroom coming to get her?” “In three days,” answered the old woman. The Moor then addressed the old woman again, saying, “Here is a handful of money for you. Go to the maiden and whisper in her ear that the son of the king of the humans has come and wants to meet her. And bring us her answer.” The old woman agreed, saying, “All right, I’ll go,” And off she went.

When she got to the palace gate, she began to prattle with the maiden’s servants the way old women do, “I want to see your mistress. Let me through.” But the servants wouldn’t let her in, and she began to shout. The mistress overheard her and asked her servants why the old woman was shouting. On hearing the answer of the servants, the maiden said, “Let her in.”

And so the old woman went in to see the maiden, kissed her and whispered in her ear, “The son of the king of the humans has come to meet you.” The maiden then gave orders to her servants, saying, “Go and cut off a branch from the big apple tree at the end of the little garden.” And they went and cut the branch off, and the maiden began beating the old woman with it. The old woman screamed and ran home lamenting and cursing, “You go and see her yourself. The king’s daughter has beaten me because of you.” When the Stirrup Moor heard what had happened, he calmed the old woman down and asked her what the maiden had said. He gave her more money and she told him, “The mistress sent for a branch from the big apple tree at the end of the little garden.” The Stirrup Moor then took the youth aside and said to him, “Go and sit under the big apple tree tonight. I’ll come too, so don’t be afraid. I’ll wait outside and keep watch.” And so the youth entered the garden that evening and sat down under the apple tree. At midnight, the king’s daughter arrived and found the youth asleep. She said nothing, but put a handful of sweets in his pocket and departed.

Next morning, the Moor came and asked the youth, “What did she say?” “She didn’t come,” he replied. The Moor examined the youth, took a look at his pocket and saw the sweets. “What did you put in your pocket last night?” he asked. “Nothing,” replied the youth. “What are those sweets you have in your pocket then?” When the youth noticed the sweets, he was amazed. The Stirrup Moor then said, “She was here, but you were asleep. If we want to win her, we will have to send the old woman to the king’s daughter again to find out what she has to say.” And so they went back to the old woman, and with great difficulty the Stirrup Moor managed to persuade her to return to the maiden. He gave her a great deal of money and sent her off. The daughter of the king of the jinns was already waiting at the window. When she saw the old woman coming, she gave orders, saying, “Let the old woman in.” The old woman entered and repeated what she had said the first time. The mistress then sent for a rod from a little apple tree in the middle of the big garden and used it to beat the old woman who fled home once more screaming.

The Stirrup Moor asked the old woman what had happened, and she explained about the rod the maiden had used to beat her. The Moor then took the youth to the little apple tree in the middle of the big garden. The king’s daughter got up at midnight and found the youth asleep again. She took his fez, left him hers and departed. When the youth got up the next morning, he met the Stirrup Moor who asked him about the maiden. “She didn’t come,” said the youth. The Stirrup Moor then asked, “Which fez were you wearing last night?” “My own,” replied the youth. “Look at the fez you’re wearing now,” said the Stirrup Moor. The youth looked at the fez and was amazed.

So they went back to the old woman and forced her to return to the maiden again. What did the mistress do this time? She sent for her servants saying, “Bring back a bunch of nettles from the end of the big garden.” When the servants brought the nettles, she took them, threw the old woman to the ground and beat her with the nettles until she was covered in blisters from head to toe. The old woman fled home screaming and cursing, saying that she was going to throw all of them out of her house. The Stirrup Moor calmed her down again and gave her more money. The old woman then told him where the nettles had come from.

The Moor took the youth, set him in the place where the nettles grew, grabbed a bunch of them, shook them and stung the youth so that he could not sleep. At midnight, the king’s daughter appeared and this time found the youth awake. “What are you doing here?” she asked. He replied that he had come to marry her. She retorted, “I would like to marry you, but it wouldn’t be that easy. There are jinns here too. I could get away; they couldn’t catch me. But you would never get away.” “What should we do?” inquired the youth. She explained, “I must leave tomorrow morning because the groom’s attendants are coming to get me. There is one thing you could do to save me, but someone would have to sacrifice himself.” “Tell me what it is,” said the youth, “what can I do?” She replied, “When I leave tomorrow morning, there is a mosque at a certain point along the road. There I will tell the groom’s attendants that I promised my mother I would go into the mosque to pray before getting married. They will let me enter the mosque alone. If someone else were already in the mosque, I could give him my clothes and he could put them on and go back out as the bride. Then we would be able to flee together.” She then promised that she would return to him from the mosque.

The youth went back to the Stirrup Moor and told him everything. “Where can we find someone willing to sacrifice himself?” asked the Moor. The little boy, the youngest of the seven brothers, interrupted saying, “I’ll do it, I’ll sacrifice my head. If I survive, I survive; if not, then I won’t.” The boy departed for the mosque. When the maiden arrived the next morning, she gave him her clothes, and he put them on and became the bride. The king’s daughter met the Stirrup Moor and her new husband and they left together for the Moor’s inn to await news of the boy dressed in the bride’s clothes.

The false bride was brought to the king’s palace to be married off. When the time came for her to be brought to the groom, she became ill and couldn’t go. She stayed in her room all night in the company of the groom’s eldest sister. The following night, the groom’s youngest sister said that she too wanted to spend the night with the bride and her request was granted. She visited the bride, but soon discovered that she wasn’t a real bride, but a young man. The girl said to him, “They haven’t come for you yet… but if you want to marry me, we could escape together.” He replied, “I would like to all right, but how can we escape?” “Let me worry about that,” replied the girl. They got up and went off to the king’s stable. There they chose the swiftest horses and mounted them. She tied the boy to the horse and to herself so that he wouldn’t fall off.

One day, while the Stirrup Moor and the king’s son were still at the inn, the boy and his bride arrived. The five of them then set off: the king’s son with his two wives, the Stirrup Moor who was actually the Earthly Beauty and the daughter of the king of the jinns, and the boy and his bride, and returned to the other brothers who had remained at home. They were received hospitably by the brothers and stayed at their house for some time. Finally, the king’s son took the sister of the seven brothers and set off together with his other wives. The youngest of the seven brothers still wanted to accompany them and the other brothers agreed. So he too set off with the king’s son. The Stirrup Moor rebuilt his palace with everything in it right across from that of the king, the youth’s father, and they all went to live in it: the youth with his wives and his brother in law with his wife.

One morning the king got up and was surprised to see a palace right across from his. He asked which palace it was and who had built it. His courtiers went out to have a look and reported, “That’s the palace of the king’s son.” Later the son invited the father and all his courtiers to a banquet. While they were celebrating, the father fell in love with the son’s young wives and said to him, “Let me have one of your wives.” The son replied, “You already have a hundred wives and if you need more you can get them. I only have these three and don’t want any more because I won them after great perils.” And he would not give the king any of his wives.

The king returned to his palace and invited the son to a banquet. The youth arrived with his wives, his brother in law and wife and was received as hospitably as he had received the king. Once they had eaten, the king suggested, “Shall we play cards?” “All right,” replied his son, “what shall we play for?” The father said, “If you win, you can put out my eyes, and if I win, I can put out your eyes.” And so they began to play. The son won the first game and his father said to him, “You’ve won. Put out my eyes.” “I don’t want to deprive you of your eyesight,” responded the youth, “let’s play once more.” They played once more and the son beat his father again. The father repeated, “Put out my eyes. You have won.” “I can’t put out your eyes. You are my father,” replied the son. The father then declared, “If I had won, I would have put out your eyes, so blind me if you want to, because you have won.”

They began to play again and this time the father beat the son saying, “Now I’ve won and I shall put out your eyes.” The youth replied, “I beat you twice and didn’t blind you and you want to put out my eyes after winning just once?” The king insisted that he had won, and because he wanted his wives, he had his son’s eyes put out. The youth’s three wives were away at a dance at the time. As the boy’s eyes were being put out, the daughter of the king of the jinns realized what was happening and said to the Stirrup Moor, “What shall we do? The king has blinded our husband to take us away from him.” The wives and the youth’s brother in law got up to return to their palace. When the king saw that they were going, he rushed to try and stop them. But the Stirrup Moor was so strong that he was able to fight the king off and even the whole army couldn’t stop them.

After the king’s servants had blinded the son, they threw him into a ravine for the birds to eat him. When they left, the youth managed to climb an oak tree to protect himself from the birds. There was a spring nearby where devils were gathering. The head of the devils asked the other devils, one after the other, what they had accomplished. The first one he asked was the devil who had possessed the king and made him blind his own son. He replied, “Today I made the king have his son’s eyes put out.” The head of the devils was very pleased and made him an officer. He then asked another devil who replied, “I went out today and peed on the sheep of a shepherd tending his flock up in the mountains. The sheep have fallen ill and will all die.” The head of the devils made him an officer too. He then asked the next devil what he had done. He answered, “I tried the best I could, but I didn’t accomplish anything.” The head of the devils got angry and started to beat him. The devil began to sob and cried, “How is the king’s son supposed to know that he must come to this spring, sprinkle sand from the spring in his eyes and rinse them with the water in order to regain his sight? And how is the shepherd to know that if he comes to the spring and sprinkles the water over the sheep, they will all get well?” Then a rooster crowed and the devils all disappeared.

When they were gone, the youth climbed down from the tree and walked in the direction of the voices. He got closer to the spring and, hearing it bubbling, groped forward to find it. Then he sprinkled sand in his eyes, scooped out some water, rinsed his eyes with it and regained his sight. Near the spring he found an empty gourd which the devils had left behind. He filled it with water and went off to the shepherd whose sheep were all dying and who was at the verge of killing himself. The youth asked the shepherd what he would give him if he saved his sheep. The shepherd replied, “Whatever you want. Just bring the sheep back to life. I only need to see them once and I’ll give you whatever you want.” “All I want is for you to make me some shepherd’s clothes,” said the youth, “but they must be fine looking. I will give you my own clothes in exchange.” Then the youth sprinkled water over the sheep and they came back to life. The shepherd took the youth home, gave him something to eat, made some fine clothes and presented them to him.

The youth then returned to his father who was in a very sad way because the Stirrup Moor had killed all his soldiers and because he hadn’t gained the wives. The youth asked the king what was wrong and why he looked so despondent. The king replied, “What do I have left, shepherd? Don’t you see that I have lost all my soldiers and that I can’t have the wives I wanted?” The youth then asked, “What would you give me if I were to win them over all by myself?” The king replied, “I would give you half of my kingdom and we would reign together.” “All right” responded the youth, “you give me half of your kingdom, but you must also give me one of the wives, any one you wish.” “I agree,” said the king.

The youth then went across to the Stirrup Moor’s palace. The Moor had put on his black skin and was waiting for the enemy to come so that he could vanquish them. When the youth arrived, the Moor lunged at him with his lance. The youth deflected it with his hands and grappled with the Moor who began fighting with his bare hands too. The youth got closer and the Moor lunged at him again. When the Moor realized he couldn’t win, he shouted to the others, “Now we are lost. This one is just as strong as our husband and will take us.” The daughter of the king of the jinns took a look at him, and recognized the crooked tooth that showed when he laughed. She shouted, “Stop, it’s our husband”. Then they all recognized him, opened the door and let him in.

A little later, the youth sent a message to the king to tell him to come over because he was in the palace. The king happily rushed over to the palace and hugged and kissed the shepherd, still not knowing that it was his own son. The king and the son then went into a room, sat down and sent for the women. The king was overjoyed when they arrived. The shepherd declared that he now owned half of the kingdom and one of the wives, one that the king did not want. The king replied, “Which one should I give you? This one? Fine. Or that one? All the better. Or shall I give you the third one? She would be best. But no, I’ll give you one of my nieces.” “No,” insisted the youth, “I want one of the wives. That’s what we agreed to.” The king could not bring himself to give one of his wives up and said to the shepherd, “Let us wait for a moment. Before we decide, we’ll go through the rooms and see how they are decorated. If this palace if more beautiful than mine, I’ll live here and you can have my palace.” So they got up and visited all the rooms.

The Stirrup Moor had put the oven on and by the time they had gone through all the palace, it was very hot indeed. When they had seen all the rooms, the youth said, “Now, let’s have a look at the kitchen,” and they entered the kitchen where the oven was. Immediately, the Stirrup Moor seized the king and threw him into the oven where he was burnt to ashes. Thus, the king’s son kept his three wives and became king. And so they lived and reigned happily ever after.

The King’s Daughter and the Skull

Honolulu — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 21:52:18 +0000

Once upon a time there was a king who had three daughters. One day he went out riding on his horse and rode past a palace surrounded by a moat. The horse got one of its legs stuck in the mire and could not extract it. A number of people happened by, but no one could help. As nighttime approached, the king swore, “I will give my eldest daughter to anyone who can get my horse’s leg out of the moat!” The moment he swore the oath, the horse was able to extract its leg, though there was no one to be seen around them. The king rode home and told his daughter that she was to be married. He was quite sure that someone from the palace behind the moat had freed his horse and therefore took his daughter there.

The maiden entered the palace and waited a moment in the hall. A horrible Moor came out, opening a large door. And what did the poor girl see through the door but a skull! She went in trembling feverishly and the Moor said to her, “This is your husband. You must spend the rest of your life with him.” The poor maiden was in the depths of despair and began to weep. What a sorrowful life with a skull!

The next morning, the father sent the old governess to the maiden to ask her how she was. When the maiden saw the governess, she threw her arms around her, weeping and begging to be taken home because she could not stand another minute. So the old woman took the daughter back to her father without saying a word. The king then sent his second eldest daughter, but she came back just as the first one had because she could not live with the horrible skull either. When the third daughter saw that her two sisters had returned home, she went to her father and said, “Father, send me to live with the skull. It doesn’t matter what happens to me.” “My dear daughter,” replied the king, “you are the pet of the family and you are willing to marry the skull? Do you want to throw your whole life away? But go if you want!” “Yes, father, I’ll go and try my luck,” said the pretty maiden. And so, the old king sent his daughter off and was very sad to see her go. She too entered the hall where the Moor was waiting. Once again the skull came into the room, but the maiden was not afraid. She took the skull in her hands and stroked it, saying, “What a lucky girl I am to have such a wonderful husband!” Then she laid the skull in the corner of the room.

The next morning, the king despatched the governess who asked the maiden, “My girl, how did you spend the night? What was your husband like?” “It couldn’t have been better, nanny, I have a husband without equals!” The governess returned home and reported what she had heard. The king was delighted, and the sisters were very curious. “Is it possible,” they wondered, “to be happy with a skull?” Some time later, they sent the old governess back with a diamond brooch and had her ask their sister to buy it. The old woman went off to the happy maiden and asked her, “My girl, wouldn’t you like to have this beautiful brooch?” “Oh yes I would, nanny,” the clever maiden replied, “but I’ll have to ask my husband, because he must like it too.” Having said this, she accompanied the governess to the door, went up to her room and began to weep because she didn’t know where to get the money to buy the brooch. The Moor came in as she was weeping and asked what the matter was. She told him her problem and the Moor went off to the skull which ordered, “Tell the mistress to get the key near the chimney, go into the other room and take as much money as she wants.” The Moor reported what the skull had said and the maiden went off happily to the room and filled her pockets with money.

The next day, the governess returned and asked the maiden on behalf of her sisters, “Did you speak to your husband? Did he like the brooch?” “You know, nanny dear,” the maiden replied, “he doesn’t want to spoil my happiness. Look at all the money he’s given me.” The old woman’s eyes opened wide. She was astounded, and all the more so because she knew the girl was married to a skull. Bewildered, she returned home. When the sisters heard what had happened they were green with envy. The next day they invited their sister to go to the baths with them. The old woman brought the sisters’ invitation and the maiden replied that she would first have to ask her husband. She returned to her room again and began to weep because she didn’t know what to do. Again the Moor came in and asked her why she was weeping. She told him what had happened and he went off to the skull which declared, “Tell the mistress to take these crumbs and scatter them outside.” The maiden did as the skull had told her and what did she see? The whole road was full of coaches and one of them was made of gold. Standing in front of them were servants waiting with everything she needed to go to the baths. The sisters were stupefied when they saw her and began to regret their decision. “We were stupid not to have stayed at the palace,” the wicked sisters thought.

The third day, they sent the governess off again to say that they wanted to come over for a meal. When the governess had returned home, the maiden went back to her room and began to weep. The Moor appeared once again, found out why she was weeping and hurried off to the skull. The skull ordered the maiden to scatter the crumbs in the kitchen, which she did. To her surprise a pantry appeared full of all sorts of food, with servants standing at attention. Just before the sisters were to arrive, she arranged for the servants to say to her from time to time in her sisters’ presence: “Could you come out for a moment? The master wishes to speak to you.” The sisters arrived and were quite taken by the delicious meal. The servants did as they were told and asked the maiden to come out of the room, which she did. She spoke to herself so that the sisters would hear her and think she was talking to her husband. But still they were not satisfied. Now they wanted to meet the husband.

This time the maiden didn’t know what to do. While she was weeping, a black cat appeared and enticed the maiden into following it into a beautiful garden There she saw a girl and a boy under a rose bush. Beside them was a baby lying directly in the sun. The maiden felt sorry for the baby and covered its head with a towel. Then she noticed that the girl’s long blonde hair was entangled in the thorns of the rose bush, so she began extricating the strands one by one, careful not to hurt the girl or disturb her sleep. When the girl awoke, she was surprised and woke the boy up to ask him what had happened, but he had no idea either. Then the girl with the long blonde hair said, “Let the person who has been so kind to me come forth and I will make all his wishes come true.”

The maiden with the skull came out from behind the rose bush where she was hiding and said to the blonde girl, “I beg you, sister, save me from the predicament I’m in or I am doomed. My father married me to the skull of a dead man, and now my sisters want to meet my husband face to face because they are green with envy. Do you know how they can meet him the way he was before he died? If you can help me, I’ll never forget you.” Thus spoke the maiden and touched the girl’s heart. “Here is the man you are looking for,” she replied. “This is your husband!”

And at that moment, the skull was transformed into a human being. The blonde girl, radiant and fair, was actually the Earthly Beauty. She had earlier changed the man into a skull to keep him for herself and not to let him into the world of the living.

The maiden was overjoyed and returned to the palace where her sisters were waiting. They were overwhelmed when they saw the husband alive. The couple reigned a long, long time and are still living happily ever after.

[Source: Stavro Frashëri, Folklor shqipëtar (Durrës 1936), reprinted in Folklor shqiptar 1, Proza popullore (Tirana 1963). Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie.]