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The Golden Crab

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The Golden Crab is a Greek fairy tale collected as "Prinz Krebs" by Bernhard Schmidt in his Griechische Märchen, Sagen and Volkslieder.[1] Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.[2]

Georgios A. Megas collected a variant, The Crab, in Folktales of Greece.[3]

It is Aarne-Thompson type 425D, Vanished Husband learned of by keeping inn.[4]

Synopsis

Schmidt's variant

Bernhard Schmidt (de) stated that his version was originally titled "Οἱ δώδεκα ἀετοί" ("Oí dódeka áetoi"; "The Twelve Eagles") by the narrator. He also compared the 12 eagles of the Greek tale to the 12 pigeons in the Albanian tale from von Hahn.[5]

One day a fisherman, who had a wife and three children, caught a golden crab with the rest of his fish. He took it home, and the crab told his wife, (who was cleaning the other fish) to let down her skirt, her feet were showing. That evening, the crab asked to be given dinner, and when they did, they found his plate was filled with gold. This happened every night.

One day, the crab told the fisherman's wife to tell the king that he (the crab) wanted to marry his (the king's) younger daughter. The king, guessing he was an enchanted prince, demanded that the crab build a wall in front of the castle, higher than the highest tower, and blooming with flowers, and then a garden with three fountains that played gold, diamonds, and brilliants. When this was done, the king agreed.

The crab sent the fisherman to fetch rich garments for himself and his bride, and had himself carried to the castle on a golden cushion. After the wedding, he told his bride that he was an enchanted prince, a crab by day and a man by night, though he could change himself into an eagle whenever he liked. They spent their nights together, and soon the princess had a son.

The king held another tournament, decreeing that if any of the knights pleased his daughter, that knight would be selected by her, and she would marry him and would leave the crab. The method of selection was to be a golden apple - thrown to the king's daughter by whichever knight she selected. The crab sent the princess to give orders for his golden armor and steed, and his golden apple, to be brought to him. He warned her that he would be the knight to throw her the golden apple, but she must not reveal that he is the crab. When she was not pleased with any of the princes, the king held a second tournament. The crab was certain that his wife would betray him this time, but went again. When he threw her the golden apple, her mother boxed her ears, demanding to know why even that knight did not please her, and the princess confessed it was the crab. The queen ran back to their rooms, saw the crab shell, and burned it. The princess wept bitterly, but her husband did not return.

An old man went to dip some bread in water when a dog stole it from him. He chased after the dog, and found a palace. Twelve eagles flew in and became young men. They toasted the health of some family member -- a father, a mother -- and the last toasted his wife but cursed the mother who burned his shell. The old man heard the princess was ill, and that the only thing that consoled her was hearing stories. He went to the castle to tell his, and the princess went with him to the palace. When her husband gave that toast, she ran to him. He asked if she would stay with him the three months until the enchantment was done. She agreed and sent back the old man to tell her parents. They were not pleased, but when the three months were done, the prince and princess went back home and were happy.

Megas's variant

A priest and his wife lived near a king and queen. They were so fond of each other that they agreed that their children would marry. The queen gave birth to a daughter, and the priest's wife to a crab. When the crab and the princess were grown, the crab asked the king to fulfill his promise. The king asked him to remove a nearby mountain in one night. The crab did so, and the marriage was held. He took off his shell at night and became a handsome young man, but cautioned his wife to silence. The princess was pleased, but her mother was grief-stricken. On Sundays, the crab sent his wife to church ahead of him and came in human form; her mother said that the prince must have come to woo her and she lost him by marrying the crab. On the third Sunday, the queen wept so much that her daughter feared she would become ill, and the princess revealed the truth. When she went back, the crab was gone.

She had three pairs of iron shoes made and wandered the world until she had worn out two. Then she built an inn and asked all travellers for news. Two beggars came. One told how he had tried to eat some bread, but when he dipped it into a stream to soften it, the current bore it off. He had chased it to a palace, where he was forbidden to eat until the lords had eaten. Three doves flew in and turned to young men. Two toasted the health of a fair one who could not keep a secret, and ordered the windows and doors to weep; they wept, and the young men wept with them. The third toasted the fair lady who could not keep her promise for one more day, and wept with the windows and doors. When they were done, the beggar ate and left. The princess asked him to lead her there. The oven and cauldron welcomed her, and the door told her to hide behind it. When the first two men gave their toasts, the doors and windows wept, but when the third did, they laughed. He went to break them, and found his wife. She threw his wings on the fire and saved him from possible danger or death.

Analysis

The tale is related to the cycle of the Animal as Bridegroom or the Search for the Lost Husband, and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 425D, "The Vanished Husband". This type refers to a human girl marrying a supernatural husband in animal form; she betrays his secret and he disappears. In order to find him, she builds an inn, hospital or bath house to listen to passers-by's stories. One day, she listens to a person's narration about a flock of birds transforming into men in a place somewhere. The heroine recognizes it is about her husband and asks to be taken there.[6][7]

Variants

Europe

Italy

The "Istituto centrale per i beni sonori ed audiovisivi" ("Central Institute of Sound and Audiovisual Heritage") promoted research and registration throughout the Italian territory between the years 1968–1969 and 1972. In 1975 the Institute published a catalog edited by Alberto Maria Cirese [it] and Liliana Serafini reported 5 variants of type 425D, under the banner Notizie del marito scomparso apprese aprendo una locanda (o un bagno) ("Hearing news about lost husband by opening an inn or bath house").[8]

Greece

According to Emmanouela Katrinaki, Greek variants of type ATU 425E, Enchanted Husband Sings Lullaby, "almost always" appear in combination with type 425D.[9]

Albania

Austrian consul Johann Georg von Hahn collected an Albanian tale titled Taubenliebe: a king wants his only daughter to find a husband. One day, a dove flies into her room and talks to her. The dove tells her to have a milk bowl ready for it the next day. The dove returns, bathes in the milk and becomes a handsome youth. The youth warns her to never tell anyone about him, and to wait for him for three years. They exchange rings as a vow. Some time later, the queen wants to betroth the princess to a suitor, but she mentions she is already betrothed. After, the dove does not return, and she goes on a quest for him for three years, walking in iron shoes and with three iron canes. Her quest is not successful, and she returns home. She asks her parents to build a bath house, and that any guest can enter by telling a story. One day, the daughter of a woman that lives in town wants to go to the bath house, but first she goes to the fountain to get some water. At the spring, she sees a rooster with footwear. The girl follows the rooster to a garden and to a house. Inside the house, she spies on 11 pigeons flying into the room, bathing in milk and becoming men. A 12th pigeon appears and mopes about his fiancée, who betrayed the secret. The girl returns to her mother and both decide to go to the princess's bath house to tell her the story.[10] The tale was translated by Parker Fillmore as The Pigeon's Bride: The Story of a Princess who Kissed and Told (sourced as from Yugoslavia),[11] and by Albanologist Robert Elsie as For the Love of a Dove.[12]

Asia

Iraq

In a dialectal variant from Baghdad with the title ich-chelb‿il-eswed ("The Black Dog"), a couple has no children, but the wife wishes to have a daughter, and makes a promise to marry her to whomever asks for her hand, even if it is a black dog. A daughter is born and 16 years later, a black dog appears to her to remind her of her mother's promise. The girl is given to the black dog as wife and they move to a new house. Once there, the black dog takes off the canine skin and becomes a handsome man. He gives her a casket of jewellery and tells his wife not to reveal the secret to any stranger. The girl goes to the women's bath and is insulted for marrying a dog, but she proclaims her husband is better than any of their husbands. Later that night, the girl awaits for her husband to come, but he never does, and she goes back to her mother. The girl asks her mother to build a bath house, where any guest may tell her news of her husband. One day, an old woman passes by the bath house and narrates a strange occurrence that happened to her: before dawn, on a moonlit night, she followed a camel to a house, where 40 birds alighted and became men, the last of them standing near a fountain with a piece of jewelry and laments over his lost love, the entire house weeping with him. The girl at the bath house begs the old woman to take her there where she saw the camel, the house and the birds. The event repeats and, when the last man laments over his lost love, the entire house laughs instead of weeping. His love, the girl, reveals herself and they reconcile.[13] Scholar Hasan El-Shamy classified this tale as both type ATU 425A and type ATU 425D.[14]

In an Iraqi tale collected by novelist and ethnologist E. S. Drower with the title The Thorn-Seller or Shawwāk, a poor thorn-seller brings home a gourd. Suddenly, the gourd begins to talk and tells the thorn-seller, whom he regards as his adoptive father, to court the king's princess as a wife for him. The thorn-seller goes to the king with his son's proposal, and the king orders him to build a palace made of gold and precious gems. With the gourd's magic powers, a palace is built. The king is convinced to give his daughter's hand in marriage to the thorn-seller's son. The princess awaits for her husband, but a sparrow comes to her room. The bird takes off the birdskin, reveals he is her husband and asks her not to reveal the secret. One day, she goes to a women-only public bath and overhears the mocking gossip about her marriage. She then tells the women about her husband's true form. Sensing his wife betrayed her vow, the bird steals some of her jewels as a memento, then flies away. Some time later, the princess builds a bath house where everyone can bathe for free in exchange for a tale. An old woman comes and tells a curious story: when she was going to the river to wash her clothes, she saw a rooster coming out if the river; she holds onto the rooster's tail and is carried off to an underwater castle, inside, 40 doves come to a pool near the castle and become maidens, then a man comes and cries over a lost love. The princess asks the old woman to guide her to the river.[15] In her notes, Drower reported another tale wherein the supernatural husband was a white snake, whose snake skin the heroine's jealous sisters threw in the fire, and that the kitchen utensils cry with him. In a second story, a bird steal a princess's comb; the tale continues much like The Thorn-Seller: the woman at the river sees a stallion filling waterskins; then, inside the secret palace, the bird becomes a man, yearns with love for the princess, and bids the trees to weep with him.[16]

Israel

In a Israeli tale titled The Camel's Wife, a barren woman is instructed by a stranger to go to the desert and drink from a certain well. She does and nine months later she gives birth to a baby in the shape of a camel. One day, the camel tells his mother to ask for the king's youngest daughter as wife. The king agrees to the camel son's proposal, but he has to find three items first: a carpet large enough to accomodate the army and wheen rolled up it could fit in a nut; a branch of grapes that could feed the army, and there would still be some on the cluster; and a watermelon with rind of gold and pits of precious gems. The camel instructs his mother to go to a cave and shout three times "The camel is dead, the camel is alive" (Met hakamal, chai hakamal); a voice will answer that "it should never be" (Khas v’ha leela) and give her the objects. The camel fulfills the requests and marries the princess. On the wedding night, the camel explains that he is human beneath the camelskin and that the princess must never reveal the secret. He then takes off the fur and becomes a man. One day, war breaks out in the kingdom and the princess begs her husband to help her father. The camel husband becomes human, fights in the war and gets injured. The king sees the warrior and wraps a handkerchief around the injury. When the king's sons-in-law return home, the princess's older sisters mock her about her animal husband, and she reveals her husband is indeed human. The elder sisters convince her to burn the camel fur. She does; the camel husband, in human form, tells the princess that she will only find him after walking with an iron cane and wearking iron clogs on her feet, turns into a bird and vanishes. The king builds a bath house where people are to tell unusual stories. One day, a woman comes to the bath house and tells a strange story: on a moonlit night, one the way to the market to buy thread, she saw a camel and a beetle and followed them to a cave; inside the cave, bread was baking by itself in the oven; three doves came with a tablecloth, opened it and exhorted the house to cry and weep with them. The princess asks the woman to guide her to the cave, with the iron cane and the iron clogs. They follow the camel and the beetle and enter the cave. They see the doves, which tell the house to smile and laugh. The princess sees her husband and reconciles with him.[17]

Palestina

In a Palestinian version from Birzeit, collected by orientalist Paul E. Kahle with the title Der verzauberte Jussif ("The Enchanted Jussif"), an old merchant named Nassireddin finds a camel outside his house and he and his wife take him in as son. One day, the camel signs with his head that he wants a wife. A Fellachenmädchen interprets the camel's head gesture that he must seek a wife among the merchant class. Nassireddin finds as a prospective bride a friend's daughter. The merchant friend asks Nassireddin about his son, but Nassireddin spins a story about his son never leaving the house for fear of the Sun and the moon and the people's stares. At any rate, the camel marries the merchant's daughter, and she gives birth to three boys in the following years. One day, the merchant's daughter and her sisters go for a walk and talk about her husbands, and she reveals her husband, the camel, is actually a handsome youth who rides a white horse. She goes back home and notices her husband and sons's absence. The tale then flashbacks to when the camel husband showed his true form under the camelskin, with a warning that, if she reveals the secret, the camel husband will disappear with their children. In the present time, the merchant's daughter builds a bath (house). One day, a middle-aged fellahin woman comes to the bath to tell a story in exchange for using the facilities. The fellahin woman narrates her tale: on a moonlit night, by an olive tree, she saw 40 birds; the birds took a bath, ate, drank and flew away; a hen and a rooster told the wind and the rain to come; a man lamented to three children about his wife Warde (Rose) who had betrayed his secret. The merchant's daughter and the fellahin woman go to the olive tree to wait for the birds to come. The birds come; the merchant's daughter tries to convince her family to come back. Her husband promises to heed her pleas. The next day, he brings the children back with him to their mother.[18] Hasan El-Shamy classified this tale as both type ATU 425A and type ATU 425D.[19]

In a tale published by author Inea Bushnaq with the title The Camel Husband, a barren woman sees mothers carrying and playing with their children and longs to have her own son, even it is a newborn camel. She prays to God and, nine months later, she gives birth to a camel she names "Jumail". One day, Jumail asks his mother to find him a wife. A peasant girl is brought to him as a prospective bride, but he only wants the sultan's youngest daughter. His mother goes to the sultan to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage. She explains his son is a little camel. The sultan laughs at her and orders him to produce as bride-price his daughter's weight in gold. The next day, Jumail guides the sultan's men to a cave filled with gold, silver and precious gems. Defeated, the sultan agrees to marry his youngest daughter, Princess Ward, to him. She enters Jumail's chambers; he reveals he is a man under the camel skin, the son of the king of the jinns, and that she cannot betray his secret. One day, war breaks out, and Jumail, in human form, goes to fight for the kingdom. When he returns with the army, Princess Ward talks about the warrior being her husband, the camel, and he disappears. Some time later, the sultan builds a bath house where everyone can bathe in exchange for a story. A woman comes to the bath house and tells the princess about a tree in a place somewhere, where the ground cracked open and a prince came out of the opening with a retinue. Princess Ward asks the woman to be guided to that exact spot.[20]

Africa

Egypt

In an Egyptian variant collected by Yacoub Artin Pacha with the title Les quarante boucs, ou le bouc chevauchant sur le bouc ("The 40 Goats, or, The Goat Riding a Goat"), a sultan has three daughters of marriageable age. He announces the princesses are to throw a handkerchief to their possible suitors who pass by their window. The two elders throw theirs to princes, while the third's falls near a goat. The princess repeats the action and her handkerchief still falls on the goat, to the crowd's amusement. The third princess marries the goat in a grand ceremony and leaves with him for their honeymoon. After the doors close, the goat takes off its skin and becomes a human youth of peerless beauty. He explains that he is an emir that was cursed by the sorcerers, and that she must not reveal the secret to anyone, otherwise he will disappear. Time passes, and war erupts. The princess's father, the sultan, is too old to fight, so he sends his three sons-in-law, the princes and the goat. His army victorious, the three sons-in-law return for a celebratory parade, and he third princess throws a rose to a mysterious man that rides along with the two princes. The parade continues on for two more days, and the princess throws a jasmin to the rider on the second day and a tamarin flower on the third. The princess's sisters suspect something afoul with their sister's behaviour and tell the sultan. The sultan confronts his daughter about it and she tells him about the goat's secret. The goat vanishes. The princess becomes saddened and builds a bath house, so that other women can share their woes with her. One day, a poor old woman comes to the bath house to share her story: she was washing herself in the river, when she saw three mules. She followed the mules, which descended through an opening into the ground to a grand room with 40 seats and a larger one. The old woman saw the arrival of 40 goats, plus a goat riding a goat; they sat on the seats and their skins peeled off to reveal 40 young men. The man sat on the larger seat cried over his love, "Princess of Beauty and Grace" (the heroine's name), and his companions, and the whole room, cried with him. After the old woman finishes her tale, the princess, named Sitt-el-Husna, asks to be taken there. The old woman takes the princess to the underground room; they see the same 40 goats enter, sit on the seats and take off their skins. The last goat enters, becomes a man and weeps over his lost love, but his companions and the room laugh, instead of crying with him. The princess appears before her husband and they reconcile.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ Schmidt, Bernhard. Griechische Märchen, Sagen und Volkslieder. Leipzig: Teubner, 1877. pp. 83-88.
  2. ^ Andrew Lang, The Yellow Fairy Book, "The Golden Crab"
  3. ^ Georgios A. Megas, Folktales of Greece, p 42, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1970
  4. ^ Georgias A. Megas, Folktales of Greece, p 226, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1970
  5. ^ Schmidt, Bernhard. Griechische Märchen, Sagen und Volkslieder. Leipzig: Teubner, 1877. pp. 227-228.
  6. ^ Angelopoulou, Anna; Broskou, Aigle. "ΕΠΕΞΕΡΓΑΣΙΑ ΠΑΡΑΜΥΘΙΑΚΩΝ ΤΥΠΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΡΑΛΛΑΓΩΝ AT 300-499". Tome B: AT 400-499. Athens, Greece: ΚΕΝΤΡΟ ΝΕΟΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΩΝ ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝ Ε.Ι.Ε. 1999. pp. 772-774.
  7. ^ Ashliman, D. L. A Guide to Folktales in the English Language: Based on the Aarne-Thompson Classification System. Bibliographies and Indexes in World Literature, vol. 11. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1987. p. 89. ISBN 0-313-25961-5.
  8. ^ Discoteca di Stato (1975). Alberto Mario Cirese; Liliana Serafini (eds.). Tradizioni orali non cantate: primo inventario nazionale per tipi, motivi o argomenti [Oral Not Sung Traditions: First National Inventory by Types, Reasons or Topics] (in Italian and English). Ministero dei beni culturali e ambientali. p. 101.
  9. ^ Katrinaki, Emmanouela. "Die Tiergatten in den griechischen Märchen des Zyklus: „Die Suche nach dem verlorenen Mann“ (AT/ATU 425)". In: Willem de Blécourt / Christa Agnes Tuczay (Hrsg.). Tierverwandlungen: Codierungen und Diskurse. Wien: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH, 2011. p. 176. ISBN 978-3-7720-8406-5.
  10. ^ Hahn, Johann Georg von. Griechische und Albanesische Märchen 1-2. München/Berlin: Georg Müller, 1918 [1864]. pp. 151-156.
  11. ^ Fillmore, Parker. The laughing prince; a book of Jugoslav fairy tales and folk tales. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1921. pp. 51-72.
  12. ^ Elsie, Robert. Albanian Literature. Retrieved: April 05, 2022.
  13. ^ McCarthy, R. J.; Raffouli, Faraj. Spoken Arabic of Baghdad: Part Two (A) - Anthology of Texts. Publications of the Oriental Institute of Al-Hikma University: Linguistic Series nr. 2. Beirut, Place de L'Étoile: Libraire Orientale, 1965. pp. 129-135 (transcription), 341–346 (English translation).
  14. ^ El-Shamy, Hasan (2004). Types of the Folktale in the Arab World: A Demographically Oriented Tale-Type Index. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 201 (entry nr. 9).
  15. ^ Stevens, E. S.; Wilson, Arnold. Folktales of Iraq. Courier Corporation, 2006. pp. 45-57. ISBN 9780486444055.
  16. ^ Stevens, E. S.; Wilson, Arnold. Folktales of Iraq. Courier Corporation, 2006. pp. 296-297. ISBN 9780486444055.
  17. ^ Schram, Peninnah. Stories within Stories: From the Jewish Oral Tradition. Jason Aronson, 2000. pp. 137-141. ISBN 9781461662532.
  18. ^ Schimdt, Hans; Kahle, Paul. Volkserzählungen aus Palästine. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. 1918. pp. 178–185.
  19. ^ El-Shamy, Hasan (2004). Types of the Folktale in the Arab World: A Demographically Oriented Tale-Type Index. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 204 (entry nr. 7).
  20. ^ Bushnaq, Inea. Arab folktales. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986. pp. 188-193. ISBN 9780394501048.
  21. ^ Pacha, Yacoub Artin (1895). Contes populaires inédits de la vallée du Nil. Paris: J. Maisonneuve. pp. 87-101.
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