The White Bird and His Wife

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The White Bird and His Wife is an East Asian folktale published as part of the compilation of The Bewitched Corpse.

Summary

The girl finds the cage with her husband's bird-soul locked inside. Illustration by Maurice Day for Wonder Tales from Tibet (1922).

The following summary is based on Rachel Harriette Busk's[1] and Bernhard Jülg [de]'s translations of the story.[2]

In a distant kingdom called Fair-flower-garden, a man lives with his three daughters grazing their goat herds. One day, the goats vanish, and the elder daughter goes to look for them. She finds a large red door and goes through, then a gate of mother-of-pearl and another of emerald. A bird appears to her and tells her that he can show where her herds are, as long as she consents to marry him. The elder daugther refuses.

The next day, the middle daughter goes to look for the goats, and the same bird appears with the same proposal. She also refuses. The following day, the youngest daughter goes to look for her goats, and bird appears to her. The youngest believes its words and agrees to marry him.

Variants

According to Hungarian orientalist László L. Lőrincz, the tale is titled Sibaɣun ger-tü ("The Man in the Form of a Bird") in a Mongolian language version of The Bewtiched Corpse.[3] In Tibetan language publications, the tale is titled Bya-šubs-čan-gyi leu'ste or Rgyal-bu bya-šubs-čan-gyi leu'ste ("The Story of the Man in Bird Skin"). Lörincz also distinguishes between literary and folkloric (oral) versions of the tale.[4]

The story was variously translated into English: The White Bird's Wife, by Eleanore Myers Jewett (from Tibet).[5]

In the translated version by Charles John Tibbitts with the title The Bird-Man, a father lives with his three daughters, who herds their calves; the sisters pass through a golden door, a silver door and a brazen door and find the bird; the youngest sister marries the bird. During the 13 days' feast around the large pagoda in the neighbourhood, the bird, in human form, rides a white horse, and his wife burns his birdhouse, which was the husband's soul. When the wife finally finds him again after he disappears, he explains that he is forced to draw water for the Tschadkurrs and the Tângâri. The wife saves him by building a new birdhouse.[6]

Kalmyk people

Charles Fillingham Coxwell translated a Kalmyk variant with the title The Story of the Bird-Cage Husband: an old man lives with his three daughters in the "Land of the Lustrous Flower Gardens", and they spend their days grazing theif buffalo. One day, their animal disappears. The elder sisters goes looking for it and reaches a large red portal that leads to a court. She passes by the red portal, then by a gate of mother-of-pearl and finally by a gate of emerald, and finds herself in a grand palace with a little bird sitting on a table. The little bird tells her it can reveal the fate of the buffallo, in exchange for her marrying him. She refuses. The middle sisters passes by the same three portals and declines the same offer. The youngest sister agrees to become the bird's wife, and it returns the buffalo to her family. Some time later, an assembly of people gathers as part of a 13 days' visit to a divine image in a monastery. The girl goes to the assembly and sees a fine youth on a blue-gray horse. The girl returns home and tells her little bird husband about the youth. This goes on for 11 days. On the 12th day of the assembly, an old woman tells the girl the youth on the horse is her husband, and that she should toss her husband's bird-cage into the fire. The girl follows the old woman's instructions. Later that night, the husband returns and she tells him about the bird-cage. The husband despairs at the fact and gives his wife a stick, for her to beat herself with it near the gate of mother-of-pearl for seven days and nights until his battle with the demons ceases. The girl obeys and resists for 6 days and nights, until, on the 7th day, she tires and her husband is taken by the demons. The girl searches for her husband, until she hears his voice in a mountain and in the depths of a river. Findinf her husband near a pile of stones, he tells h has become a water-carrier for "gods and demons" and that she can save him by building another bird-cage, then vanishes. Heeding his words, the girl returns to their home, fashions a new bird-cage and "invites her husband's soul" to enter it.[7]

Tibet

In a variant translated as "Царевич в птичьей оболочке" ("The Prince in Bird Skin") or The Feathered Prince,[8] three orphaned sisters live together and earn their living by milking their female buffalo and selling its milk and butter. One day, the animal disappears, and the elder sister goes looking for it. After a while, she sits by a rock near a cave. A little bird appears to her and begs for some food, and asks her to marry it. The elder sister refuses and returns home. The next day, the middle sister goes to look for the animal and rests by the same stone, and the same white bird propositions her, but she declines. Lastly, the youngest sister agrees to marry the white bird, and he directs her into the cave. Inside, magnificent and richly decorated rooms appear before her with every door she opens. At last, the little bird perches upon a couch and tells her that their buffalo was devoured by an evil raksha. The girl begins to live there as the white bird's wife, tidying the place and preparing the food. Some time later, a festival is held in a nearby village, with musicians, equestrian games, and all sorts of amusement. The white bird's wife goes to the festival, and sees a handsome youth on a gray horse, who gazes at her. The girl leaves the festival and meets an old woman. The girl pours out her woes to her, lamenting over the fact that her husband is just a little bird, but the old woman reassures her that the youth at the festival was her husband, and that she only has to burn his bird disguise the next time. The girl follows the old woman's instructions the next day, and burns the bird skin. The same night, her husband (in human form) comes home and asks her about the bird skin. The girl tells him she burned the birdskin, and the man reveals he is a prince, and that the birdskin was to protect him from an evil witch. Saying this, a whirlwind comes and takes the prince. The girl tries to find him and wanders through valleys and deserts, until she finds him one day near a temple, carrying jugs of water and wearing faded boots. The prince tells her to get feathers from all species of bird for a new bird coat, and, once she has fashioned it, she must chant a special prayer for him to return to her. Saying his, he disappears. The girl returns to their cave palace and gathers all feathers she can must, fashions a new bird skin and chants the correct chant to summon her husband back to her. He appears and both live happily.[9]

In a variant published by Tibetologist David MacDonald with the title The Story of the Bird who turned into a Prince, in the land of Mo-tshul, a old farmer lives with his three daughters; the three sisters pass by a red door, a gold door and a torquoise door and meet the bird on a throne; the youngest sister marries the bird and burns his feathered cloak; she does penance to try to save her husband by standing at a door and turning a "devil-stick" or "devil-rod"; after her husband vanishes, she finds him in the summit of a hill, and he explains he must wear out a pair of boots by traveling at the behest of the devils. She saves her husband by fashioning a new feathered cloak and by saying fervent prayers, until he appears at their door.[10]

Buryat people

Researcher Nadežda Šarakšinova reported a Buryat language translation of The Bewitched Corpse. In this version of the collection, the tale is numbered 5 and titled The Woman who Had a Bird Husband.[11]

Analysis

The tale has been related by scholarship to the international tale type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband", of the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index.[12][13] These tales refer to a marriage between a human woman and a husband of supernatural origin that appears in animal shape. Sometimes the human wife tries to break the enchantment by destroying the husband's animal skin, but he vanishes and must undergo a penance to get her husband back.[14]

According to Lörincz, in a Tibetan language translation of The Bewitched Corpse, titled Ro-sgruṅ (published by professor Damdinsuren), tales nr. 4 and nr. 9 (out of 21 of the compilation) contain the animal husband. As such, they can be classified as tale type ATU 425 and its subtypes.[15]

According to philologist researcher Irina S. Nadbitova, from the Kalmyk Institute for Humanities research RAS, a similar narrative exists in the Kalmyk Folktale Corpus, with two variants she listed. Nadbitova classified it as type 432, "Финист – ясный сокол" ("Finist, the Bright Falcon", the name of a Russian fairy tale).[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ Busk, Rachel Harriette. Sagas from the Far East or, Kalmouk and Mongolian Traditionary Tales. London: Griffith and Farran. 1873. pp. 89-96.
  2. ^ Jülg, Bernhard. Kalmükische Märchen. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1866. pp. 39-42.
  3. ^ LŐRINCZ, L. “LES «CONTES DU CADAVRE ENSORCELÉ» DANS LA LITTÉRATURE ET LE FOLKLORE MONGOLS”. In: Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 20, no. 2 (1967): 205, 222. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23682112.
  4. ^ LÖRINCZ, L. "LES «CONTES DU CADAVRE ENSORCELÉ» (RO-SGRUN) DANS LA LITTÉRATURE ET LE FOLKLORE TIBÉTAINS". In: Acta Orientalia Hungaricae 18 (1965): 312.
  5. ^ Jewett, Eleanore Myers. Wonder Tales from Tibet. Boston: By Little, Brown, and Company. 1922. pp. 27-49.
  6. ^ Tibbitts, Charles John. Folk-Tales and Legends: Oriental. London: W. W. Gibbings. 1889. pp. 101-106.
  7. ^ Coxwell, C. F. Siberian And Other Folk Tales. London: The C. W. Daniel Company, 1925. pp. 206-209.
  8. ^ Benson, Sandra. Tales of the golden corpse: Tibetan folk tales. Northampton, Mass.: Interlink Books, 2007. pp. 121-126. ISBN 9781566566322.
  9. ^ Игра Веталы с человеком (Тибетские народные сказки) [Tibetan Folk Tales]. Мoskva: Наука Главная редакция восточной литературы, 1969. pp. 62-66.
  10. ^ Macdonald, D. (1931). "Tibetan Tales II". In: Folklore, 42:3, 308-310. DOI: 10.1080/0015587X.1931.9718409
  11. ^ ŠARAKŠINOVA, NADEŽDA O. “LES CONTES DU CADAVRE ENSORCELÉ CHEZ LES BOURIATES”. In: Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 16, no. 1 (1963): 46–47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23682290.
  12. ^ LÖRINCZ, L. "LES «CONTES DU CADAVRE ENSORCELÉ» (RO-SGRUN) DANS LA LITTÉRATURE ET LE FOLKLORE TIBÉTAINS". In: Acta Orientalia Hungaricae 18 (1965): 312.
  13. ^ Ralston, William. "Beauty and the Beast". In: The Nineteenth Century. Vol. 4. (July–December, 1878). London: Henry S. King & Co. pp. 1000–1001.
  14. ^ Coxwell, C. F. Siberian And Other Folk Tales. London: The C. W. Daniel Company, 1925. p. 258.
  15. ^ LŐRINCZ, L. “LES RECUEILS RO-SGRU Ṅ TIBÉTAINS CONTENANT 21 CONTES”. In Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 21, no. 3 (1968): 317, 319, 321. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23682727.
  16. ^ Надбитова, И. С. "Указатель сюжетов калмыцких волшебных сказок". In: http://www.ruthenia.ru/folklore/nadbitova1.htm (Online article).

Category:Asian fairy tales Category:Asian folklore Category:Tibetan literature Category:Mongolian literature Category:Fictional birds Category:Birds in popular culture Category:Fiction about shapeshifting

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