The Grateful Prince
Encyclopedia
The Grateful Prince is an Estonian fairy tale
, collected by Dr. Friedrich Kreutzwald in Eestirahwa Ennemuistesed jutud. W. F. Kirby included in The Hero of Esthonia. Andrew Lang
included it in The Violet Fairy Book; he listed his source as Ehstnische Märchen, which was the German translation of Kreutzwald's work, by F. Löwe.
The king's son grew up as a peasant, but while his foster parents, being rewarded, were content, the prince himself had learned of the girl for whom he had been exchanged and was distraught he would become king at such a cost to herself. He took a sack of peas and went into the same forest in which his true father had been lost years before, and as previously, the same old man found him. The prince claimed to be carrying the peas for his aunt's funeral, to give to the watchers. The stranger offered to hire him, and the prince agreed. The stranger sang and spun like a top with pleasure, and never noticed the prince dropping peas along the way.
The stranger led him into a cave where there was a silent countryside, filled with silent animals. A sound like a troop of horses was identified by the stranger as the boiling kettle, and that sound which resembled the whirring of a saw-mill, as his grandmother's snoring. He had the prince hide in a kennel, because his grandmother could not stand new faces. The prince did not like that, but the old man did return to bring him inside, where he saw a beautiful woman.
The old man ate ravenously and told the woman to give him the scraps. He told the prince he could rest two days, and on the third he would put him to work, and forbade him to speak. The maid showed him a room; the prince guessed she was the girl exchanged for him. The next day he drew water and hewed wood for her; then he wandered the farmstead and saw the animals, including a black cow and a white-faced calf, and a white horse that occupied the stable alone.
The third
day, the man set the prince to scythe enough grass for the horse and clean its stall. The maid told him, in whispers, to make a strong plait of the rushes and a peg, and threaten to bind its mouth and peg it so it could not eat or scatter its food. He obeyed, and the horse stopped eating and did not foul its stall.
Then the old man set him to milk the cow. The maid told him to heat a pair of tongs and threaten to use them if the cow did not give all her milk to him. The prince obeyed, and the old man was unable to get any more milk from the cow.
Then the old man set him to bring in a hay rick. The maid told him to tie the horse to the rick and count. He did so, and when the horse asked why, he said he was counting packs of wolves in the forest. The horse hauled the entire rick of hay back hastily, when it heard what the prince said.
Then the old man set him to bring a white-faced calf to the pasture, but the maid advised him to tie himself to the calf with a silk thread to ensure it could not escape from him.
Then the old man said he had no more work, but the prince must come to his bed and offer him his hand when he woke. The maid told him that the old man meant to eat him, but the prince must offer him a red-hot shovel instead of his own hand. The prince obeyed, and the old man refused to shake it.
Then the old man said he would marry the prince and the maid, and the maid said he had found her out. The prince cut off the calf's head at her direction and brought her a red ball from it. She brought a tiny ball of shining light and they fled. She told him that she had overheard that she was a king's daughter.
In the morning, the old man at first thought they were not eager to marry, but then he searched for them and realized they had fled. He sent a group of goblin
s from one stall in his barn after them. The ball moved in the maid's hands, and she had it change
her into a brook and the prince into a fish. The goblins returned to the old man and said there had been nothing but a brook with a fish. The old man went to the next stall and sent the goblins there after them, instructing them to drink the brook and catch the fish. The maid turned herself into a rose tree and the prince into a rose. The goblins returned and said there had been nothing but a rose tree with one lone rose rose. The old man went to the next stall and sent his mightiest goblins after them, to tear up the rose tree. The prince and the maid were resting in the woods, and the maid turned herself into a breeze and the prince into a midge. Then, when the goblins were gone, she said the old man would know them even if they transmuted into any form; she rolled the ball and it led them to the door.
She said they must each go to their own home but the prince said they must keep together and marry. In the castle, the prince found that his father the king had died, confessing his switch of the maid and the prince. The prince mourned his beloved father but proclaimed what had happened, and all his people agreed that he should marry her and make her his queen.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
, collected by Dr. Friedrich Kreutzwald in Eestirahwa Ennemuistesed jutud. W. F. Kirby included in The Hero of Esthonia. Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...
included it in The Violet Fairy Book; he listed his source as Ehstnische Märchen, which was the German translation of Kreutzwald's work, by F. Löwe.
Synopsis
A king got lost in a forest. An old man offered to lead him out in exchange for the first thing that came out of the king's house. The king did not want to relinquish a dog, but he must needs get home and so was forced to agree; however, the first thing he possessed which emerged from the house upon his return was his infant son, in the arms of the nurse. To deceive the old man, he exchanged his own son for a peasant's daughter, raising the daughter as his princess. A year later, the stranger came and took the girl, but the king did not dare claim his son, for fear his duplicity would be revealed.The king's son grew up as a peasant, but while his foster parents, being rewarded, were content, the prince himself had learned of the girl for whom he had been exchanged and was distraught he would become king at such a cost to herself. He took a sack of peas and went into the same forest in which his true father had been lost years before, and as previously, the same old man found him. The prince claimed to be carrying the peas for his aunt's funeral, to give to the watchers. The stranger offered to hire him, and the prince agreed. The stranger sang and spun like a top with pleasure, and never noticed the prince dropping peas along the way.
The stranger led him into a cave where there was a silent countryside, filled with silent animals. A sound like a troop of horses was identified by the stranger as the boiling kettle, and that sound which resembled the whirring of a saw-mill, as his grandmother's snoring. He had the prince hide in a kennel, because his grandmother could not stand new faces. The prince did not like that, but the old man did return to bring him inside, where he saw a beautiful woman.
The old man ate ravenously and told the woman to give him the scraps. He told the prince he could rest two days, and on the third he would put him to work, and forbade him to speak. The maid showed him a room; the prince guessed she was the girl exchanged for him. The next day he drew water and hewed wood for her; then he wandered the farmstead and saw the animals, including a black cow and a white-faced calf, and a white horse that occupied the stable alone.
The third
Rule of three (writing)
The "rule of three" is a principle in writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader/audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of...
day, the man set the prince to scythe enough grass for the horse and clean its stall. The maid told him, in whispers, to make a strong plait of the rushes and a peg, and threaten to bind its mouth and peg it so it could not eat or scatter its food. He obeyed, and the horse stopped eating and did not foul its stall.
Then the old man set him to milk the cow. The maid told him to heat a pair of tongs and threaten to use them if the cow did not give all her milk to him. The prince obeyed, and the old man was unable to get any more milk from the cow.
Then the old man set him to bring in a hay rick. The maid told him to tie the horse to the rick and count. He did so, and when the horse asked why, he said he was counting packs of wolves in the forest. The horse hauled the entire rick of hay back hastily, when it heard what the prince said.
Then the old man set him to bring a white-faced calf to the pasture, but the maid advised him to tie himself to the calf with a silk thread to ensure it could not escape from him.
Then the old man said he had no more work, but the prince must come to his bed and offer him his hand when he woke. The maid told him that the old man meant to eat him, but the prince must offer him a red-hot shovel instead of his own hand. The prince obeyed, and the old man refused to shake it.
Then the old man said he would marry the prince and the maid, and the maid said he had found her out. The prince cut off the calf's head at her direction and brought her a red ball from it. She brought a tiny ball of shining light and they fled. She told him that she had overheard that she was a king's daughter.
In the morning, the old man at first thought they were not eager to marry, but then he searched for them and realized they had fled. He sent a group of goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
s from one stall in his barn after them. The ball moved in the maid's hands, and she had it change
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
her into a brook and the prince into a fish. The goblins returned to the old man and said there had been nothing but a brook with a fish. The old man went to the next stall and sent the goblins there after them, instructing them to drink the brook and catch the fish. The maid turned herself into a rose tree and the prince into a rose. The goblins returned and said there had been nothing but a rose tree with one lone rose rose. The old man went to the next stall and sent his mightiest goblins after them, to tear up the rose tree. The prince and the maid were resting in the woods, and the maid turned herself into a breeze and the prince into a midge. Then, when the goblins were gone, she said the old man would know them even if they transmuted into any form; she rolled the ball and it led them to the door.
She said they must each go to their own home but the prince said they must keep together and marry. In the castle, the prince found that his father the king had died, confessing his switch of the maid and the prince. The prince mourned his beloved father but proclaimed what had happened, and all his people agreed that he should marry her and make her his queen.
See also
- The Mermaid and the BoyThe Mermaid and the BoyThe Mermaid and the Boy is a Sámi fairy tale collected by J. C. Poestion in Lapplandische Märchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Brown Fairy Book....
- Nix Nought NothingNix Nought NothingNix Nought Nothing is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his English Fairy Tales. A similar tale was collected by Andrew Lang in Scotland...
- King KojataKing KojataKing Kojata or The Unlooked for Prince or Prince Unexpected is a Slavonic fairy tale. Andrew Lang included the Russian version King Kojata, in The Green Fairy Book. A. H. Wratislaw collected a Polish variant Prince Unexpected in his Sixty Folk-Tales from Exclusively Slavonic Sources, number 17...
- The Battle of the BirdsThe Battle of the BirdsThe Battle of the Birds is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in his Popular Tales of the West Highlands. He recorded it from a fisherman near Inverary, John Mackenzie...
- The White Dove
- The Nixie of the Mill-PondThe Nixie of the Mill-PondThe Nixie of the Mill-Pond is a German fairy tale. The Brothers Grimm collected in their Grimm's Fairy Tales, as tale number 181. Andrew Lang included a version in The Yellow Fairy Book, citing his source Hermann Kletke and titling it The Nixy....
- The Prince Who Wanted to See the WorldThe Prince Who Wanted to See the WorldThe Prince who wanted to see the World is a Portuguese fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book.-Synopsis:A king's only son wanted to see the world and was so persistent that his father let him go...
- PrunellaPrunella (fairy tale)Prunella is an Italian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it The Grey Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 310, the Maiden in the Tower.A version of the tale also appears in A Book of Witches, by Ruth Manning-Sanders....
- The Master MaidThe Master MaidThe Master Maid is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their Norske Folkeeventyr. "Master" indicates "superior, skilled." Jørgen Moe wrote the tale down from the storyteller Anne Godlid in Seljord on a short visit in the autumn of 1842.It is...
- The Flower Queen's DaughterThe Flower Queen's DaughterThe Flower Queen's Daughter is a Bukovinan fairy tale collected by Dr Heinrich von Wlislocki in Märchen Und Sagen Der Bukowinaer Und Siebenbûrger Armenier. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.-Synopsis:...
- Foundling-BirdFoundling-BirdFoundling-Bird is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 51.It is Aarne-Thompson type 313A, the girl helps the hero flee, and revolves about a transformation chase...
External links
- The Grateful Prince as included by W. F. Kirby
- The Grateful Prince as included by Andrew Lang