The Snake Prince
Encyclopedia
The Snake Prince is an India
n fairy tale
, Punjabi story collected by Major Campbell Feroshepore. Andrew Lang
included it in The Olive Fairy Book.
The king had concluded with a neighboring king that his son should marry that king's daughter, and when the daughter came to marry, her mother warned her to ask about the magic. She refused to speak until he told her. He told her the story, that he was prince from far off who had been turned into a snake, and then he became a snake again. The princess mourned for the prince where he had vanished, and the snake came to her. He told that if she put bowls of milk and sugar in the four corners of the room, snakes would come, led by the Queen of the Snakes. If she stood in the queen's way, she could ask for her husband, but if she were frightened and did not, she could not have him back.
The princess did as he said, and won back her husband.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n fairy tale
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...
, Punjabi story collected by Major Campbell Feroshepore. 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 Olive Fairy Book.
Synopsis
A poor woman, with nothing to eat, went to bathe. When she came out of the river, she found a poisonous snake in her pot. She took it home, so it would bite her and end her misery. When she opened the pot, she found a rich necklace. She sold it to the king. The king put it in a chest, but when he opened it to show the queen, he found a baby boy. He and the queen raised it as their son, and the old woman was the nurse. She spoke a little of how that boy came about.The king had concluded with a neighboring king that his son should marry that king's daughter, and when the daughter came to marry, her mother warned her to ask about the magic. She refused to speak until he told her. He told her the story, that he was prince from far off who had been turned into a snake, and then he became a snake again. The princess mourned for the prince where he had vanished, and the snake came to her. He told that if she put bowls of milk and sugar in the four corners of the room, snakes would come, led by the Queen of the Snakes. If she stood in the queen's way, she could ask for her husband, but if she were frightened and did not, she could not have him back.
The princess did as he said, and won back her husband.