The White Duck
Encyclopedia
The White Duck is a Russian fairy tale
collected by Alexander Afanasyev
in Narodnye russkie skazki
. Andrew Lang
included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.
lured her into the garden and into a pool, and turned her into a white duck, herself taking
the queen's own form and place.
Meanwhile, the white duck built a nest, laid three
eggs, and hatched two fluffy ducklings and one ugly drake. She warned them against the castle, because an evil witch lived there, but one day the witch saw them and lured them inside. The ducklings slept but the drake stayed awake, and when the witch called if they were asleep, the drake answered. But after two answers, the witch went in to see, and saw the ducklings were asleep, so she killed them.
The white duck found the bodies and lamented over them. The king wondered at it, and although the witch tried to persuade him it was nothing but quacking, he ordered that the duck be captured. His servants could not, but he went himself, and she flew to his hands and became a woman. She told of a bottle in the nest in the garden -- or, they sent a magpie for magic water -- which, sprinkled on the ducklings and drake, turned them into three lovely children. The evil witch was then put to death through dismemberment
and nothing remained of her.
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 Alexander Afanasyev
Alexander Afanasyev
Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev was a Russian folklorist who recorded and published over 600 Russian folktales and fairytales, by far the largest folktale collection by any one man in the world...
in Narodnye russkie skazki
Narodnye russkie skazki
Russian Fairy Tales , is a collection of Russian fairy tales, collected by Alexander Afanasyev and published by him between 1855 and 1863. His work was explicitly modeled after the Brothers Grimm's work, Grimm's Fairy Tales....
. 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 Yellow Fairy Book.
Synopsis
A king had to leave his newly-wed wife for a journey. He sternly warned her against leaving the women's quarters and listening to bad advice. But a wicked witchWitchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
lured her into the garden and into a pool, and turned her into a white duck, herself taking
False hero
The false hero is a stock character in fairy tales, and sometimes also in ballads. The character appears near the end of a story in order to claim to be the hero or heroine and is, therefore, always of the same sex as the hero or heroine. The false hero presents some claim to the position. By...
the queen's own form and place.
Meanwhile, the white duck built a nest, laid three
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...
eggs, and hatched two fluffy ducklings and one ugly drake. She warned them against the castle, because an evil witch lived there, but one day the witch saw them and lured them inside. The ducklings slept but the drake stayed awake, and when the witch called if they were asleep, the drake answered. But after two answers, the witch went in to see, and saw the ducklings were asleep, so she killed them.
The white duck found the bodies and lamented over them. The king wondered at it, and although the witch tried to persuade him it was nothing but quacking, he ordered that the duck be captured. His servants could not, but he went himself, and she flew to his hands and became a woman. She told of a bottle in the nest in the garden -- or, they sent a magpie for magic water -- which, sprinkled on the ducklings and drake, turned them into three lovely children. The evil witch was then put to death through dismemberment
Dismemberment
Dismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism...
and nothing remained of her.
See also
- The Three Little Men in the WoodThe Three Little Men in the WoodThe Three Little Men in the Wood or The Three Dwarfs is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 13. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book, and a version of the tale appears in A Book of Dwarfs by Ruth Manning-Sanders.It is Aarne-Thompson type 403B, the black and the...
- The White and the Black BrideThe White and the Black BrideThe White Bride and the Black One is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 135. It is Aarne-Thompson type 403A. Other tales of this type include The Three Little Men in the Wood, Brother and Sister, Bushy Bride, and The Enchanted Wreath.-Synopsis:A woman, her daughter,...
- The Witch in the Stone BoatThe Witch in the Stone BoatThe Witch in the Stone Boat is an Icelandic fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.-Synopsis:A king told his son, Sigurd, to marry and recommended the daughter of another king. Sigurd went there and asked to marry her...
- The Wonderful BirchThe Wonderful BirchThe Wonderful Birch is a Russian fairy tale.A variant on Cinderella, it is Aarne-Thompson folktale type 510A, the persecuted heroine. It makes use of shapeshifting motifs.Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.-Synopsis:...
External links
- The White Duck
- The White Duck from The Yellow Fairy Book
- "Proppian Analysis of The White Duck"