Welcome to Gaia! ::

~wiggles under blanket~

~wonders why I have a random box of condoms in my dream~

The Daughter of Buk Ettemsuch:
"A man left his seven daughters with instructions not to leave the house, because they had provisions for three years. One day, the third year, the oldest suggested that they leave; the youngest tried to dissuade them, and all her sisters attacked her. They left the door open when they returned, and a witch got in and ate them all, except the youngest, who ran away. She hid in an ogre's castle. He returned and persuaded her to come out; because she was young, he took her as his daughter and had her look after the house for him, keeping six of the keys, but reserving the seventh for himself.

One day, she asked for the key; when he refused it, she stole it. He learned this when he woke, but decided not to wake her to take it back. She opened the door and saw an ox, drawing up water to water a garden. It claimed the ogre was feeding her up to eat her. She cried. The ogre told her what to tell the ox, and she did, making it fall to the earth for seven days and nights. The prince, whose garden it was, came and found it withered. The ox begged for mercy and told of the girl. He hid and watched when she came to the garden again. The prince, being taken by her beauty, invited the ogre to dinner and asked about the girl. The ogre agreed to their marriage, but when he came to take the bride, the ogre forbade her to speak to him unless he swore "by the head of Buk Ettemsuch."

The prince, annoyed at her muteness, took another bride. The girl worked magic in the kitchen, putting her fingers into boiling oil to make them fried fish, and jumping in the fire to become a fresh loaf. The bride said she could do that as well, jumped in the fire, and burned to death. The prince took yet another bride. The girl sat down on a stake to spin, and the bride ordered her off because she could do that as well, and impaled herself on the stake.

The prince spied on the girl. She went a pitcher and a water jug to fetch her water. The water-jug broke the pitcher, the pitcher asked her to beat it, and the water-jug begged her not to "by the head of Buk Ettemsuch." She said if only her husband had said that, she could speak to him. He jumped up and told her to speak to him "by the head of Buk Ettemsuch." They lived happily after."

The Daughter of the Skies:
"A man had daughters, and owned many cattle and sheep, but one day they vanished and he could not find them. A dog offered to find them if a daughter would marry him. The father agreed, if the daughter consented. He asked each of his daughters, and the youngest agreed.

They married, and he took her home and turned into a fine man. They stayed for a time, and she wanted to visit her father. He agreed, as long as she did not stay there until her child, nearly due, was born. She agreed, but stayed too long. Music came in the night, putting everyone else to sleep, and a man came in and took her child. Twice more, she stayed at her father's too long, had a child there, and watched it kidnapped. The third time, her husband warned her first that she would have more difficulty, and, after her father threatened her, if she would not say what she did to the children. She tried to go back to her husband, but her magical horse would not appear, so she set out on foot. There, his mother told her that he had left. She set out and reached a house. There, the housewife told him that her husband was to marry the daughter of the King of the Skies, let her stay the night, gave her shears that would cut on their own, and sent her on to her middle sister. The middle sister gave her a needle that would sew on its own and sent her on to the youngest sister. The youngest sister gave her thread that would thread the needle itself, and keep up with the needle and sheers and sent her on to a town.

She found a place to stay with a henwife and asked for something to sew, although the king's daughter was marrying the next day and no one was working. The shears, needle, and thread set to work. A royal serving-maid saw and told the king's daughter, who asked what was wanted for them. The woman asked for leave to sleep where the king's daughter had slept that night. The king's daughter agreed, but gave her bridegroom a sleeping draught and threw the woman out in the morning. The next night, she again exchanged for the needle, and the sleeping drink worked as before, but his oldest son slept beside his father, and heard her tell the sleeping man that she was the mother of his children. The next day, the woman exchanged for the thread, but the man threw out the sleeping drink, and they spoke. When the king's daughter came down to throw the woman out, he said she could go back up, this was his wife."

The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs:
"A poor woman gave birth to a son with a caul, which was predicted to mean that he would marry the king's daughter. The king, hearing of it, persuaded his parents to give him the child to raise. He put the boy in a box and threw the box into the water. It drifted down to a mill, where the miller and his wife thought that God had sent them this child, and raised him as their own.

One day the king visited the mill and, hearing how they had gained their son, sent him with a letter to the queen, which said that the bearer of the letter should be killed at once. He fell among robbers, who read the letter, had pity on him, and substituted one that said he should be married to the king's daughter. The queen received it and obeyed, much to the shock of the king.

The king dispatched the boy to get the devil's three golden hairs. On the way, the boy is asked why a fountain that used to give wine no longer gives even water; a tree that used to bear golden apples no longer has even leaves; and a ferryman is bound to ferry people back and forth. After promising to provide the answers upon his return, the boy got to the devil's house, and his grandmother was there. She changed him into an ant to hide him.

When the devil got home and went to sleep, his grandmother pulled out his three golden hairs. Each time, she woke him, and told him that she had dreamed of the dry fountain, the leafless tree, and the ferryman. He told that a toad in the well had caused it to go dry, that a mouse nibbling at the roots had stopped the apples, and that if the ferryman stuck his oar into someone else's hand, that man would be the new ferryman, and he could go free.

The grandmother gave the boy the hairs. As he went back, he answered the questions; the ferryman got his answer only after he had ferried the boy across. The two towns, with the well and tree, both gave him two donkeys laden with gold. The king was pleased with the gold and asked where it came from, whereupon the boy sent him to the ferryman. The king went off to get more, and the ferryman stuck the oar in his hand, leaving the king to row the ferry as a punishment for his wickedness."

Diamond Cut Diamond:
"A merchant, after many years of poverty and hard work, moved to a distant region and grew rich. He decided to go home. A man told him that his road was beset by thieves, and the merchant left his box of jewels with him until he could get men of his own family to accompany him. When he returned, the man denied that it had ever happened, and threw him out of the shop.

Koosby Ram saw him sitting on the road, and asked him what had happened. Then he told him to go back the next day, and ask for his box when someone gave him a signal. While he was waiting, a palanquin arrived, and the man was told that a lady wished to leave her boxes of jewels with him, for safety. While the talk was still going on, the merchant received the signal and came to ask. The man decided that it would put off the lady, and handed over the box. The merchant started to dance in the street. A message arrived that her husband had come, so she did not need to deposit the jewels after all. Then Koosby Ram burst out of the palanquin and joined the merchant. Then the man joined them.

Someone said that the merchant had recovered his jewels, that Koosby Ram had tricked him, but that the man had no reason to dance. He said that he had thought he had learned every way to trick people, but now he knew another."

Doctor Know-all:
"A peasant named Crabbe saw how well a doctor ate and asked him how to become one. The doctor told him to buy an ABC book with a rooster up front, sell his oxen and cart to buy doctor's equipment and clothing, and advertise himself as "Doctor Know-all."

Shortly after he set himself up, a nobleman asked him to find stolen money. He insisted on bringing his wife. When they sat to eat, he nudged his wife at each course, saying "That's one," "That's two," and "That's three" — meaning three courses, but the servants bringing in the dishes, the thieves, thought he was identifying them. The fourth one brought in a covered tray of crabs, and the nobleman asked him to guess. Pitying himself, he said, "Poor Crabbe!" and the noble was impressed.

The servants offered to give him the money and a reward as well if he would not betray them. He agreed, and told the nobleman he had to check his book. He was looking for the picture of the rooster and could not find it. He said, "I know you are in there," and the fifth thief servant, hiding in the stove, panicked and fled. He showed the nobleman where the money was, and received a reward from him, too."