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The Water of Life

A king was dying. An old man told his sons that the water of life would save him. Each one set out in turn. The two older ones, setting out in hopes of being the heir, were rude to a dwarf on the way and became trapped in ravines. When the youngest son went, the dwarf asked where he was going, and he told him. The dwarf told him it was in a castle, and gave him an iron wand to open the gates and two loaves to feed to the lions inside. Then he had to get the water before the clock struck twelve, when the gates would shut again.

He opened the gate with the wand and fed the lions the bread. Then he came to a hall where there were sleeping princes, and he took rings from their fingers, and some bread and sword from the table. He went on and found a beautiful princess, who kissed him, told him he had freed her, and promised to marry him if he returned within a year. Then she told him where the spring was. He went on, but saw a bed and lay down to sleep. When he woke, it was quarter to twelve. He sprang up, got the water, and escaped, with the closing gate taking off the heel of his boot.

He met the dwarf who told him what happened to his brothers and, at his imploring, freed them. They came to a kingdom plagued with war and famine, and the prince killed their foes with the sword and fed them with the loaf. Then they came to two more kingdoms in the same situation, and they did the same. Then they got on a ship to cross the sea and come home. The older brothers stole the water of life and filled his bottle with sea water.

The king was sickened by the sea water; the older brothers accused the youngest of trying to poison him and gave him the water of life. The king decided to have his youngest son secretly killed. He sent a huntsman with him, into the woods, but the huntsman told the prince, and the prince fled.

Treasure arrived, from the three kingdoms the youngest prince had saved, and the king wondered about his guilt and regretted having his son killed. The huntsman confessed that he had not killed him, and so the king issued a proclamation that he could freely return.

The princess in the castle had made a golden road to it and told her people to admit no one who did not ride straight up it. The two older princes saw it and thought it would be a shame to harm it, so they rode alongside, and the servants did not admit them. The youngest thought so constantly of the princess that he did not notice it, so he rode up it and was admitted. They married. The prince went back to his father and told the true story. The king wished to punish the older brothers, but they fled at sea and never returned.

The Wedding of Mrs. Fox

In one variant, Mr. Fox feigns death to test his wife's fidelity; in the other, he actually dies. Many suitors arrive. Mrs. Fox rejects them: in the first variant because while they are foxes they do not have the nine tails of her husband, and in the second, because they are wolves, bears, etc. and do not look like her dead husband.

One suitor arrives who does resemble him, and a wedding is held. If Mr. Fox feigned death, he arises and drives them out all.

What Came of Picking Flowers

A woman had three daughters. One day, one picked a pink rose and vanished. The next day, the second, searching for her sister, picked a rose and vanished. The third day, the third picked some jessamine and vanished. The woman bewailed this so long that her son, just a boy when his sisters vanished, grew up to be a man. He asked what had happened, and his mother told him of his sisters. He asked for her blessing and set out to find them.

He found three big boys fighting over their inheritance: boots with which the wearer could wish himself anywhere, a key that opened every lock, and an invisibility cap. The son said he would throw a stone and whoever got it first would have all three. He threw it and stole the things, wishing himself where his oldest sister was. He found himself before a strong castle on a mountain. His key unlocked all the doors. He found his sister richly dressed, and having only one unhappiness: her husband was under a curse until a man who could not die, died. Her husband returned; the son put on his cap, and a bird flew in and became a man. He was angry that she had hidden someone from him, but the son took off his cap, and their resemblance convinced him that they were indeed brother and sister. He gave him a feather that would let him call on him, the King of the Birds.

The next day, he saw his second sister, whose only trouble was the spell that kept her husband half his day a fish. Her husband, the king of the fish, gave him a scale to call on him.

The next day, he saw his youngest sister, who had been carried off by a monster, and was weeping and thin from its cruelty, because she had refused to marry it. Her brother asked her to say she would marry it, if it told her how it could die. When she did, it told her that an iron casket at the bottom of the sea, had a white dove, and the dove's egg, dashed against its head, would kill it. The brother had the king of the fishes bring him the box, used the key to open it, had the king of the birds bring him the dove after it flew off, and carried off the egg. The youngest sister asked the monster to lay its head in her lap. Her brother smashed the egg on its head, and it died.

His two brothers-in-law resumed their shape, and they sent for their mother-in-law. The treasures of the monster made the youngest sister rich all her life.

What the Rose did to the Cypress

A king had three sons. The oldest went hunting and chased a deer, giving orders that it should be captured rather than killed. It led him to a sandy waste where his horse died. He found a tree with a spring beneath it and drank. A faqir asked him what he did there. He told him his story and asked the faqir's, repeating when the faqir put him off, until the faqir told him he had been a king, and his seven sons had all tried to win a princess whose hand could only be won by answering the riddle, "What did the rose do to the cypress?" and died for their failure. His grief sent him into the desert.

This inspired the son with a love for the same princess. His attendants found him and brought him back, but he grew ill for love, and his confidants found this out and revealed it to the king. The king made arrangements for him to go. At the city, the princess's father tried to dissuade him. He was asked, failed, and was executed. His second brother followed and likewise died.

Finally the third went, but having reached the city, he saw his brothers' head and went to a nearby village, where he took shelter with an ancient, childless couple. Disguising himself, he searched the city for the secret, and found he could get into the princess's garden by a stream. There he hid, but when the princess sent her maids for water, they saw his reflection and were terrified. The princess had her nurse bring him to her. He answered her questions at random, convincing her that he was mad, but his beauty made her protect him as her own. Dil-aram, who had seen him first, grew fond of him and begged him to tell her what he was about; finally, he was convinced she was in love with him, told her his story, and promised to marry her and keep her among his favorites. She could not answer the riddle, but knew that a certain negro from Waq of the Caucasus had told the princess it.

The prince set out to Waq of the Caucasus. An old man advised him on how to arrive there, despite the jinns, demons, and peris. He should take this road until it split, then take the middle road for a day and a night, where he would find a pillar. He should do what was written on the pillar. He found a warning where the roads split, against the middle road, but took it and came to a garden. He had to pass a giant negro to reach it, and a woman there tried to persuade him from his way. When she failed, she enchanted him into a deer.

As a deer, he came to lead a band of deer. He tried to jump from the enchanted garden but found that it would bring him back where he had jumped from. The ninth time, however, the other deer vanished. A beautiful woman there took him as a pet. He wept, and the woman realized he had been enchanted by her sister. She turned him back, gave him a bow and arrows, a sword, and a dagger, that had all belonged to heroes, and told him that he must seek out the home of the Simurgh, but she could not direct him to it.

He obeyed her directions about the Place of Gifts, where wild animals lived, and a lion-king gave him some hairs, saying he must burn them for aid. He disobeyed her directions to avoid the castle of clashing swords, because whatever was fated to happen to him would happen, and fought the negroes there. With the lion's aid, he defeated them, rescuing a princess, and gave it all into the lion's care until he was done with his quest.

He found the Simurgh's nest, where only the young ones were, and killed a dragon there; then he fed the hungry young birds on it, and they slept, being full. When their parents returned, the lack of noise convinced them that the prince had killed and eaten their young, but the mother bird insisted on checking to discover the truth, and the young ones woke. The Simurgh carried him to Waq, and gave him three feathers, any of which would summon him.

At Waq, he learned that only the king knew the riddle and went to court. He gave the king a diamond and said it was his last treasure. The king wished to please him, but the prince wanted only the answer to the riddle. When he asked, the king said he would have killed anyone else, but when the king went on asking what the prince wanted, the prince refused to ask for anything. Finally, the king told him that he could have what he wanted, if he consented to die afterward. He was the cypress, and his wife, whom he had brought before them in chains and rags, was the rose. He had once rescued peris and restored their sight, and in return, they had arranged for his marriage to a peri princess. She had betrayed him, riding off every night to a negro who beat her. The king had killed him and his fellows, except the one who escaped to tell the princess with the riddle. He then told the prince to prepare for execution. The prince asked only for a final washing, but when washing, he summoned the Simurgh, and it carried him off.

He returned. On the way, he married the princess from the castle of clashing swords, and the woman who had disenchanted him. At the city, he demanded the negro whom the princess hid beneath her throne to confirm the truth of his words. He told the story, and the king having found the negro, he confirmed it. Instead of marrying the princess, he took her captive, had the head decently buried, and sent for Dil-aram.

At home, the prince had the negro torn apart between four horses. The princess begged for mercy; those who had died had been fated to die, and it was her fate to be his. He forgave her, married her and Dil-aram, and lived happily with his four wives.

The White Dove

Two princes were caught in a storm at sea when the sky had no sun. An old woman rowed up in a dough-trough and said she could save them in return for the next returning son their mother bore. They said they could not trade him, and the woman said that their mother might prefer the sons she had to the one she didn't, and rowed off. They shouted after her that they agreed, and the storm ended.

They told no one what had happened, even when their brother was born and grew up. But the woman came to him one day in a storm and told him his brothers had promised him in return for their lives. He said if she had saved them, he would go with her. She sailed away with him, in her dough trough.

In her home, she set him to sort a great mass of feathers in one day. He had all but finished when a whirlwind mixed them together again, with only an hour left. The white dove tapped on the window and offered to help him. He let it in and it sorted the feathers.

The next day, she set him to split wood, and the longer he worked, the larger the pile seemed to grow. The dove offered to split it for him, and did so; he could barely carry away the pieces fast enough. It perched on his shoulder, and he kissed it, and it turned into a beautiful princess. She told him that he must ask the witch for a wish, and then ask for the princess she keeps as a white dove, but first he must tie a red thread about her leg so that he would know her.

When he asked, the witch dragged a donkey in front of him and asked if he wanted it; recognizing the red thread, he agreed. She tried again, with an old hag, and when the prince agreed, she had to have the wedding. At wedding, the princess told the prince not to drink anything at the feast, or he would forget her. He forgot and reached for a glass, but the princess spilled it and the witch raged. They were put into bed, and the princess said that the witch had done all that she promised, and so they had to flee.

She left two pieces of wood in the bed, and they answered the witch, so she did not realize they were gone until morning. Then she chased after them. The princess had the prince throw down a flower pot, which became a forest, which slowed the witch as she had to chop through it. Then the princess had the prince throw down a glass of water, which became a lake, and the witch had to go back for her dough trough to cross it. Then they climbed into the castle as she reached them, and the princess turned and blew on her. Hundreds of white doves flew out of her mouth. The witch was so angry that she turned to flint.

The older brothers confessed what they had done and said he must be king, and they would be his subjects.They were his subjects until they found their own princesses and then fled.

Puddocky

Some variants open with the heroine, who is so greedy for one type of food — cherries in Cherry and parsley in Puddocky — that her mother steals it for her. In Puddocky, this is from a witch who demands her daughter, as in Rapunzel, but in both tales, the girl is seen by three princes, and because of her beauty, they quarrel over her. The witch in Puddocky and the abbess in Cherry whose cherries were stolen both curse the girl for the commotion, turning her into a frog, and the princes make up.

In all variants, the king wishes to know which son will best follow him, and so he sends them to find them a specific piece of cloth (a beautiful carpet, a linen piece fine enough to go through a golden ring, etc.). The youngest son sets out with the least and finds a frog who offers him cloth. It exceeds his brothers' discoveries. The king then sends them out to find either a dog that could fit in a walnut shell, or an excellent gold ring. Again, the frog provides.

For the third task, the king orders them to return with a bride. The frog either transforms another frog into a maiden, or herself goes with him and turns into a beautiful bride. His father selects his youngest son and the frog princess marries him. In the variants opening with the quarrel, the prince recognizes her as the beautiful woman over whom he had quarreled with his brothers.

The White Snake

A wise King receives a covered dish every evening. A servant is curious one night when he retrieves the King's dish, he discovers a coiled white snake under the cover. The servant takes a small bite and discovers that he can now understand and communicate with animals.

Shortly afterwards the servant is accused of stealing the Queen's ring. He is given one day to prove his innocence or submit to punishment. After having given up, he sits awaiting his demise when he overhears a goose complaining about a ring stuck in her throat. The servant leaps up, grabs the goose and hurries to the kitchen. When the cook slits the goose's neck and finds the missing ring. The King apologizes and offers the servant land and riches. The servant declines accepting only a little gold and a horse on which to see the countryside.

On his journey to a town the servant first encounters a number of animals in distress, including three fishes out of water, ants at risk of being trodden upon, and starving raven fledglings in a nest. In each case the servant heeds the call for help, and in each case the grateful animals respond with "I will remember and return the favour".

In the town the King has announced that he wishes to marry off his daughter, but any suitor must agree to complete an arduous task to the end or be put to death. After one glimpse of the beautiful girl, the young man agrees. The King tosses a golden ring into the sea and tells the young man to retrieve it. He also adds that the young man must either bring the ring back, drown retrieving the ring, or be drowned upon returning without it.

Immediately three fish appear floating a bit of seaweed ahead of them, and on the seaweed rests the King's ring. Astonished, the King agrees to the marriage of his daughter to the young man. However, the daughter sets him upon another task of refilling sacks of grain that she has spilled in the grass. The young man is discouraged because he believes it impossible to gather all of the grain from the ground and he lays down and falls asleep shortly. When he wakes, he looks over at the sacks that were empty the night before. To his surprise, they are now filled with grain with not one grain missing. The Ant King had all of the ants working the entire night to fill them.

However, the daughter is still not happy and sets the servant off to find an apple from the tree of life. After many days, he collapses under a tree, but then an apple falls onto his hand. He looks up to see the three ravens, now grown, who have gone and fetched the apple for him. Overjoyed, he returns to the King's daughter and she finally agrees to marry him. They share the apple from the tree of life and live happily together to an old age.