What Came of Picking Flowers

Last updated
H. J. Ford - What came of picking jessamine H. J. Ford - What came of picking jessamine.jpg
H. J. Ford - What came of picking jessamine

What came of picking Flowers is a Portuguese fairy tale first collected by Teophilo Braga with the name Cravo, Rosa e Jasmin. [1] Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book .

Contents

Synopsis

A woman had a young son and three daughters. One day, one picked a pink carnation 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.

Illustration by Arthur Rackham, from The Allies Fairy Book from 1916. The birds show the young man the white dove's nest. The birds show the young man the white dove's nest.jpg
Illustration by Arthur Rackham, from The Allies Fairy Book from 1916. The birds show the young man the white dove's nest.

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.

Translations

Andrew Lang included the tale as part of his fairy tale compilation of color Fairy Books, in The Grey Fairy Book. [2]

The tale was included in The Allies Fairy Book (1916), with illustrations by Arthur Rackham. [3]

Analysis

This Portuguese tale shares similarities with Italian literary tale The Three Enchanted Princes, in which a king is forced to surrender his elder daughters to three animals that are princes under a curse.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Beauty and the Beast</i> Fairy tale

Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins. Her lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and published by French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 in Magasin des enfants to produce the version most commonly retold. Later, Andrew Lang retold the story in Blue Fairy Book, a part of the Fairy Book series, in 1889. The fairy tale was influenced by Ancient Greek stories such as "Cupid and Psyche" from The Golden Ass, written by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis in the second century AD, and The Pig King, an Italian fairytale published by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola around 1550.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Frog Princess</span> Fairy tale

The Frog Princess is a fairy tale that has multiple versions with various origins. It is classified as type 402, the animal bride, in the Aarne–Thompson index. Another tale of this type is Doll i' the Grass.

Black Bull of Norroway Scottish fairy tale

The Black Bull of Norroway is a fairy tale from Scotland. A similar story titled The Red Bull of Norroway first appeared in print in Popular Rhymes of Scotland by Robert Chambers in 1842. A version titled The Black Bull of Norroway in the 1870 edition of Popular Rhymes of Scotland was reprinted in an Anglicised version by Joseph Jacobs in his 1894 book More English Fairy Tales.

The Wonderful Birch

The Wonderful Birch is a Finnish/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.

The Singing, Springing Lark German fairy tale

"The Singing, Springing Lark", "The Singing, Soaring Lark", "The Lady and the Lion" or "Lily and the Lion" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, appearing as tale no. 88.

The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Death of Koschei the Deathless</span> Russian fairy tale

The Death of Koschei the Deathless or Marya Morevna is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki and included by Andrew Lang in The Red Fairy Book. The character Koschei is an evil immortal man who menaces young women with his magic.

The Brown Bear of Norway is an Irish fairy tale collected by Patrick Kennedy which appeared in his Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts (1866). It was later included by Andrew Lang in his anthology The Lilac Fairy Book (1910), though Lang misattributed his source as West Highland Tales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Blue Bird (fairy tale)</span> French literary fairy tale

"The Blue Bird" is a French literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy, published in 1697. An English translation was included in The Green Fairy Book, 1892, collected by Andrew Lang.

Youngest son Stock character in fairy tales

The youngest son is a stock character in fairy tales, where he features as the hero. He is usually the third son, but sometimes there are more brothers, and sometimes he has only one; usually, they have no sisters.

The Hut in the Forest German fairy tale

"The Hut in the Forest" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book (1897). It is Aarne-Thompson type 431.

The Golden Crab is a Greek fairy tale collected as "Prinz Krebs" by Bernhard Schmidt in his Griechische Märchen, Sagen and Volkslieder. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Enchanted Pig</span> Romanian fairy tale

The Enchanted Pig is a Romanian fairy tale, collected in Rumanische Märchen and also by Petre Ispirescu in Legende sau basmele românilor. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.

The Gold-bearded Man is a Hungarian fairy tale collected by Laszlo Arany. It was translated and published as Der goldbärtige Mann by Elisabeth Rona-Sklárek in Ungarische Volksmährchen. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.

Lovely Ilonka Hungarian fairy tale

Lovely Ilonka is a Hungarian fairy tale published in Ungarische Märchen by Elisabet Róna-Sklarek. Andrew Lang included it in The Crimson Fairy Book.

King Kojata or The Unlooked for Prince or Prince Unexpected is a Slavonic fairy tale, of Polish origin. Louis Léger remarked that its source was "one of the most important collections of Polish literature".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sea-Maiden</span> Scottish fairy tale

The Sea-Maiden is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as John Mackenzie, fisherman, near Inverary. Joseph Jacobs included it in Celtic Fairy Tales.

The Prince Who Wanted to See the World is a Portuguese fairy tale, collected first by Portuguese writer Theophilo Braga. Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book.

The Enchanted Snake or The Snake is an Italian fairy tale. Giambattista Basile wrote a variant in the Pentamerone. Andrew Lang drew upon this variant, for inclusion in The Green Fairy Book.

Prince Darling

Prince Darling is a French literary fairy tale written by Madame Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.

References

  1. Braga, Teophilo. Contos tradicionaes do povo portuguez. Magalhães e Moniz. 1883. pp. 20-24.
  2. Lang, Andrew. The Grey Fairy Book. New York: Longmans, Green. 1905. pp. 93-102.
  3. The Allies fairy book. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippencott co. 1916. pp. 77-83.