by Maria Tatar
Son and mother were once again faced with poverty and loneliness. Musai spent the rest of his days splashing barelegged in the rice paddies.
THE PIQUED BUFFALO-WIFE
Native American
Clark Wissler and D. C. Duvall collected this story in 1909 from an unnamed member of the Blackfoot tribe of Native Americans. Suggesting that the lines demarcating animals from humans are fluid, the tale also reinforces the binary that keeps the two apart by showing the challenges of crossing the line and of shape-shifting. In this particular tale, we find many odd gender reversals, with a male mortal taking “advantage” of a female beast and a husband losing his wife through an act of disobedience.
Once a young man went out and came to a buffalo-cow fast in the mire. He took advantage of her situation. After a time she gave birth to a boy. When he could run about, this boy would go into the Indian camps and join in the games of the children, but would always mysteriously disappear in the evening. One day this boy told his mother that he intended to search among the camps for his father. Not long after this he was playing with the children in the camps as usual, and went into the lodge of a head man in company with a boy of the family. He told this head man that his father lived somewhere in the camp, and that he was anxious to find him. The head man took pity on the boy, and sent out a messenger to call into his lodge all the old men in the camp.
When these were all assembled and standing around the lodge, the head man requested the boy to pick out his father. The boy looked them over, and then told the head man that his father was not among them. Then the head man sent out a messenger to call in all the men next in age; but, when these were assembled, the boy said that his father was not among them. Again the head man sent out the messenger to call in all the men of the next rank in age. When they were assembled, the boy looked them over as before, and announced that his father was not among them. So once again the head man sent out his messenger to call in all the young unmarried men of the camp. As they were coming into the head man’s lodge, the boy ran to one of them, and, embracing him, said, “Here is my father.”
After a time the boy told his father that he wished to take him to see his mother. The boy said, “When we come near her, she will run at you and hook four times, but you are to stand perfectly still.” The next day the boy and his father started out on their journey. As they were going along they saw a buffalo-cow, which immediately ran at them as the boy had predicted. The man stood perfectly still, and at the fourth time, as the cow was running forward to hook at him, she became a woman. Then she went home with her husband and child. One day shortly after their return, she warned her husband that whatever he might do he must never strike at her with fire. They lived together happily for many years. She was a remarkably good woman. One evening when the husband had invited some guests, and the woman expressed a dislike to prepare food for them, he became very angry, and, catching up a stick from the fire, struck at her. As he did so, the woman and her child vanished, and the people saw a buffalo cow and calf running from the camp.
Now the husband was very sorry and mourned for his wife and child. After a time he went out to search for them. In order that he might approach the buffalo without being discovered, he rubbed himself with filth from a buffalo-wallow. In the course of time he came to a place where some buffalo were dancing. He could hear them from a distance. As he was approaching, he met his son, who was now, as before, a buffalo-calf. The father explained to the boy that he was mourning for him and his mother and that he had come to take them home. The calf-boy explained that this would be very difficult, for his father would be required to pass through an ordeal. The calf-boy explained to him that, when he arrived among the buffalo and inquired for his wife and son, the chief of the buffalo would order that he select his child from among all the buffalo-calves in the herd. Now the calf-boy wished to assist his father, and told him that he would know his child by a sign, because, when the calves appeared before him, his own child would hold up its tail. Then the man proceeded until he came to the place where the buffalo were dancing. Immediately he was taken before the chief of the buffalo-herd. The chief required that he first prove his relationship to the child by picking him out from among all the other calves of the herd. The man agreed to this and the calves were brought up. He readily picked out his own child by the sign.
The chief of the buffalo, however, was not satisfied with this proof, and said that the father could not have the child until he identified him four times. While the preparations were being made for another test, the calf-boy came to his father and explained that he would be known this time by closing one eye. When the time arrived, the calves were brought as before, and the chief of the buffalo directed the father to identify his child, which he did by the sign. Before the next trial the calf-boy explained to his father that the sign would be one ear hanging down. Accordingly, when the calves were brought up for the father to choose, he again identified his child. Now, before the last trial, the boy came again to his father and notified him that the sign by which he was to be known was dancing and holding up one leg. Now the calf-boy had a chum among the buffalo-calves, and when the calves were called up before the chief so that the father might select his child, the chum saw the calf-boy beginning to dance holding up one leg, and he thought to himself, “He is doing some fancy dancing.” So he, also, danced in the same way. Now the father observed that there were two calves giving the sign, and realized that he must make a guess. He did so, but the guess was wrong. Immediately the herd rushed upon the man and trampled him into the dust. Then they all ran away except the calf-boy, his mother, and an old bull.
These three mourned together for the fate of the unfortunate man. After a time the old bull requested that they examine the ground to see if they could find a piece of bone. After long and careful search they succeeded in finding one small piece that had not been trampled by the buffalo. The bull took this piece, made a sweat-house, and finally restored the man to life. When the man was restored, the bull explained to him that he and his family would receive some power, some head-dresses, some songs, and some crooked sticks, such as he had seen the buffalo carry in the dance at the time when he attempted to pick out his son.
The calf-boy and his mother then became human beings, and returned with the man. It was this man who started the Bull and the Horn Societies, and it was his wife who started the Matoki.
THE TURTLE AND THE CHICKPEA
Greece
Collected in 1885 in Greece, this tale reminds us of the deep and enduring connection between beauty and the domestic arts, with a turtle that transforms into a woman of unmatched looks and equally impressive cooking skills. The enigmatically named Chickpea, who rides a rooster as his mount, is another reminder that cuisine and elements of agrarian life constantly infiltrate fairy-tale worlds.
Once upon a time there was a fisherman, a widower who had no children at all.
He went one day to fish and caught nothing, but there was a turtle caught up in his nets; so he said, “Such is my luck; so I’ll take it home,” and he took it and kept it in his house.
But where his house had once been full of rubbish, the day after he took home the turtle, he found the house cleaned and shining like crystal, and the poor fisherman wondered who could have done it. One day he took some fish home, and at midday he went to light a bit of a fire to cook the fish and he saw that the fish were no longer on the spit.
“That cat has never taken the fish till now! How can she have taken them?” But in a corner of the room he saw steamed fish in the kettle, fried fish on one plate and baked on another. He saw that the house had again been cleaned and swept, and he was amazed.
“Who can have done it, I wonder?”
So the next day he kept watch and he saw come out of the turtle’s shell a maiden whose beauty had no match in the world.
When she came out, he seized her and said, “Is it you, then, who keeps my house, unbekno
wn to me?”
And he broke the turtle shell, and the maiden stayed. He crowned her in holy matrimony and made her his wife.
The King of that place was unmarried; so he gave all the girls a veil to embroider, and whoever embroidered the best would be his wife. He also gave one to the fisherman’s wife, for he thought she was his daughter. And without knowing why she was to embroider it, she sat down and embroidered on it the sea with fish and with ships. Other girls also embroidered, as the King had ordered that these girls were to go on the same day and each show her veil. So each took her veil, and the fisherman’s wife went, too.
When the King saw her, he was astounded at her beauty. He looked, too, at the veil she had embroidered, and it was the best of all. He said that he would wed with her, but she answered that she was married to a fisherman.
“But why did you embroider the veil?” asked the King.
“Because I did not know why you had ordered the veils to be embroidered. I embroidered it for your pleasure.”
“Bid your husband come here,” the King said to her.
“As you will, Lord King,” she said, and went home and told her husband, “The King has bidden you go to him.”
The poor fisherman went and said to the King, “What is your will, Lord King?”
“The wife that you have is not for you. So either you provide a meal of fish to feed all my army till they have their fill or I shall take your wife away from you.”
“It is well, Lord King,” answered the fisherman, and went home and told his wife, “Alas, wife, that veil has brought us misfortune. The King has ordered me to feed all his army with fish for one day, or he will take you for himself; he says you are not the wife for me.”
“Let the King sleep on it,” said his wife. “And you, husband, go to the place where you fished me up and call to my mother to give you the little fish kettle.”
So the fisherman went to the sea, and called, “Lady mother of the sea, come, for I have need of thee.”
A woman came out from the midst of the sea, and said to him, “Welcome, son-in-law, and greetings. What is your wish?”
“Your daughter sent me to you for the little fish kettle.”
“It is well, son-in-law,” she said, and went down and brought him a fish kettle big enough for only one plate of food.
She gave it to her son-in-law, and he went and said to his wife, “Why, cook in this, and it won’t be enough for me, let alone the King’s army.”
“Never you fear, husband, this kettle can suffice for ten times the King’s army; only go and invite the King and his army to come tomorrow to our table.”
So the fisherman got up and went to the King and said to him, “Tomorrow, Lord King, be so good as to come, and the meal will be ready.”
So the next day the King summoned his army and they went and sat down in a wide place. He brought three servants to bear the dishes.
The king’s servants went forward, and the fisherman said to them: “Ask the King what dish he would like first?”
They went and asked the king and he ordered them to bring him fish soup to begin with. The fisherman’s wife put the ladle in the fish kettle and brought out all the bread they needed. Then, again from the kettle, she took out as many bowls of soup as there were men in the King’s army.
When the soup had been eaten, the King ordered steamed fish. The fisherman’s wife again put in the ladle and brought out steamed fish. Then the King ordered, in turn, fish with onions, fried fish, baked fish, and fish done in all kinds of ways. And all these dishes came out of the fish kettle, until the King’s army had had their fill and got up and went about their business, and the fisherman saved his wife.
When several days had gone by, the King again summoned the fisherman, and said to him, “That woman is not the wife for you. Either you feed all my army with grapes tomorrow, or I shall take your wife away from you.” (It was the month of January.)
“It is well, Lord King,” said the fisherman, and he went complaining home, and said to his wife, “The King has set his eye on you, wife, and is doing all he can to take you away from me. Now he’s ordered me to feed all his army with grapes. Where can we find grapes at this time of year?”
“Never you fear, husband, I shall never be the King’s wife, but I shall make a King of you. Go now to my mother, and ask her for a pannikin of grapes.”
The fisherman went to the sea, and called, “Lady mother of the sea, come, for I have need of thee.”
The Sea came forth, and said to him, “Greetings, son-in-law, greetings, indeed. What is your wish?”
“Your daughter sent me to you for a pannikin of grapes.”
“At once, son-in-law,” said the Sea, and went and brought him a pannikin of grapes.
It had in it barely an oka of grapes, and he took it to his wife and said, “These grapes are hardly enough for me.”
“Never you fear, this is a wonder-working pannikin, so go to the King and tell him to come with his army and eat his fill of grapes.”
The fisherman went and said to the King, “The grapes are ready; so be so good as to come with your army.”
The next day, the King summoned his army and they went and sat down in the same wide place, and the King’s servant went to the fisherman’s house and bore the grapes back in platefuls; the fisherman’s wife took them out of the pannikin and it never emptied itself until the army had eaten its fill and the King took them away with him.
The fisherman went home, and said to his wife, “I saved you again today, wife. But we shall see what else our King (may he live for ever) will think up.”
“Never you fear, husband, I’m here, never fear.”
After several days had gone by, the king summoned the fisherman, and said “That woman is not suited to you: she is the wife for me. So now I want you to bring me a man two hands’ span tall, with a beard three hands’ span long.”
“As you will, Lord King (may you live for ever),” he replied, and went.
He went to his wife, and said, “Now we’re up against it, wife. The King wants us to bring him a man two hands’ span tall, with a beard three hands’ span long.”
“Never you fear, husband. That, too, will be done. I have a brother of that like. Go to my mother and ask her to send back with you my brother, Chickpea, so that he may rock our child in the cradle.”
The fisherman went to the sea, and called, “Lady mother of the sea, come, for I have need of thee.”
The Sea came forth, and he said to her, “Your daughter sent me for you to send her Chickpea, so he may rock our child in the cradle.”
“It is well, son-in-law,” said the Sea, and called, “Chickpea, go to your sister and rock her child.”
“It is well, I’m coming; just let me feed the chickens.”
When he had fed his chickens, he mounted a cockerel and came out of the midst of the sea. The fisherman saw that he was two hands’ span in height and had a beard three hands’ span long that fell to the ground.
The fisherman went on ahead and after him Chickpea on the cockerel, and they went to the house.
“What is your will with me, sister?”
“Go to the King for him to see you, then put his eyes out, and make your brother-in-law king.”
“It is well, sister,” answered Chickpea.
The fisherman went in first, and after him Chickpea, before the King.
“What is your will, Lord King?” asked Chickpea.
“I called you so I might see you,” said the King.
“And now have you seen me?” he asked him.
“I have,” said the King.
Then Chickpea said, “Leap, cockerel, and put out the King’s eyes.”
The cockerel leapt and put out the King’s eyes, and from the pain of the pecking, the King died.
Then said Chickpea to the King�
�s Council of Twelve, “Will you make my brother-in-law King, or shall I set my cockerel on you?”
“We’ll make him King,” said the Council.
And they put the fisherman on the King’s throne and brought his wife to be Queen, and they are reigning to this day; they have Chickpea on his cockerel as their knight, and he rides up and down in the palace.
THE FROG MAIDEN
Myanmar
The series of three tests in this story from the country known today as Myanmar reminds us of the values endorsed in fairy tales. A golden deer embodies wealth in all its gleaming solidity; the dish of rice and meat reminds us that there is nothing better than a full stomach; and the radiant beauty of the princess offers the promise of an ennobling transformation.
An old couple was childless, and the husband and the wife longed for a child. So when the wife found that she was with child, they were overjoyed; but to their great disappointment, the wife gave birth not to a human child, but to a little she-frog. However, as the little frog spoke and behaved as a human child, not only the parents but also the neighbors came to love her and called her affectionately “Little Miss Frog.”
Some years later the woman died, and the man decided to marry again. The woman he chose was a widow with two ugly daughters and they were very jealous of Little Miss Frog’s popularity with the neighbors. All three took a delight in ill-treating Little Miss Frog.
One day the youngest of the king’s four sons announced that he would perform the hair-washing ceremony on a certain date and he invited all young ladies to join in the ceremony, as he would choose at the end of the ceremony one of them to be his princess.
On the morning of the appointed day the two ugly sisters dressed themselves in fine raiment, and with great hopes of being chosen by the Prince they started for the palace. Little Miss Frog ran after them, and pleaded, “Sisters, please let me come with you.”
