Beauty and the Beast

by Maria Tatar

  The sisters laughed and said mockingly, “What, the little frog wants to come? The invitation is to young ladies and not to young frogs.” Little Miss Frog walked along with them toward the palace, pleading for permission to come. But the sisters were adamant, and so at the palace gates she was left behind. However, she spoke so sweetly to the guards that they allowed her to go in. Little Miss Frog found hundreds of young ladies gathered round the pool full of lilies in the palace grounds; and she took her place among them and waited for the Prince.

  The Prince now appeared, and washed his hair in the pool. The ladies also let down their hair and joined in the ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, the Prince declared that as the ladies were all beautiful, he did not know whom to choose and so he would throw a posy of jasmines into the air; and the lady on whose head the posy fell would be his princess. The Prince then threw the posy into the air, and all the ladies present looked up expectantly. The posy, however, fell on Little Miss Frog’s head, to the great annoyance of the ladies, especially the two step-sisters. The Prince also was disappointed, but he felt that he should keep his word. So Little Miss Frog was married to the Prince, and she became Little Princess Frog.

  Some time later, the old king called his four sons to him and said, “My sons, I am now too old to rule the country, and I want to retire to the forest and become a hermit. So I must appoint one of you as my successor. As I love you all alike, I will give you a task to perform, and he who performs it successfully shall be king in my place. The task is, bring me a golden deer at sunrise on the seventh day from now.”

  The Youngest Prince went home to Little Princess Frog and told her about the task. “What, only a golden deer!” exclaimed Princess Frog. “Eat as usual, my Prince, and on the appointed day I will give you the golden deer.” So the Youngest Prince stayed at home, while the three elder princes went into the forest in search of the deer. On the seventh day before sunrise, Little Princess Frog woke up her husband and said, “Go to the palace, Prince, and here is your golden deer.” The young Prince looked, then rubbed his eyes, and looked again. There was no mistake about it; the deer which Little Princess Frog was holding by a lead was really of pure gold. So he went to the palace, and to the great annoyance of the elder princes who brought ordinary deers, he was declared to be the heir by the king. The elder princes, however, pleaded for a second chance, and the king reluctantly agreed. “Then perform this second task,” said the king. “On the seventh day from now at sunrise, you must bring me the rice that never becomes stale, and the meat that is ever fresh.”

  The Youngest Prince went home and told Princess Frog about the new task. “Don’t you worry, sweet Prince,” said Princess Frog. “Eat as usual, sleep as usual, and on the appointed day I will give you the rice and meat.” So the Youngest Prince stayed at home, while the three elder princes went in search of the rice and meat. On the seventh day at sunrise, Little Princess Frog woke up her husband and said, “My Lord, go to the palace now, and here is your rice and meat.” The Youngest Prince took the rice and meat, and went to the palace, and to the great annoyance of the elder princes who brought only well-cooked rice and meat, he was again declared to be the heir. But the two elder princes again pleaded for one more chance, and the king said, “This is positively the last task. On the seventh day from now at sunrise, bring me the most beautiful woman on this earth.”

  “Ho, ho!” said the three elder princes to themselves in great joy. “Our wives are very beautiful, and we will bring them. One of us is sure to be declared heir, and our good-for-nothing brother will be nowhere this time.” The Youngest Prince overheard their remark, and felt sad, for his wife was a frog and ugly. When he reached home, he said to his wife, “Dear Princess, I must go and look for the most beautiful woman on this earth. My brothers will bring their wives, for they are really beautiful, but I will find someone who is more beautiful.”

  “Don’t you fret, my Prince,” replied Princess Frog. “Eat as usual, sleep as usual, and you can take me to the palace on the appointed day; surely I shall be declared to be the most beautiful woman.”

  The Youngest Prince looked at the Princess in surprise; but he did not want to hurt her feelings, and he said gently, “All right, Princess, I will take you with me on the appointed day.”

  On the seventh day at dawn, Little Princess Frog woke up the Prince and said, “My Lord, I must make myself beautiful. So please wait outside and call me when it is nearly time to go.” The Prince left the room as requested. After some moments, the Prince shouted from outside, “Princess, it is time for us to go.”

  “Please wait, my Lord,” replied the Princess, “I am just powdering my face.”

  After some moments the Prince shouted, “Princess, we must go now.”

  “All right, my Lord,” replied the Princess, “please open the door for me.”

  The Prince thought to himself, “Perhaps, just as she was able to obtain the golden deer and the wonderful rice and meat, she is able to make herself beautiful,” and he expectantly opened the door, but he was disappointed to see Little Princess Frog still a frog and as ugly as ever. However, so as not to hurt her feelings, the Prince said nothing and took her along to the palace. When the Prince entered the audience chamber with his Frog Princess the three elder princes with their wives were already there. The king looked at the Prince in surprise and said, “Where is your beautiful maiden?”

  “I will answer for the prince, my king,” said the Frog Princess. “I am his beautiful maiden.” She then took off her frog skin and stood a beautiful maiden dressed in silk and satin. The king declared her to be the most beautiful maiden in the world, and selected the Prince as his successor on the throne. The Prince asked his Princess never to put on the ugly frog skin again, and the Frog Princess, to accede to his request, threw the skin into the fire.

  CHONGUITA

  Philippines

  This tale was told by Pilar Ejercito, a woman living in the province of Laguna in the Philippines. Her aunt had told her the story when she was a little girl. It is not easy to commiserate uncritically with Don Juan, the son who marries Chonguita, even if he is inexplicably obliging when told to marry a monkey. The Philippines were named after Philip II, king of Spain, and the names in this tale reflect three centuries of colonial rule.

  There once lived a king who had three sons. They were called Pedro, Diego, and Juan. One day the king ordered the three young gentlemen to set out and seek their fortunes. The brothers each took a different direction, but before they separated, they agreed to meet later at a certain place in the forest.

  After walking for many days, Don Juan met an old man on the road. The old man gave Don Juan some bread and told him to walk to a palace that was about a mile away. “When you enter the gate,” he said, “you must divide the bread I have given you among the monkeys guarding the gate to the palace. Otherwise you won’t be able to pass through the gate.”

  Don Juan took the bread. When he reached the palace, he did exactly as the old man had said. When he walked through the gate, he saw a big monkey. Frightened by the sight of the animal, Don Juan was about to run away when the animal called out to him and said, “Don Juan, I know that you came here to make your fortune. Right now my daughter Chonguita is willing to marry you.” The archbishop of the monkeys was summoned, and Don Juan and Chonguita were married without delay.

  A few days later Don Juan asked his wife for permission to go to the place where he and his brothers had agreed to meet. When Chonguita’s mother heard that Don Juan was going away, she said, “If you are going away, take Chonguita with you.” Don Juan was ashamed to take Chonguita because she was a monkey, but he was forced to take her, and the two set off on the road. When Don Juan met his two brothers and their beautiful wives at the appointed place, he could not get out a word. Don Diego noticed that his brother looked gloomy and asked, “What is the matter with you? Where is your wife, Don Juan?”

  Don
Juan sadly replied, “Here she is.”

  “Where?” asked Don Pedro.

  “Right behind me,” replied Don Juan.

  When Don Pedro and Don Diego saw the monkey, they were startled. “Oh!” exclaimed Don Pedro, “What happened to you? Have you lost your mind?”

  Don Juan was at a loss for words. Finally he managed to say, “Let’s all go back home! Our father must be waiting for us!” With that, Don Juan turned around and began walking home. Don Pedro and Don Diego, together with their wives, followed Don Juan. Chonguita walked by her husband’s side.

  The king learned that his three sons had returned, and he rushed down the stairs to meet them. When he discovered that one of his sons had married a monkey, he fainted. But once he recovered his senses, he thought to himself: “This may be a stroke of bad luck, but it is God’s will. I must take the news calmly and be patient.” The king gave each of the couples a house to live in.

  The more the king thought about it, the more disgraceful his son’s marriage seemed. One day, he called his three sons together and said to them, “Tell your wives that I want each one of them to make a coat for me and to embroider it. The one who fails to finish the task in three days will be put to death.” The king had issued this order with the hope that Chonguita would be put to death. He was sure she would not be able to make a coat for him. But his hopes were dashed. On the third day, the three daughters-in-law presented him with the coats they had made. The one embroidered by Chonguita was the prettiest of the three.

  The king was still anxious to get rid of the monkey-wife. He ordered his daughters-in-law to embroider a cap for him in the next two days, under penalty of death if they failed. The caps were all finished right on time.

  Finally he was at a loss for ideas, but he came up with the following plan. He summoned his three daughters-in-law and said, “Each of you will draw pictures on the walls of my chamber. Whoever draws the prettiest within the next three days—her husband will succeed me on the throne.” At the end of the three days the pictures were finished. When the king went to inspect them, he found that Chonguita’s was by far the prettiest, and so Don Juan was crowned king.

  A feast was held in the palace to celebrate the new king. In the midst of the festivities, Don Juan became furious with his wife for insisting that he dance with her, and he hurled her against the wall. The hall suddenly turned dark after this brutal act took place. But then it grew bright again, and there was Chonguita, transformed into a beautiful woman.

  URASHIMA TARO

  Japan

  Urashima Taro is the Japanese Rip Van Winkle, and the oldest known variant of his story can be found in an eighth-century volume called the Nihongi. The Crane and Turtle Dance is a traditional dance performed in the region around Ise, where the oldest Shinto shrine can be found.

  Long ago a man named Urashima Taro lived at Kitamae Oshima. He lived with his mother, who was nearly eighty years old. He was a fisherman and was still unmarried. One day his mother said to him, “Urashima, Urashima, while I still have my health, won’t you please take a bride.”

  “I am as yet unable to earn a living. Even if I took a bride, I could not support her; while you are still living, I shall continue fishing and go on living like this,” he said.

  The days and months passed, and the mother became eighty years old. Urashima was forty. It was autumn, and the north wind blew day after day so that it was impossible to go out to fish. Since he could catch no fish, he could make no money, and it began to appear that he would be unable even to get food for his mother. “Ah, if we could only have good weather tomorrow,” he thought, as he lay around with nothing to do.

  Suddenly the sky began to clear. Urashima Taro jumped up, climbed onto his raft, and set out to fish. He fished until it began to get light in the east, but he could not catch a single fish. He was greatly troubled, but as the sun rose higher in the sky, a large fish finally struck the hook. Quickly he hauled in the line and found that he had caught a turtle. The turtle clung to the edge of the raft and made no move to go away.

  “I thought maybe you were a sea bream, but you are only a turtle. Since you’re here, no other fish will take the hook. Here, I’ll take you off the hook; now please go away somewhere,” said Urashima, throwing the turtle back into the sea.

  Urashima lighted his pipe and smoked as he continued fishing, but he caught nothing. He was greatly troubled, but just before noon it again felt as if a large fish had struck the hook. He hauled it in, and it was the turtle again. “No matter how much I ask him to go away, the turtle keeps coming back and the fish won’t bite. I’m having very bad luck,” he said and again chased the turtle away. Since he could not return home with nothing at all, he patiently kept fishing until mid-afternoon, when again something struck the hook. Thinking that surely this time it must be a fish, he hauled in the line and saw that it was the turtle again; so again he chased it away. It kept on like this until the sun began to set, and he had not caught a single fish. Soon the sun sank from sight, and he started home, wondering what to say to his mother.

  He was paddling the raft along when he noticed a seagoing ship in the distance. For some reason or other it was coming toward him. Urashima steered his boat to starboard, and the ship did the same; he steered to port, and the seagoing ship also steered to port. Finally the ship came alongside Urashima’s boat. The captain called out, “Urashima, please come on board this ship; we have come to you from the princess of Ryugu [the dragon kingdom at the bottom of the sea].”

  “If I went to the dragon kingdom, my mother would be all alone, so I cannot go.”

  “We will see that your mother is well taken care of; please come on board our ship,” urged the captain, and so Urashima, without further thought, boarded the ship.

  As soon as Urashima was on board, the ship sank into the water and went to the world at the bottom of the sea. When Urashima arrived, he saw that there was a beautiful palace there; the princess came and, saying that he surely must be hungry, gave him a feast. “Please stay two or three days and enjoy yourself,” she said. “Then you can return home.”

  Urashima saw that the princess and many other beautiful young girls were there; he was given new kimonos, and in this way days and months passed without his noticing, until three years had gone by. Urashima felt that he must return home. When he asked the princess if he might go, she gave him a three-tiered jewel box. “In case of necessity, you may open the box,” she said. Then Urashima was put on board the seagoing ship, and they landed at a place similar to this one here, which looks like a mountain’s nose.

  Urashima went to his village and looked around, but even the face of the mountain had changed; the trees on the hills had died or disappeared. “How could all this have happened in only three years?” he thought to himself as he went to where his house was. There in a thatched house was an old man working with straw. Urashima entered the house, greeted the old man, and inquired about himself, asking, “Do you know a man by the name of Urashima?”

  The old man replied, “There was a story that in my grandfather’s time a man named Urashima went to the dragon kingdom at the bottom of the sea, but no matter how long his relatives waited, he never returned.”

  “What became of that man’s mother?” asked Urashima and was told that she had died long, long ago.

  Urashima went to see the remains of his own house. Only the stone wash basin and the garden steppingstones remained; other than that, there was nothing. Lost in reverie, he opened the lid of the box; in the first box there was a crane’s feather. He opened the next box, and a puff of white smoke came from it; at this Urashima was turned into an old man. In the third box there was a mirror. He looked in the mirror and saw to his surprise that he had become an old man.

  While he was looking in the mirror, the crane’s feather from the first box attached itself to his back. He flew up into the sky and circled around his mother’s grave. When he
did this, the princess from the sea, who had turned herself into a turtle, came up on the beach to see him.

  It is said that this is the origin of the Crane and Turtle Dance at Ise.

  OISIN IN TIR NA N-OG

  Ireland

  Oisin (also spelled Ossian) was the legendary great poet of Ireland and a warrior figure in Irish mythology. His name means “young deer” or “fawn.” Tir na n-Og is “the land of the young,” and, in this tale, it is paradoxically beset by anxieties about succession. Some versions of this tale have an ending that resembles the one in “Urashima Taro,” the Japanese Rip Van Winkle tale.

  There was a king in Tir na n-Og, and he had long held the throne and crown against all comers. And the law of the kingdom was that every seventh year the champions and best men of the country should run for the office of king.

  Once in seven years they all met at the front of the palace and ran to the top of a hill two miles distant. On the top of that hill was a chair, and the man who sat down first in the chair was the king of Tir na n-Og for the next seven years. After he had ruled for ages, the king began to grow anxious. He was afraid that someone might sit on the chair before him and take the crown off his head. So he called up his Druid one day and asked, “How long shall I keep the chair to rule this land, and will any man sit on it before me and take the crown off my head?”

  “You will keep the chair and the crown forever,” said the Druid, “unless your own son-in-law takes them from you.”

  The king had no sons and but one daughter, the finest woman in Tir na n-Og; and the like of her could not be found in Erin or any kingdom in the world. When the king heard the words of the Druid, he said, “I’ll have no son-in-law, for I’ll put the daughter in a way no man will marry her.”