Read The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales (Penguin Classics) Online
Authors: Franz Xaver von Schonwerth
Legends about a wooden stick that grows leaves and blossoms into a tree are not uncommon. Redemption is symbolically represented by the green leaves on the dry branch the hero was carrying. The tale evokes the legend of Tannhäuser, who is denied absolution by the pope and told that his chances of being forgiven are as good as the possibility of the pope’s staff sprouting leaves. Miraculously, the staff puts out green shoots. How the carpenter turned into a criminal is not clear, and it is odd that he repents only when there is no more space for notches on his staff. But his story is a reminder that grace can enter the lives of even the most hard-bitten criminals.
“Talk” is, of course, what folktales are all about. The farmer’s wife may not be clever, but she is wise to the ways of the world, knowing that a talker is likely to talk her husband into a bargain for the buyer. She is also unaware that her husband, like many of the fools in oral tradition, is a literalist, taking her advice at its word. Like many simpletons and numbskulls, he is also protected by good fortune, and in the end, he manages to fetch an excellent price for the cow, returning to his wife and to a happily-ever-after ending.
The title figure of this folktale has no redeeming virtues whatsoever. He does not appear unsettled by the murder of his mother and feels no sense of responsibility, despite the fact that his ruse did her in. And he cheerfully drowns the farmers and steals their livestock. The hardworking women in the village have their bawdy side too, and mooning the tailor is the kind of move that was edited out of print collections of fairy tales. This unrepentant, happy-go-lucky lad (a tailor whose
apprenticeship must have been lost when the tale moved from oral storytelling to print culture) keeps his ill-gotten gains and will continue to lie, cheat, and steal in another village.
The hero of this tale has turned theft into a fine art. Like the “master thief” found in many different cultures, he is nimble, clever, and cunning. He not only carries out all the tasks put to him but also shows his ability to mix potions, perform physical feats, and engage in mimicry. Note that he never actually steals anything, but rather performs tricks to display the magic of his craft. An itinerant artist, he makes his way into new territory as soon as he is given his traveling papers. Mobility matters to him, especially since he is immersed in a bureaucracy that perpetually seeks to restrain him.
There is a set of tale types known as “labor contracts,” and one of the more interesting among the twenty-nine variants is the “Contest Not to Become Angry.” A farmhand agrees to a contest with the devil, an ogre, or a priest (note the odd fellow in this trio). Whoever becomes angry first loses and must pay the other a sum of money. Often three sons enter the contest, with only the youngest winning, by using the strategy of feigning stupidity, taking idleness to an extreme, or taking an order literally. With an ending that anticipates an episode in the film
Fatal Attraction
, this tale gives us a hero who may be naive but is also ruthless about winning the contest. And it is his act of storytelling, as proclaimed in the ending, that gives rise to tales about his feats and those of others.
Belonging to the tale type known as “The Woman in the Chest” (ATU 1536A), this story has been documented the world over, with Japanese, Russian, and Chilean variants. The motif of disposing of a corpse is repeated three times, with the pastor,
the innkeeper’s servant, and the farmer each calling on the schoolteacher to help them out. And the schoolteacher himself finally passes the corpse off to robbers, who come up with the most obvious solution of all: burying the body. In variant forms of the tale, a mother-in-law or a wife’s lover is killed by accident or on purpose, and the husband covers up the murder by leaving the body at a doorstep or putting it on someone’s property. The tale itself can be seen as an allegory about shifting blame, putting the evidence of a crime or misdeed at someone else’s doorstep.
Showing how a poor man can make money at the expense of the rich, the schoolteacher does not seem to mind that his newfound wealth comes at the expense of an old woman’s life. His story uses burlesque slapstick to conceal what might really be at stake in this tale: the fact that an aging parent can be a troublesome burden, both while alive and at home but also even once dead, as a corpse that needs to find a resting place. The “stolen corpse” story appears today in the form of urban legends (see Jan Harold Brunvand’s
The Vanishing Hitchhiker
and the film
National Lampoon’s Vacation
, in which Aunt Edna inconveniently dies during an out-of-state vacation).
This etiological tale about the winds and their direction illustrates the kaleidoscopic structure of fairy tales. Combining the magic of fairy tales (humans turned into statues, glass mountains, and the purifying forces of fire and water), it also gives us the mythical logic of origin tales along with bits and pieces of folk humor about wind and weight. The three aristocrats must develop malleable bodies and use their height and weight to conquer the light breeziness and weighty force of the winds.
Like many fairy tales, this one begins in a time of famine, with a woman who plans to abandon her children. The mother of the three girls, rescued by a voice that calls out to her, moves into a mythical realm, with its signature giants, frozen seas, and golden
apples. In blending fairy-tale themes with mythical motifs, the tale nods in the direction of the story of Demeter and Persephone, with a mother who, in contrast to the mythical goddess, seems perfectly content to arrange marriages with titanic figures.
In a layer of snow, light bounces around and is reflected and absorbed until it is neutralized to form white. When we see all colors in equal measure on a surface, the object itself turns white. This etiological story explains not only the color of snow but also the antagonism between snow and flowers, anthropomorphized blossoms that jealously guard their colors, withholding them from the baffled and dispirited snow.
Few etiological tales work as hard as this one to explain natural events. The story of the sun setting and rising and the moon waxing and waning becomes the opportunity for an allegory about a star-crossed married couple unable to settle differences, despite their love for each other. Sun and Moon are both at fault, the one for volatility and red-hot anger, the other for chilliness and lack of affect, but it is the Sun that takes the fatal oath forever dividing the two marriage partners. And note that star-crossed lovers can take their troubles today to the moon, a heavenly body sympathetic to their sorrows.
Gods can be as temperamental as humans, and so can celestial orbs. In this concise microdrama about the origins of mourning and shadows, the Sun and the Moon gang up on Death, and Death throws a fit even after his rights are validated by the Titans. There are many mysteries in the tale, most notably the white weasel and the effects of licking the eyes of the Titans. The anthropomorphic approach to explaining natural events can be found in folklore the world over.
Only in fairy tales can an ordinary tailor travel with the moon. And this tailor uses his craft well, making a coat that will keep him warm in the winter, even as the moon is freezing. The moon waxes and wanes, much to the distress of the tailor, who finally gives up on the reward offered by the moon for a warm coat. Writers ranging from Margaret Wise Brown (
Goodnight Moon
) and Maurice Sendak (
Where the Wild Things Are
) to James Thurber (
Many Moons
) and Brian Selznick (
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
) have understood the literary pull of the moon, creating books for children and adults that captivate through the luminous beauty of the moon. This moon, by contrast, appears cranky and demanding to the heroic tailor, who does his best to keep making adjustments, without understanding exactly why the moon is such a tough customer to please.
Environmental themes are sounded in many European fairy tales, with rewards for those who treat animals and plants with respect and punishment for those who are careless, profligate, or cruel when it comes to other living beings. Tailors are often positioned as naive and courageous simpletons, but in this story a tailor, seduced by the sorcery of a beautiful melody, is high-spirited and curious, yet also condemned for an act of cruelty that takes the form of vandalizing a tree. Unlike the carter in the Grimms’ “The Dog and the Sparrow,” who is killed as retribution for running over a dog, the tailor in this story survives and internalizes a lesson about doing no harm when it comes to plants and trees. The three scenes of punishment draw on the tools of the tailor’s trade. Needle, scissors, and iron are turned on the tailor, who finds that those tools can become instruments of torture—a telling commentary perhaps on the demands of his trade.
by
NICOLA SCHÄFFLER
Below is further information about the tales, including their sources and German titles. All of the tales were recorded in the Oberpfalz, a region in Eastern Bavaria. In some cases information is provided about the specific town where Schönwerth located the tale and who related it to him. For a deeper exploration of the types of tales, supplemental literature is listed, along with the ATU number, which can be used to find further literature about the tales in
The Types of International Folktales
by Hans-Jörg Uther.
ABBREVIATIONS
ATU
Hans-Jörg Uther.
The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography
. 3 vols. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2004.
EM
Kurt Ranke (ed.).
Enzyklopädie des Märchens. Handwörterbuch zur historischen und vergleichenden Erzählforschung
. Vol. 1-13.2 Berlin, New York 1977–2009.
KHM
Brüder Grimm.
Kinder- und Hausmärchen: Nach der großen Ausgabe von 1857, textkritisch revidiert, kommentiert und durch Register erschlossen
, 2nd ed. Ed. Hans-Jörg Uther. 4 vols. Munich: Diederich, 1996.
SCHÖNWERTH: COMPOUND ENTRY
Compound entry from Franz Xaver von Schönwerth owned by
Historischer Verein für Oberpfalz und Regensburg
at the archive of the city Regensburg. AHVOR: Schönwerthiana, Fascicle I-X
SCHÖNWERTH: SITTEN UND SAGEN
Franz Xaver von Schönwerth.
Aus der Oberpfalz: Sitten und Sagen
. 3 vols. Augsburg: M. Rieger, 1857–1859.
ZA
Zentralarchiv der deutschen Volkserzählung, Universität Marburg, Institut für Europäische Ethnologie / Kulturwissenschaft.
SOURCES AND REFERENCES
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry IVb, folder 21/8, envelope 1, sheet 9; ZA Marburg No. 202 057 (“Die Rübenprinzessin”)
Town:
Gaisheim (Gaisheim/Neukirchen, County Amberg or Gaisheim/Moosbach, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 554 “The Grateful Animals”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 044 (“Die verwunschene Krähe”)
Town:
Neuenhammer (Neuenhammer/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 432 “The Prince as Bird”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry I, folder 6c, sheet 37; ZA Marburg No. 202 993 (untitled)
Town:
Neukirchen St. Chr. (Neukirchen zu St. Chr./Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 400 “The Man on a Quest for His Lost Wife”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 203 024 (“Die Welfen-Sage”)
Town:
Neuenhammer (Neuenhammer/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 762 “Woman with Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Children”; ATU 765 “The Mother Who Wants to Kill Her Children”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry VIb, folder 21/8, envelope 1, sheet 15; ZA Marburg No. 202 062 (“Das fliegende Kästchen”)
Informant:
“Eugen”
Tale Type:
ATU 575 “The Prince’s Wings”; KHM 77a “The Carpenter and the Turner”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry VI, folder 24b, sheet 23; ZA Marburg No. 202 132 (“König Goldhaar”)
Town:
Katzberg (County Cham)
Tale Type:
ATU 314 “Goldener”; ATU 502 “The Wild Man”; KHM 136 “Iron Hans”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 203 027 (untitled)
Tale Type:
ATU 505 “The Grateful Dead”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 203 528 (untitled)
Town:
Waldmühle b. Neuenhammer (Waldmühle/Pressath, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab or Waldmühle/Hirschau, County Amberg)
Tale Type:
ATU 451 “The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brother”; KHM 3 “Mary’s Child”; KHM 9 “The Twelve Brothers”; KHM 49 “The Six Swans”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 294 (“Die Feigen”)
Town:
Tirschenreuth (County Tirschenreuth)
Tale Type:
ATU 554 “The Grateful Animals”; ATU 610 “The Healing Fruits”; KHM 62 “The Queen Bee”; KHM 165 “The Griffin”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 459 (untitled)
Tale Type:
ATU 314A “The Shepherd and the Three Giants”; ATU 400 “The Man on the Quest for His Lost Wife”; ATU 594* “The Magic Bridle”; ATU 935 “The Prodigal’s Return”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 992 (“Der Wunderbeutel, das Wunschhütchen und das Wunderhorn”)
Tale Type:
ATU 566 “The Three Magic Objects and the Wonderful Fruits”; ATU 569 “The Knapsack, the Hat and the Horn”; KHM 54 “The Knapsack, the Hat and the Horn”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry I, folder 6c, envelope 130 (first part) a. folder 15, envelope 14 (second part); ZA Marburg No. 202 853 (“Brüderlein und Schwesterlein”)
Tale Type:
ATU 403 “The Black and the White Bride”; KHM 135 “The White and the Black Bride”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 249 (“Aschenflügel”)
Tale Type:
ATU 510A “Cinderella”; KHM 21 “Cinderella”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 855 (untitled)
Tale Type:
ATU 312C “The Rescued Bride”; ATU 530 “The Princess on the Glass Mountain”; ATU 814 “The Careless Word Summons the Devil”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 046 (“Der Daumen-Nickerl”)
Town:
Parkstein (Parkstein, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 700 “Thumbling”; KHM 37 “Thumbling”; KHM 45 “Thumbling’s Travels”
Source:
Schönwerth:
Sitten und Sagen
, II, p. 271-75 (“Der grosse Hans”)
Town:
Oberbernried (Waldthurn, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 650A “Strong John”; ATU 1008 “Lighting the Road”; KHM 90 “The Young Giant”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry VII, folder 1, sheet 61; ZA Marburg No. 203 559 (“Die Waldfraun”)
Informant:
“Eugen”
Tale Type:
ATU 314 “Goldener”; KHM 136 “Iron John”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 203 020 (“Sieben auf einen Schlag”)
Town:
Radwaschen (Pleystein, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 1640 “The Brave Tailor”; KHM 20 “The Brave Little Tailor”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 963 (“Des Bauern 3 Töchter”)
Tale Type:
ATU 425 “The Search for the Lost Husband”; ATU 425B “Son of the Witch”; KHM 127 “The Iron Oven”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 247 (“Der Leibhusar”)
Tale Type:
ATU 461 “Three Hairs from the Devil’s Beard”; KHM 29 “The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 992 (“Der Wunderbeutel, das Wunschhütchen und das Wunderhorn”)
Tale Type:
ATU 566 “The Three Magic Objects and the Wonderful Fruits”; ATU 569 “The Knapsack, the Hat and the Horn”; KHM 54 “The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn”
THE TALKING BIRD, THE SINGING TREE, AND THE SPARKLING STREAM
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 290 (“Die armen Königskinder”)
Town:
Tirschenreuth (County Tirschenreuth)
Tale Type:
ATU 707 “The Three Golden Children”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 203 489 (“Das Wieserl”)
Town:
Neuenhammer (Neuenhammer/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 444* “Enchanted Prince Disenchanted”; ATU 554 “The Grateful Animals”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 258 (“Hans mit der Löwin”)
Town:
Neukirchen St. Chr. (Neukirchen zu St. Chr./Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 590 “The Faithless Mother”; KHM 121 “The Prince Who Feared Nothing”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 203 000 (“Die Prinzessin und die Kuh”)
Tale Type:
ATU 444* “Enchanted Prince Disenchanted”
THE CALL OF THE SHEPHERD’S HORN
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 064 (“Die Prinzessin und die Kuh”)
Town:
Neuenhammer (Neuenhammer/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 444* “Enchanted Prince Disenchanted”
THE MARK OF THE DOG, PIG, AND CAT
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 203 205 (untitled)
Town:
Neuenhammer (Neuenhammer/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 707 “The Three Golden Children”; KHM 3 “Mary’s Child”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 137 (“Märchen”)
Town:
“Kulm” (Town unknown)
Tale Type:
ATU 400 “The Man on a Quest for His Lost Wife”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 338 (“Die wandernden Thiere”)
Town:
Tirschenreuth (County Tirschenreuth)
Tale Type:
ATU 130 “The Animals in Night Quarters”; KHM 27 “The Bremen Town Musicians”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 202 287 (“Die weiße Frau”)
Town:
Tirschenreuth (County Tirschenreuth)
Tale Type:
ATU 760*** “Salvation in the Cradle”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry VI, folder 24b, sheet 1; ZA Marburg No. 202 111 (“Die Kaufmannskinder”)
Town:
Waldau (Vohenstrauß, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 403 “The Black and the White Bride”; KHM 135 “The White and the Black Bride”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry I, folder 6c, sheet 33; ZA Marburg No. 202 991 (“Jodl, rutsch mir nach”)
Tale Type:
ATU 402 “The Animal Bride”; KHM 63 “The Three Feathers”; KHM 106 “The Poor Miller’s Son and the Cat”
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 203 600 (“Kröte”)
Tale Type:
ATU 402 “The Animal Bride”; KHM 63 “The Three Feathers”; KHM 106 “The Poor Miller’s Son and the Cat”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry IVb, folder 21/8, envelope 1, sheet 12; ZA Marburg No. 202 053 (“Prinz Roßzwifl”)
Town:
Neuenhammer (Neuenhammer/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 444* “Enchanted Prince Disenchanted”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry VI, folder 8, envelope 2, sheet 6; ZA Marburg No. 202 415 (“Hulzfral”)
Town:
Seitenthal (Seitenthal/Speinshart, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Source:
ZA Marburg No. 203 079 (“Das Holzfräulein”)
Town:
Neuenhammer (Neuenhammer/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Secondary Literature:
Lüthi, M.: Belohnung, Lohn. In: EM 2, col. 92–99
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry I, folder 1 No. 15, sheet 23, p. 6 (“Windspecht”)
Secondary Literature:
Blum, E.: Geschicklichkeitsproben. In: EM 5, col. 1131-34; Horn, K.: Fleiß und Faulheit. In: EM 4, col. 1266–67
Source:
Schönwerth:
Sitten und Sagen
, II, p. 219–25 (untitled)
Town:
Dimpfl (Dimpfl/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 316 “The Nix of the Mill-Pond”; ATU 554 “The Grateful Animals”; KHM 181 “The Nixie in the Pond”
Source:
Schönwerth:
Sitten und Sagen
, II, p. 203–6 (untitled)
Source:
Schönwerth:
Sitten und Sagen
, II, p. 194–95 (untitled)
Town:
Dimpfl (Dimpfl/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Tale Type:
ATU 425E “The Enchanted Husband Sings Lullaby”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry I, folder 6c, sheet 32; ZA Marburg No. 202 990 (“Hans Dudlde”)
Tale Type:
ATU 303A “Brothers Seek Sisters as Wives”; ATU 554 “The Grateful Animals”; ATU 922 “The Shepherd Substituting for the Clergyman Answers the King’s Questions”; KHM 62 “The Queen Bee”; KHM 152 “The Shepherd Boy”
Source:
Schönwerth: Compound entry VI, folder 24b, envelope 1, sheet 2; ZA Marburg No. 202 068 (“Die Wasserfrauen”)
Town:
Vilseck (County Amberg-Sulzbach)
Secondary Literature:
Horn, K.:
Schön und häßlich
. In: EM 12, col. 153–61
Source:
Schönwerth:
Sitten und Sagen
, II, p. 200–3 (“Der Wasserfräulein Liebe”)
Town:
Neuenhammer (Neuenhammer/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Source:
Schönwerth:
Sitten und Sagen
, II, p. 213–19 (untitled)
Town:
Neuenhammer (Neuenhammer/Georgenberg, County Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab)
Source:
Schönwerth:
Sitten und Sagen
, II, p. 177–78 (untitled)
Town: