Hello and welcome to Fairy Tale Friday. Are you
sitting comfortably? Good. Then I’ll begin.
This week we look at another version of Maria wood
collected by British traveller and folklorist Rachel Harriette Busk in
her 1877 book Roman Legends: A Collection of the Fables and Folk-Lore of Rome.
According to Wikipedia:
She collected tales from Italy,
Spain, Mongolia and
elsewhere. Her collection included folklore,
supernatural events, legends of saints, and humorous anecdotal material.
This tale begins with a more devious
mother than last week. This mother knows full well that the shoe is enchanted
and won’t fit anyone else. She tells her husband that is free to marry again as
long as the shoe fits while secretly congratulating herself on the fact that he
won’t be able to. I suppose she hadn’t counted on her daughter, though.
Our story bears more
similarities to last week’s version of Fair Maria Wood, but also a few key differences.
The easiest distinction is that last week our heroine was simply a beautiful
young woman in a wooden dress, but this week our heroine is in a full wooden animatronic
old lady disguise. After asking for the traditional host of dresses, each more
beautiful than the last she says, "but now you must send for the most
cunning artificer in your whole kingdom, and let him make me a figure of an old
woman just like life, fitted with all sorts of springs to make it move and walk
when one gets inside it, just like a real woman."
It is in this disguise
that she escapes and lives in a hut on the forest as a hen wife taking care of
the poultry for the royal family. When she approaches the palace asking for a
job, other servants try to shoo her away, but the prince takes pity on her and
finds her a job as a hen wife. He often stops to gossip with her when he passes
by her hut during one of his hunting expeditions. This seems as though he has a soft heart for
the old lady, but his true nature is revealed when she asks to go with him to
the Carnival festino. He shouts at her and cuts her with his whip. The
next day when she asks again to go with him, he strikes her with his boot and
the last day when she says, “What'll you say if I come to it in spite of
you? He slaps her and replies, "You
incorrigible old woman! You provoke me so with your nonsense, I really cannot
keep my hand off you."
And so, despite the abuse
when she is disguised as a helpless old woman, she continues to try to woo him
at the festino in her beautiful gowns. Also like previous tales we have read,
she tells him that she is from the countries of Whipblow, Bootkick and Slapland
when he asks where she is from. In the end, he is pining for his beloved and is
near death. She comes, in the guise of her old lady, offering to make him broth
that will cure him. The prince (despite being near death) has enough energy to
shout at her again and tell her she is a stupid old lady whose broth can’t cure
him. He eventually wears himself out with all the shouting and she manages to
get him some broth with the ring in it that he gave her. Well that cures him
out of funk right away and they get married that same day.
I am always wary of
people who do not treat children, animals and the elderly with respect. The
fact that he will abuse an elderly woman because she dares to ask him a question
does not bode well for their marriage. I fear when she grows old and wrinkled,
he will replace her with a younger model.
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Maria Wood source
They say, there was a king, whose wife,
when she came to die, said to him, "When I am dead, you will want to marry
again; but take my advice: marry no woman but her whose foot my shoe
fits."
But this she said because the shoe was
under a spell and would fit no one whom he could marry. The king, however,
caused the shoe to be tried on all manner of women; and when the answer always
was that it would fit none of them, he grew quite bewildered and strange in his
mind.
After some years had passed, his young
daughter, having grown up to girl's estate, came to him one day, saying,
"Oh, papa; only think! Mamma's shoe just fits me!"
"Does it!" replied the simple
king; "then I must marry you."
"Oh, that cannot be, papa," said
the girl, and ran away.
But the simple king was so possessed with
the idea that he must marry the woman whom his wife's shoe fitted, that he sent
for her every day and said the same thing. But the queen had not said that he
should marry the woman whom her shoe fitted, but that he should not marry any
whom it did not fit.
When the princess found that he persevered
in his silly caprice, she said at last, "Papa, if I am to do what you say,
you must do something for me first."
"Agreed, my child," replied the
king; "you have only to speak."
"Then, before I marry," said the
girl, "I want a lot of things, but I will begin with one at a time. First,
I want a dress of the colour of a beautiful noontide sky, but all covered with
stars like the sky at midnight and furnished with a parure to suit it."
Such a dress the king had made and brought
to her.
"Next," said the princess,
"I want a dress of the colour of the sea, all covered with golden fishes,
with a fitting parure."
Such a dress the king had made and brought
to her.
"Next," said the princess,
"I want a dress of a dark blue, all covered with gold embroidery and
spangled with silver bells, and with a parure to match."
Such a dress the king had made and brought
to her.
"These are all very good," said
the princess; "but now you must send for the most cunning artificer in
your whole kingdom, and let him make me a figure of an old woman just like
life, fitted with all sorts of springs to make it move and walk when one gets
inside it, just like a real woman."
Such a figure the king had made and brought
it to the princess.
"That is just the sort of figure I
wanted," said she;" and now I don't want anything more." And the
simple king went away quite happy.
As soon as she was alone, however, the
princess packed all the three dresses and many of her other dresses, and all
her jewellery and a large sum of money, inside the figure of the old woman, and
then she got into it and walked away. No one seeing an old woman walking out of
the palace thought she had anything to do with the princess, and thus she got
far away without anyone thinking of stopping her. On, on, on, she wandered till
she came to the palace of a great king, and just at the time that the king's
son was coming in from hunting.
"Have you a place in all this fine
palace to take in a poor old body?" whined the princess inside the figure
of the old woman.
"No, no! get out of the way! How dare
you come in the way of the prince!" said the servants and drove her away.
But the prince took compassion on her and
called her to him. "What's your name, good woman?" said the prince.
"Maria Wood is my name, your
Highness," replied the princess.
"And what can you do, since you ask
for a place?"
"Oh, I can do many things. First, I
understand all about poultry, and then --"
"That'll do," replied the
prince; "take her, and let her be the hen-wife, and let her have food and
lodging, and all she wants."
So they gave her a little hut on the
borders of the forest and set her to tend the poultry. But the prince as he
went out hunting often passed by her hut, and when she saw him pass, she never
failed to come out and salute him, and now and then he would stop his horse and
spend a few moments in gossip with her.
Before long it was Carnival time; and as
the prince came by Maria Wood came out and wished him a "good Carnival."
The prince stopped his horse and said, his
young head full of the pleasure he expected, "Tomorrow, you know, we have
the first day of the feast."
"To be sure I know it; and how I
should like to be there; won't you take me?" answered Maria Wood.
"You shameless old woman,"
replied the prince, "to think of your wanting to go to a festino at
your time of life!" and he gave her a cut with his whip.
The next day Maria put on her dress of the
colour of the noontide sky, covered with stars like the sky at midnight, with
the parure made to wear with it, and came to the feast. Every lady made place
before her dazzling appearance, and the prince alone dared to ask her to dance.
With her he danced all the evening, and fairly fell in love with her, nor could
he leave her side; and as they sat together, he took the ring off his own
finger and put it on to her hand.
She appeared equally satisfied with his
attentions and seemed to desire no other partner. Only when he tried to gather
from her whence she was, she would only say she came from the country of
Whipblow, which set the prince wondering very much, as he had never heard of
such a country. At the end of the ball, the prince sent his attendants to watch
her that he might learn where she lived, but she disappeared so swiftly it was
impossible for them to tell what had become of her.
When the prince came by Maria Wood's hut
next day, she did not fail to wish him again a "good Carnival."
"Tomorrow we have the second festino,
you know," said the prince.
"Well I know it," replied Maria
Wood; "shouldn't I like to go! Won't you take me?"
"You contemptible old woman to talk
in that way!" exclaimed the prince. "You ought to know better!"
and he struck her with his boot.
Next night Maria put on her dress of the
colour of the sea, covered all over with gold fishes, and the parure made to
wear with it, and went to the feast. The prince recognized her at once, and
claimed her for his partner all the evening, nor did she seem to wish for any
other, only when he tried to learn from her whence she was, she would only say
she came from the country of Bootkick.
The prince could not remember ever to have
heard of the Bootkick country, and thought she meant to laugh at him; however,
he ordered his attendants to make more haste this night in following her; but
what diligence so ever they used she was too swift for them.
The next time the prince came by Maria
Wood's hut, she did not fail to wish him again a "good Carnival."
"Tomorrow we have the last festino!"
exclaimed he, with a touch of sadness, for he remembered it was the last of the
happy evenings that he could feel sure of seeing his fair unknown.
"Ah! you must take me. But, what'll
you say if I come to it in spite of you?" answered Maria Wood.
"You incorrigible old woman!"
exclaimed the prince; "you provoke me so with your nonsense, I really
cannot keep my hand off you;" and he gave her a slap.
The next night Maria Wood put on her dress
of a dark blue, all covered with gold embroidery and spangled with silver
bells, and the parure made to wear with it. The prince constituted her his
partner for the evening as before, nor did she seem to wish for any other, only
when he wanted to learn from her whence she was, all she would say was that she
came from Slapland.
This night the prince told his servants to
make more haste in following her, or he would discharge them all. But they
answered, "It is useless to attempt the thing, as no mortal can equal her
in swiftness."
After this, the prince fell ill of his
disappointment, because he saw no hope of hearing any more of the fair domino
with whom he had spent three happy evenings, nor could any doctor find any
remedy for his sickness.
Then Maria Wood sent him word, saying,
"Though the prince's physicians cannot help him, yet let him but take a
cup of broth of my making, and he will immediately be healed."
"Nonsense! how can a cup of broth, or
how can any medicament, help me!" exclaimed the prince.
"There is no
cure for my ailment."
Again Maria Wood sent the same message;
but the prince said angrily, "Tell the silly old thing to hold her tongue;
she doesn't know what she's talking about."
But again, the third time, Maria Wood sent
to him, saying, "Let the prince but take a cup of broth of my making, and
he will immediately be healed."
By this time the prince was so weary that
he did not take the trouble to refuse. The servants finding him so depressed
began to fear that he was sinking, and they called to Maria Wood to make her
broth, because, though they had little faith in her promise, they knew not what
else to try. So Maria Wood made ready the cup of broth she had promised, and
they put it down beside the prince.
Presently the whole palace was roused; the
prince had started up in bed, and was shouting, "Bring hither Maria Wood!
Quick! Bring hither Maria Wood!"
So they ran and fetched Maria Wood,
wondering what could have happened to bring about so great a change in the
prince. But the truth was, that Maria had put into the cup of broth the ring the
prince had put on her finger the first night of the feast, and when he began to
take the broth he found the ring with the spoon. When he saw the ring, he knew
at once that Maria Wood could tell where to find his fair partner.
"Wait a bit! There's plenty of
time!" said Maria, when the servant came to fetch her in all haste; and
she waited to put on her dress of the colour of the noontide sky.
The prince was beside himself for joy when
he saw her and would have the betrothal celebrated that very day.
That’s all for this week. Stay tuned next week for a
tale from Portugal of a Princess who would not marry her father.
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