Catherine and her Destiny
Encyclopedia
Catherine and her Destiny is an Italian fairy tale
collected by Thomas Frederick Crane
in Italian Popular Tales, and included by Andrew Lang
in The Pink Fairy Book.
After seven years, her Destiny stopped, and she became the servant of a woman who had her bring loaves of bread every day to the woman's Destiny . One day, the woman asked her why she wept so often, and Catherine told her story. The woman told her, the next time, to ask her Destiny to ask Catherine's to stop these persecutions. The next day after she asked, the woman's Destiny brought her to her own, who gave her a skein of silk.
One day, the young king was to be married. His wedding garment was rich, but when the tailor was almost done with it, the silk ran out, and no more could be found that color. A proclamation declared that whoever brought such thread to the castle would receive a large sum, and the woman, who had seen the garment, told Catherine that her skein was the right color. Catherine brought it, and the court proposed that she should receive its weight in gold. But when it was put in the scale, no matter how much gold was added, the scales were not balanced with all the royal treasure until the king threw in his crown.
The king demanded to know of her where she had gotten the silk, and she told her story. A wise lady at court said that it was clear that her happy days were to begin, and that the scales were not balanced until the crown was added, was proof that she would be a queen. The king declared that she would be his queen, and married her instead of the bride he had intended, and Catherine lived happily until the end of her life.
The Slave Mother
and also such chivalric romances as Sir Isumbras
.
The woman trapped by a fortune who must be persuaded to treat her better features in such tales as Misfortune
and The Ill-Fated Princess
-- even to the means of receiving something that is needed to sew a royal garment.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
collected by Thomas Frederick Crane
Thomas Frederick Crane
Thomas Frederick Crane was an American folklorist, academic and lawyer.He studied law at Princeton, earned his undergraduate degree in 1864, and in 1867 graduated with an A.M. After graduation, he studied law at Columbia Law School but moved to Ithaca when a relative there became ill...
in Italian Popular Tales, and included by Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang was a Scots poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.- Biography :Lang was born in Selkirk...
in The Pink Fairy Book.
Synopsis
Catherine was a rich merchant's beautiful daughter. One day a woman appeared to her and asked whether she would rather be happy in her youth or in her old age. Catherine decided on old age, and the woman, who was Catherine's Destiny, vanished. Shortly, Catherine's father lost his wealth and died. Catherine attempted to enter into service, but whenever someone hired her, her Destiny appeared and tore the home to pieces when Catherine alone was there, and Catherine fled for fear she would be blamed.After seven years, her Destiny stopped, and she became the servant of a woman who had her bring loaves of bread every day to the woman's Destiny . One day, the woman asked her why she wept so often, and Catherine told her story. The woman told her, the next time, to ask her Destiny to ask Catherine's to stop these persecutions. The next day after she asked, the woman's Destiny brought her to her own, who gave her a skein of silk.
One day, the young king was to be married. His wedding garment was rich, but when the tailor was almost done with it, the silk ran out, and no more could be found that color. A proclamation declared that whoever brought such thread to the castle would receive a large sum, and the woman, who had seen the garment, told Catherine that her skein was the right color. Catherine brought it, and the court proposed that she should receive its weight in gold. But when it was put in the scale, no matter how much gold was added, the scales were not balanced with all the royal treasure until the king threw in his crown.
The king demanded to know of her where she had gotten the silk, and she told her story. A wise lady at court said that it was clear that her happy days were to begin, and that the scales were not balanced until the crown was added, was proof that she would be a queen. The king declared that she would be his queen, and married her instead of the bride he had intended, and Catherine lived happily until the end of her life.
Motifs
The choice of destiny features in the fairy taleFairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
The Slave Mother
The Slave Mother
The Slave Mother is an Italian fairy tale, collected by Italo Calvino in Italian Folktales, from Terra d'Ortano.-Synopsis:A couple of tenant farmers had five sons. One day the woman heard an owl ask her whether she would rather be rich while young or in old age. After telling her husband of it,...
and also such chivalric romances as Sir Isumbras
Sir Isumbras
Sir Isumbras is a medieval metrical romance written in Middle English and found in no fewer than nine manuscripts dating to the fifteenth century...
.
The woman trapped by a fortune who must be persuaded to treat her better features in such tales as Misfortune
Misfortune
Misfortune is an Italian fairy tale, from Palermo, collected by Italo Calvino in his Italian Folktales.Another telling of the tale appears under the title Unfortunate in A Book of Enchantments and Curses, by Ruth Manning-Sanders.-Synopsis:...
and The Ill-Fated Princess
The Ill-Fated Princess
The Ill-Fated Princess is a Greek fairy tale collected by Georgios A. Megas in Folktales of Greece.It is Aarne-Thompson type 938A, Misfortunes in Youth.-Synopsis:A queen could not marry off her three daughters...
-- even to the means of receiving something that is needed to sew a royal garment.