Mr Simigdáli
Encyclopedia
Mr Simigdáli is a Greek
fairy tale
, collected by Irene Naumann-Mavrogordato in Es war einmal: Neugriechische Volksmärchen. Georgios A. Megas collected a variant Master Semolina in Folktales of Greece. There are about forty known Greek variants on the fairy tale of baking a figure and having it brought to life.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 425, the search for the lost bridegroom, in an unusual variation, involving motifs similar to Pygmalion
and Galatea.
She comes to the mother of the Moon, who had her wait until the Moon came, but the Moon can not tell her where Mr Simigdáli had been taken, and sends her on to the Sun, having given her an almond. The Sun and its mother give her a walnut and send her on to the Stars. One star has seen him, and the Stars and their mother give her a hazelnut. She goes on to the castle where Mr Simigdáli is prisoner. She looks like a beggar and he does not recognize her, so she begs a place with the geese.
Then she breaks the almond and it holds a golden spindle, reel and wheel. The servants tell the queen, who asks what she wants for her; the princess will trade it only for Mr Simigdáli to come to spend a night with her. The queen agrees but gives Mr Simigdáli a sleeping potion. The princess can not wake him. The walnut contains a golden hen and chicks, and she tries and fails again. The hazelnut contains golden carnations, but that day, a tailor asks Mr Simigdáli how he can sleep with the princess's talk. Mr Simigdáli readies his horse and does not drink the potion; when the princess begins to talk to him, he rises and takes her with him on his horse.
In the morning, the queen sends for him, but he is not there. She tries to make her own man, but when the figure is done, she curses instead of praying, and the figure rots.
The princess and Mr Simigdáli return home and live happily.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
fairy tale
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 Irene Naumann-Mavrogordato in Es war einmal: Neugriechische Volksmärchen. Georgios A. Megas collected a variant Master Semolina in Folktales of Greece. There are about forty known Greek variants on the fairy tale of baking a figure and having it brought to life.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 425, the search for the lost bridegroom, in an unusual variation, involving motifs similar to Pygmalion
Pygmalion (mythology)
Pygmalion is a legendary figure of Cyprus. Though Pygmalion is the Greek version of the Phoenician royal name Pumayyaton, he is most familiar from Ovid's Metamorphoses, X, in which Pygmalion was a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved.-In Ovid:In Ovid's narrative, Pygmalion was a...
and Galatea.
Synopsis
A king's daughter refuses all her suitors. She takes almonds, sugar, and groats -- or semolina -- and makes the figure of a man from them. Then she prays for forty days, and God brings the figure to life. He is called Mr Simigdáli (Mr Groats) -- or Master Semolina if made from that -- and is very handsome. A queen hears of him and sends a golden ship to kidnap him. Everyone comes out to see it, and the sailors captures Mr Simigdáli. The princess learns how he had been carried off, has three pairs of iron shoes made for herself, and sets out.She comes to the mother of the Moon, who had her wait until the Moon came, but the Moon can not tell her where Mr Simigdáli had been taken, and sends her on to the Sun, having given her an almond. The Sun and its mother give her a walnut and send her on to the Stars. One star has seen him, and the Stars and their mother give her a hazelnut. She goes on to the castle where Mr Simigdáli is prisoner. She looks like a beggar and he does not recognize her, so she begs a place with the geese.
Then she breaks the almond and it holds a golden spindle, reel and wheel. The servants tell the queen, who asks what she wants for her; the princess will trade it only for Mr Simigdáli to come to spend a night with her. The queen agrees but gives Mr Simigdáli a sleeping potion. The princess can not wake him. The walnut contains a golden hen and chicks, and she tries and fails again. The hazelnut contains golden carnations, but that day, a tailor asks Mr Simigdáli how he can sleep with the princess's talk. Mr Simigdáli readies his horse and does not drink the potion; when the princess begins to talk to him, he rises and takes her with him on his horse.
In the morning, the queen sends for him, but he is not there. She tries to make her own man, but when the figure is done, she curses instead of praying, and the figure rots.
The princess and Mr Simigdáli return home and live happily.
See also
- PintosmaltoPintosmaltoPintosmalto is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone.Italo Calvino included a variant from oral tradition, The Handmade King, based on two tales from Calabria...
- Nature's WaysNature's WaysNature's Ways is an Armenian fairy tale collected by Susie Hoogasian-Villa in 100 Armenian Tales.-Synopsis:A king wished to shelter his daughter and have her love no one but him. He had her put in a castle on an island and gave her only women servants...
- The Enchanted PigThe Enchanted PigThe Enchanted Pig is a Romanian fairy tale, collected in Rumanische Märchen and also by Petre Ispirescu in Legende sau basmele românilor. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 425A, the search for the lost husband...
- East of the Sun and West of the MoonEast of the Sun and West of the MoonEast of the Sun and West of the Moon is a Norwegian folk tale.East of the Sun and West of the Moon was collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe...
- Black Bull of NorrowayBlack Bull of NorrowayThe Black Bull of Norroway is a fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in More English Fairy Tales.The language, including references to bannocks, would indicate a Scottish story teller, in this instance, Kenny Norman Macleod....
- The Two Kings' ChildrenThe Two Kings' ChildrenThe Two Kings' Children is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales, tale number 113.It is Aarne-Thompson type 313C, the girl helps the hero flee, and type 884, the forgotten fiancée...