The Boys with the Golden Stars
Encyclopedia
The Boys with the Golden Stars ("Doi Feti cu Stea in Frunte") is a Romanian fairy tale
collected in Rumanische Märchen. Andrew Lang
included it in The Violet Fairy Book.
, and against heat and water; the youngest, that she would bear twin sons with stars in their foreheads. The emperor married the youngest, and two of his friends the other two.
The emperor's stepmother had wanted him to marry her daughter and so hated his new wife. She got her brother to declare war on him, to get him away from her, and when the empress gave birth in his absence, took away the twins and killed them, then buried them in the corner of the garden and put puppies in their place. The emperor had to punish his wife to show what happened to those who deceived the emperor.
Two aspens
grew from the grave, putting on years' growth in hours. The stepmother wanted to chop them down, but the emperor forbade it for a long time. Finally, she succeeded, on the condition that she had beds made from the wood, one for him and one for her. In the night, the beds began to talk to each other. The stepmother had two new beds made, identical, and burned the beds to ash. While they were burning, the two brightest sparks flew off and fell into the river. They became two golden fish. When the fishermen caught them, they wanted to take them alive to the emperor. The fish told them to instead let them swim in dew, and then dry out in the sun. When they did this, the fish were turned back into babies. They grew up in days.
Wearing lambskin caps that covered their hair and stars, they went to their father's castle and forced their way in. Despite their refusal to take off their caps, the emperor listened to their story. At the end, they took them off. The emperor executed his stepmother and took back his wife.
, The Tale of Tsar Saltan
, The Three Little Birds
, The Wicked Sisters
, Ancilotto, King of Provino
and Princess Belle-Etoile
. Some of these variants feature an evil stepmother as the villain. But the transformation chase where the stepmother is unable to prevent the children's reappearance is unusual. It does, however, also appear in A String of Pearls Twined with Golden Flowers
and in The Count's Evil Mother, a Croatian tale from the Karlovac
area. The Pretty Little Calf
also has the child reappear, transformed after being murdered, but only has the transformation to an animal form and back to human.
A similar series of transformations is found in Beauty and Pock Face
and The Story of Tam and Cam
.
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 in Rumanische Märchen. 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...
included it in The Violet Fairy Book.
Synopsis
A herdsman had three daughters, and the youngest was the most beautiful. One day, the emperor rode by with attendants. The oldest said that if one married her, she would bake him a loaf of bread that would make him young and brave forever; the second, if one married her, she would make him a shirt that would protect him from any fight, even with a dragonDragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, and against heat and water; the youngest, that she would bear twin sons with stars in their foreheads. The emperor married the youngest, and two of his friends the other two.
The emperor's stepmother had wanted him to marry her daughter and so hated his new wife. She got her brother to declare war on him, to get him away from her, and when the empress gave birth in his absence, took away the twins and killed them, then buried them in the corner of the garden and put puppies in their place. The emperor had to punish his wife to show what happened to those who deceived the emperor.
Two aspens
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
grew from the grave, putting on years' growth in hours. The stepmother wanted to chop them down, but the emperor forbade it for a long time. Finally, she succeeded, on the condition that she had beds made from the wood, one for him and one for her. In the night, the beds began to talk to each other. The stepmother had two new beds made, identical, and burned the beds to ash. While they were burning, the two brightest sparks flew off and fell into the river. They became two golden fish. When the fishermen caught them, they wanted to take them alive to the emperor. The fish told them to instead let them swim in dew, and then dry out in the sun. When they did this, the fish were turned back into babies. They grew up in days.
Wearing lambskin caps that covered their hair and stars, they went to their father's castle and forced their way in. Despite their refusal to take off their caps, the emperor listened to their story. At the end, they took them off. The emperor executed his stepmother and took back his wife.
Motifs
The motif of a woman's babies, born with wonderful attributes after she claimed she could bear such children, but stolen from her, is a common fairy tale motif; see The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking BirdThe Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird
The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird is an Italian fairy tale collected by Thomas Frederick Crane in Italian Popular Tales...
, The Tale of Tsar Saltan
The Tale of Tsar Saltan
The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan is an 1831 poem by Aleksandr Pushkin, written after the Russian fairy tale edited by Vladimir Dahl...
, The Three Little Birds
The Three Little Birds
The Three Little Birds is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 96. The story is originally written in Low German.It is Aarne-Thompson type 707, the dancing water, the singing apple, and the speaking bird....
, The Wicked Sisters
The Wicked Sisters
The Wicked Sisters is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.Ruth Manning-Sanders included it, as "The Queen's Children", in A Book of Kings and Queens.-Synopsis:...
, Ancilotto, King of Provino
Ancilotto, King of Provino
Ancilotto, King of Provino is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola....
and Princess Belle-Etoile
Princess Belle-Etoile
Princess Belle-Etoile is a French literary fairy tale written by Madame d'Aulnoy. Her source for the tale was Ancilotto, King of Provino, by Giovanni Francesco Straparola....
. Some of these variants feature an evil stepmother as the villain. But the transformation chase where the stepmother is unable to prevent the children's reappearance is unusual. It does, however, also appear in A String of Pearls Twined with Golden Flowers
A String of Pearls Twined with Golden Flowers
A String of Pearls Twined with Golden Flowers or The Golden Twins is a Romanian fairy tale collected by Petre Ispirescu in Legende sau basmele românilor.-Synopsis:...
and in The Count's Evil Mother, a Croatian tale from the Karlovac
Karlovac
Karlovac is a city and municipality in central Croatia. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants .Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County...
area. The Pretty Little Calf
The Pretty Little Calf
The Pretty Little Calf is a Chinese fairy tale collected by Wolfram Eberhard in Folktales of China.-Synopsis:An official without children left home to take up his post. His first wife said she would offer him gold on his return; the second, silver; the third, a son. He was pleased with the third...
also has the child reappear, transformed after being murdered, but only has the transformation to an animal form and back to human.
A similar series of transformations is found in Beauty and Pock Face
Beauty and Pock Face
Beauty and Pock Face is a Chinese fairy tale collected by Wolfram Eberhard in Chinese Fairy Tales and Folk Tales.It is classified as Cinderella, Aarne-Thompson type 510A, the persecuted heroine; others of this type include The Sharp Grey Sheep; The Golden Slipper; The Story of Tam and Cam; Rushen...
and The Story of Tam and Cam
The Story of Tam and Cam
The Story of Tấm and Cám is an ancient Vietnamese fairy tale. Best known as the Vietnamese version of Cinderella.The last section of the story has been the subject of controversy. An edited version was published in secondary school textbooks in 2011. This was supported by some educators and...
.