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Author
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Comment
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dwb
Unregistered User
(1/30/03 6:16:49 pm)
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Anyone know this story?
I remember this illustrated book from when I was a child - maybe mid 1960's. I'm not sure if it's a "classic" tale or an original story.
It's about a prince(?) who travels to another kingdom to win a princess. Along the way, he gathers various companions, each of whom has a unique ability. At the foreign kingdom all the companions are shut in together in a large room of the castle and are required to complete a certain task by the following morning. I remember one of the companions has a really sharp nose that he uses to chop wood, another one can drink barrels and barrels of wine (or beer), and another one can change himself into fire and burn up all the food they were supposed to eat by morning. Of course, the man wins his bride with the help of his friends.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Was there more than one illustrated version of the story? Thanks!
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Helen
Registered User
(1/30/03 6:41:15 pm)
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Well ...
It sounds to me as though it might be "The Adventures of the Baron Munchausen" or one of the related variants. Hope this helps!
Best,
Helen
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Laura
McCaffrey
Registered User
(1/31/03 6:02:15 am)
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Re: Anyone know this story?
I've also seen this story published as "The Fool and the Flying Ship." Rabbit Ears radio put out an audio version. There are also several illustrated versions.
Laura Mc
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dwb
Unregistered User
(2/8/03 7:43:45 pm)
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Re: Anyone know this story?
No, I'm afraid it's not from Baron Munchhausen. And there was no ship in the story, flying or otherwise. Anyone else have any suggestions?
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(2/9/03 3:48:26 am)
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Variant
That's clearly a variant of the heal-the-princess story.
From my upcoming collection MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD:
The parent tale is called “The Four Skillful Brothers” and fourteen variants can be found in Turkey alone. There is even an interesting if brief retelling in the dialect in the Sea Islands of South Carolina called “Trackwell, Divewell, Breathewell” in which Breavewell <sic> says, “All for that which you folk have done, the woman is mine, because she was dead, an’ I brought life into her again.” In the old Hindu collection Vetalapanchauinsati (Twenty-five Tales of a Demon) there is a similar story. A rather famous children’s book beloved in the mid twentieth century was “The Five Chinese Brothers” which is the same basic story.
According to folklore scholar Jack Zipes, “<t>he first European literary version of this tale type was written in Latin by Girolamo Morlini, and Straparola translated it and adapted it.” The story thus entered European consciousness and ended up in multiple versions across the Continent and into the Grimm’s collection as “The Four Skillful Brothers.”
Jane
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