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Author
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Comment
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Seekingstories
Registered User
(5/26/06 4:33 pm)
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Help finding a fairy tale?
Hello there! I am having trouble locating a story I remember from a collection of fairy tales that my mother read to me when I was about seven- about twenty years ago. The story is called, I believe, the Sea Merchant's Widow, or The Greedy Widow or the Haughty Widow. It takes place near the Zander Zee, and it involves a widow who is incredibly beautiful, greedy and haughty, who sends her captain out to find the most precious treasure in all the world. The captain leaves during a time when the country is in great famine, and returns, after a very long time, with 12 ships filled with wheat, declaring this to be the most important treasure, as look at how all the poor and hungry people in the country clamor for it, and asks the widow to, in her mercy, give it to the people. She does not, and instead orders it poored into the sea, which of course happens while all the starving people are watching. The merchant tells her she will regret this some day, and will live to remember it when she someday pleads mercy from another. She laughs and takes off a precious ring with a green gem in it, shows it to the crowd, and tells them that she will no sooner have need of mercy or charity than she will see this ring again, and flings it into the ocean. After this, the captain goes his way. The widow, a few months later, is giving a feast for the wealthiest of the city- her cook, who has prepared the feast of fish, sends a message to her that she is needed in the kitchen. On arriving, the cook tells her that they found something in the fish, and shows her the ring which she had thrown away.
After that, it all goes downhill for the Widow, who shortly loses her fortunes and her ships. She is forced out of her home and even after selling everything that she can, is reduced to begging. She makes her way out of the city and into the country, where she begs to be allowed to pick up the gleamings after the reapers have been done in the wheatfield. One particular landowner has a reputation for being compassionate, and so she goes to his field every night....
Does that sound familiar to anyone?
Thanks so much!
Sarah
sarah.ortner@gmail.com
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Rosemary Lake
Registered User
(5/27/06 4:53 am)
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Italian?
I don't recall this one, but the worldly, complex situation -- a rich merchant widow, sending out a captain, a detailed ring, years of poverty/wandering -- all sound more like stories in the Pentamerone etc (or Calvino's ITALIAN FOLKTALES) than anything I recall in the Grimm or northern traditional 'fairy tales.' Or it might be from some Asian collection such as the Arabian Nights or The Sea of Story or Jakata Tales.
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Random
Registered User
(5/27/06 8:28 am)
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Fairy tale
Well, I'd remembered reading something of this type a while ago, but I'm not sure where.
I did a search on Google for some key terms (rich widow, wheat into sea), and the story seems to be called / about "the Lady of Stavoren"; here's one version of the story, and here's a Google search that will let you see more, if you like. Image search will show you some pictures of the the statue.
Hope this is what you were looking for!
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Northerner4me
Registered User
(5/29/06 3:13 pm)
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Re: Fairy tale
I think Random is pretty correct. I have a CD with this on, being told by a storyteller called Lesley Melville, a British storyteller. I'm not sure what town is being referred to, or even the story's name, but the link that Random has put up refers to the story that I know.
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Seekingstories
Registered User
(6/5/06 4:04 pm)
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Re: Fairy tale
Thank you all so very much!
The Lady of Savoren is very nearly what I am thinking of- in fact, except for the ending, it is the exact same tale. HOwever, the version I remember ends very differently. It must have been modified for some reason.
I have a new question now. Does anyone know of the story "Foolish Francis" ? It is about a young girl who is visited by Lady Luck?
Thanks again so much!
Sarah
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