The Bird of Truth

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The Bird of Truth (Spanish: El Pájaro de la Verdad) is a Spanish fairy tale collected by Cecilia Böhl de Faber in her Cuentos de encantamiento.[1] Andrew Lang included it in The Orange Fairy Book.

Synopsis[]

A fisherman found two beautiful children in a crystal cradle, a girl and a boy, floating in the river and brought them to his wife to raise as their own. As the babies grew up, their older brothers were cruel to them and the boy and the girl often ran away to the riverbank, where they would feed breadcrumbs to the birds. In gratitude, the birds taught them to speak their language.

One day the oldest boy taunted them with having no parents, and so the boy and girl went out into the world to seek their fortunes. When they stopped to rest along their journey, they heard birds gossiping, and one bird said that the king had married the youngest daughter of a tailor, over the opposition of the nobles. He was obliged to go to war, and when he returned, he was told that his wife had given birth to twins who had died. Missing her babies, the queen went mad, and had to be shut up in a tower in the mountains where the fresh air might restore her. In fact, the babies had not really died, but were taken to a gardener's cottage, and that night the chamberlain threw them into the river in a crystal cradle, which the children recognized from the story of how the fisherman had found them.

The bird went on to say that only the Bird of Truth could convince the king that the children were really his children, and the bird was kept by a giant who only slept a quarter-hour a day in the castle of Come-and-never-go. Only a witch could tell the way to the castle, and she would not do it unless she was given the water from the fountain of many colours. Furthermore, the Bird of Truth is surrounded by the Birds of ill Faith, and only an owl could tell which one was which.

They went to the city, where they begged hospitality for a night, and were so helpful that the innkeeper asked them to stay. The girl did, but her brother left on his quest. A dove directed him to go with the wind, and by following it, he reached the witch's tower and asked the way to the castle of Come-and-never-go. The witch tried to get him to stay the night, but when he refused, demanded a jug of the many-colored waters, or she would turn him into a lizard. She then directed a dog to lead him to the water.

At the castle, he heard the owl's cry and asked its advice. It told him to fill the jug from another fountain and then find the white bird in the corner, not the brightly colored birds. He had a quarter of an hour to do the task, and succeeded. When he brought back the water, the witch threw it over him and told him to become a parrot, but he became more handsome, and all the creatures about the hut threw themselves into the water and became human again. The witch fled.

The courtiers who were responsible for abandoning the children tried to prevent the King from learning about the children, but they talked so much of it that he overheard the commotion and became curious. When the bird flew to him, he listened. The King at once went to embrace his children, and then all three of them freed his wife, their mother, from the tower. The wicked courtiers had their heads cut off, and the couple who had raised them were given riches and honor.[2]

Analysis[]

Tale type[]

The tale is one of the many variants of Aarne–Thompson–Uther type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children", a type widespread across all continents.[3][4] According to scholarship, the tale type may also be known in Spain as El lucerito de oro en la frente ("The golden star on the forehead").[5]

Distribution[]

American fairy tale researcher and Hispanist Ralph Steele Boggs (de) published in 1930 a structural analysis of the tale type in Spanish sources.[6] According to him, a cursory glance at the material indicated that the tale type was "very popular in Spanish".[7]

Modern sources, from the 20th century and early 21st century, confirm the wide area of distribution of tale type across Spain:[8] in Catalonia,[9] Asturias, Andalusia, Extremadura, New Castilla;[10] Cuenca, Salamanca, Cáceres,[11] and in Province of Ciudad Real.[12] Scholar has published a catalogue of the variants of ATU 707 that can be found in Spanish sources (1997).[13]

Researcher James M. Taggart commented that the tale type was one of "the most popular stories about brothers and sisters" told by tellers in Cáceres, Spain (apart from types AT 327, 450 and 451). Interpreting this data under a sociological lens, he remarked that the heroine's role in rescuing her brother reflects the expected feminine task of "maintaining family unity".[14]

Variants[]

In compilations from the 19th century, collector D. Francisco de S. Maspons y Labros wrote down four Catalan variants: Los Fills del Rey ("The King's Children"), L'aygua de la vida ("The Water of Life"),[15] Lo castell de irás y no hi veurás and Lo taronjer;[16] collected a variant from Extremadura, named El papagayo blanco ("The white parrot");[17] Juan Menéndez Pidal a version from the Asturias (El pájaro que habla, el árbol que canta y el agua amarilla);[18] Antonio Machado y Alvarez wrote down a tale from Andalusia (El agua amarilla);[19] Wentworth Webster translated into English a variant in Basque language (The singing tree, the bird which tells the truth, and the water that makes young)[20]

Some versions have been collected in Mallorca, by Antoni Maria Alcover: S'aygo ballant i es canariet parlant ("The dancing water and the talking canary");[21] Sa flor de jerical i s'aucellet d'or;[22] La Reina Catalineta ("Queen Catalineta"); La bona reina i la mala cunyada ("The good queen and the evil sister-in-law"); S'aucellet de ses set llengos; S'abre de música, sa font d'or i s'aucell qui parla ("Tree of Music, the Fountains of Gold and the Bird that Talks").[23]

A variant in the Algherese dialect of the Catalan language, titled Lo pardal verd ("The Green Sparrow"), was collected in the 20th century.[24]

The tale El Papagayo Blanco was translated as The White Parrot by writer Elsie Spicer Eells in her book Tales of Enchantment from Spain: a sister and a brother live together, but the sister, spurred by an old lady, sends her brother to meet her whimsical demands (the fountain, the tree and the bird). At the end of the tale, after saving her brother, the sister regrets sending him on that dangerous quest.[25]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Caballero, Fernán. Cuentos, oraciones, adivinas y refranes populares e infantiles. Leipzig: Brockhaus. 1878. pp. 31-43.
  2. ^ De Faber, Cecilia Böhl, and Robert M. Fedorchek. "The Bird of Truth." Marvels & Tales 16, no. 1 (2002): 74-83. www.jstor.org/stable/41388616.
  3. ^ "Dancing Water, Singing Apple, and the Truth-Speaking Bird". In: The Pleasant Nights. Volume 1. Edited by Beecher Donald, by Waters W.G., 559-603. Toronto; Buffalo; London: University of Toronto Press, 2012. www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/9781442699519.27.
  4. ^ De Faber, Cecilia Böhl, and Robert M. Fedorchek. "The Bird of Truth." Marvels & Tales 16, no. 1 (2002): 73-74. www.jstor.org/stable/41388616.
  5. ^ Briones, Antonio. El cuento tradicional. Ediciones AKAL, 2007. p. 105. ISBN 9788446024026.
  6. ^ Boggs, Ralph Steele. Index of Spanish folktales, classified according to Antti Aarne's "Types of the folktale". Chicago: University of Chicago. 1930. pp. 81–82.
  7. ^ Boggs, Ralph S. "The Hero in the Folk Tales of Spain, Germany and Russia". In: The Journal of American Folklore 44, no. 171 (1931): 40. Accessed May 16, 2021. doi:10.2307/535520.
  8. ^ Atiénzar García, Mª del Carmen. Cuentos populares de Chinchilla. España, Albacete: Instituto de Estudios Albacetenses "Don Juan Manuel". 2017. pp. 341–343. ISBN 978-84-944819-8-7.
  9. ^ Groome, Francis Hindes (1899). "No. 18—The Golden Children". In: Gypsy folk-tales. London: Hurst and Blackett. pp. 71–72 (footnote).
  10. ^ Boggs, Ralph Steele. "Spanish folklore from Tampa, Florida Nº V: Folktales". In: Southern Folklore Quarterly Year 2, Volume 2 (1938): 95. University of Florida.
  11. ^ Taggart, James M. Enchanted Maidens: Gender Relations in Spanish Folktales of Courtship and Marriage]. Princeton University Press, 1990. p. 197. ISBN 9780691226927.
  12. ^ Camarena Laucirica, Julio. "Los cuentos tradicionales en Ciudad Real". In: Narria: Estudios de artes y costumbres populares 22 (1981): 37. ISSN 0210-9441.
  13. ^ Amores, Monstserrat. Catalogo de cuentos folcloricos reelaborados por escritores del siglo XIX. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Departamento de Antropología de España y América. 1997. pp. 118–120. ISBN 84-00-07678-8.
  14. ^ Taggart, James M. "Gender Segregation and Cultural Constructions of Sexuality in Two Hispanic Societies". In: American Ethnologist 19, no. 1 (1992): 79. Accessed April 12, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/644826.
  15. ^ Maspons y Labrós, Francisco. Folk-lore catalá. Cuentos populars catalans. Barcelona: Llibreria de Don Alvar Verdaguer. 1885. pp. 38–43, 81–89.
  16. ^ Maspons y Labrós, Francisco. Lo Rondallayre: Cuentos Populars Catalans. Barcelona: Llibreria de Don Alvar Verdaguer. 1871. pp. 60–68, 107–111.
  17. ^ Hernandez de Soto, Sergio. Folk-lore español: Biblioteca de las tradiciones populares españolas. Tomo X. Madrid: Librería de Fernando Fé. 1886. pp. 175–185.
  18. ^ Menéndez Pidal, Juan. Poesía popular, colección de los viejos romances que se cantan por los asturianos en la danza prima, esfoyazas y filandones, recogidos directamente de boca del pueblo. Madrid: Impr. y Fund. de los Hijos de J. A. García. 1885. pp. 342–344.
  19. ^ Machado y Alvarez, Antonio. El folklore andaluz: revista de cultura tradicional. Sevilla, Andalucía: Fundación Machado. 1882. pp. 305–310.
  20. ^ Webster, Wentworth. Basque legends. London: Griffith and Farran. 1879. pp. 176–181 (footnotes on pp. 181–182).
  21. ^ Alcover, Antoni Maria. Aplec de rondaies mallorquines. Tom VI. Segona Edició. Ciutat de Mallorca: Estampa de N' Antoni Rotger. 1922. pp. 79–95.
  22. ^ Alcover, Antoni Maria. Aplec de rondaies mallorquines. Tom VII. Sóller: Estampa de "La Sinceridad". 1916. pp. 269–305.
  23. ^ Carazo, C. Oriol. "Els primers treballs catalogràfics". In: Estudis de LLengua i Literatura Catalanes. XLIII. Miscel-lània Giuseppe Tavani. Barcelona: Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat. 2001. pp. 193–200. ISBN 84-8415-305-3
  24. ^ Llinàs, Caterina Valriu. "N'Espirafocs i Maria Entaulada: dues heroïnes entre Mallorca i l'Alguer". In: Folklore i Romanticisme: Els estudis etnopoètics de la Renaixença. Edició a cura de Joan Armangué i Joan Borja. Dolianova: Grafica del Parteolla, «Sèrie Actes, 9», novembre 2008. p. 100. ISBN 978-88-89978-69-6
  25. ^ Eells, Elsie Spicer. Tales of enchantment from Spain. New York: Harcourt, Brace. [1920?] pp. 3–13.

Further reading[]

  • Espinosa, Aurelio M. "More Spanish Folk-Tales." Hispania 22, no. 1 (1939): 103-14. doi:10.2307/332177.
  • Espinosa, Aurelio M. "Spanish and Spanish-American Folk Tales." The Journal of American Folklore 64, no. 252 (1951): 151-62. doi:10.2307/536633.

External links[]

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