The Fairest of Them All by Maria Tatar

Author:Maria Tatar
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Harvard University Press

ONCE THERE LIVED a king and a queen who had no heir. They were determined to have one, and they swore that if they had a son, or even a daughter, they would keep two fountains flowing for seven years: one running wine, the other oil. After they made that vow, the queen gave birth to a handsome boy.

As soon as the child was born, the two fountains were set up, and everyone gathered there to collect wine and oil. After seven years both fountains began to run dry. An ogress, wishing to collect the last few drops still in the fountain, went there with a sponge and a pitcher. She sopped up the last drops with her sponge and then squeezed them into her pitcher. After she had done all that work to fill up the pitcher, the young son of the king, who was playing ball nearby, tossed a ball her way and broke the pitcher. When the old woman realized what had happened, she said, “Listen to me! I can’t do much to you because you are the king’s son, but I can put a curse on you. May you never marry until you find Snow-white-fire-red!”

The wise child took a piece of paper and wrote down the words of the old woman, put the paper in a drawer, and said not a word about what had happened. When he was eighteen, the king and the queen wanted to make plans for his marriage. Suddenly he remembered the old woman’s curse, took out the slip of paper, and said, “Oh, if I do not find Snow-white-fire-red, I will not be able to marry!” When the time was right, he took leave of his father and mother and set out on a journey on his own. Months passed without his encountering a soul. One evening, just when it was turning dark, a large house appeared before him in the middle of a clearing.

The next morning, at sunrise, an ogress appeared before the house. She was massive and stout, and she cried out, “Snow-white-fire-red, lower your braids and let me climb up them!” When the prince heard these words, he took heart and said, “Here she is at last!” Snow-white-fire-red lowered her braids, which seemed never to end, and the ogress used them to climb up to the window. The next day the ogress climbed back down, and when the prince saw her leaving, he jumped down from the tree where he had hidden and cried out, “Snow-white-fire-red, lower your braids and let me climb up them!” The girl lowered her braids, for she thought it was her mother who was calling her (she called the ogress “Mother”). The prince climbed up the braids. When he came in through the window, he said, “Oh! My dear little sister, how far I have traveled to find you!” And he told her about the curse uttered by the old woman when he was a boy of seven.

The girl gave him something to drink and then said, “When the ogress returns and finds you here, she will eat you up.

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