The King of the Snakes

The King of the Snakes is a Chinese folktale published by John Macgowan in 1910. In it, a father gives his youngest daughter to a snake spirit, who turns out to be a human. Out of jealousy, the girl's sister conspires to take her place and kills her. The heroine, then, goes through a cycle of transformations, regains human form and takes revenge on her sister.
The tale is related to the cycle of the animal bridegroom, but scholars consider it a narrative that developed in East Asia, since most of the tales are attested in China and Taiwan, although a few variants have been collected from nearby regions.
Summary
The tale begins by describing how a society of snakes is so refined and advanced that some of its members are dissatisfied with their low condition and wish to become humans. One of them, who becomes the ruler of the snakes, discovers how to alternate between human and snake forms, becomes human and owns a great estate in the human realm. On this estate, there is a beautiful garden unlike any other in the Flowery Kingdom.
One day, this Prince of Snakes sees an old man plucking flowers in his own gardens and, irritated, asks the old man the reason for his presence. The old man answers he is just plucking flowers for his four daughters, of varying charm and beauty: the eldest pock-faced and the fourth the most beautiful. He ponders on this information and demands the old man send the fourth daughter to him as his bride in ten days time, lest he send a troop of snakes to devour him and his family.
The man returns home and tells the situation to his daughters. The three elders refuse to marry the snake, despite his threat, but the youngest, Almond Blossom, being the "most devotedly filial", offers to go in her father's place. The fairies listen to her plea and, touched by her devotion, send one of their own to protect her against her enemies.
At the appointed time, a sedan-chair comes to their house to get Almond Blossom as the snake's bride and to take her to her future husband. The father follows behind his daughter some days later and reaches the snake's palace. He is greeted by his daughter, who looks very pleased with her new life: a loving husband and a lavish palace. She tells her father her husband is on a journey and sends him back to his humble house with extravagant gifts.
After the father returns home, he shows the grand presents to his daughters. The eldest begins to nurture a jealous heart and decides to visit her sister. She goes and admires the whole palace. She convinces Almond Blossom to show her around the property. They reach an empty well. The eldest sister shoves her in.
After some time, the eldest sister still at the snake king's palace, a little bird flies out of the well and begins to sing a song with almost human-like qualities. The eldest sister, fearing that the bird will reveal the truth, snap its neck and throws it outside the house. Some time later, a clump of bamboo grow up on the spot of the bird's remains. The eldest sister, sensing that the bamboo will also reveal the truth, gets an axe and chops them down.
Some of the snake king's servants see the chopped down bamboo and take some of them to fashion a new chair. The Snake King finally returns home and asks about his wife. The eldest sister says only that she saw her by the well, and the servants also do not know her whereabouts. Suddenly, the chair turns into Almond Blossom, who accuses her sister of trying to kill her. Enraged, the snake king orders the execution of his sister-in-law.
Analysis
Tale type
In the first catalogue of Chinese folktales, devised by folklorist Wolfram Eberhard in 1937, Eberhard abstracted a Chinese folktype he termed Der Schlangenmann ("The Serpent Husband"). In this type, indexed as number 31 in his catalogue, a man with many daughters marries his youngest daughter to a snake or snake spirit as a promise for a favour; the snake and the girl live happily, enticing the jealousy of the eldest sister; the eldest sister shoves the youngest sister into a well and takes her place; the youngest sister becomes a bird, then a tree (or bamboo), regains human form and unmasks her treacherous sister.
Chinese folklorist and scholar established a second typological classification of Chinese folktales, and abstracted a similar narrative sequence. He named this tale type 433D, "The Snake Husband" (or "The Snake and Two Sisters").
In a joint article in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, European scholars Bengt Holbek and John Lindow described it as a "Chinese oikotype". In that regard, researcher Juwen Zhang indicated that type 433D, "Snake boy/husband and two sisters", is an example of local Chinese tale types that are not listed in the international ATU index.
Relation to other tale types
Ting described tale type 433D as a combination of the initial part of type 425C, "Beauty and the Beast", and the second part of type 408. Likewise, in the article about tale type King Lindworm in the Enzyklopädie des Märchens, Holbek and Lindow noted that Ting's new tale type combined motifs of ATU 425C, "Beauty and the Beast"; the heroine's transformation sequence that appears in tale type ATU 408, "The Love for Three Oranges", and the bird transformation from tale type ATU 720, "The Juniper Tree".
Taiwanese scholarship also recognizes some proximity between the Chinese tale type, the French story Beauty and the Beast (father plucks rose from the Beast and is forced to surrender him his daughter) and Italian The Three Oranges (heroine goes through cycle of transformations, including bird and tree), but emphasize that the European stories deal with love between heroine and hero, while the crux of the Chinese tale is the rivalry between a younger sister who married into good financial circumstances and her elder sister, wanting what the other has.
Motifs
In his folktype system, Eberhard indicated that the number of sisters also varies between tales.
The heroine's father is ordered to surrender his daughter after he steals some of the snake's flowers from its garden, or asked to deliver her as the snake's reward for a favour (e.g., cutting all trees or retrieving his axe handle).
In her cycle of transformations, the heroine may change into many objects: a cradle, a baby carriage, a spindle, or a type of food (bread, or, as in Taiwanese variants, a red tortoise cake).
The snake husband
In his folktype system, Eberhard indicated that in some of the variants, the supernatural husband is a snake, snake spirit or a dragon, and another type of animal in others. He also agreed that the motif of the snake husband seemed very old.
In Ting's catalogue, the snake husband assumes human form, but it can also be a "flower god", a wolf, or a normal man.
Variants
Distribution
Eberhard, in his 1937 catalogue, asserted the tale's spread across China, but supposed that its center of diffusion was Southern China, since most of the variants available at the time were collected there. In turn, Ting, in his 1978 study, listed several printed variants of his type 433D, confirming the dispersal of the story in his country.
In addition, in a later study, Eberhard reported tales from Yunnan province and among the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. In this regard, according to researcher Juwen Zhang, the tale type is very popular in both China and Taiwan, with more than 200 variants collected.
China
Among Chinese variants, there is the tale The Story of the Cucumber Snake.
Regional tales
The Snake Husband
In a Chinese tale titled The Snake Husband (Chinese: She lang), an old woodcutter goes to pluck flowers for his three daughters in a garden that belongs to a snake. However, the snake (who appears as a human male) stops his actions and demands one of his daughters in marriage. The woodcutter's two elder daughters refuse, while the youngest agrees to marry the snake man, and lives in happiness, splendour and luxury. The eldest sister learns of her cadette's good fortune, shoves her into a well and passes herself off as the snake man's true wife. As for her sister, she becomes a pretty little bird whose chirping mocks the evil sister and perches on the snake man's arm. The jealous sister kills the bird and buries it in the garden. From its grave a date tree sprouts, giving sweet fruits to the snake man and bitter ones for the false wife, who chops it down to make a threshold. After she places the threshold, she trips on it and decides to burn it, but a spark falls into her eyes and blinds her. At the end, the true wife is revived and the false wife punished. In another version of the popular The Snake Husband tale, the third daughter offers herself in her father's place when he came to pick a rose. In this regard, scholars Rotislav Berezkin and Sinologist Boris L. Riftin suggested that the sequence with the rose is "Indian in origin", since the rose does not appear in Chinese folklore. Also, they compared the tale to Russian The Crimson Flower and European Beauty and the Beast, both classified as tale types ATU 425C.
The Snake Bridegroom
Researcher Juwen Zhang published a tale titled The Snake Bridegroom: an old man has two daughters, the elder ugly and lazy, and the younger beautiful and dutiful. The man goes to chop wood in the mountains and, one day, sees a cowherd cracking a whip to herd the cows and singing a song about a love interest with shining hair and dainty feet. One day, the man is sharpening an ax, and his elder daughter asks him to get some flowers from the mountain. Suddenly, the old man sing the cowherd's song, and the elder daughter answers with a song that her hair is not shining and her feet are large. The younger daughter makes the same request and, hearing the song, sings her own verses in response to the song. Suddenly, a loud noise of trumpets and a march comes from outside the house. The three leave to see the commotion, and the father notices the person ahead of the retinue is the same cowherd. The youth replies that his younger daughter replied to his song and he has come to make her his bride. The cowherd promises to treat her well and tells the old man to follow the buckwheat flowers when they are in bloom to visit his daughter. Time passes, and the old man does as instructed; he arrives at a stone slab and waits for his daughter and her husband. The couple comes, opens the stone slab and bids him follow them. They climb down several steps to a large and spacious house. The old man notices his daughter has a good material life, and she explains her husband is the Golden Cow Star (The Taurus) in the Heavens. The cowherd husband lets his wife visit her elder sisters and gifts his father-in-law with silver and gold to bring home. The old man returns home with the gifts and his younger daughter, and the eldest sister, seeing the riches they brought, regrets not marrying the cowherd and plans to replace her. Goaded by her elder sister, the younger one teaches her the secret spell to open up the stone slab. After ten days, the elder sister offers to escort the younger back home, and puts her plans into action: on the road, the elder asks the younger to try her beautiful clothes, and shoves the younger down a well. The elder opens the stone slab and tries to pass herself off as the cowherd's wife. The cowherd suspects something is amiss, but does not have time to dwell on his thoughts, for he has to herd the cows. A little bird perches on his arm, and sings about being the true wife. The cowherd decides to spy on the sister-in-law's behaviour: she kills the little bird after it mocks a pancake she was preparing, and the cowherd buries it. On the bird's grave, a jujube tree sprouts, it feeds the cowherd dates and tosses centipedes to her sister, who, enraged, chops down the tree and burns it. The cowherd gathers the ashes and places them in a bag. The ugly sister notices her clothes are dirty and goes to river to wash them, but falls in water and drowns. Meanwhile, the cowherd mourns for his lost wife, and, after 49 days, finds out she is back to life.<ref>Zhang, Juwen. The Magic Love. New York, United States of America: Peter Lang Verlag, 2021. pp. 130-137.</ref>
The Snake and Three Sisters
In another tale collected by Zhang with the title The Snake and Three Sisters, an old couple live bat the foot of Long White Mountains with their three beautiful daughters. The old man hunts in the mountains to provide food for his family, but one days falls ill, to the three daughters' worries. The three daughters suggests they learn to hunt, and, after their father recovers, he takes them to the mountains. One day, a "strong dark wind" blows - work of a black snake - and a youth appears to them (the black snake in human form). The youth asks the man to become his apprentice, but the man will talk to his wife first. The old couple agree to take him in as a son-in-law. The next day, the old man and the three daughters meet a white-bearded man, who tells he is a local mountain god and warns them against the youth, who is a black snake. With this new information, the old couple have a change of heart. The old man then goes to meet the youth on his own. The youth admits he is the snake spirit, but assures the man he has a kind heart and will provide him with food, clothes and silver, then makes a demand to marry one of the man's daughters, or he will hurt the human. The man goes back home and asks which of his three daughters agrees to marry the snake spirit. The elder two refuse, and are reproached by the man, but the youngest offers herself to the snake spirit. The man goes to tell the snake spirit of his daughter's decision, and goes with him to the snake's house, where the youth promises to take care of the third daughter as his wife. He also warns that he is the only snake that can turn into a man, not his snake followers, and that her family can only visit his wife once a year. After the snake spirit goes to fetch his bride, the old woman gives her daughter two bags of millet for her to drop the grains to create a trail for her mother to follow. The girl obeys. She has a good life with the snake spirit, and her mother follows the trail of millet to the snake's cavern, but she cannot go in. The snake spirit takes her soul and shows her that her daughter is alive and living well. The old woman wakes up and meets the mountain god, who advises her to call out for her daughter for three days. The attempt works and her daughter invites her mother in. The girl suggests her mother brings her elder daughters the next time she visits. It happens so. Seeing her cadette's good life, the eldest sister begins to feel jealous and devises a vicious plan: she convinces her sister to let her stay for a few days. During her extended stay, the eldest sister takes the cadette for a stroll in the gardens, shoves her down a well, and takes her place. The snake spirit comes back home and notices his wife looks and sounds different, but believes her given explanations. One night, however, the snake spirit's true wife's soul appears in his dreams and reveals the truth. The snake spirit searches the well and finds his wife's corpse. With a spell, the eldest sister is strangled to death by her clothes, and with another, the snake spirit revives his wife.
The Snake Spirit
In a tale published by Chinese author Lin Lan and translated by Juwen Zhang as The Snake Spirit, an old man has three daughters. One day, he goes to cut wood in the mountains and picks some flowers on their request. Suddenly, a snake spirit appears as a young human youth and asks the reason why he is fetching the flowers. Trying to avoid giving a straight answer, the old man lies that they are for his grandmother, then for his own mother, but eventually tells the truth. The snake spirit inquires the man about his daughters: they are three in number, the elder with big feet, the middle one with pockmarked face, and the youngest the most beautiful. The snake then demands the man brings his third daughter to him as his bride, lest he be devoured by the snake. The man hurries back home with the red flowers his daughters asked for, and explains the situation to them: the elder two refuse to marry the Snake, but the youngest agrees to spare her father's life. The elder two sisters decorate their cadette's hair with the red flowers, and secretly whisper she will be devoured by the animal. The third daughter marries the snake spirit (called Snake) and lives a luxurious and happy life. The middle sister learns of this and becomes jealous, then pays a visit to her younger sister when her brother-in-law is not home. The middle sister convinces the girl to trade clothes with her and look at themselves in the mirror, then at a nearby well. The middle sister then shoves her sister down the well and takes her place, managing to fool her brother-in-law Snake into thinking she is his true wife. Later, a small black bird flies out of the well and cries out "shame on her sister". Snake asks the bird to perch on his sleeve if he is his true wife. The little bird obeys, and Snake brings it home, all the while it keeps crying about the sister's shame, to the false wife's horror. One day, Snake leaves home and, while is away, the middle sister kills and cooks the bird. When Snake returns, the false wife serves the bird's meat as their meal: Snake's dish turns into meat, while the false wife's turn into bones. They throw the bones away and, on their place, a loquat tree sprouts: whenever Snake picks up a fruit, it becomes delicious; whenever the false wife does, it turns into manure - and the tale ends.
The Garden Snake
In another tale published by Lin Lan and translated by Juwen Zhang as The Garden Snake, a man goes to the mountains to chop wood and falls into a trap set by a garden snake with its skin. The man pleads for his life in name of his three daughters, which piques the snake's interest in marrying one of the man's daughters. The man goes home and inquires his daughters which will go to the garden snake; the elder two refuse, while the youngest agrees. The girl marries the snake and lives in love and luxury. One day, however, she begins to miss her family, and wishes to visit them; the garden snake agrees and gives her a pack of sesame seeds so she can plant them to mark her way home when they bloom. The girl goes back to her family's home in fine clothes and arouses the jealousy of her elder sister, who trades clothes and jewels with her and shoves the cadette down a well. The elder sister goes back to the garden snake and passes herself off as his true wife. Some time later, while she is combing her hair in front of a mirror, a black bird perches on a tree and mocks the elder sister. She throws the comb to the bird, which dies, and cooks it. The garden snake eats his portions, which become fine meat, while her portions change into bones. Annoyed, she takes the food and throws it in the garden; a jujube tree sprouts on its place, yielding delicious dates to the garden snake, and dog excrement to the sister. The false wife fells the tree and makes a washing-stick out of a tree branch, but it tears apart her clothes when it is used, so it is thrown in the fire. Some relatives of the third sister sense something is wrong and pay a visit to the garden snake's house; they find a golden figure in the ashes, bring it home and hide it in a bamboo chest. While the relatives are away, the third sister leaves the bamboo chest, spins the cotton, and hides back in the chest, until she is discovered by her relatives. At last, both sisters are brought before the garden snake; he notices the deception and confirms his true wife's identity when her hair intertwines with his. As punishment, he devours his sister-in-law and lives with his true wife.
Mr. Snake and Lotus-Seed Face
In a tale from Fujian collected by Zheng Huicong with the title Mr. Snake and Lotus-Seed Face, a man lives in a mountain village and works collecting pig manure, which is why people call him Pig Manure Grandfather. One day, the man passes by another village and sees a beautiful garden filled with nice flowers. He appreciates their perfume when a youth appears to him. The man explains he was admiring the flowers, since his three daughters like to wear flowers in their hair. The youth becomes interested in the man's daughters: the elder two ugly, and the youngest with a face beautiful like a lotus seed. The youth explains he was born in the year of the snake, thus he is called Mr. Snake, and wishes to marry one of the man's daughters. Pig Manure Grandfather goes back home and brings his daughters a bouquet of jasmine flowers. Back home, the girls fight over the jasmine flowers, which begin to emit a song. The man explains Mr. Snake, a farmer like him, wishes to marry one of them; the elder two, Rice-Sieve Face and Crab-Dipper Face refuse to marry a lowly farmer, while Lotus-Seed Face agrees to his marriage proposal, and goes to the rear mountain to live with Mr. Snake. They work together in the flower garden and become well off. One day, Lotus-Seed Face becomes pregnant, and her father pays her a visit. He becomes dazzled with their material wealth, and returns home to tell his other daughters their sisters did fare well in her marriage. The elder sisters become jealous of their cadette's good fortune, but are chastised by their father. Despite the reproach, the pair secretly plan to steal Lotus-Seed Face's life for themselves. Some time later, the girls visit their cadette in Mr. Snake's house, and marvel at the latter's property. They convince her to go to a well outside the house, and shove her down it, and place a stone on its entrance. They then fight each other who gets to replace their sister, and Rice-Sieve Face pushes Crab-Dipper Face into a manure pit and goes to Mr. Snake's house to pass herself of as his true wife. Mr. Snake comes home and notices the woman's face is not his wife's, so Rice-Sieve Face spins a false story about shooing a porcupine and he believes in. Later, he goes to the well and removes the stone to fetch some water, when suddenly a little bird flies out of its dark depths and sings a song about Rice-Sieve Face's deception. Mr. Snake brings the little bird home, which Rice-Sieve Face kills and cooks as a meal to hide her secret. While eating the cooked bird, the meat becomes bone in her hands, which she throws outside. Lotus-Seed Face then goes through a cycle of transformations: from bone to bamboo, then to two chairs, then to ashes (since her sisters tosses the chairs in a fire). An old woman asks for a kindling and brings it home. When the old woman's grandson comes home, he tells her someone left a red turtle cake where she placed the kindling, and she goes to check, finding Lotus-Seed Face alive and asleep on a bed. The old woman calls Mr. Snake to her house, where he finds his wife alive and well, and learns of his sister-in-law's entire ploy. Back to Rice-Sieve Face, she hears a commotion outside and sees the populace coming for her. She tries to escape by jumping out of the window and running away, but she falls over the manure pit and sinks in it.
Monguor people
In a tale from the Monguor people titled Shilange, a youth named Shilange lives in a cottage, behind where lies a wall of beautiful flowers. In the village, a man named Old Zhang lives with his three daughters, who ask him to pluck some of the flowers behind Shilange's cottage. Old Zhang goes with an ax to cut some flowers, but he slips and his ax falls into Shilange's yard. Shilange wakes up, goes to the yard and returns the ax to Old Zhang, and asks something in return. Old Zhang offers in jest to be Shilange's matchmaker, and the youth replies he wants to marry one of the man's daughters. Old Zhang agrees, but advises that Shilange is to let go of his lazy ways. Old Man Zhang returns home and tells his daughters about it. The elder two, named Eldest Sister and Second Sister, refuse to marry Shilange due to his laziness, but Third Sister, the youngest, agrees. As the wedding date approaches, her father worries about finding good wedding garments for her, but his family is very poor. One day, Old Man Zhang sees a swarm of bees sewing garments to Third Sister. Shilange marries Third Sister, he works on improving his lazy ways and becomes a diligent man. Theirs is a happy marriage, which stirs the jealousy of Eldest Sister. One day, Eldest Sister convinces Third Sister to go to the river and wash some clothes. She suggests swapping clothes with her sister, shoves the girl in the river and, posing as her, returns to Shilange's house. Shilange notices the different physical traits of his wife, but she dismisses Shilange's suspicions with a false story. Some time later, Shilange rides his horse near the river and a colored bird perches on his sleeve. Shilange brings it home; the bird chirps to him whenever he passes and craps on the false wife. The Eldest Sister kills the bird and buries it in the yard, and a thorny bush sprouts that scratches the false wife. Eldest Sister burns the bush in the cooking stove. An old pig-herding woman goes to Shilange's house and asks for some coals. The old woman gets some coals and finds a spinning wheel she takes home. The pig-herding woman notices that, whenever she leaves home and returns, the house is clean and the food prepared. She discovers that a girl, Third Sister, comes out of the spinning wheel and adopts her as a daughter. One day, Third Sister convinces the old woman to invite Shilange and his "wife" to their house, but Eldest Sister, posing as Shilange's wife, orders the old woman to roll out red and white carpets between both houses, then to plant large trees, and perch birds in every tree. Due to Third Sister's advice, the old woman fulfills the conditions and the couple goes to the woman's house. After eating some of the food, Shilange finds a lock of glossy black hair and a golden ring in the bottom of his bowl, while Eldest Sister eats some pig excrement, vomits it up and returns home. Shilange learns that his true wife, Third Sister, is alive, who was adopted by the old woman. He goes back home to punish the false wife and welcomes Third Sister and the old woman into his house.
Yogur people
In a tale from the Yogur people titled Youngest Sister and Serpent Prince, a poor widowed man lives with his three daughters. One day, he goes with his ax to gather firewood to sell. He climbs a large pine tree and chops some branches, but lets his ax slip from his hands. The man climbs down the tree to get the ax back and sees a white serpent coiled around the ax. The animal explains he is the white serpent prince of the mountains, and asks for one of the man's daughters in marriage in exchange for returning the ax. The man agrees and runs back home. The next day, after having a nightmare, the man tells his three daughters about the marriage proposal. The elder daughters refuse to do so, but the third daughter, Youngest Daughter, agrees to marry the snake. While she goes on a journey, she goes to sleep and has a dream about a white-haired woman. In her vision, the white-haired woman tells the girl not to be afraid, for the snake prince and his family are immortals banished from the heavens. Youngest Daughter goes to the snakes' lair to meet her husband. She enters the cave and, after the gate locks behind her, the white snake turns into a man, and so do his family, to greet her. They marry and live happily. One day, however, she begins to miss home. She goes home to visit her father and her elder sister wants to visit her brother-in-law. The Eldest Daughter goes to the snake lair and faints at the sight of the snake family. The white snake prince turns to his human form and explains to his wife that in a few days time, the snake curse on him and his family will be lifted, and they will become humans forevermore. After the curse is lifted, her middle sister, Second Daughter, visits her and admires the beauty of the snake prince's human form, so she drowns her sister in the river and passes herself off as her cadette. Some time later, the false wife takes the horse to drink in the river, but a greenfinch bothers her. The snake prince takes the greenfinch home, and it craps on the false wife's food and drink, so much so that she kills the little bird and buries it in the ground. On its grave a thorny bush sprouts and hurts the false wife whenever she walks near it. She throws the bush in the fire to burn it and from its ashes a stone spindle appears and rolls out of the cave. An old woman finds the stone spindle and brings it home. When the old woman leaves and returns home, there is milk tea and food prepared. She discovers that her mysterious housekeeper is a girl, Youngest Daughter, who comes out of the stone spindle. One day, the girl convinces the old woman to invite the serpent prince to their house, but the false wife insists some tasks to be done first. After fulfilling the tasks, the snake prince and the false wife go to the old woman house, where Youngest Daughter drops her own golden wedding ring on the snake prince's bowl of food. He discovers the truth, takes a discarded snakeskin from his house and throws it at Second Daughter, the false wife, to turn her into a coloured snake.
Mulao people
In a tale from the Mulao people with the title Seventh Sister and her Snake Husband, a couple have seven daughters. One day, the parents want to build a new house for their family, and decide to use a large tree at the back of their garden. The man proclaims to marry one of his seven daughters to anyone who could help him cut down the tree. A python listens to his words and offers its help. The man tells his daughters about the python's proposal. Each of them refuse to marry the animal, but the youngest, who looks at the python and sees a handsome youth in its place, decides to marry it. She goes with the serpentine husband to the edge of the sea. The python gives her an incense and, after a ritual, the sea disappears and the youth appears in place of the python. The youth reveals he is the son of the Dragon King. The seventh daughter's auspicious marriage reaches the ears of her household, and the eldest sister begins to nurture great jealousy towards her cadette. Some time later, the Seventh Sister and the Dragon Prince visit her family on the occasion of her father's birthday, and Eldest Sister seizes the opportunity to toss Seventh Sister down a well and takes her place. While Eldest Sister passes her off as her cadette, a little bird comes out of the well and begins to mock her. Eldest Sister kills the bird, cooks it and throws the broth in the garden. A bamboo sprouts on the same place. The bamboo messes up Eldest Sister's hair and she asks the Dragon Prince to cut it down. The Dragon Prince goes to cut it, but the bamboo begs him to stop it. The Dragon Prince digs out the bamboo and brings it home. While he is away, the bamboo turns back to his true wife, Seventh Sister, who sweeps the house while he is away. The Dragon Prince finds out his true wife is alive, restores her, and Eldest Sister, to avoid punishment, falls into the big water jug and drowns.
Hui people
In a tale from the Hui people, recorded in 1980 in Tongxin, Ningxia, with the title The Fifth Daughter, a man named Hasang has five beautiful daughters, and owns a special heirloom: a copper axe with a silvery handle, which he calls "silver axe with golden handle". One day, he goes to gather firewood, and passes by the garden of a young man named Shelengge. Hasang goes to pluck some flowers from the man's garden, but accidentally drops his axe inside the fenced garden. Hasang then calls out to Shelengge to help him retrieve his axe, all the while mentioning the "golden axe". This makes Shelengge think there is a rich man just outside his door. After he puts on some clothes, he goes to greet the stranger, by leaving his cave dwelling. He finds out the Hasang is actually poor, but apologizes and gives the old man one of the flowers in his garden to be delivered to one of Hasang's daughter as an engagement gift. Hasang returns home and explains the situation to his daughters: the four elders turn their faces at the proposal, since Shelengge is poor like them, but the youngest, called Fifth Daughter, agrees to marry the youth, for he is honest and hardworking. Fifth Daughter marries Shelengge and, through their joint hard work, improve their material conditions. Time passes, and Hasang's elder three daughters find suitable marriages, save for his fourth daughter, who cannot seem to find a suitor and, after seeing her twin sister's good life with Shelengge, regrets her decision. One day, when Shelengge is toiling away at the fields, Fourth Daughter visits Fifth Daughter under the pretence of helping her in some chores, and asks her to come to the riverbank so they can see their reflections on the water surface. Fourth Daughter trades clothes with her twin sisters and shoves her down the river, and goes home to take her place as Shelengge's wife. Shelengge falls for his sister-in-law's trick, and life goes on for them. One day, Shelengge goes to the river and finds a beautiful lotus flower. When the false wife goes to see it, there is only a drooping flower. This goes on for a while, until Fourth Daughter takes the lotus flower and burns it the fireplace. A peach pit falls out of the ashes and plants itself in Shelengge's garden. A peach tree blossoms and feeds Shelengge with large peaches in his sleep. Driven by curiosity, the youth and the false wife trade places in bed; still, the tree keeps feeding the youth and peaches, while it drops bitter pits in the false wife's mouth. Furious at the strange tree, the Fourth Daughter chops it down. When Shelengge returns and sees the cut tree stump, he embraces it and sheds tears on it. After three days, a lotus flower blooms on the stump, and later it opens up to reveal a little girl inside. The girl grows up into a woman - Fifth Daughter. Shelengge sees the transformation and realizes he has been deceived. Afraid of being punished, Fourth Daughter runs away, while Shelengge and Fifth Daughter live happily.
Taiwan
In a tale from the Paiwan people translated as The Snake's Wife (Paiwan: vaɬaw nua qatjuvi), a man goes hunting and finds flowers for his daughters. Unbeknownst to him, the flowers belong to a snake, which demands the man returns the flowers to its garden. The snake then allows the man to keep the flowers, as long as he gives them to his daughters and whoever likes the bouquet shall become the snake's wife, otherwise it will bite the man. The man agrees to reptile's terms and brings the flowers home, explaining the situation to his family. The elder refuses to marry it, but the youngest, to spare her father's life, decides to be with the snake. The snake comes after three days and takes the girl to his house, where he turns into a handsome youth. The snake-man's house is splendid, and, after a while, his sister-in-law pays his wife a visit and marvels at it. Driven by envy, she decides to kill her own sister: first, she distracts her to look in the mirror, and trades clothes with her; then, she convinces her to go to a nearby well and shoves her sister down the well, taking her place. The snake-man comes back from the fields and notices that his "wife" looks ugly. Later, he goes to the well and finds a cockerel, which he recognizes as his true wife, and brings it home. The tells the false wife to look after the bird, but the false wife kills it out of spite, and prepares a meal out of it, serving it to the snake-man. When the snake-man eats his portions, meat appears, while the false wife chews only bones. Enraged, she throws the bones away; where they land, a pine tree sprouts, which they use for a stool. When the snake-man sits on it, the stool remains sturdy, while it wobbles for the false wife, who turns it into firewood - and the tale ends.
In another tale from the aboriginal peoples of Taiwan titled The Snake's Bride, a man named Jihong is looking for wild vegetables for his daughters' dinner, and finds a flower garden in the valley. In it, a beautiful white flower with golden-tipped petals and a fragrant perfume. Jihong approaches the flower and plucks it, when he hears a booming voice behind him: a large snake that owns the garden. Afraid, Jihong tries to return the flower to its place, to no use. The snake ponders how the man can pay him back, and asks if he has any daughters, and offer a proposition: Jihong will have to surrender one of his daughters to the snake as its bride. Jihong returns home and explains the situation to his daughters, but only the youngest decides to take up on the snake's deal. The younger daughter accompanies the large snake to its abode: an underwater village at the bottom of the lake called "Spirit Lake". They live in their splendid lake palace, until one day, when the snake groom tells his wife he will have to tend to his fields, and says he will call for his sister to look after his human bride, but warns his wife that his sister may be "eccentric". It happens thus, and the snake's sister begins to live with her human sister-in-law while the snake is away at the fields, but, on seeing the human girl's beauty, she decides to get rid of her. She convinces her to take a look at herself in a mirror, and, as much as the snake sister tries to remove her red vest, her waistband and her necklace, the human girl is still prettier than her. Fuming with anger, she takes the girl to the lake and kills her sister-in-law. When the snake returns home, his sister lies that the human girl returned to her home village, and the snake, sad for his wife, promises to take her back. In order to maintain the charade, the snake sister takes her sister-in-law's clothes and rushes back to Jihong's house to pass herself off as his daughter. Jihong welcomes 'her' back, despite noticing something strange about her. At any rate, some time later, Jihong goes to fetch water from a well in his property, and finds a chicken at the bottom of the well, declaring that the girl at Jihong's house is not his true daughter. Jihong brings the chicken home with him. The next day, he and his other daughter go to the fields, and the snake sister kills the chicken to protect her secret, and makes a meal of the bird. Jihong and his other daughter refuse to eat the meal, and the snake sister throws it away; in its place, a pine tree sprouts. Later, the snake groom comes to his father-in-law's house in search of his wife, and meets the false wife. Jihong sees the pine tree, chops it down and makes a chair out of it. The snake groom sits on the chair, which remains steady, while the snake sister, masquerading as his wife, sits on the chair and it begins to shake violently, until it launches the snake sister in the air and she falls to the ground, dead.
Southeast Asia
Vietnam
In a Vietnamese tale attributed to the Meo people, "Юноша в образе змеи" ("The Youth in the Form of a Snake"), a widowed father has three daughters, the youngest the most beautiful and industrious, the elder two idle and arrogant. One day, he goes to plow the fields and sees a large stone blocking his path. He tries to remove it, to no avail, and proclaims that he will give one of his daughters to anyone that can remove the stone. Suddenly, a large snake appears to offer its help, in case the man's promise is genuine. The man confirms it is and the snake moves the stone to the forest. The next day, the man goes to plow the field, and notices the snake is there, intent on cashing in on the man's promise. The man brings the snake home and asks his three daughter which will be the snake's wife. The elder two mock the snake's appearance, but the youngest invites the snake in, cooks some rice for it, and prepares a bed for it as if it is a normal guest. The girl and the snake begin to live as husband and wife. One night, the man goes to check on his third daughter and sees a youth sleeping beside her on the bed, and sees a discarded snakeskin near the bed. He hides the snakeskin somewhere no one can find it. The youth wakes up the next morning and asks his father-in-law for the snakeskin. The man tells him he got rid of the skin and that he should stay as a man. Now human, the youth and the third daughter live happily and have a son together, named Man Zu. The elder sisters, seeing her good fortune, plot to kill her and take her husband for themselves. The elder sister shoves the youngest into a cave and replaces her in the youth's bed, while she dies and becomes a bird. The youth suspects something amiss with his wife, but keeps it to himself. Some years pass, and Man Zu works in the fields and finds a cave entrance with a tree, a little bird perched on a branch. The bird talks to Man Zu and asks about his father. Man Zu tells his father about it and guides him to the tree. The youth asks the bird if it is his wife, and to perch on his arm as a sign of confirmation. The bird obeys and both men take the bird home. The false wife begins to suspect the bird is her sister, kills it, cooks and eats it. She gives some to the youth, but he refuses to eat and throws the food in the fireplace. The bird's remains become a pair of shears, hidden amidst the ashes and coals. One day, a neighbour, an old lady, comes to the house to borrow some coals for her fire, finds the shears and takes them with her. After some time, the old lady begins to notice that her house is neat and tidy and the food prepared, and no one seems to know why. One day, she pretends to leave her house and sees a girl coming out of the scissors, taking a broom and cleaning the place. The old woman surprises the girl and asks her to live with her as her daughter. Time passes and Man Zu visits the old lady, noticing the new girl and wondering if she could be his mother. Man Zu plucks a strand of her hair and brings to his father, who notices it is his wife's. With a stratagem, Man Zu lures the girl to his father's house, who takes her in, although she resists it at first. The snake youth hides his reborn wife in a room and warns her to lock it up. One day, however, the elders sisters visit the snake youth and, seeing the unlocked room, realize their sister is alive, but their first thought is about her lustrous hair. The reborn youngest sister simply tells them she boils a pot of hot water and, leaning on top of three benches, washes her hair in the boiling water. The sisters return home to repeat the procedure and fall into the boiling water. The compilers located its source from an informant in the Bac Ha province, and noted its proximity to the international tale type 433.
South Asia
In a tale from the Chamling language with the title Khusya Pucho, translated as Snake and Youngest Daughter, a couple has seven daughters. After the wife dies, one day, the man asks his daughters to fetch firewood for home, but they all refuse. The man himself goes to fetch firewood in the jungle, and finds a flower he wants to pluck to his daughters. As soon as he plucks it, a snake appears to him and demands his daughters, lest he devours him. The man obeys the snake's command, cuts firewood and returns home to explain the situation to his daughters; they all refuse to go with the snake. When the man is ready to leave, the youngest daughter agrees to go in his place. The snake bids the girl follow him to a river, where he will bathe and become a man. He exits the river as a man whom the girl does not recognize, but he assures her it is him. Then they build a house, and the now human snake gives her clothes and ornaments. Later, one of the girl's elder sisters, the second daughter, pays her a visit. When she sees her cadette's luxury, she invites her to bathe in the river. Near the river a ferris wheel has been put up: the elder swings a bit, then convinces the younger to take off her clothes so she could swing better. The younger sister does and the elder shoves her into the river, where she drowns. The elder then puts on her clothes to pass herself off as the human snake's wife. She returns home, but the human snake recognizes she is not his true wife, and so does the snake's son, a baby named Bhoptale, who cries nonstop for his mother. Fortunately, his mother returns as a spirit to nurse him. One night, the snake husband finds her a hatches a plan: while he sends the false wife to fetch rice, the true one will wait with an axe to hew the other one. It happens thus, and they kill the false wife, burying her in a heap, where a tall lemon tree sprouts. Years later, when their child is all grown up, the boy wants a lemon from the tree, although his parents warn him against it. Later, he allows the boy to fetch one, but he becomes stuck to the tree. His parents also become stuck to the tree and die.
India
Professor Sadhana Naithani published a tale originally collected by William Crooke. In this tale, two sisters, Sonth and Ganth, live together, and each has a daughter. On her deathbed, Sonth asks her sister to make her own daughter remove the cow-dung, and Ganth's daughter cook food. After she dies, Ganth inverts her dead sister's request. When the girls attain marriageable age, Ganth asks her husband to find a good husband for her daughter and a snake for her niece (Sonth's daughter). The human son-in-law brings silver jewelry for his bride, while the snake brings golden pieces. Sonth also had a son, and, after his sister's marriage to a snake, leaves for Benares. Back to the cousins, the one married to a snake cooks food in her mother-in-law's home, while the Gânth's daughter does know how to cook food and is expelled from her house. Gânth's daughter goes to her cousin's house and is welcomed to live with her. The snake's mother asks her daughter-in-law how her son sleeps at night, and the girl says he takes off the skin at night. The snake's mother advises her to take the snakeskin and burn it. The girl does that and, where her hand is touching the snakeskin, it becomes gold. Later, Gânth's daughter invites her cousin to take a bath, and suggests they exchange clothes and ornaments. Gânth's sister then shoves her cousin into the river and she is washed away to Benares, where she is found by her own brother. Meanwhile, Gânth's daughter enters the snake's house and tells him his cousin drowned. Later, the snake, now a man, visits his brother-in-law in Benares on a pilgrimage and discovers the whole truth. The snake goes back home and banishes his sister-in-law.
Nepal
In a Nepalese tale collected in Dsarkot, Mustang with the title Der Hundebräutigam ("The Hound Bridegroom"), a woman has three unmarried daughters, which saddens her. So, she plays a ruse on them: she pretends to be on her deathbed and asks for her daughters to bring her some grass and water from a remote valley. Each of three daughters goes down to the valley to fetch the cure, when they are met by a hound that claims to own the valley. The hound allows each girl to go back with the grass and water, if they agree to marry him; the elder two refuse, while the youngest agrees to marry the hound in order to save her mother. Later, after she is given the cure, the mother hides her youngest under a cauldron in order to fool the dog, but the animal comes and takes his bride. The duo traverse a lake, then pass by a silver castle, a golden castle, and a castle made of dog excrement, where they live in abundance. Inside the third house, an old woman advises the girl to burn the dog's skin after he sleeps. She does and the dog becomes a human king named Kyirken Gambala ("older dog Gambala"). Despite his complaints, he forgives his wife for the deed. Later, he goes on a hunt and gives a set of keys to his wife. While he is away, she opens doors of silver, gold and coral, and goes down a mother-of-pearl staircase. Down the stairs, she can see the whole world: her elder sisters have married, but her parents are ill. She convinces her husband to visit them and bring presents. Kyirken Gambala and his wife go to her parents' house, and her elder sister grow jealous. The elder takes the cadette to a lake, shoves her into the water and takes her clothes. Kyirken Gambala goes back with his "wife", despite some suspicions about her new behaviour, like preparing a lord's meal for the servants and a servant's meal for him. Some time later, Kyirken Gambala is told about a bird that appears by the lake; he takes it in a cage and hangs it at home. The false wife kills the bird, cooks it with rice and serves it to Kyirken. The man notices the taste of bird meat and throws it away; some plants sprout in its place. The false wife orders the plants to be made into firewood; a poor couple fetches some, bring it with them and place it in a box. In the poor couple's house, the girl asks for the box to be opened, so she can come out, and gives the old couple her husband's golden ring. Later, the king receives the old couple and notices his ring on the old man's finger, and inquires about it. His true wife appears in the room and the false wife burns to ashes. Kyirken Gambala takes his true wife back.
In another Nepalese tale also titled Der Hundebräutigam ("The Hound Bridegroom"), collected in Lo Mantang, a poor couple live with their three daughters in a town. One day, a giant yellow dog comes to their house with a sack of money, and leaves the sack with the couple, but promises to return in two or three years. The couple's eldest daughter insists they should spend the money on dresses and jewels for them, since the dog may never return. The couple agree, but three years later, the dog does return and demands its sack back. Knowing the couple spent the money, the animal then demands one of their daughters in exchange; the elder two refuse, but the youngest agrees and goes with the dog. The girl lives with the dog and gives birth to two white puppies and a white one, but feels ashamed about her situation. The dog, however, goes to a palace, and the girl follows after him with the puppies. She discovers her husband is truly a human king under the canine skin, and lives happily with him. Some time later, the girl worries about her family's financial situation, since she lives in luxury, and convinces her husband to let her visit them. The girl pays a visit to their family in fine garments, to the jealousy of the elder sisters, who plot to kill her and take her place: the elder two shove their cadette into the lake, take their jewels and clothes, and go back to the king. They spin a story about their sister staying with their parents, and they are to live in the palace with their nephews. Meanwhile, a tree sprouts in the lake, and a small bird perches on its branches to ask a shepherd about the king in dog skin and its children. The shepherd informs the king, who goes to the lake to listen to the bird's lament. The king takes the bird with him and places it in a box; seven days later, his true wife comes out of it more beautiful than ever. With his wife back, the king orders his sisters-in-law to be banished from his palace, never to return.
Bhutan
Author Kunzang Choden published a Bhutanese tale titled Gyalpo Migkarla: an old couple live in a poor cottage. One day, the old man appears with a large swell on his knee, which greatly hinders his locomotion, so the old woman takes a ladle and bursts the swell; an ugly frog jumps out of it. The old woman grabs the frog and threatens to kill it, but the animal pleads for his life, and convinces the old couple to spare him, for he will bring home a bride. The next day, the frog hops to the local king's palace and, hiding under a slab of stone, announces he wants to marry one of the princesses. The king asks his three daughters, princesses Langyamo, Khempamo and Phurzamo to see who is talking; the first two dismiss it as the rustling of chickens and pig, but the youngest finds the frog on the slab and reports back to the king. The monarch invites the frog in and asks about his intentions; the frog answers he wants to marry one of his daughters. The king feels insulted by the frog's forwardness, and he begins to cry; two rivers of tears flow from his eyes. Seeing the frog's powers, the king asks his daughters which will go with the frog as his bride; the girls refuse and the frog laughs, causing the palace to shake. The king then repeats the question: the elder two are adamant in their refusal, but the youngest, Phurzamo, resigns to marry the amphibian. They move out to the old couple's house, who, on seeing that the frog fulfilled his promise, faint and die on the spot, leaving the house entirely to the frog and his wife. After some days into their marital life, princess Phurzamo notices that the frog takes out his frogskin and becomes a handsome youth. The princess decides to burn the skin, but the human frog warns her against it, but tells her to shake it inside the house, around the house, and outside, in the valleys and on the hills, then she can burn it. The princess follows his instructions, then leaves the burning for last: a large and splendid palace appears the next morning, filled with clothes, jewels, servants and granaries. Some time later, the princess's sister, Khempano, learns of her cadette's good fortune and pays her a visit, so she can kill her and take her place as the frog's bride. Khempano convinces Phurzamo to bathe in a distant stream and drowns her (the story explains she was a demon), then puts on her clothes to pass herself off as the human frog's wife, but the human frog's son does not recognize her as his mother, and cries. As for the human frog, he notices something different about his "wife", but does not pursue it further. Later, one of his servants, named Jow Pha La Phan Chung, goes to plow near the lake and notices a little bird perched on a bamboo tree that sprouted on the lake. The bird begins to ask the servant about the human frog (called 'Gyalpo Migkarla' by the bird), his son and the wife. The shepherd reports back to his master, and the human frogs goes to see it for himself, but the bird does not appear. The next day, the human frog puts on the shepherd's clothes and meets the bird, asking it to perch on his ox if the animal is indeed his wife. The bird lands on the ox, and Gyalpo Migkarla brings the bird home with him. One day, Gyalpo Migkarla returns from a journey and finds his false wife ate the bird, but left a little bone behind. On getting the bone, it begins to talk to Gyalpo Migkarla, asking him to make offerings to the spirits and wrap it in brocade and silk. Gyalpo Migkarla follows the instructions, washing the bone and placing it in increasingly bigger boxes, until the bone turns back into princess Phurzamo. At the end of the tale, the reunited couple seek a tsawa lama to exorcize Khempamo from their palace.
Tibet
In a Tibetan tale published by Tibetologist in the compilation "Игра Веталы с человеком" ("Vetala's Game with a Man") with the title "Лягушонок и царевна" ("Frog and Princess"), an old woman finds an abscess on her body that bursts open and releases a frog. Despite her husband's concerns, she raises the frog as a son. Years later, the frog begins to talk and asks his mother to ask for the hand of one of the emperor's daughters. The old woman makes her case to the emperor, but is rebuffed. The frog appears at the palace and demands one of his daughters: first, he laughs, and the palace shakes; then, he cries, and a flood emerges; lastly, he hops, and the earth quakes. Afraid of the frog, the emperor questions his three daughters which will go with the frog, and only the youngest agrees. The princess is given to the frog and goes with him to the old woman's hut. The next day, the hut becomes a grand palace, and both women realize that the frog is the son of the king of dragons. Some time later, the princess asks her husband if her sisters can visit them. The frog warns her against it, since he senses something wrong about them. Despite his warnings, the princess invites her sisters. The princess, her tongue loosened by drinks, reveals the frog is the son of the king of dragons who becomes a man at night by removing the amphibian skin. The other two, growing with envy of their sister's good fortune, plot to kill and replace her. After the human prince of dragons retires to his quarters, the elder princess shoves her younger sister through the window and down a well, and wears her clothes and jewels. The human dragon prince suspects something is wrong with his wife, but remains quiet. Some time later, a walnut tree sprouts from the well, and provides sweet fruits to the dragon prince and his adoptive mother and sour fruits to the false wife. The false wife orders the tree to be felled, burnt down and its ashes scattered over a field. The ashes become barley grains and a barley field grows overnight. The false wife orders the grains to be harvested and thrown in the water. The grains then change into little birds, one of which flies to the dragon prince's arm and is taken to his palace. The little bird then reveals the man the whole treachery. The tale was translated into English as The Princess and the Frog, in a version of the compilation Tales of the Golden Corpse, and sourced from Tibet.
Mongolia
Hungarian orientalist László L. Lőrincz established the classification of the Mongolian tale corpus. In his system, he indexed two similar, but independent, Mongolian tale types. In the first type, 152, Die böse Schwester ("The Evil Sister"): a man goes to fetch flowers for his daughter in the forest, but loses his axe; a youth appears and gives him the axe and the flowers, in return for one of the man's daughters; the man's youngest daughter (the heroine) agrees to marry the youth, but demands some tasks first (e.g., building a bridge between their houses); after they marry, the heroine's elder sister drowns her and takes her place, but she survives and goes through a cycle of reincarnations, including a bird; the heroine is restored at the end of the tale. In the second tale type, numbered 258, Die böse Schwester ("The Evil Sister"), the man loses his axe, which the youth returns in exchange for one of the former's daughters; the youngest marries the youth, but is killed by her sisters in the water and goes through a cycle of transformations until she regains human form; the elder sisters are punished.
Lisu people
Professor Paul Durrenberger collected a tale from the Lisu people: a widow goes near the lake to cut grass for her horse and sees a tree with seven beautiful flowers she plucks for her seven daughters. When she is ready to leave, she tries to lift the basket she brought with her, but it is too heavy. She checks inside the basket and sees a dragon in the bottom, who begins to talk and demands the widow surrenders one of her seven daughters to him, otherwise he will kill the woman. The widow goes home and asks her seven daughters which will go with the dragon: each of them refuses to be the dragon's bride, save the youngest, who agrees to live with the dragon to spare her mother's life. The girl goes to the dragon's path and sees a man who asks to be deloused. She does as asked and sees a scaly skin on his head, releasing a scream that scares the man into the jungle. She meets the man again down the road, who says he will take her on his back, but she cannot open her eyes during the journey, even if she hears seven doors opening and closing. It happens as the man says, and both reach a large golden palace, where even the tableware and chopsticks are made of gold. The man says he is the dragon, they marry and she gives birth to a son. Some time later, the girl's eldest sister pays them a visit, and says their mother wants to eat a fruit from the dragon's tree. The girl says she cannot climb the tree and carry her son in her arms, so she gives the baby to her sister. However, the baby begins to cry, and the eldest sister lies that he is crying for his mother's clothes. The girl takes off all her clothes and gives them to her sisters, climbs the tree naked and gets the fruit. The eldest sister takes the opportunity to shove her sister in the lake, where she drowns, wears all her clothes and passes herself as the dragon's true wife. She enters the dragon's palace, who does not recognize the woman as his wife, since they are physically different. The woman spins a story that she was away at her mother's house for so long that she physically changed when she slept in the hearth and insects ate her hair, which the dragon believes. One day, he sends his elder son to fetch grass for their horse, but twice he cannot do so due to bug bites. He goes a third and last time, and hear a bird singing about how the king is blind. The dragon's elder son takes his father to listen to the bird's song, and he takes the little bird with them. However, the little bird defecates on the utensils. This greatly angers the dragon, who kills it, cooks it and gives its flesh to the false wife's son and the bones to his own, but the former's food becomes bones and the latter's meat. The bird's meat and bones are tosses in the fireplace to burn, and the girl, continuing her cycle of transformations, becomes a pair of scissors, a bush, and a dog, which is taken in by an old woman. While the old woman leaves home to work in the fields, the dog becomes the girl and cooks for her. One day, she is discovered and adopted by the old woman. Later, the girl tells the woman to invite the dragon king to her house for a meal, but the dragon dismisses the woman's humble abode, and will only go if she can produce a golden palace with golden furniture. The girl provides the woman with some magical help, and builds the golden palace for the dragon. The dragon comes with the false wife and sees his true spouse in the old woman's house. To settle the dispute, he plants a golden and a silver spear on the ground, over which both sisters are to jump, whichever survives shall be proclaimed his true wife. The elder sister jumps over her three times, and dies impaled on third time, while the youngest sister jumps over hers and survives, thus regaining her status as the dragon's wife.
In a Lisu tale from Northeast India titled The Seven Sisters, a poor old widow has seven daughters. One day, they go to the grasslands to fetch grass to repair their house. The daughters leave ahead of their mother, who is busy trying to lift her bundle. The woman goes to check inside and finds a snake, which demands one of her daughters, lest it bites her. The woman returns home and explains the situation to her daughters: the six elders refuse to go with the snake, save for the youngest daughter. She goes to the grassland and finds the snake, then accompanies it to a beautiful house in a city by the river. They live together in the snake's house. Some time later, the snake notices the girl's restlessness and suggests she goes to the city to watch the sports: on the first day, a horserace; on the second, a wrestling match; on the third, a swimming contest. She watches the contests, where a lone contestant wins both competitions. On the third day, she forgets some coins at home, and goes back to fetch it, when she finds a man inside the house instead of the snake. man reveals he was the rider at the races, and his wife asks him never to turn into a reptile again. He agrees to her request, and both enjoy a happy life together, eventually welcoming a son after three years. One day, the girl keeps thinking of her former home and wishes to pay them a visit. The snake, now human, allows for a three day visit. The girl goes back to her family's home carrying her son with her, and her mother and sisters are happy to see her alive and well. The girl explains that her snake husband is actually human, after all: long ago, a sea monster killed his parents and adopted him, and he learnt to shapeshift into a snake. Nearing the end of her visit, the girl delivers her family some presents given by her husband, and readies herself to return to him. One of her sisters, Acha, offers to accompany her, and their mother gives a sword to her grandson as a gift. On the way, she decides to take her place as the human snake's wife. They walk until they reach a tree with beautiful flowers. Acha carries her nephew in her arms, and convinces her cadette to pluck some flowers for the baby. The girl climbs on the branches overlooking a river to do as requested, and Acha cuts down the tree. The girl falls down in the stream and washes away, while Acha takes the baby back with her to the human snake's house and passes herself off as his true wife, although he notices the exchange. As for the true wife, she is rescued by a fisherman couple, and lives with them. She tries to explain the whole story to them, but her tears interrupt the narration. Years later, she goes to catch some fishes upstream and finds a group of children playing in the sand. She cleans them up and sends them home. One day, she realizes one of the children is her own son, for a black mole on his back, and asks him about his home life. The boy says there are fights at home, and asks the girl (whom he does not recognize as his mother) to come with him. After some initial reluctance on her part, she eventually relents and accompanies the boy to the snake's house, where she finds her sister Acha cooking food and her husband. The human snake sights his real wife just outside and calls for Acha to come see her. Acha exits the kitchen and is stunned at the fact that her sister survived. The human snake, at last, plants seven swords across the door, and bids Acha and her sister jump over the blades; whoever manages shall be declared his true wife. The real wife does it safely, while Acha, heavy with guilt and shame, falls on the swords and breaks down in seven parts. The girl is back with her husband and son.
Anong language
In a tale from the Anong language collected from an informant named Fàn Guópŭ and translated as The Python, a couple has six daughters. After the husband dies, the widow goes to the mountains to gather cogon grass and brings it home. When she unloads the grass to dry in the sun, a large python appears out of the grass and demands one of the widow's daughters in marriage, lest it will bite her. Thus, the widow goes home to ask her daughters which will go with the snake: the elder five refuse, but the youngest agrees in order to spare her mother's life. The youngest walks with the python to a certain spot, when the python disappears and a man appears in its place, asking to be deloused. The girl checks his hair and can only find some snakeskin, then they move out to a cave. Years later, the couple have a son, and are paid a visit by the girl's family. After a while, her family goes home, but the second eldest daughter wants to stay a while. Both sisters then go for a walk and reach a coral tree. The younger climbs the tree to pluck some coral and gives her son to her elder sister. However, the elder pinches her nephew to force him to cry, and she pretends the boy is asking for his mother's belongings (her hair ornaments, her necklace, her clothes and her earrings). The girl falls for her sister's trick and takes off her decorations and clothes, giving them to her sister. Seizing the opportunity, the elder sister chops down the tree and puts on her younger sister's clothes to pass herself off as the human python's wife. She returns home to the human python, who, despite some initial suspicions about his "wife", is actually fooled by the latter's excuses about her change in appearance. Years later, the python's son is all grown up and goes to the edge of the lake. A little bird appears and chirps the boy's name, which distracts him from herding their cows. This goes on for some time, until the human python asks his son what is happening to him. The boy then reveals the bird appears and keeps calling his name. The next day, the human python accompanies the boy in herding their cows and sees the bird. He then asks the bird to land on his palm if the little animal is his wife, and the bird fulfills the man's request. Father and son take the little bird home with them: during their meals, meat appears on their plates, while only excrement appears on the false wife's. This goes on for several days, until the false wife is fed up with the situation, kills the bird and tosses its body behind the door. The bird's remains become a pair of scissors, which are used by the false wife to cut their cloths, but the next day the fabric is torn into tiny pieces. Angered again, the false wife throws the scissors beneath the house, which turn back into the python's wife. Finally, the human python places a sharp knife on the threshold, and orders both women to cross the threshold, and whoever crosses it easily shall be declared his wife. The true wife jumps over the sharp knife, while her sister falls on it. Now back home, the python regains his true wife and lives happily with her and their son.
Uzbekistan
In an Uzbek tale translated into Russian as "СЕСТРЫ" ("Sisters"), an old woman lives with her three daughters. She goes to fetch firewood in the mountains and finds a serpent inside the bundle. The animal asks for one of the woman's daughters as his wife, so she returns home and questions her daughters: the elder two refuse, but only the youngest agrees to marry the serpent. The girl accompanies the serpent to a large palace deep within a forest, and the animal becomes a human youth. They marry and she gives birth to a child. Some time later, the girl begins to miss her family and wishes to visit them. She goes back home in splendid clothes and adorned with jewels, which greatly fuels the eldest sister's jealousy. After the girl's visit, the elder sister decides to accompany back home. Near the serpent's palace, the elder sister shoves her cadette down the river and wears her clothes. When she comes home, the serpent asks her about the physical changes on her face and skin, and she provides a flimsy excuse that manages to fool him. Time passes, when the serpent's son is nine years old, he grazes his father's flocks of sheep; a little bird perches next to him and sings a song. The boy informs his father of this and the serpent brings the little bird home. At home, the little bird's song mocks the serpent's false wife, who becomes irritated, kills the bird and throws the bones in the yard. Where the bones landed, a pair of scissors appeared. Once again, the false wife takes the scissors and throw them out of the window. A neighbouring lonely woman finds the object and brings it home; whenever she is not at home, the serpent's true wife, assuming a new form, cleans the old woman's house and prepares her food. The next day, the old woman discovers the girl and decides to adopt her. Some time later, the girl, under her new identity, pays a visit to the serpent's house, and his son indicates she is his true mother. Hearing this, the serpent sets a test to verify his wife's identity: both women are to walk through thorny thickets; whichever of them is "without sin" shall be left unharmed. The girl passes without any problem, while the false wife steps on the thorns, the bushes prickle her skin and she dies. The serpent's true wife is restored to her rightful place.
Georgia
European scholars Bengt Holbek and John Lindow stated that a similar narrative is "sporadically" found in Georgia. However, according to Georgian researcher Elene Gogiashvili, this narrative, also known as ("Three Sisters"), is "widespread" ("verbreitet") in this country. In this tale, an old person gives her third and youngest daughter to a draconic being ('Gveleshapi') as its bride; the girl goes to live with the dragon, who takes off its skin and becomes a handsome man; the youngest has a child with the dragon-man, and later visits her sisters; the elder sister begins to envy her cadette, abandons her up an apple tree and goes to live with the dragon-man as his wife. Back to the real wife, she cries so much she melts into a puddle that falls on the ground; where the puddle lands, a reed sprouts, which her son uses to fashion a flute that begins to sing of the elder sister's treachery. Fearing the truth may be discovered, the elder sister, posing as the dragon-man's wife, breaks the flute in two and tosses it in the fireplace. However, she takes the ashes and throws them away; a poplar tree sprouts in its place which the false wife also destroys, save for a piece of wood an old woman takes with herself. The true wife comes out of the piece of wood and tells the truth to her husband. A Georgian variant was collected by scholar Isidor Levin with the title Die drei Schwestern ("The Three Sisters") and classified as types ATU 425, ATU 408 and ATU 780.
Literary versions
Children's books author Laurence Yep adapted a tale from Southern China in his work The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty and the Beast Tale'': a farmer has seven daughters, the seventh, named Seven, is industrious and talented, while her sister, Three, is ugly and lazy. One day, Seven finds a golden snake in the fields, takes it and releases it back into the water. The snake becomes a large dragon that threatens the farmer for one of his daughters in marriage. Only Seven offers to marry the dragon to save her father. The dragon takes Seven to his underwater palace and assumes a human form. They marry. Later, Seven visits her family with gifts and her sister Three, jealous of Seven's good fortune, tries to kill her by shoving her in the river and taking her place as the dragon's wife. Her plan fails, for the dragon eventually finds his true wife under an old woman's care.
See also
King Lindworm (ATU 433B)
Champavati (AaTh 433C)
The Story of the Hamadryad (AaTh 433C)
Animal as Bridegroom
The Story of Tam and Cam
Beauty and Pock Face
The Boys with the Golden Stars
Sandrembi and Chaisra
Princess Baleng and the Snake King
King Iguana (Indonesian folktale)
References
Further reading
Chieh-Yi Lin. "中國民間蛇郎類型故事研究" [A study on snake-bridegroom stories of Chinese folktales]. Monograph for master's degree. 2012. (In Chinese)
Chi-ru Cheng. "台灣地區蛇郎君故事研究" [Research on the Story of the Snake Lord in Taiwan]. 2000. (In Chinese)
Asian fairy tales
Chinese fairy tales
Fictional snakes
Male characters in fairy tales
Female characters in fairy tales
Fiction about shapeshifting
ATU 400-459
ATU 700-749