Early Influences and the Subsequently Influenced
Where the Story Can Be Found:
Map Made by Me
Perceforest
A page from the Perceforest
"There are earlier elements that contributed to the tale, in the medieval courtly romance Perceforest published in 1528), in which a princess named Zellandine falls in love with a man named Troylus. Her father sends him to perform tasks to prove himself worthy of her, and while he is gone, Zellandine falls into an enchanted sleep. Troylus finds her and impregnates her in her sleep; when their child is born, he draws from her finger the flax that caused her sleep. She realizes from the ring he left her that the father was Troylus; he returns after his adventures to marry her."
I'd very much like to read this, but it seems to not exist in anything but its native French.
I'd very much like to read this, but it seems to not exist in anything but its native French.
Foreign Copycats/Similar Stories
These stories are part of the Sleeping Beauty Canon according to the Aarne-Thompson classification system (Sleeping Beauty is known as #410: The Sleeping Beauty, under the heading of Supernatural or Enchanted Relatives: Wife)
Giambattista Basile's, Italy, "The Young Slave" (read it here)
Spoiled rich girls are bored and decide to make up a contest to wile away the weary hours and end their epic ennui. They decide that whomever can jump over a rose bush without disturbing any leaves will be the winner. Lilla is the only one to come close. She knocks one leaf off and because she is a cheater-pants, she eats the evidence. Fate has its revenge (cheater-pants) when the leaf impregnates her and she is confused and ashamed. When the child is born (in secret), the fairies each give it a blessing as they are close friends of Lilla's. Unfortunately, the Dramatic Fairy (not her real name), twists her ankle in her excitement and curses the child as a result. Her curse is: "When the daughter, Lisa, was seven years old, her mother, whilst combing out her hair, would leave the comb in her tresses, stuck into the head, and from this the child would perish." Kind of gross. This result came to pass and Lilla encased her daughter in 7 Russian-doll-esque crystal caskets in a locked room of which only she had the key. Lilla dies (her last words? "Adieu, for the beans are ripe.") and asks her brother to stay away from this room, but to protect the key. He tells his wife and she is "consumed by curiosity, which is woman's first attribute" (at least he's honest about his misogyny). When she sees Lisa, she finds her beautiful and believes her husband has been spending time in her company (if you can call it that). In a jealous rage, she rips Lisa out by the hair and knocks out the comb. She brutally abuses her (including: "making her mouth look as if she had eaten raw pigeons," What does THAT mean?) and pretends she is a new slave. On a holiday, the brother buys something for everyone in the household (including cats!). The "slave" asks for a doll, a knife, and a pumice stone. When she recieves her doll, she tells it her troubles and proceeds to act like a complete psychopath. She brandishes the knife and says to it, "mind, if you don't answer me, I will dig this into you, and that will put an end to the game!" The doll knows what's good for it and answers. The prince overhears and right as she says, "answer me, dolly, or I will kill myself with this knife," he embraces her and asks her to tell him her story. After hearing this, he exiles his wife and marries Lisa off to a husband of her choice. Her moral is, "Heaven rains favors on us when we least expect it." Sort of like "fortune favors those who sleep" in that I'm thinking "no it doesn't, this is an awful story."
The Glass Coffin by the Grimms, Germany (on the fringe of Snow White territory, read it here)
A tailor's apprentice became lost in a forest and decides to follow a mysterious light (you're lucky this isn't a horror movie, sonny boy). It turns out to be a house, and a strange old man opens the door. The tailor asks to sleep there and the old man reluctantly agrees. In the morning, he hears a strange screaming (maybe it IS a horror movie) and sees a stag vs. bull fight taking place outside. The stag wins, and in his fervor he scoops up the tailor on his antlers. He takes him far away to a mountain with a stone door. The stag opens the door and some flames shoot out. As the tailor attempts to bolt, a voice says, "enter without fear, no evil shall befall you thee." The tailor, feeling compelled by a mysterious force, enters a great and ancient hall. The voice says, "step on the stone which lies in the middle of the hall, and great good fortune awaits thee." The stone is actually an elevator to the lower level of the creepy fortress. He sees two glass chests: one has a miniature castle in it, the other a beautiful maiden. She suddenly awakens and begs for his help. He releases her and she tells him he will lead a live full of wealth and happiness. She tells him her story: she and her brother loved each other too dearly to get married, so they decided to maintain a vow of celibacy until death...did them part. A stranger arrived at the castle and entered her room through magical means. He took away her power of speech and awakened her, intending to make her his bride. She refused, and he vowed revenge. He transformed her brother into a stag and resisted all her attempts at force (he is bulletproof). She was placed in the coffin, her castle shrunk and placed in a box, and her people transformed to smoke and kept in glass jars. As such, he attempted to blackmail her into being his wife. Things stood thus when the tailor arrived. He helps her to repair the magician's damage. They open the containers and everything returns to life (and life-size). Her brother returns to his human form and informs her that the bull he slaughtered was the magician in disguise. The tailor and the beauty are married.
"The Crystal Casket," Italy (read it here)
A wicked step-mother encourages her step-daughter to undertake dangerous tasks. She is rescued by a giant eagle who takes pity on her and sends her to live with fairies. The girl, Ermellina, repeatedly ingests poison (once in meat, once in a poisoned dress) at the hands of an intermediary for her stepmother and the fairies cast her out. At this point, a king sees the casket set up by the fairies and saddles it to his caravan. He exclaims that he has found a wife when he returns to his mother, and she is concerned by the fact that his new wife is a corpse. He orders maids to attend to her every need. While he's gone, " he did nothing but commend his wife (so he called her) to his mother in his letters." The maids washed her, but sullied her dress and decided to order a new one. As the dress was removed, she slowly came to life (scaring the living daylights out of the maids). When the king returned, he observed her beauty and was much pleased. The end goes thus:
"He said, 'Mother, since I adored her when dead, and called her my wife, now I mean her to be my wife in truth.'"
'Yes, my son,' replied his mother, 'do so, for I am willing.'
They arranged the wedding, and in a few days were man and wife."
(and no one cares at all what Ermellina thinks).
The Maiden with a Rose on Her Forehead - A Portuguese Fairy Tale (read it here)
A prince goes off to war and enlists his sister to look after his prized garden (?). In order to make sure nothing happens to it, she remains there day and night. One morning, she gives birth to a young girl with no explanation given as to how this occurred. In order to maintain some dignity, she tells the girl never to speak of her parentage or she will kill her. She is born with a rose on her forehead (a birthmark type thing? They do not elaborate). The prince sees her amongst the other children of the realm and asks if she will make him a shirt. She agrees and gives it to him, but her mother suspects she has told of her true origin. In order to punish her, she digs the comb into her head and kills her. She has her put in a chest and dies of guilt and shame. In a sort of Bluebeard scenario, the prince marries and tells his wife that she is not to enter to room with the chest (although he does not know what it contains, only that it was his sister's dying wish that it should be so). The prince's mother-in-law cannot resist the temptation and opens the door and the chest, finding a woman with a star on her forehead casually doing some embroidery. The wife goes mad with jealousy and burns the girl with an iron until she can convincingly refer to her as a mulatto serving girl. He overhears he weeping and speaking of her sad life and promises to reinstate her to her rightfull rank. Oh, and they burn the wife and mother with irons and bury them alive in a wall. Fun!
The Daylight Princess by George MacDonald, 1849, England/Scotland (read the complete story here)
(This story is actually a Sleeping Beauty parody, or a parody on fairy tales in general)
A king and queen, after some time, have a daughter. The king invites everyone to the christening, except his sister Princess Makemnoit, a spiteful and sour woman. She arrives without an invitation and curses the princess to have no gravity. Whenever the princess accidentally moves up in the air, she has to be brought down, and the wind is capable of carrying her off. As she grows, she never cries, and never can be brought to see the serious side of anything. The court philosophers, when consulted, are unable to propose any cure that the king and queen will suffer to be used. She passionately loves swimming, and when she swims, she regains her gravity. This leads to the proposal that if she could be brought to cry, it might break the curse. But nothing can induce her to cry.
A prince from another country sets out to find a wife, but finds fault in every princess he finds. He had not intended to seek out the light princess, but, upon becoming lost in a forest, he finds the princess swimming. Thinking she is drowning, he "rescues" her, ending up with her in the air, with her scolding him. He falls instantly in love and, upon her demand, puts her back in the water, and goes swimming with her. Days pass, and the prince learns that her manner is changed between the water and the land, and he can not marry her as she is on land. Princess Makemnoit, meanwhile, discovers that the princess loves the lake and sets out to dry it up. The water is drained from the lake, the springs are stopped up, and the rain ceases. Even babies no longer cry water.
As the lake dries up, they discover that the only way to stop it is to block up the hole the water is flowing from, and the only thing that will block it is a living man, who would die in the deed. The prince volunteers, on the condition that the princess keep him company while the lake fills. The lake fills up. When the prince has almost drowned, the princess frantically drags his body from the lake to take it to her old nurse, who is a wise woman. They tend him through the night, and he wakes at dawn. The princess falls to the floor and cries. After the princess masters the art of walking, she marries the prince. Princess Makemnoit's house is undermined by the waters and falls in, drowning her. The light princess and her prince have many children, none of whom ever lose their gravity.
Little Daylight by Georges MacDonald, 1871, England/Scotland (read the full story here)
In this story, Princess Daylight is born to long-infertile parents who joyously celebrate her birth. The traditional bad fairy arrives at the christening and condemns her to sleep at all times and to wax and wane as the moon does. This spell is lessened as a good fairy allows her to awaken at night and who says she will be awakened by a prince who will kiss her without knowing it. As she grows up, the spell is enacted and she becomes pale as death when there is a new moon, only to be restored as it slowly grows larger. When she ages, she goes from being an old hag during the new moon to a vivacious young woman during the full moon. A prince sees her dancing in the night and falls for her, but when daybreak comes, he cannot find her. He soon sees her as an old woman, and feeling sorry for her when she collapses, kisses her and the spell is broken. One interesting tidbit in this story is when the author states, "But I never knew of any interference on the part of the wicked fairy that did not turn out a good thing in the end. What a good thing, for instance, it was that one princess should sleep for a hundred years! Was she not saved from all the plague of young men who were not worthy of her? And did she not come awake exactly at the right moment when the right prince kissed her? For my part, I cannot help wishing a good many girls would sleep till just the same fate overtook them. It would be happier for them, and more agreeable to their friends."
"Sleeping Beauty and her Children" in Italian Folktales (a modern collection of traditional tales, read it here)
Italo Calvino includes a similar story to his countryman's "Sun, Moon and Talia" in his collection. A queen wishes too fervently for a child, proclaiming that she would be satisfied, "even if she should have to die at fifteen from pricking her finger on a spindle!" A little specific, mom, but the Virgin Mary hears her prayer. She was born and christened Carol (really?) and was said to be the most beautiful and graceful girl in the world. When the queen tells her husband of her vow, he destroys all the spindles in the kingdom and Carol was to be imprisoned for her own safety. She spots an old woman who violates the law and is curious. When she tries to spin, she dies (no heartbeat, no breath), but seems as if only sleeping. Because they are creepy (a la A Rose for Emily), they decide to dress her in a wedding dress (with jingly bells and all!) and wall her up in a tall tower, laid out on her wedding bed. Soon, a prince comes and heroically scales the tower and sees the princess with a "face as fresh and beautiful as a rose." In some mystical way, she gives birth to twins seemingly without being violated. The babies, later christened Sun and Moon, suck the flax out and she sees her true love come leaping in the window. The prince becomes ill and chants, "O sun, O moon, O Carol, if only I had you at my table!" I think I know where this is headed, directly towards tragic irony. His mother becomes seized with jealousy and orders Sun and Moon to be cooked, but thankfully, they are rescued by the noble cook. This does not spare us from hearing her creepily utter, "you are eating your own!" a million times. When the Queen takes Carol to be roasted, she decides she wants her clothes. The bells attached to her dress alert the prince to the crisis and he kills her mother in her own roasting pit.
Basically, this is a more politically correct version of his countryman's "Sun, Moon and Talia." No rape, name changes and bonus Christianity included.
Giambattista Basile's, Italy, "The Young Slave" (read it here)
Spoiled rich girls are bored and decide to make up a contest to wile away the weary hours and end their epic ennui. They decide that whomever can jump over a rose bush without disturbing any leaves will be the winner. Lilla is the only one to come close. She knocks one leaf off and because she is a cheater-pants, she eats the evidence. Fate has its revenge (cheater-pants) when the leaf impregnates her and she is confused and ashamed. When the child is born (in secret), the fairies each give it a blessing as they are close friends of Lilla's. Unfortunately, the Dramatic Fairy (not her real name), twists her ankle in her excitement and curses the child as a result. Her curse is: "When the daughter, Lisa, was seven years old, her mother, whilst combing out her hair, would leave the comb in her tresses, stuck into the head, and from this the child would perish." Kind of gross. This result came to pass and Lilla encased her daughter in 7 Russian-doll-esque crystal caskets in a locked room of which only she had the key. Lilla dies (her last words? "Adieu, for the beans are ripe.") and asks her brother to stay away from this room, but to protect the key. He tells his wife and she is "consumed by curiosity, which is woman's first attribute" (at least he's honest about his misogyny). When she sees Lisa, she finds her beautiful and believes her husband has been spending time in her company (if you can call it that). In a jealous rage, she rips Lisa out by the hair and knocks out the comb. She brutally abuses her (including: "making her mouth look as if she had eaten raw pigeons," What does THAT mean?) and pretends she is a new slave. On a holiday, the brother buys something for everyone in the household (including cats!). The "slave" asks for a doll, a knife, and a pumice stone. When she recieves her doll, she tells it her troubles and proceeds to act like a complete psychopath. She brandishes the knife and says to it, "mind, if you don't answer me, I will dig this into you, and that will put an end to the game!" The doll knows what's good for it and answers. The prince overhears and right as she says, "answer me, dolly, or I will kill myself with this knife," he embraces her and asks her to tell him her story. After hearing this, he exiles his wife and marries Lisa off to a husband of her choice. Her moral is, "Heaven rains favors on us when we least expect it." Sort of like "fortune favors those who sleep" in that I'm thinking "no it doesn't, this is an awful story."
The Glass Coffin by the Grimms, Germany (on the fringe of Snow White territory, read it here)
A tailor's apprentice became lost in a forest and decides to follow a mysterious light (you're lucky this isn't a horror movie, sonny boy). It turns out to be a house, and a strange old man opens the door. The tailor asks to sleep there and the old man reluctantly agrees. In the morning, he hears a strange screaming (maybe it IS a horror movie) and sees a stag vs. bull fight taking place outside. The stag wins, and in his fervor he scoops up the tailor on his antlers. He takes him far away to a mountain with a stone door. The stag opens the door and some flames shoot out. As the tailor attempts to bolt, a voice says, "enter without fear, no evil shall befall you thee." The tailor, feeling compelled by a mysterious force, enters a great and ancient hall. The voice says, "step on the stone which lies in the middle of the hall, and great good fortune awaits thee." The stone is actually an elevator to the lower level of the creepy fortress. He sees two glass chests: one has a miniature castle in it, the other a beautiful maiden. She suddenly awakens and begs for his help. He releases her and she tells him he will lead a live full of wealth and happiness. She tells him her story: she and her brother loved each other too dearly to get married, so they decided to maintain a vow of celibacy until death...did them part. A stranger arrived at the castle and entered her room through magical means. He took away her power of speech and awakened her, intending to make her his bride. She refused, and he vowed revenge. He transformed her brother into a stag and resisted all her attempts at force (he is bulletproof). She was placed in the coffin, her castle shrunk and placed in a box, and her people transformed to smoke and kept in glass jars. As such, he attempted to blackmail her into being his wife. Things stood thus when the tailor arrived. He helps her to repair the magician's damage. They open the containers and everything returns to life (and life-size). Her brother returns to his human form and informs her that the bull he slaughtered was the magician in disguise. The tailor and the beauty are married.
"The Crystal Casket," Italy (read it here)
A wicked step-mother encourages her step-daughter to undertake dangerous tasks. She is rescued by a giant eagle who takes pity on her and sends her to live with fairies. The girl, Ermellina, repeatedly ingests poison (once in meat, once in a poisoned dress) at the hands of an intermediary for her stepmother and the fairies cast her out. At this point, a king sees the casket set up by the fairies and saddles it to his caravan. He exclaims that he has found a wife when he returns to his mother, and she is concerned by the fact that his new wife is a corpse. He orders maids to attend to her every need. While he's gone, " he did nothing but commend his wife (so he called her) to his mother in his letters." The maids washed her, but sullied her dress and decided to order a new one. As the dress was removed, she slowly came to life (scaring the living daylights out of the maids). When the king returned, he observed her beauty and was much pleased. The end goes thus:
"He said, 'Mother, since I adored her when dead, and called her my wife, now I mean her to be my wife in truth.'"
'Yes, my son,' replied his mother, 'do so, for I am willing.'
They arranged the wedding, and in a few days were man and wife."
(and no one cares at all what Ermellina thinks).
The Maiden with a Rose on Her Forehead - A Portuguese Fairy Tale (read it here)
A prince goes off to war and enlists his sister to look after his prized garden (?). In order to make sure nothing happens to it, she remains there day and night. One morning, she gives birth to a young girl with no explanation given as to how this occurred. In order to maintain some dignity, she tells the girl never to speak of her parentage or she will kill her. She is born with a rose on her forehead (a birthmark type thing? They do not elaborate). The prince sees her amongst the other children of the realm and asks if she will make him a shirt. She agrees and gives it to him, but her mother suspects she has told of her true origin. In order to punish her, she digs the comb into her head and kills her. She has her put in a chest and dies of guilt and shame. In a sort of Bluebeard scenario, the prince marries and tells his wife that she is not to enter to room with the chest (although he does not know what it contains, only that it was his sister's dying wish that it should be so). The prince's mother-in-law cannot resist the temptation and opens the door and the chest, finding a woman with a star on her forehead casually doing some embroidery. The wife goes mad with jealousy and burns the girl with an iron until she can convincingly refer to her as a mulatto serving girl. He overhears he weeping and speaking of her sad life and promises to reinstate her to her rightfull rank. Oh, and they burn the wife and mother with irons and bury them alive in a wall. Fun!
The Daylight Princess by George MacDonald, 1849, England/Scotland (read the complete story here)
(This story is actually a Sleeping Beauty parody, or a parody on fairy tales in general)
A king and queen, after some time, have a daughter. The king invites everyone to the christening, except his sister Princess Makemnoit, a spiteful and sour woman. She arrives without an invitation and curses the princess to have no gravity. Whenever the princess accidentally moves up in the air, she has to be brought down, and the wind is capable of carrying her off. As she grows, she never cries, and never can be brought to see the serious side of anything. The court philosophers, when consulted, are unable to propose any cure that the king and queen will suffer to be used. She passionately loves swimming, and when she swims, she regains her gravity. This leads to the proposal that if she could be brought to cry, it might break the curse. But nothing can induce her to cry.
A prince from another country sets out to find a wife, but finds fault in every princess he finds. He had not intended to seek out the light princess, but, upon becoming lost in a forest, he finds the princess swimming. Thinking she is drowning, he "rescues" her, ending up with her in the air, with her scolding him. He falls instantly in love and, upon her demand, puts her back in the water, and goes swimming with her. Days pass, and the prince learns that her manner is changed between the water and the land, and he can not marry her as she is on land. Princess Makemnoit, meanwhile, discovers that the princess loves the lake and sets out to dry it up. The water is drained from the lake, the springs are stopped up, and the rain ceases. Even babies no longer cry water.
As the lake dries up, they discover that the only way to stop it is to block up the hole the water is flowing from, and the only thing that will block it is a living man, who would die in the deed. The prince volunteers, on the condition that the princess keep him company while the lake fills. The lake fills up. When the prince has almost drowned, the princess frantically drags his body from the lake to take it to her old nurse, who is a wise woman. They tend him through the night, and he wakes at dawn. The princess falls to the floor and cries. After the princess masters the art of walking, she marries the prince. Princess Makemnoit's house is undermined by the waters and falls in, drowning her. The light princess and her prince have many children, none of whom ever lose their gravity.
Little Daylight by Georges MacDonald, 1871, England/Scotland (read the full story here)
In this story, Princess Daylight is born to long-infertile parents who joyously celebrate her birth. The traditional bad fairy arrives at the christening and condemns her to sleep at all times and to wax and wane as the moon does. This spell is lessened as a good fairy allows her to awaken at night and who says she will be awakened by a prince who will kiss her without knowing it. As she grows up, the spell is enacted and she becomes pale as death when there is a new moon, only to be restored as it slowly grows larger. When she ages, she goes from being an old hag during the new moon to a vivacious young woman during the full moon. A prince sees her dancing in the night and falls for her, but when daybreak comes, he cannot find her. He soon sees her as an old woman, and feeling sorry for her when she collapses, kisses her and the spell is broken. One interesting tidbit in this story is when the author states, "But I never knew of any interference on the part of the wicked fairy that did not turn out a good thing in the end. What a good thing, for instance, it was that one princess should sleep for a hundred years! Was she not saved from all the plague of young men who were not worthy of her? And did she not come awake exactly at the right moment when the right prince kissed her? For my part, I cannot help wishing a good many girls would sleep till just the same fate overtook them. It would be happier for them, and more agreeable to their friends."
"Sleeping Beauty and her Children" in Italian Folktales (a modern collection of traditional tales, read it here)
Italo Calvino includes a similar story to his countryman's "Sun, Moon and Talia" in his collection. A queen wishes too fervently for a child, proclaiming that she would be satisfied, "even if she should have to die at fifteen from pricking her finger on a spindle!" A little specific, mom, but the Virgin Mary hears her prayer. She was born and christened Carol (really?) and was said to be the most beautiful and graceful girl in the world. When the queen tells her husband of her vow, he destroys all the spindles in the kingdom and Carol was to be imprisoned for her own safety. She spots an old woman who violates the law and is curious. When she tries to spin, she dies (no heartbeat, no breath), but seems as if only sleeping. Because they are creepy (a la A Rose for Emily), they decide to dress her in a wedding dress (with jingly bells and all!) and wall her up in a tall tower, laid out on her wedding bed. Soon, a prince comes and heroically scales the tower and sees the princess with a "face as fresh and beautiful as a rose." In some mystical way, she gives birth to twins seemingly without being violated. The babies, later christened Sun and Moon, suck the flax out and she sees her true love come leaping in the window. The prince becomes ill and chants, "O sun, O moon, O Carol, if only I had you at my table!" I think I know where this is headed, directly towards tragic irony. His mother becomes seized with jealousy and orders Sun and Moon to be cooked, but thankfully, they are rescued by the noble cook. This does not spare us from hearing her creepily utter, "you are eating your own!" a million times. When the Queen takes Carol to be roasted, she decides she wants her clothes. The bells attached to her dress alert the prince to the crisis and he kills her mother in her own roasting pit.
Basically, this is a more politically correct version of his countryman's "Sun, Moon and Talia." No rape, name changes and bonus Christianity included.