A promise made by a young woman changes the lives of three children before they are even born. After marrying a king, she gives birth to the remarkable children she had promised him. However, the jealousy of her older sisters leads to a cruel deception that separates the family and leaves the queen suffering in the royal household.
The children survive because three fairies come to their aid. With the help of a deer, a magical purse and a special ring, they grow up in safety. Their later adventures bring them face to face with dangerous enchantments, mysterious hermits and a Speaking Bird whose words reveal the secret behind their family’s suffering.
The Three Sisters and the King’s Promise
Once upon a time, there lived an herb-gatherer who had three daughters. The young women earned their living by spinning, but their circumstances changed when their father died and left them alone.
The king of their country had a habit of walking through the streets at night, listening at people’s doors to discover what they thought and said about him. One night, he stopped outside the house where the three sisters lived and heard them discussing what they would do if they married into the royal household.
The eldest sister declared that if she became the wife of the royal butler, she could give the entire court water from a single glass and still have some left. The second said that if she married the keeper of the royal wardrobe, she could clothe all the attendants with one piece of cloth and still have some remaining.
The youngest sister made a more remarkable promise. She said that if she became the king’s wife, she would give birth to three children, two sons who would each hold an apple in their hands and a daughter who would have a star on her forehead.
The king heard everything and returned to his palace. The following morning, he summoned the three sisters and asked each one to demonstrate the promise she had made.
The eldest received a glass of water and successfully gave every attendant a drink, leaving some water behind. The king rewarded her by arranging her marriage to the royal butler.
The second sister was given a piece of cloth. She cut it into garments for all the attendants and still had material remaining. The king then arranged her marriage to the keeper of the royal wardrobe.
When it was the youngest sister’s turn, she repeated her promise about the three extraordinary children. The king told her that she would become his queen if she fulfilled it, but that she would face death if she failed. He then married her.
The Sisters’ Jealousy and the Children’s Disappearance
The two older sisters soon became jealous of their youngest sister. They resented the fact that she had become queen while they served in the royal household.
Some months before the queen was due to give birth, the king declared war and had to leave the palace. Before departing, he gave instructions concerning the expected children. If the queen gave birth to two sons with apples in their hands and a daughter with a star on her forehead, she was to remain respected as queen. Otherwise, he was to be informed so that he could decide what should happen.
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When the children were born, the queen fulfilled her promise. She gave birth to two boys and a girl, each possessing the special marks she had described.
However, her jealous sisters bribed the nurse to exchange the babies for three little dogs. The nurse carried the real children outside, claiming that she would leave them where the dogs could eat them. She abandoned them and returned to the palace.
The sisters then sent word to the king that his wife had given birth to three puppies. He ordered that the queen should be cared for for two weeks before being placed in a tread-mill.
The Three Fairies and Their Gifts
While the babies lay abandoned, three fairies passed by. They were astonished by the children’s beauty and decided to protect them.
Each fairy offered a gift. The first promised them a deer that would nurse and care for them. The second gave them a purse that would always remain full of money. The third presented them with a ring whose colour would change whenever misfortune threatened one of them.
The deer took responsibility for the children and raised them until they were old enough to leave the forest. When they had grown, the fairy who had given them the deer advised them to find a house in the city opposite the royal palace.
The children followed this instruction. They rented a magnificent palace and furnished it as though they were members of the royal family. Their unusual appearance soon attracted attention.
When their aunts saw them, they were horrified. The two boys still had apples in their hands, and their sister still bore the star on her forehead. The children were unmistakably the ones the nurse had supposedly abandoned.
The jealous sisters summoned the nurse and demanded an explanation. She watched the palace until she saw the two brothers leave, then visited their sister.
The Dancing Water
During her visit, the nurse praised the young girl’s comfortable life but suggested that something important was missing. She told her about the Dancing Water and claimed that her brothers could obtain it if they truly loved her.
When one of the brothers returned, his sister asked him to bring her the water. He agreed and set out on horseback the following morning.
During his journey, he met three hermits, one after another. The first directed him to an older hermit, and the second sent him to one older still. The third hermit had a long white beard reaching down to his feet. He warned the young man that the journey was dangerous and gave him precise instructions.
He explained that the young man would find a palace on top of a mountain. Four giants stood before its beautiful gate, each holding a sword. The traveller must enter only when the giants had their eyes open. He would then encounter a door and must enter only when it was shut. Beyond it were four lions, and he had to pass them when their eyes were open.
The hermit warned him that ignoring these instructions would cost him his life.
The young man continued until he reached the palace. Remembering the advice, he waited until the giants opened their eyes and the door closed. He then entered and passed the lions at the correct moment.
Inside, he found the Dancing Water. He filled his bottles with it and escaped safely.
When he returned home, his sister welcomed him joyfully. They placed the water in two golden basins, where it leapt from one basin to the other. The magical display astonished everyone who saw it.
The Singing Apple
The aunts were disappointed that the brother had returned safely. They had hoped he would never come back.
Once again, they sent the nurse to visit the young girl. This time, the woman admired the Dancing Water but suggested that the Singing Apple would make the collection even more wonderful.
The sister asked her brother to obtain it, and he agreed to undertake another journey.
As before, he met the three hermits and eventually received instructions from the oldest. He was told to climb the mountain, enter the palace by following the earlier warnings about the giants, door and lions, and then look for a small door containing a pair of shears.
The hermit explained that the shears must be open before he entered. If they were closed, he should not risk going inside.
The young man reached the palace and found the conditions favourable. He passed through the small door and entered a room where a wonderful tree stood. At its top was the Singing Apple.
He climbed the tree and tried to pick the fruit, but the top kept swaying from side to side. Rather than give up, he waited patiently until the tree became still. He then seized the branch and picked the apple.
He returned home safely, carrying the fruit. As he travelled, the apple continued to make a beautiful sound.
The aunts were once again disappointed when they saw him return. They summoned the nurse, who visited the young girl and introduced her to the third treasure, the Speaking Bird.
The Speaking Bird and the Brothers’ Fate
The nurse suggested that the Speaking Bird would complete the collection of wonders. The young girl agreed that she would like to have it, and when her brother returned, she asked him to find it.
He set out and followed the familiar route through the three hermits. The oldest hermit gave him new instructions.
He told him to climb the mountain and enter the palace, where he would find many statues. Beyond them was a garden with a fountain. The Speaking Bird sat on the fountain’s basin.
The hermit gave him one essential warning. If the bird spoke to him, he must not answer. He was to remove one feather from its wing, dip the feather into a jar nearby and use it to anoint all the statues.
The young man reached the palace and found the garden. When the Speaking Bird saw him, it began speaking immediately. It told him that his aunts had sent him to his death and that his mother had been placed in the tread-mill.
Shocked by the news about his mother, he cried out in disbelief. The moment he answered the bird, he turned into a statue.
Back at the palace, his sister examined her ring and saw that its colour had changed to blue. Realising that misfortune had struck, she waited anxiously.
When the second brother noticed that the first had not returned, he decided to search for him. He followed the same route and received the same instructions from the hermits.
Unfortunately, the Speaking Bird repeated its warning about their mother. The second brother also answered and was transformed into a statue.
This time, the sister’s ring turned black. She understood that both brothers were in danger and decided that she had to rescue them herself.
The Sister Rescues Her Brothers
The young girl dressed herself as a page and set out for the enchanted palace. Like her brothers, she met the three hermits and received directions from them.
The oldest hermit repeated the warning about the Speaking Bird. He made it clear that answering the bird would bring about her death.
She continued her journey and reached the palace safely. When she entered the garden, the bird began speaking. It told her that her brothers had already been turned into statues and that her mother was suffering in the tread-mill.
The young girl remembered the hermit’s warning and refused to answer. She allowed the bird to speak until it had nothing more to say.
The bird eventually flew down, giving her the opportunity to catch it. She pulled a feather from its wing, dipped it into the jar and used it to anoint her brothers’ nostrils. They immediately returned to life.
She then used the same remedy on the other statues, including the lions and the giants. All of them came alive again.
The young woman left the palace with her brothers and the other rescued noblemen, princes, barons and kings’ sons. As soon as everyone had been restored, the enchanted palace disappeared, along with the three hermits.
The hermits were revealed to be the same three fairies who had protected the children when they were abandoned as babies.
The Speaking Bird Reveals the Truth
The three siblings returned to their city and arranged for a goldsmith to make a golden chain for the Speaking Bird. They placed the bird in their palace, where their aunts could see the three treasures displayed.
The bird then instructed the siblings to obtain a carriage finer than the king’s, with twenty-four attendants. It also told them to arrange their household servants and cooks in greater numbers and with better service than those of the royal palace.
The brothers carried out these instructions. Their growing wealth and display of magnificence made their aunts even more furious.
Eventually, the king returned from the war. He heard reports about the kingdom but paid little attention to the stories concerning his wife and children.
One day, he looked out of his window and noticed the splendid palace opposite his own. He saw the two young men holding apples and the young woman with a star on her forehead. Their appearance reminded him of the children his wife had been expected to bear.
The king was astonished. He later admired the Dancing Water and the Singing Apple, but the Speaking Bird remained silent.
The bird eventually invited the king to dine with the three siblings. During the meal, it promised to speak more fully on the following Sunday, when the young people would visit the royal palace.
When the day arrived, the siblings dressed in their finest clothes and took the bird with them. The king welcomed them with great ceremony, while their aunts watched in growing fear.
At the table, the king reminded the bird of its promise. The Speaking Bird then revealed everything that had happened, beginning with the king’s habit of listening outside the sisters’ house. It explained how the queen’s children had been exchanged for puppies, how the nurse had abandoned them, and how the queen had been sent to the tread-mill.
The bird also identified the three young people as the king’s real children and revealed that their mother was close to death.
The king hurried to embrace his children before going to find his wife. He discovered that she had been reduced to skin and bones after her suffering. He knelt before her and begged her forgiveness.
He then summoned the nurse and the two jealous sisters. At the bird’s direction, the nurse was thrown out of a window, while the sisters were sentenced to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil.
The queen was restored to her family, and the king, his wife and their three children lived together in peace.
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Moral Lessons
The story shows the destructive consequences of jealousy and betrayal. The two older sisters allow resentment to control their actions, leading them to harm an innocent woman and separate a family. Their deception eventually comes to light, and they face the consequences of their cruelty.
It also highlights courage, patience and careful judgement. The brothers show determination in their attempts to obtain the magical treasures, while their sister succeeds where they fail because she remembers the warning and refuses to answer the Speaking Bird. Her courage and self-control save her brothers and bring the truth to light.
Knowledge Check
- What did the youngest sister promise the king she would give birth to?
Answer: She promised to give birth to two sons with apples in their hands and a daughter with a star on her forehead. - Why did the two older sisters arrange for the royal children to be exchanged?
Answer: They were jealous because their youngest sister had become queen while they had become servants in the royal household. - What three gifts did the fairies give the abandoned children?
Answer: They gave them a deer to nurse them, a purse that was always full of money and a ring that changed colour whenever misfortune threatened one of them. - What were the three magical treasures the siblings sought?
Answer: The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple and the Speaking Bird. - Why were the two brothers transformed into statues?
Answer: They answered the Speaking Bird when it told them that their mother had been sent to the tread-mill. - How did the young girl rescue her brothers and reveal the truth to the king?
Answer: She refused to answer the Speaking Bird, captured it, used its feather and the magical jar to restore the statues, and later allowed the bird to reveal the family’s history to the king.
Source
This retelling is based on “The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird,” Story IV in Italian Popular Tales, edited and translated by Thomas Frederick Crane in 1885.
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