Topic: story name, any clues?

hello guys and girls,

i remember hearing a story, but forgot its full details and origins, perhaps you know its name and origin:

"there was a power and rich prince, actually a masked prince, always hiding his face, and there is a beautiful girl, it was agreed that she marries him under one condition: she should never unmask him and see his true face.

years passed, and the queen satisfied with his loving and kind behavior with her, but day after day her curiosity is getting bigger and bigger as to know how the prince looks like.

so one night, after like 20 years of marriage, she decided to unmask him while asleep. and she did so, and he saw that. he became angry and kicked her out because she broke her promise."

this story is not accurate, but that's its juice. now the queen either discovered that he had a snake face or a beautiful face (and had no reason to hide the face), in all cases, the story has lots of morals and want to read it fully...help me find this story.

thanks,

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Regards,
Elias

It sounds very familiar, like the name is on the tip of my tongue...

I believe there's a scene similar to that in Phantom of the Opera, but I don't think that's what you're looking for.

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Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.

as i recall, i am not sure if this story is in the greek mythology or something...

any other hints are appreciated.

--
Regards,
Elias

This is actually an extremely common motif in fairy tales. I don't know the exact Aarne-Thompson name for it, but it boils down to "the broken promise." An example from Korean folklore is the tale of the fairy and the woodcutter. A woodcutter chases a deer deep into the mountains and finally catches it. The deer begs the woodcutter to spare its life, promising to tell him how to gain a fairy (seonnyeo) as his wife. Following the deer's instructions, the woodcutter goes to a secluded pond and sees a group of fairies bathing in the water. He steals the winged clothes of one of the fairies, and she is left behind when the rest of the fairies fly back up to heaven.

The woodcutter approaches the fairy and leads her to his home, and she becomes his wife (which is, of course, a euphemistic way of saying that they did the nasty and she agrees to live with him). The deer had warned the woodcutter not to show the fairy her winged clothes until she had borne him three children, but after their second child he can stand it no longer and confesses, showing her the clothes he had stolen. The fairy immediately puts on the clothes and, taking her two children, flies back up to heaven.

The tale has a happy ending, of course--the woodcutter recaptures the deer and learns how to ascend to heaven to join his family--but the broken promise part ends here. (There are a number of other motifs present at the beginning as well, such as "the grateful animal" and a trick revealed to the protagonist by a sage or supernatural individual.)

So it comes as no surprise to me that the story you mention would sound familiar--most likely everyone has heard some form of it no matter what culture they may come from. For that reason, I can't really help you locate a specific version of it. As for the moral of this type of story, if we break it down to its basics we can see that the protagonist gains some fortune in one way or another, but this fortune comes with a condition, and when the protagonist transgresses this condition he loses the fortune. So what's the moral? Well, I guess it depends on what the condition is. If the condition is external, as in the case of the fairy and the woodcutter, I suppose the moral might be to listen to those who give sage advice or counsel and heed their words. If the condition is internal--for example, a promise made by the protagonist--the moral might be to always keep your word, as misfortune might befall you if you are untrue.

I don't know how much this helps, lallous, but it's the best I can do at the moment. If you have any questions or want to talk about this further, I'd be happy to continue the discussion.


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Suho: www.liminality.org | Cell 270 | Sig Rotator | the Fellowship of Sup

I love the story Suho.

1) mind if i use it in my website?
2) what's its origin and name? (just "broken promise") ?


Hmm...as for the story I am searching for, I want its moral cause it has to do with accepting a person disregarding how he looks. It bears similarities with your story, but former has a specific direction.

Have you got some other stories to share?
Thank you.

--
Regards,
Elias

(Edited by lallous on 11-07-2007 12:30)

The story I mentioned above is usually called "The Fairy and the Woodcutter." Its origin is oral literature--in other words, it is a Korean folk tale that has been handed down from generation to generation. You can use it on your website, but if you'd like I can provide you with a more complete, literary version (rendered by myself, of course).

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Hmm...as for the story I am searching for, I want its moral cause it has to do with accepting a person disregarding how he looks.

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Ah, yes, that is a different story entirely. This is also a very common motif, found in such stories as "Beauty and the Beast," "The Frog and the Princess," and even Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Tale" (from "The Canterbury Tales"). You might take a look at the first two and see if they suit your needs.

quote:

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Have you got some other stories to share?

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Heh. Oral literature is my field of study (specifically, Korean oral literature), so I most certainly do have more stories to share. Too many, in fact. Give me a nudge (say, a type of story you want to hear) and I may be able to come up with something. I'm trying to think of a Korean tale off the top of my head that deals with the "don't judge a person by their appearance" motif, but I'm coming up blank at the moment. There are definitely cases of disguise and deception, but the disguise is usually a monster or fearsome creature transformed into something fair, rather than the other way around. I have no research to back this up, but my gut feeling at the moment is that the motif you refer to might be more prevalent in Western oral literature.

I'll have to think about this a little more.


___________________________
Suho: www.liminality.org | Cell 270 | Sig Rotator | the Fellowship of Sup