The Golden Apples and the Nine Peahens
In short: A prince guarding golden apples sees one of nine birds take human form. An enchanted sleep prevents a later meeting.
¹ Based on the number of Atlas countries, capped at 10. ² Editorial suggestion for reading this page. Discover Black Horse’s question
Origin and tradition
A Balkan tale with recorded Bulgarian and Serbian tellings; direction of transmission is unknown.
The Bulgarian record of 1889 and the Serbian record of 1914 both move from a vigil in a garden to another by a lake. In the garden the prince can speak with one of the birds. At the lake a servant puts him to sleep. A whistle does the work in the Bulgarian telling, and bellows in the Serbian one. The dates identify the printed records. The direction of transmission is unknown.
Dated records and sources
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1889 · Bulgarian oral tradition
A. H. Wratislaw · The Golden Apples and the Nine Peahens · Published collection -
1914 · Serbian oral tradition
W. M. Petrovitch · The Golden Apple-tree and the Nine Pea-hens · Published collection
Country pages
Fairy Tale Glossary
Origin
Black Horse. The Golden Apples and the Nine Peahens. https://blackhorsestories.com/en/atlas-tale-nine-peahens/