The Enchanted Watch

The Enchanted Watch is a French fairy tale collected by Paul Sébillot (1843–1918). Andrew Lang included it in his The Green Fairy Book (1892).

Synopsis

A rich man's oldest two sons went out and saw the world for three years apiece, and came back. The foolish youngest son also wanted to go, and his father finally let him, expecting never to see him again. On the way, he saw men about to kill a dog, and asked them to give it to him instead; they did. He acquired a cat and a snake by the same manner. The snake brought him to the king of snakes, telling him how he would have to explain his absence, but then the king would want to reward the son. He told him to ask for a watch, which, when he rubbed it, would give him whatever he wanted.

He went home. Because he wore the same dirty clothing he set out in, his father flew into a rage. A few days later, he used the watch to make a house and invite his father to a feast there. Then he invited the king and the princess. The king was impressed by the marvels the son conjured to entertain them, and married the princess to him. Soon, because he was so foolish, his wife wearied of him. She learned of the watch, stole it, and fled.

The son set out with the dog and cat. They saw an island with a house where the princess had fled and conjured up the house to live. The dog swam to it with the cat on its back; the cat stole it and carried it back in its mouth. The dog asked it how far it was to land, and the cat finally answered; the watch fell from its mouth. The cat caught a fish and freed it only when it promised to bring back the watch. It did so, and they restored the watch to the son. He wished the princess and her house and island to drown in the sea, and went back home.

Analysis

The first part of the tale, the rescue of the son of the king of serpents by the poor man and the reward of the wish-granting object (usually a magic stone or ring), is close to the widespread tale of Aarne-Thompson-Uther tale type ATU 560, "The Magic Ring".[1] This tale type is close to ATU 561, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, and ATU 562, The Spirit in the Blue Light.

In his extensive analysis of the tale type, folklorist Antti Aarne noted that the presence of the snake or serpent seemed to be ubiquitous in the general area of dispersion of the tale, with a few exceptions.[2]

See also

References
  1. Thompson, Stith. The Folktale. University of California Press, 1977. pp. 70-71. ISBN 0-520-03537-2
  2. Aarne, Antti. Vergleichende Märchenforschungen. [Dissertation] Suomalais-ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia / Mémoires de la Société Finno-ougrienne XXV. Helsingfors: Société Finno-ougrienne, 1908. pp. 38-39.
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