Clever Maria is a

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fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...

included it in ''

The Crimson Fairy Book ''The Langs' Fairy Books'' are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections ...

''.Andrew Lang, ''The Crimson Fairy Book'',
Clever Maria

Synopsis

Intro

A merchant had three daughters, and the youngest, Maria, was the most beautiful. The merchant gave each daughter a pot of

basil Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...

and forbade them to receive visitors. One day, the king came with two friends. Maria said she and her sisters would get wine from the cellar. The king said they were not thirsty. The sisters said they would not go. Maria said she would go just the same. Then she ran to a neighbour's and stayed there the night. The king was angry, but her basil did not wither, as her sisters' did.

Climax

The daughters looked over at the king's garden, and the oldest daughter asked Maria to climb down a rope and steal some fruit for her. A gardener caught her, but she escaped. The next day, the second daughter asked her to steal a fruit basket for her, but this time the king caught her. He questioned her, she denied nothing, and he told her to follow him to the house. Though he turned to make sure she followed him, she managed to escape. He fell ill.

Conclusion

Meanwhile, her two sisters had married the king's friends and had babies. Maria took the babies to show the king. Maria went about, calling for someone to give the babies to the king, who was sick of love. The king bought it and was infuriated that he held the babies. He knew the merchant had returned and ordered him to bring him a coat of stone or lose his head. Maria told him to take the fabric to the castle and demanded to measure the king. The king changed his order: he had to bring not the coat but his daughter Maria. Maria told her father to make her a doll of herself, with strings so she could make it nod and shake its head. Maria went to the castle and hid behind the doll. When the king recounted her misdeeds, she made the doll nod. Because she was mocking him, he cut off the doll's head. Its head fell toward him, and he said that the man who killed her deserved to die and turned the sword on himself. Maria jumped out to stop him. They married and lived happily.

Variants

The Italian Sapia Liccarda is another variant of this tale.

References

{{Reflist Portuguese fairy tales