Summary
The tale begins by describing how a society of snakes is so refined and advanced that some of its members are dissatisfied with their low condition and wish to become humans. One of them, who becomes the ruler of the snakes, discovers how to alternate between human and snake forms, becomes human and owns a great state in the human realm. In this state, there is a beautiful garden unlike any other in the Flowery Kingdom. One day, this Prince of Snakes sees an old man plucking flowers in his own gardens and, irritated, asks the old man the reason for his presence. The old man answers he is just plucking flowers for his four daughters, of varying charm and beauty: the eldest pock-faced and the fourth the most beautiful. He ponders on this information and demands the old man sends the fourth daughter to him as his bride in ten days time, lest he sends them a troop of snakes to devour him and his family. The men returns home and tells the situation to his daughters. The three elders refuse to marry the snake, despite his threat, but the youngest, Almond Blossom, being the "most devotedly filial", offers to go in her father's place. The fairies listen to her plea and, touched by her devotion, send one of their own to protect her against her enemies. On the appointed time, a sedan-chair comes to their house to get Almond Blossom as the snake's bride and to take her to her future husband. The father follows behind his daughter some days later and reaches the snake's palace. He is greeted by his daughter, who looks very pleased with her new life: a loving husband and a lavish palace. She tells her father her husband is on a journey and sends him back to his humble house with extravagant gifts. After the father returns home, he shows the grand presents to his daughters. The eldest sister begins to nurture a jealous heart and decides to visit her youngest. She goes and admires the whole palace. She convinces Almond Blossom to show her around the property. They reach an empty well. The eldest sister shoves her own sister down the well. After some time, the eldest sister still at the snake king's palace, a little bird flies out of the well and begins to sing a song with almost human-like qualities. The eldest sister, fearing that the bird will reveal the truth, snap the bird's neck and throws it outside the house. Some time later, a clump of bamboos grow up on the spot of the bird's remains. The eldest sister, sensing that the bamboos will also reveal the truth, gets an axe and chops them down. Some of the snake king's servants see the chopped down bamboos and take some of them to fashion a new chair. The Snake King finally returns home and asks about his wife. The eldest sister spins a story about seeing her by the well, then nothing else, and the servants also not knowing her whereabouts. Suddenly, the chair turns into Almond Blossom, who accuses her sister of trying to kill her. Enraged, the snake king orders the execution of his sister-in-law.Analysis
Tale type
In the first catalogue of Chinese folktales, devised by folklorist Wolfram Eberhard in 1937, Eberhard abstracted a Chinese folktype he termed ''Der Schlangenmann'' ("The Serpent Husband"). In this type, indexed as number 31 in his catalogue, a man with many daughters marries his youngest daughter to a snake or snake spirit as a promise for a favour; the snake and the girl live happily, enticing the jealousy of the eldest sister; the eldest sister shoves the youngest sister into a well and takes her place; the youngest sister becomes a bird, then a tree (or bamboo), regains human form and unmasks her treacherous sister. Chinese folklorist and scholar established a second typological classification of Chinese folktales, and abstracted a similar narrative sequence. He named this tale type 433D, "The Snake Husband" (or "The Snake and Two Sisters"). In a joint article in '' Enzyklopädie des Märchens'', European scholars Bengt Holbek andMotifs
Ting described tale type 433D as a combination of the initial part of type 425C, " Beauty and the Beast", and the second part of type 408. In the article about tale type ''The snake husband
In his folktype system, Eberhard indicated that in some of the variants, the supernatural husband is a snake, snake spirit or a dragon, and another type of animal in others. The number of sisters also varies between tales. He also agreed that the motif of the snake husband seemed very old. In Ting's catalogue, he noted that the snake husband assumes human form, but it can also be a "flower god", a wolf, or a normal man.Variants
China
According to researcher Juwen Zhang, the tale type is very popular in both China and Taiwan, with more than 200 variants collected. Eberhard, in his 1937 catalogue, asserted the tale's spread across China, but supposed that its center of diffusion was Southern China, since most of the variants available were collected there. In turn, Ting, in his 1978 study, listed several printed variants of his type 433D, confirming the dispersal of the story in his country. Other Chinese variants include ''The Snake Husband'' and ''The Story of the Cucumber Snake''.Regional tales
= The Snake Bridegroom
= Researcher Juwen Zhang published a tale titled ''The Snake Bridegroom'': an old man has two daughters, the elder ugly and lazy, and the younger beautiful and dutiful. The man goes to chop wood in the mountains and, one day, sees a cowherd cracking a whip to herd the cows and singing a song about a love interest with shining hair and dainty feet. One day, the man is sharpening an ax, and his elder daughter asks him to get some flowers from the mountain. Suddenly, the old man sing the cowherd's song, and the elder daughter answers with a song that her hair is not shining and her feet are large. The younger daughter makes the same request and, hearing the song, sings her own verses in response to the song. Suddenly, a loud noise of trumpets and a march comes from outside the house. The three leave to see the commotion, and the father notices the person ahead of the retinue is the same cowherd. The youth replies that his younger daughter replied to his song and he has come to make her his bride. The cowherd promises to treat her well and tells the old man to follow the buckwheat flowers when they are in bloom to visit his daughter. Time passes, and the old man does as instructed; he arrives at a stone slab and waits for his daughter and her husband. The couple comes, opens the stone slab and bids him follow them. They climb down several steps to a large and spacious house. The old man notices his daughter has a good material life, and she explains her husband is the Golden Cow Star (The Taurus) in the Heavens. The cowherd husband lets his wife visit her elder sisters and gifts his father-in-law with silver and gold to bring home. The old man returns home with the gifts and his younger daughter, and the eldest sister, seeing the riches they brought, regrets not marrying the cowherd and plans to replace her. Goaded by her elder sister, the younger one teaches her the secret spell to open up the stone slab. After ten days, the elder sister offers to escort the younger back home, and puts her plans into action: on the road, the elder asks the younger to try her beautiful clothes, and shoves the younger down a well. The elder opens the stone slab and tries to pass herself off as the cowherd's wife. The cowherd suspects something is amiss, but does not have time to dwell on his thoughts, for he has to herd the cows. A little bird perches on his arm, and sings about being the true wife. The cowherd decides to spy on the sister-in-law's behaviour: she kills the little bird after it mocks a pancake she was preparing, and the cowherd buries it. On the bird's grave, a= The Snake and Three Sisters
= In another tale collected by Zhang with the title ''The Snake and Three Sisters'', an old couple live bat the foot of Long White Mountains with their three beautiful daughters. The old man hunts in the mountains to provide food for his family, but one days falls ill, to the three daughters' worries. The three daughters suggests they learn to hunt, and, after their father recovers, he takes them to the mountains. One day, a "strong dark wind" blows - work of a black snake - and a youth appears to them (the black snake in human form). The youth asks the man to become his apprentice, but the man will talk to his wife first. The old couple agree to take him in as a son-in-law. The next day, the old man and the three daughters meet a white-bearded man, who tells he is a local mountain god and warns them against the youth, who is a black snake. With this new information, the old couple have a change of heart. The old man then goes to meet the youth on his own. The youth admits he is the snake spirit, but assures the man he has a kind heart and will provide him with food, clothes and silver, then makes a demand to marries one of the man's daughters, or he will hurt the human. The man goes back home and asks which of his three daughters agrees to marry the snake spirit. The elder two refuse, and are reapproached by the man, but the youngest offers herself to the snake spirit. The man goes to tell the snake spirit of his daughter's decision, and goes with him to the snake's house, where the youth promises to take care of the third daughter as his wife. He also warns that he is the only snake that can turn into a man, not his snake followers, and that her family can only visit his wife once a year. After the snake spirit goes to fetch his bride, the old woman gives her daughter two bags of mille for her to drop the grains to create a trail for her mother to follow. The girl obeys. She has a good life with the snake spirit, and her mother follows the trail of millet to the snake's cavern, but she cannot go in. The snake spirit takes her soul and shows her that her daughter is alive and living well. The old woman wakes up and meets the mountain god, who advises her to call out for her daughter for three days. The attempt works and her daughter invites her mother in. The girl suggests her mother brings her elder daughters the next time she visits. It happens so. Seeing her cadette's good life, the eldest sister begins to feel jealous and devises a vicious plan: she convinces her sister to let her stay for a few days. During her extended stay, the eldest sister takes the cadette for a stroll in the gardens, shoves her down a well, and takes her place. The snake spirit comes back home and notices his wife looks and sounds different, but believes her given explanations. One night, however, the snake spirit's true wife's soul appears in his dreams and reveals the truth. The snake spirit searches the well and finds his wife's corpse. With a spell, the eldest sister is strangled to death by her clothes, and with another, the snake spirit revives his wife.= The Garden Snake
= In a tale published by Chinese author Lin Lan and translated by Juwen Zhang as ''The Garden Snake'', a man goes to the mountains to chop wood and falls into a trap set by a garden snake with its skin. The man pleads for his life in name of his three daughters, which piques the snake's interest in marrying one of the man's daughters. The man goes home and inquires his daughters which will go to the garden snake; the elder two refuse, while the youngest agrees. The girl marries the snake and lives in love and luxury. One day, however, she begins to miss her family, and wishes to visit them; the garden snake agrees and gives her a pack of sesame seeds so she can plant them to mark her way home when they bloom. The girl goes back to her family's home in fine clothes and arouses the jealousy of her elder sister, who trades clothes and jewels with her and shoves the cadette down a well. The elder sister goes back to the garden snake and passes herself off as his true wife. Some time later, while she is combing her hair in front of a mirror, a black bird perches on a tree and mocks the elder sister. She throws the comb to the bird, which dies, and cooks it. The garden snake eats his portions, which become fine meat, while her portions change into bones. Annoyed, she takes the food and throws it in the garden; a jujube tree sprouts on its place, yielding delicious dates to the garden snake, and dog excrement to the sister. The false wife fells the tree and makes a washing-stick out of a tree branch, but it tears apart her clothes when it is used, so it is thrown in the fire. Some relatives of the third sister sense something is wrong and pay a visit to the garden snake's house; they find a golden figure in the ashes, bring it home and hide it in a bamboo chest. While the relatives are away, the third sister leaves the bamboo chest, spins the cotton, and hides back in the chest, until she is discovered by her relatives. At last, both sisters are brought before the garden snake; he notices the deception and confirms his true wife's identity when her hair intertwines with his. As punishment, he devours his sister-in-law and lives with his true wife.= Mr. Snake and Lotus-Seed Face
= In a tale from Fujian collected by Zheng Huicong with the title ''Mr. Snake and Lotus-Seed Face'', a man lives in a mountain village and works collecting pig manure, which is why people call him Pig Manure Grandfather. One day, the man passes by another village and sees a beautiful garden filled with nice flowers. He appreciates their perfume when a youth appears to him. The man explains he was admiring the flowers, since his three daughters like to wear flowers in their hair. The youth becomes interested in the man's daughters: the elder two ugly, and the youngest with a face beautiful like a= Monguor people
= In a tale from the Monguor people titled ''Shilange'', a youth named Shilange lives in a cottage, behind where lies a wall of beautiful flowers. In the village, a man named Old Zhang lives with his three daughters, who ask him to pluck some of the flowers behind Shilange's cottage. Old Zhang goes with an ax to cut some flowers, but he slips and his ax falls into Shilange's yard. Shilange wakes up, goes to the yard and returns the ax to Old Zhang, and asks something in return. Old Zhang offers in jest to be Shilange's matchmaker, and the youth replies he wants to marry one of the man's daughters. Old Zhang agrees, but advises that Shilange is to let go of his lazy ways. Old Man Zhang returns home and tells his daughters about it. The elder two, named Eldest Sister and Second Sister, refuse to marry Shilange due to his laziness, but Third Sister, the youngest, agrees. As the wedding date approaches, her father worries about finding good wedding garments for her, but his family is very poor. One day, Old Man Zhang sees a swarm of bees sewing garments to Third Sister. Shilange marries Third Sister, he works on improving his lazy ways and becomes a diligent man. Theirs is a happy marriage, which stirs the jealousy of Eldest Sister. One day, Eldest Sister convinces Third Sister to go to the river and wash some clothes. She suggests swapping clothes with her sister, shoves the girl in the river and, posing as her, returns to Shilange's house. Shilange notices the different physical traits of his wife, but she dimisses Shilange's suspicions with a false story. Some time later, Shilange rides his horse near the river and a colored bird perches on his sleeve. Shilange brings it home; the bird chirps to him whenever he passes and craps on the false wife. The Eldest Sister kills the bird and buries it in the yard, and a thorny bush sprouts that scratches the false wife. Eldest Sister burns the bush in the cooking stove. An old pig-herding woman goes to Shilange's house and asks for some coals. The old woman gets some coals and finds a spinning wheel she takes home. The pig-herding woman notices that, whenever she leaves home and returns, the house is clean and the food prepared. She discovers that a girl, Third Sister, comes out of the spinning wheel and adopts her as a daughter. One day, Third Sister convinces the old woman to invite Shilange and his "wife" to their house, but Eldest Sister, posing as Shilange's wife, orders the old woman to roll out red and white carpets between both houses, then to plant large trees, and perch birds in every tree. Due to Third Sister's advice, the old woman fulfills the conditions and the couple goes to the woman's house. After eating some of the food, Shilange finds a lock of glossy black hair and a golden ring in the bottom of his bowl, while Eldest Sister eats some pig excrement, vomits it up and returns home. Shilange learns that his true wife, Third Sister, is alive, who was adopted by the old woman. He goes back home to punish the false wife and welcomes Third Sister and the old woman into his house.= Yogur people
= In a tale from the Yogur people titled ''Youngest Sister and Serpent Prince'', a poor widowed man lives with his three daughters. One day, he goes with his ax to gather firewood to sell. He climbs a large pine tree and chops some branches, but lets his ax slip from his hands. The man climbs down the tree to get the ax back and sees a white serpent coiled around the ax. The animal explains he is the white serpent prince of the mountains, and aks one of the man's daughters in marriage in exchange for returning the ax. The man agrees and runs back home. The next day, after having a nightmare, the man tells his three daughters about the marriage proposal. The elder daughters refuse to do so, but the third daughter, Youngest Daughter, agrees to marry the snake. While she goes on a journey, she goes to sleep and has a dream about a white-haired woman. In her vision, the white-haired woman tells the girl not to be afraid, for the snake prince and his family are immortals banished from the heavens. Youngest Daughter goes to the snakes' lair to meet her husband. She enters the cave and, after the gate locks behind her, the white snake turns into a man, and so do his family, to greet her. They marry and live happily. One day, however, she begins to miss home. She goes home to visit her father and her elder sister wants to visit her brother-in-law. The Eldest Daughter goes to the snake lair and faints at the sight of the snake family. The white snake prince turns to his human form and explains to his wife that in a few days time, the snake curse on him and his family will be lifted, and they will become humans forevermore. After the curse is lifted, her middle sister, Second Daughter, visits her and admires the beauty of the snake prince's human form, so she drowns her sister in the river and passes herself off as her cadette. Some time later, the false wife takes the horse to drink in the river, but a greenfinch bothers her. The snake prince takes the greenfinch home, and it craps on the false wife's food and drink, so much so that she kills the little bird and buries it in the ground. On its grave a thorny bush sprouts and hurts the false wife whenever she walks near it. She throws the bush in the fire to burn it and from its ashes a stone spindle appears and rolls out of the cave. An old woman finds the stone spindle and brings it home. When the old woman leaves and returns home, there is milk tea and food prepared. She discovers that her mysterious housekeeper is a girl, Youngest Daughter, who comes out of the stone spindle. One day, the girl convinces the old woman to invite the serpent prince to their house, but the false wife insists some tasks to be done first. After fulfilling the tasks, the snake prince and the false wife go to the old woman house, where Youngest Daughter drops her own golden wedding ring on the snake prince's bowl of food. He discovers the truth, takes a discarded snakeskin from his house and throws it at Second Daughter, the false wife, to turn her into a coloured snake.= Mulao people
= In a tale from the Mulao people with the title ''Seventh Sister and her Snake Husband'', a couple have seven daughters. One day, the parents want to build a new house for their family, and decide to use a large tree at the back of their garden. The man proclaims to marry one of his seven daughters to anyone who could help him cut down the tree. A python listens to his words and offers its help. The man tells his daughters about the python's proposal. Each of them refuse to marry the animal, but the youngest, who looks at the python and sees a handsome youth in its place, decides to marry it. She goes with the serpentine husband to the edge of the sea. The python gives her an incense and, after a ritual, the sea disappears and the youth appears in place of the python. The youth reveals he is the son of the Dragon King. The seventh daughter's auspicious marriage reaches the ears of her household, and the eldest sister begins to nurture great jealousy towards her cadette. Some time later, the Seventh Sister and the Dragon Prince visither family on the occasion of her father's birthday, and Eldest Sister seizes the opportunity to toss Seventh Sister down a well and takes her place. While Eldest Sister passes her off as her cadette, a little bird comes out of the well and begins to mock her. Eldest Sister kills the bird, cooks it and throws the broth in the garden. A bamboo sprouts on the same place. The bamboo messes up Eldest Sister's hair and she asks the Dragon Prince to cut it down. The Dragon Prince goes to cut it, but the bamboo begs him to stop it. The Dragon Prince digs out the bamboo and brings it home. While he is away, the bamboo turns back to his true wife, Seventh Sister, who sweeps the house while he is away. The Dragon Prince finds out his true wife is alive, restores her, and Eldest Sister, to avoid punishment, falls into the big water jug and drowns.Tibet
In a Tibetan tale published by Tibetologist in the compilation "Игра Веталы с человеком" (" Vetala's Game with a Man") with the title "Лягушонок и царевна" ("Frog and Princess"), an old woman finds an abscess on her body that bursts open and releases a frog. Despite her husband's concerns, she raises the frog as a son. Years later, the frog begins to talk and asks his mother to ask for the hand of one of the emperor's daughters. The old woman makes her case to the emperor, but is rebuffed. The frog appears at the palace and demands one of his daughters: first, he laughs, and the palace shakes; then, he cries, and a flood emerges; lastly, he hops, and the earth quakes. Afraid of the frog, the emperor questions his three daughters which will go with the frog, and only the youngest agrees. The princess is given to the frog and goes with him to the old woman's hut. The next day, the hut becomes a grand palace, and both women realize that the frog is the son of the king of dragons. Some time later, the princess asks her husband if her sisters can visit them. The frog warns her against it, since he senses something wrong about them. Despite his warnings, the princess invites her sisters. The princess, her tongue loosened by drinks, reveals the frog is the son of the king of dragons who becomes a man at night by removing the amphibian skin. The other two, growing with envy of their sister's good fortune, plot to kill and replace her. After the human prince of dragons retires to his quarters, the elder princess shoves her younger sister through the window and down a well, and wears her clothes and jewels. The human dragon prince suspects something is wrong with his wife, but remains quiet. Some time later, a walnut tree sprouts from the well, and provides sweet fruits to the dragon prince and his adoptive mother and sour fruits to the false wife. The false wife orders the tree to be felled, burnt down and its ashes scattered over a field. The ashes become barley grains and a barley field grows overnight. The false wife orders the grains to be harvested and thrown in the water. The grains then change into little birds, one of which flies to the dragon prince's arm and is taken to his palace. The little bird then reveals the man the whole treachery.Southeast Asia
Vietnam
In a Vietnamese tale attributed to theIndonesia
In an Indonesian tale fromMyanmar
In aSouth Asia
India
Professor Sadhana Naithani published a tale originally collected by William Crooke. In this tale, two sisters, Sonth and Ganth, live together, and each has a daughter. On her deathbed, Sonth asks her sister to make her own daughter remove the cow-dung, and Ganth's daughter cook food. After she dies, Ganth inverts her dead sister's request. When the girls attain marriageable age, Ganth asks her husband to find a good husband for her daughter and a snake for her niece (Sonth's daughter). The human son-in-law brings silver jewelry for his bride, while the snake brings golden pieces. Sonth also had a son, and, after his sister's marriage to a snake, leaves for Benares. Back to the cousins, the one married to a snake cooks food in her mother-in-law's home, while the Gânth's daughter does know how to cook food and is expelled from her house. Gânth's daughter goes to her cousin's house and is welcomed to live with her. The snake's mother asks her daughter-in-law how her son sleeps at night, and the girl says he takes off the skin at night. The snake's mother advises her to take the snakeskin and burn it. The girl does that and, where her hand is touching the snakeskin, it becomes gold. Later, Gânth's daughter invites her cousin to take a bath, and suggests they exchange clothes and ornaments. Gânth's sister then shoves her cousin into the river and she is washed away to Benares, where she is found by her own brother. Meanwhile, Gânth's daughter enters the snake's house and tells him his cousin drowned. Later, the snake, now a man, visits his brother-in-law in Benares on a pilmigrage and discovers the whole truth. The snake goes back home and banishes his sister-in-law.Nepal
In a Nepalese tale collected in Mustang with the title ''Der Hundebräutigam'' ("The Hound Bridegroom"), a woman has three unmarried daughters, which saddens her. So, she plays a ruse on them: she pretends to be on her deathbed and asks for her daughters to bring her some grass and water from a remote valley. Each of three daughters goes down to the valley to fetch the cure, when they are met by a hound that claims to own the valley. The hound allows each girl to go back with the grass and water, if they agree to marry him; the elder two refuse, while the youngest agrees to marry the hound in order to save her mother. Later, after she is given the cure, the mother hides her youngest under a cauldron in order to fool the dog, but the animal comes and takes his bride. The duo traverse a lake, then pass by a silver castle, a golden castle, and a castle made of dog excrement, where they live in abundance. Inside the third house, an old woman advises the girl to burn the dog's skin after he sleeps. She does and the dog becomes a human king named Kyirken Gambala ("older dog Gambala"). Despite his complaints, he forgives his wife for the deed. Later, he goes on a hunt and gives a set of keys to his wife. While he is away, she opens doors of silver, gold and coral, and goes down a mother-of-pearl staircase. Down the stairs, she can see the whole world: her elder sisters have married, but her parents are ill. She convinces her husband to visit them and bring presents. Kyirken Gambala and his wife go to her parents' house, and her elder sister grow jealous. The elder takes the cadette to a lake, shoves her into the water and takes her clothes. Kyirken Gambala goes back with his "wife", despite some suspicions about her new behaviour, like preparing a lord's meal for the servants and a servant's meal for him. Some time later, Kyirken Gambala is told about a bird that appears by the lake; he takes it in a cage and hangs it at home. The false wife kills the bird, cooks it with rice and serves it to Kyirken. The man notices the taste of bird meat and throws it away; some plants sprout in its place. The false wife orders the plants to be made into firewood; a poor couple fetches some, bring it with them and place it in a box. In the poor couple's house, the girl asks for the box to be opened, so she can come out, and gives the old couple her husband's golden ring. Later, the king receives the old couple and notices his ring on the old man's finger, and inquires about it. His true wife appears in the room and the false wife burns to ashes. Kyirken Gambala takes his true wife back. In another Nepalese tale also titled ''Der Hundebräutigam'' ("The Hound Bridegroom"), a poor couple live with their three daughters in a town. One day, a giant yellow dog comes to their house with a sack of money, and leaves the sack with the couple, but promises to return in two or three years. The couple's eldest daughter insists they should spend the money on dresses and jewels for them, since the dog may never return. The couple agree, but three years later, the dog does return and demands its sack back. Knowing the couple spent it, the animal then demands one of their daughters in exchange; the elder two refuse, but the youngest agrees and goes with the dog. The girl lives with the dog and gives birth to two white puppies and a white one, but feels ashamed about her situation. The dog, however, goes to a palace, and the girl follows after him with the puppies. She discovers her husband is truly a human king under the canine skin, and lives happily with him. Some time later, the girl worries about her family's financial situation, since she lives in luxury, and convinces her husband to let her visit them. The girl pays a visit to their family in fine garments, to the jealousy of the elder sisters, who plot to kill her and take her place: the elder two shove their cadette into the lake, take their jewels and clothes, and go back to the king. They spin a story about their sister staying with their parents, and they are to live in the palace with their nephews. Meanwhile, a tree sprouts in the lake, and a small bird perches on its branches to ask a shepherd about the king in dog skin and its children. The shepherd informs the king, who goes to the lake to listen to the bird's lament. The king takes the bird with him and places it in a box; seven days later, his true wife comes out of it more beautiful than ever. With his wife back, the king orders his sisters-in-law to be banished from his palace, never to return.Lisu people
Professor Paul Durrenberger collected a tale from theUzbekistan
In a Uzbek tale translated into Russian as "СЕСТРЫ" ("Sisters"), an old woman lives with her three daughters. She goes to fetch firewood in the mountains and finds a serpent inside the bundle. The animal asks for one of the woman's daughters as his wife, so she returns home and questions her daughters: the elder two refuse, but only the youngest agrees to marry the serpent. The girl accompanies the serpent to a large palace deep within a forest, and the animal becomes a human youth. They marry and she gives birth to a child. Some time later, the girl begins to miss her family and wishes to visit them. She goes back home in splendid clothes and adorned with jewels, which greatly fuels the eldest sister's jealousy. After the girl's visit, the elder sister decides to accompany back home. Near the serpent's palace, the elder sister shoves her cadette down the river and wears her clothes. When she comes home, the serpent asks her about the physical changes on her face and skin, and she provides a flimsy excuse that manages to fool him. Time passes, when the serpent's son is nine years old, he grazes his father's flocks of sheep; a litle bird perches next to him and sings a song. The boy informs his father of this and the serpent brings the little bird home. At home, the little bird's song mocks the serpent's false wife, who becomes irritated, kills the bird and throws the bones in the yard. Where the bones landed, a pair of scissors appeared. Once again, the false wife takes the scissors and throw them out of the window. A neighbouring lonely woman finds the object and brings it home; whenever she is not at home, the serpent's true wife, assuming a new form, cleans the old woman's house and prepares her food. The next day, the old woman discovers the girl and decides to adopt her. Some time later, the girl, under her new identity, pays a visit to the serpent's house, and his son indicates she is his true mother. Hearing this, the serpent sets a test to verify his wife's identity: both women are to walk through thorny thickets; whichever of them is "without sin" shall be left unharmed. The girl passes without any problem, while the false wife steps on the thorns, the bushes prickle her skin and she dies. The serpent's true wife is restored to her rightful place.Georgia
European scholars Bengt Holbek and John Lindow stated that a similar narrative is "sporadically" found in Georgia. However, according to Georgian researcher Elene Gogiashvili, this narrative, also known as ("Three Sisters"), is "widespread" ("verbreitet") in this country. In this tale, an old person gives her third and youngest daughter to a draconic being as its bride; the girl goes to live with the dragon, who takes off its skin and becomes a handsome man; the youngest has a child with the dragon-man, and later visits her sisters; the elder sister begins to envy her cadette, abandons her up an apple tree and goes to live with the dragon-man as his wife. Back to the real wife, she cries so much she melts into a puddle that falls on the ground; where the puddle lands, a reed sprouts, which her son uses to fashion a flute that begins to sing of the elder sister's treachery. Fearing the truth may be discovered, the elder sister, posing as the dragon-man's wife, breaks the flute in two and tosses it in the fireplace. However, she takes the ashes and throws them away; a poplar tree sprouts in its place which the false wife also destroys, save for a piece of wood an old woman takes with herself. The true wife comes out of the piece of wood and tells the truth to her husband.Literary versions
Children's books author Laurence Yep adapted a tale from Southern China in his work ''The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty and the Beast Tale'': a farmer has seven daughters, the seventh, named Seven, is industrious and talented, while her sister, Three, is ugly and lazy. One day, Seven finds a golden snake in the fields, takes it and releases it back into the water. The snake becomes a large dragon that threatens the farmer for one of his daughters in marriage. Only Seven offers to marry the dragon to save her father. The dragon takes Seven to his underwater palace and assumes a human form. They marry. Later, Seven visits her family with gifts and her sister Three, jealous of Seven's good fortune, tries to kill her by shoving her in the river and taking her place as the dragon's wife. Her plan fails, for the dragon eventually finds his true wife under an old woman's care.Elswit, Sharon. ''The East Asian story finder: a guide to 468 tales from China, Japan and Korea, listing subjects and sources''. McFarland, 2009. p. 76. .See also
*References
Further reading
* Chieh-Yi Lin.