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The Youth and the Maiden with Stars
on their Foreheads and Crescents on their Breasts
Once upon a time there was a king
who had three daughters. When he died, another man mounted the
throne and ordered that no one in the country was to leave a
light burning on the night of his coronation. Then the new king
put on a disguise and went out into the streets alone. As he
was walking through the streets of the city, he passed by the
house of the three daughters  and heard them talking to one another.
The eldest daughter said, "If the king were to marry me,
I would weave him a carpet so great that the whole army could
sit on it and there would still be room left over." The
second daughter said, "If the king were to marry me, I would
make him a tent with room for the whole army and more."
The youngest daughter said, "If the king were to marry me,
I would give him a son and a daughter with stars on their foreheads
and crescents on their breasts." When the king heard this,
he had the three maidens called to him the next morning and married
all three. As they had promised, the eldest wove a carpet so
great that the whole army could sit on it and the second daughter
made a tent with room for the whole army.
After some time, the youngest wife became
pregnant and the moment approached for her to give birth. On
the day of the birth, the king went out riding. When he returned,
he asked what his wife had given birth to. The two sisters answered,
"A baby kitten and a baby mouse." When the king heard
this, he ordered his youngest wife to sit on the stairs so that
everyone who passed by could spit at her. The sisters put the
boy and the girl, to whom the youngest wife had given birth,
into a box and sent a servant off to throw them into the river.
There was a strong wind blowing that day and it carried the box
to the other side of the river. On the bank of the river there
stood a mill inhabited by an old man and old woman. The old woman
noticed the box, took it into her cottage, opened it and saw
the youth and the maiden with stars on their foreheads and crescents
on their breasts. In great awe and amazement, she took the children
out of the box and raised them.
After some time, the old woman died,
and it was not long until death overcame the old man too. On
his deathbed, he called the youth, saying to him, "My son,
in the cave over there I have a bridle. But you must not enter
the cave until forty days have passed." When the forty days
had passed, the youth entered the cave and found the bridle.
The moment he put his hands on it and said, "I wish I had
two horses," the two horses appeared before him. He and
his sister mounted the horses and rode back into the city where
their father lived. There, the youth opened a coffee house and
the maiden lived at home all by herself.
One day the king came to the coffee house
because it was the best one in the city and saw the youth with
the star on his forehead. He was so taken by the boy's beauty
that he returned home later than usual. When he got home, the
sisters asked him why he was so late. He replied, "There
is a youth who has opened up a coffee house. I have never seen
such a beautiful boy in all my life. But the most amazing thing
is that he has a star on his forehead."
When the sisters heard this, they knew
right away that it was the son of the youngest sister. They were
furious and pondered on how to kill the youth. So they sent an
old woman to the youth's sister and she said to the maiden, "Your
brother doesn't love you at all. He sits in the coffee house
all day, has fun and leaves you here all alone. If he loved you,
he would bring you a flower from the Earthly Beauty to play with.
That evening, the brother returned home and found his sister
looking unhappy. He asked her, "Why are you so sad?"
"Why shouldn't I be," she replied, "I am shut
up here all day long. You can go out. If you loved me, you would
go to the Earthly Beauty and bring me back a flower to make me
as happy as you are." The brother replied, "All right,
you mustn't be sad because of me." He picked up the bridle
and a horse appeared. He mounted it and rode straight off in
the direction of a Kulshedra.
When the Kulshedra saw him coming, it
said, "You are so handsome that it would be a pity to devour
you. I will let you live." The youth then asked the way
to the Earthly Beauty. The Kulshedra replied, "I don't know
where she is. You will have to go and ask my older sister."
The youth continued on his way and finally
reached the Kulshedra's older sister. It, too, wanted to devour
him but, seeing how handsome he was, it set him free and asked
where he wanted to go. The youth told the monster everything,
but the Kulshedra did not know the way to the Earthly Beauty
either and sent him on to the eldest sister. The eldest sister
prepared to set upon the youth to devour him, but when she saw
how beautiful he was, took pity on him and let him go.
The youth again asked the way to the
Earthly Beauty and the Kulshedra replied, "When you get
to her house, rub the door with your scarf and it will open.
When you enter, you will see a lion and a lamb. Throw some brains
to the lion and some grass to the lamb." The youth went
off and did exactly as the Kulshedra had told him. He rubbed
the door with his scarf and it opened. He threw some brains to
the lion and some grass to the lamb, and they let him pass. He
then went into the house and removed a flower which he took back
home to his sister. She was delighted and played with it.
Hardly had another day passed when the
sisters sent the old woman to see the maiden again. "Did
he bring you the flower?" the old woman asked. When the
maiden told her that her brother had indeed brought her the flower,
the old woman said to her, "That's very nice, my maiden,
but if you had the Earthly Beauty's scarf, you'd be even happier."
When the brother came home, the maiden
was weeping and lamenting. He asked what was wrong and she replied,
"How am I supposed to be happy with a simple flower if I
don't have the Earthly Beauty's scarf?" The youth didn't
want to see his sister unhappy, so he mounted his horse and hurried
off to find his sister the scarf.
The next morning, when the youth had
gone to the coffee house, the old hag appeared again. She said,
"You can consider yourself very happy to have such a brother
who brings you whatever you wish. But you would be without equals
if he brought you the owner of the scarf." Once again the
youth set off and went to the oldest Kulshedra who said to him,
"Oh, young man, to go there and get the Earthly Beauty herself
is not an easy task. You must keep your eyes open and try to
find her ring, since the ring is the source of all her power."
The youth departed once more, passed
by the lion and lamb and entered the chamber of the Earthly Beauty.
As he got closer, he saw that she was asleep. He approached her
silently. As soon as he had slipped the ring off her finger,
she awoke and realized that he had her in his power. So she accompanied
the youth and in no time they were back at home and his sister
was again delighted.
The next morning, the king entered the
coffee house and when he returned home, he ordered that a feast
be held in honour of the youth and his family. The two sisters,
however, ordered the cooks to poison the food. That evening,
the youth arrived with his sister and with the Earthly Beauty
who was now his wife. The youth, his wife and sister ate nothing
at the feast, although the king urged them to, for the Earthly
Beauty had noticed that the food was poisoned. They had only
two spoonfuls of the king's stewed prunes.
When they stood up to leave the table,
the king suggested that everyone tell a story. When the youth's
turn came, he told the story of his life, and the king recognized
that he was the son of his youngest wife whom he had repudiated.
He had the youngest wife brought back to him and had the two
older sisters drawn and quartered. Then he made the youth his
successor and they all lived happily ever after.
[Source: Manuel de la
langue chkipe ou albanaise par Auguste Dozon, consul de France.
Grammaire, vocabulaire, chrestomathie (Paris: Ernest Leroux,
1879), reprinted in Folklor shqiptar 1, Proza popullore
(Tirana 1963). Translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie.]
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Albanian Literature in Translation
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