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The King's Daughter and the Skull
Once upon a time there was a king
who had three daughters. One day he went out riding on his horse
and rode past a palace surrounded by a moat. The horse got one
of its legs stuck in the mire and could not extract it. A number
of people happened by, but no one could help. As nighttime approached,
the king swore, "I will give my eldest daughter to anyone
who can get my horse's  leg out of the moat!" The moment
he swore the oath, the horse was able to extract its leg, though
there was no one to be seen around them. The king rode home and
told his daughter that she was to be married. He was quite sure
that someone from the palace behind the moat had freed his horse
and therefore took his daughter there.
The maiden entered the palace and waited
a moment in the hall. A horrible Moor came out, opening a large
door. And what did the poor girl see through the door but a skull!
She went in trembling feverishly and the Moor said to her, "This
is your husband. You must spend the rest of your life with him."
The poor maiden was in the depths of despair and began to weep.
What a sorrowful life with a skull!
The next morning, the father sent the
old governess to the maiden to ask her how she was. When the
maiden saw the governess, she threw her arms around her, weeping
and begging to be taken home because she could not stand another
minute. So the old woman took the daughter back to her father
without saying a word. The king then sent his second eldest daughter,
but she came back just as the first one had because she could
not live with the horrible skull either. When the third daughter
saw that her two sisters had returned home, she went to her father
and said, "Father, send me to live with the skull. It doesn't
matter what happens to me." "My dear daughter,"
replied the king, "you are the pet of the family and you
are willing to marry the skull? Do you want to throw your whole
life away? But go if you want!" "Yes, father, I'll
go and try my luck," said the pretty maiden. And so, the
old king sent his daughter off and was very sad to see her go.
She too entered the hall where the Moor was waiting. Once again
the skull came into the room, but the maiden was not afraid.
She took the skull in her hands and stroked it, saying, "What
a lucky girl I am to have such a wonderful husband!" Then
she laid the skull in the corner of the room.
The next morning, the king despatched
the governess who asked the maiden, "My girl, how did you
spend the night? What was your husband like?" "It couldn't
have been better, nanny, I have a husband without equals!"
The governess returned home and reported what she had heard.
The king was delighted, and the sisters were very curious. "Is
it possible," they wondered, "to be happy with a skull?"
Some time later, they sent the old governess back with a diamond
brooch and had her ask their sister to buy it. The old woman
went off to the happy maiden and asked her, "My girl, wouldn't
you like to have this beautiful brooch?" "Oh yes I
would, nanny," the clever maiden replied, "but I'll
have to ask my husband, because he must like it too." Having
said this, she accompanied the governess to the door, went up
to her room and began to weep because she didn't know where to
get the money to buy the brooch. The Moor came in as she was
weeping and asked what the matter was. She told him her problem
and the Moor went off to the skull which ordered, "Tell
the mistress to get the key near the chimney, go into the other
room and take as much money as she wants." The Moor reported
what the skull had said and the maiden went off happily to the
room and filled her pockets with money.
The next day, the governess returned
and asked the maiden on behalf of her sisters, "Did you
speak to your husband? Did he like the brooch?" "You
know, nanny dear," the maiden replied, "he doesn't
want to spoil my happiness. Look at all the money he's given
me." The old woman's eyes opened wide. She was astounded,
and all the more so because she knew the girl was married to
a skull. Bewildered, she returned home. When the sisters heard
what had happened they were green with envy. The next day they
invited their sister to go to the baths with them. The old woman
brought the sisters' invitation and the maiden replied that she
would first have to ask her husband. She returned to her room
again and began to weep because she didn't know what to do. Again
the Moor came in and asked her why she was weeping. She told
him what had happened and he went off to the skull which declared,
"Tell the mistress to take these crumbs and scatter them
outside." The maiden did as the skull had told her and what
did she see? The whole road was full of coaches and one of them
was made of gold. Standing in front of them were servants waiting
with everything she needed to go to the baths. The sisters were
stupefied when they saw her and began to regret their decision.
"We were stupid not to have stayed at the palace,"
the wicked sisters thought.
The third day, they sent the governess
off again to say that they wanted to come over for a meal. When
the governess had returned home, the maiden went back to her
room and began to weep. The Moor appeared once again, found out
why she was weeping and hurried off to the skull. The skull ordered
the maiden to scatter the crumbs in the kitchen, which she did.
To her surprise a pantry appeared full of all sorts of food,
with servants standing at attention. Just before the sisters
were to arrive, she arranged for the servants to say to her from
time to time in her sisters' presence: "Could you come out
for a moment? The master wishes to speak to you." The sisters
arrived and were quite taken by the delicious meal. The servants
did as they were told and asked the maiden to come out of the
room, which she did. She spoke to herself so that the sisters
would hear her and think she was talking to her husband. But
still they were not satisfied. Now they wanted to meet the husband.
This time the maiden didn't know what
to do. While she was weeping, a black cat appeared and enticed
the maiden into following it into a beautiful garden There she
saw a girl and a boy under a rose bush. Beside them was a baby
lying directly in the sun. The maiden felt sorry for the baby
and covered its head with a towel. Then she noticed that the
girl's long blonde hair was entangled in the thorns of the rose
bush, so she began extricating the strands one by one, careful
not to hurt the girl or disturb her sleep. When the girl awoke,
she was surprised and woke the boy up to ask him what had happened,
but he had no idea either. Then the girl with the long blonde
hair said, "Let the person who has been so kind to me come
forth and I will make all his wishes come true."
The maiden with the skull came out from
behind the rose bush where she was hiding and said to the blonde
girl, "I beg you, sister, save me from the predicament I'm
in or I am doomed. My father married me to the skull of a dead
man, and now my sisters want to meet my husband face to face
because they are green with envy. Do you know how they can meet
him the way he was before he died? If you can help me, I'll never
forget you." Thus spoke the maiden and touched the girl's
heart. "Here is the man you are looking for," she replied.
"This is your husband!"
And at that moment, the skull was transformed
into a human being. The blonde girl, radiant and fair, was actually
the Earthly Beauty. She had earlier changed the man into a skull
to keep him for herself and not to let him into the world of
the living.
The maiden was overjoyed and returned
to the palace where her sisters were waiting. They were overwhelmed
when they saw the husband alive. The couple reigned a long, long
time and are still living happily ever after.
[Source: Stavro Frashëri,
Folklor shqipëtar (Durrës 1936), 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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