INFIDELITY IN GRIMM STORIES: THE DOUBLE STANDARD

IN THE GRIMM BROTHERS' TALES:
All of the leading couples are straight/hetero.
Unfaithful husbands are always forgiven.
Unfaithful wives are always punished with death.
Rival brides may be either executed, jilted, or their engagements cancelled.
Rival bridegrooms always forfeit their lives.

The unfaithful love interest and the second/rival partner of said love interest in a Grimm story face different fates depending of their gender.

Here are a few tales which deal with love interests breaking up with the leading characters and finding themselves another partner. Just compare both scenarios:



TALES WITH UNFAITHFUL MALE LOVE INTERESTS (FEMALE LEADS)

I. A princess was once locked in a tower to protect her from war. When she finally breaks free, she finds her country in shambles and decides to seek her fortune. Her fiancé thinks she's either still locked in or deceased:

The son of the King in whose kingdom they were, was, however, the very man who had been betrothed to Maid Maleen. His father had chosen another bride for him, whose face was as ugly as her heart was wicked. The wedding was fixed, and the maiden had already arrived; but because of her great ugliness, however, she shut herself in her room, and allowed no one to see her, and Maid Maleen had to take her her meals from the kitchen. When the day came for the bride and the bridegroom to go to church, she was ashamed of her ugliness, and afraid that if she showed herself in the streets, she would be mocked and laughed at by the people. Then said she to Maid Maleen, "A great piece of luck has befallen thee. I have sprained my foot, and cannot well walk through the streets; thou shalt put on my wedding-clothes and take my place; a greater honour than that thou canst not have!" Maid Maleen, however, refused it, and said, "I wish for no honour which is not suitable for me." It was in vain, too, that the bride offered her gold. At last she said angrily, "If thou dost not obey me, it shall cost thee thy life. I have but to speak the word, and thy head will lie at thy feet." Then she was forced to obey, and put on the bride's magnificent clothes and all her jewels. When she entered the royal hall, every one was amazed at her great beauty, and the King said to his son, "This is the bride whom I have chosen for thee, and whom thou must lead to church." The bridegroom was astonished, and thought,"She is like my Maid Maleen, and I should believe that it was she herself, but she has long been shut up in the tower, or dead." He took her by the hand and led her to church.

When they came to the church door, she said once more,

"Church door,  break not,
I am not the true bride."

"What art thou saying there?" asked he. "Ah," she answered, "I was only thinking of Maid Maleen." Then he took out a precious chain, put it round her neck, and fastened the clasp. Thereupon they entered the church, and the priest joined their hands together before the altar, and married them. He led her home, but she did not speak a single word the whole way. 

When the night came, and the bride was to be led into the prince's apartment, she let her veil fall over her face, that he might not observe the deception. As soon as every one had gone away, he said to her, "What didst thou say to the nettle which was growing by the wayside?"

"To which nettle?" asked she; "I don't talk to nettles." "If thou didst not do it, then thou art not the true bride," said he. So she bethought herself, and said,

"I must go out unto my maid,
Who keeps my thoughts for me."

She went out and sought Maid Maleen. "Girl, what hast thou been saying to the nettle?" "I said nothing but,

"Oh, nettle plant,
Little nettle plant,
What dost thou here alone?
I have known the time
When I ate thee unboiled,
When I ate thee unroasted."

The bride ran back into the chamber, and said, "I know now what I said to the nettle," and she repeated the words which she had just heard. "But what didst thou say to the foot-bridge when we went over it?" asked the King's son. "To the foot-bridge?" she answered. "I don't talk to foot-bridges." "Then thou art not the true bride." 

She again said,

"I must go out unto my maid,
Who keeps my thoughts for me,"

And ran out and found Maid Maleen, "Girl, what didst thou say to the foot-bridge?" "I said nothing but,

"Foot-bridge, do not break,
I am not the true bride."

"That costs thee thy life!" cried the bride, but she hurried into the room, and said, "I know now what I said to the foot-bridge," and she repeated the words. "But what didst thou say to the church-door?" "To the church-door?" she replied; "I don't talk to church doors." "Then thou art not the true bride." 

She went out and found Maid Maleen, and said, "Girl, what didst thou say to the church door?"

"I said nothing but,

"Church door, break not,
I am not the true bride."

"That will break thy neck for thee!" cried the bride, and flew into a terrible passion, but she hastened back into the room, and said, "I know now what I said to the church door," and she repeated the words. "But where hast thou the jewel which I gave thee at the church door?" "What jewel?" she answered; "thou didst not give me any jewel." "I myself put it round thy neck, and I myself fastened it; if thou dost not know that, thou art not the true bride." He drew the veil from her face, and when he saw her immeasurable ugliness, he sprang back terrified, and said, "How comest thou here? Who art thou?" "I am thy betrothed bride, but because I feared lest the people should mock me when they saw me out of doors, I commanded the scullery-maid to dress herself in my clothes, and to go to church instead of me." "Where is the girl?" said he; "I want to see her, go and bring her here." She went out and told the servants that the scullery-maid was an impostor, and that they must take her out into the courtyard and strike off her head. The servants laid hold of Maid Maleen and wanted to drag her out, but she screamed so loudly for help, that the King's son heard her voice, hurried out of his chamber and ordered them to set the maiden free instantly. Lights were brought, and then he saw on her neck the gold chain which he had given her at the church door. "Thou art the true bride, said he, "who went with me to the church; come with me now to my room." When they were both alone, he said, "On the way to church thou didst name Maid Maleen, who was my betrothed bride; if I could believe it possible, I should think she was standing before me thou art like her in every respect." She answered, "I am Maid Maleen, who for thy sake was imprisoned seven years in the darkness, and has lived so long in want.  Today, however, the sun is shining on me once more. I was married to thee in the church, and I am thy lawful wife." Then they kissed each other, and were happy all the days of their lives. The false bride was rewarded for what she had done by having her head cut off.

Annotations on the false bride's deviance from gender roles:

20.  His father had chosen another bride for him: It is important to note two things. One, the prince did not chose the bride; his father did. Second, the prince does not have the same reason to rebel as Maleen, he hasn’t seen her for seven years and he believes her to be dead.

Zipes describes the second bride “She had a face as ugly as sin, and her heart was just as wicked” (Complete 623-624).

The second bride is never referred to as a princess. 

21.  I have sprained my foot: There is no sympathy for the second bride because she lies. “Laziness coupled with deceit was a combination that ran counter to the values inscribed on so many tales gathered in the collection” (Tatar 119).

It is possible that the second bride is a Black Bride figure. Joan Gould believes that the “intruding Black Bride is aggressive, dynamic, mercenary (often for necessary reason) on fire with jealousy, self centered, and self reliant” (194). Steven Swann points out that “the person who replaces the heroine seems to be something of a second self with whom the heroine is in conflict” (30). The second bride could be representative of pride and hubris that Maleen might have inherited from her father and which might have appeared later in the marriage. While Maleen is still the daughter of a king, she is no longer the daughter of a mighty king. Her prince is now richer than she.

22.  I wish for no honor for which is not suitable: Zipes translates, “I don’t want an honor like this if I haven’t earned it” (Complete 624). It is only a physical threat that makes Maleen obey the second bride.

The second bride is proposing something more than a simple deception. Maleen is not the bride’s proxy. Maleen is a secret substitute. Therefore, the marriage between the prince and the second bride would not be real marriage, and the children would not be illegitimate, throwing the royal bloodline into question and endangering the kingdom. 

23.  Put on the bride’s magnificent clothes: A change of clothes in fairy tales is often a change in state (Gould 420).

24.  She is like my Maid Maleen: The prince is not entirely clueless (like say the Prince in some versions of Cinderella). However, he discounts it because he believes Maleen to be dead.

The prince’s questioning of Maid Maleen is a form of Recognition which “. . .  marks a fundamental shift in the process of a story from increasing ignorance to knowledge” (Clute, Recog, 804).

29.  She did not speak a single word: The reasons why Maid Maleen does not speak are somewhat unclear. She might be humble; she is a princess but she can bring nothing to the marriage.

Steven Jones contends:

Another concern raised by this popular motif of the heroine’s not being recognized by her husband or husband-to-be is the issue of not having ones true worth appreciated. Inasmuch as the future and current husband seems not able to recognize the true heroine, he is not seeing her true self, her true value (30).

30.  Must go out unto my maid: Zipes translates, “My maid, my maid, I must go and see/For its she who keeps my thoughts for me” (Complete 625).

This is the first of four tests that the second bride must do. The sequence could be based on bridals games where the groom had to identify his bride (Gould 203). According to Joan Gould, “Ethnologists account for these games by saying that in past ages a marriageable woman could be valuable property, and so her community might try to palm off a less desirable female, a child or crone perhaps, in exchange for the agreed upon bride-price” (203-204). This “palming off” might be what the second bride is trying to do. Such bridal games lasted until the 19th century, and the veil is a hold over from them (Gould 204). 

32.  Terrible passion: Each time she must go back to Maleen, the bride gets angrier and the threats are harsher. Maleen, on the other hand, does not lose her patience.

33.  She screamed so loudly for help: Maleen breaks her silence and asks for help when she is being attacked by someone who is acting outside the law.  Steven Jones notes “The fact that the king enforces the moral code suggests that part of the social imitation of women in these stories is to encourage them to rely on and be reassured about the ability of society to punish transgressions” (33)

34.  I am thy lawful wife: When discovering the prince or king’s discovery of his proper bride, Joan Gould notes, “Not until he picks her out among all the women of his kingdom will she have anything to do with him, because only then can she be sure that he acuteness of his vision of her is equal to the force of his desire” (200).

Maleen points out her sufferings for him; it is as if she was saying: I have nothing to bring to the marriage but my love and steadfastness, which are things that the second bride did not have.

Karen Rowe points out, “Because the heroine adopts conventional female virtues, that are patience, sacrifice, and dependency, andbecause she submits to patriarchal needs, she confusingly receives both the promise and guarantee of social and financial status though marriage” (217).  In addition, she “. . . re-enters a comfortable world of masculine protection."

II. Three nights tale, in which the fiancé taking another bride stems from his belief that she is deceased:

At last, the princess arrived in front of a great lake, and when she had crossed it, she came to a large and beautiful castle. She went and asked for a place; she was a poor girl, she said, and would like to be hired. She knew, however, that the King's son whom she had released from the iron stove in the great forest was in the castle. Then she was taken as a scullery-maid at low wages. But, already the King's son had another maiden by his side whom he wanted to marry, for he thought that she had long been dead.
In the evening, when she had washed up and was done, she felt in her pocket and found the three nuts which had been given to her. She cracked one with her teeth, and was going to eat the kernel when lo and behold there was a stately royal garment in it! But when the bride heard of this she came and asked for the dress, and wanted to buy it, and said, "It is not a dress for a servant-girl." But she said no, she would not sell it, but if the bride would grant her one thing she should have it, and that was, leave to sleep one night in her bridegroom's chamber. The bride gave her permission because the dress was so pretty, and she had never had one like it. When it was evening she said to her bridegroom, "That silly girl will sleep in thy room." "If thou art willing so am I," said he. She, however, gave him a glass of wine in which she had poured a sleeping-draught. So the bridegroom and the scullery-maid went to sleep in the room, and he slept so soundly that she could not waken him.

She wept the whole night and cried, "I set thee free when thou wert in an iron stove in the wild forest, I sought thee, and walked over a glass mountain, and three sharp swords, and a great lake before I found thee, and yet thou wilt not hear me!"

The servants sat by the chamber-door, and heard how she thus wept the whole night through, and in the morning they told it to their lord. And the next evening when she had washed up, she opened the second nut, and a far more beautiful dress was within it, and when the bride beheld it, she wished to buy that also. But the girl would not take money, and begged that she might once again sleep in the bridegroom's chamber. The bride, however, gave him a sleeping-drink, and he slept so soundly that he could hear nothing. But the scullery-maid wept the whole night long, and sobbing said, "I set thee free when thou wert in an iron stove in the wild forest, I sought thee, and walked over a glass mountain, and over three sharp swords and a great lake before I found thee, and yet thou wilt not hear me!" The servants sat by the chamber-door and heard her weeping the whole night through, and in the morning informed their lord of it. And on the third evening, when she had washed up, she opened the third nut, and within it was a still more beautiful dress which was stiff with pure gold. When the bride saw that she wanted to have it, but the maiden only gave it up on condition that she might for the third time sleep in the bridegroom's apartment. The King's son was, however, on his guard, and threw the sleeping-draught away. Now, therefore, when she began to cry, "Dearest love, I set thee free when thou wert in the iron stove in the terrible wild forest," the King's son leapt up and said, "Thou art the true one, thou art mine, and I am thine." Thereupon, while it was still night, he got into a carriage with her, and they took away the false bride's clothes so that she could not get up. When they came to the great lake, they sailed across it.

ANNOTATIONS ON MOTIFS IN THREE NIGHTS TALES
43. A princess: Note the bridegroom's apparent desire to marry for love, not the requirements of station. Since his betrothed proved unfaithful, he is required to marry a princess who matches his rank, however undesirable she may be.
45. She now is the one whom I must marry: In the tales more closely related to Cupid and Psyche, however, the heroine needs to wait over a given time period for the enchantment to end. Her impatience to see the true figure of her husband causes the curse to separate them. The husband must go and marry another with his first marriage virtually annulled by his wife's indiscretion.
56. If I may go to the Prince who is here, and be with him to-night, you shall have it: According to Maria Tatar: "The 'true bride' often tricks the 'false bride' into letting her spend the night with the prince, or, as in this tale, she bribes her. The imposter bride is always eager to take possession of an object and will sacrifice the prince's welfare for material gain" (Tatar 2002, 198). 
57. He was asleep: Sleeping potions are common in fairy tales, such as in The Twelve Dancing Princesses in which suitors are drugged to keep them from learning a secret.
58. She could not wake him: Here we irony. The heroine lost her husband by accidentally waking him. Now she cannot wake him to get him back.


III. Three nights tale, in which the love interest taking another bride stems from his amnesia, due to kissing his parents after a long absence:

Then the King's daughter looked at the drummer, and when she saw that he was a handsome youth and remembered how he had risked his life to deliver her, she gave him her hand, and said, "Thou hast ventured everything for my sake, but I also will do everything for thine. Promise to be true to me, and thou shalt be my husband. We shall not want for riches, we shall have enough with the treasures gathered together here." She led him into the house, where there were chests and coffers crammed with  treasures. The maiden left the gold and silver where it was, and took only the precious stones. She would not stay any longer on the glass mountain, so the drummer said to her, "Seat thyself by me on my saddle." "I do not like the old saddle," said she, "I need only turn my wishing-ring and we shall be at home." "Very well, then," answered the drummer, "then wish us in front of the town-gate." In the twinkling of an eye they were there, but the drummer said, "I will just go to my parents and tell them the news, wait for me outside here, I shall soon be back." "Ah," said the King's daughter, "I beg thee to be careful. On thy arrival do not kiss thy parents on the right cheek, or else thou wilt forget everything, and I shall stay behind here outside, alone and deserted." "How can I forget thee?" said he, and promised her to come back very soon, and gave his hand upon it. When he went into his parents' home, he had changed so much that no one knew who he was, for the three days which he had passed on the glass-mountain had been three years. Then he made himself known, and his parents fell on his neck with joy, and his heart was so moved that he forgot what the maiden had said, and kissed them on both cheeks. But when he had given them the kiss on the right cheek, every thought of the King's daughter vanished from him. He emptied out his pockets, and laid handfuls of the largest jewels on the table.  Then the mother said, "I have found a maiden for thee, and the wedding shall be in three days. The son was content to do as his parents desired.

The poor King's daughter had stood for a long time outside the town waiting for the return of the young man. When evening came, she said, "He must certainly have kissed his parents on the right cheek, and has forgotten me." Her heart was full of sorrow, she wished herself into a solitary little hut in a forest, and would not return to the royal court. Every evening she went into the town and passed the young man's house; he often saw her, but he no longer knew her. At length she heard the people saying, "The wedding will take place to-morrow." Then she said, "I will try if I can win his heart back."

On the first day of the wedding ceremonies, she turned her wishing ring, and said, "A dress as bright as the sun." Instantly the dress lay before her, and it was as bright as if it had been woven of real sunbeams. When all the guests were assembled, she entered the hall. Every one was amazed at the beautiful dress, and the bride most of all, and as pretty dresses were the things she had most delight in, she went to the stranger and asked if she would sell it to her. "Not for money," she answered, "but if I may pass the first night outside the door of the room where your betrothed sleeps, I will give it up to you." The bride could not overcome her desire and consented, but she mixed a sleeping-draught with the wine her betrothed took at night, which made him fall into a deep sleep. When all had become quiet, the King's daughter crouched down by the door of the bedroom, opened it just a little, and cried,

"Drummer, drummer, I pray thee hear!
Hast thou forgotten thou heldest me dear?
That on the glass mountain we sat hour by hour?
Didst thou not plight thy troth to me?
Drummer, drummer, hearken to me!"

But it was all in vain, the drummer did not awake, and when morning dawned, the King's daughter was forced to go back again as she came. On the second evening she turned her wishing ring and said, "A dress as silvery as the moon." When she appeared at the feast in the dress which was as soft as moonbeams, it again excited the desire of the bride, and the King's daughter gave it to her for permission to pass the second night also, outside the door of the bedroom. Then in the stillness of the night, she cried, 

"Drummer, drummer, I pray thee hear!
Hast thou forgotten thy heldest me dear?
That on the glass mountain we sat hour by hour?
Didst thou not plight thy troth to me?
Drummer, drummer, hearken to me!"

But the drummer, who was stupefied with the sleeping-draught, could not be aroused. Sadly next morning she went back to her hut in the forest. But the servants in the household had heard the lamentation of the stranger-maiden, and told the bridegroom about it. They told him also that it was impossible that he could hear anything of it, because the maiden he was going to marry had poured a sleeping-draught into his wine.

On the third evening, the King's daughter turned her wishing ring, and said, "A dress glittering like the stars." When she showed herself therein at the feast, the bride was quite beside herself with the splendour of the dress, which far surpassed the others, and she said, "I must, and will have it." The maiden gave it as she had given the others for permission to spend the night outside the bridegroom's door. The bridegroom, however, did not drink the wine which was handed to him before he went to bed, but poured it behind the bed, and when everything was quiet, he heard a sweet voice which called to him,

"Drummer, drummer, I pray thee hear!
Hast thou forgotten thou held me dear?
That on the glass mountain we sat hour by hour?
Didst thou not plight thy troth to me?
Drummer, drummer, hearken to me!"

Suddenly, his memory returned to him. "Ah," cried he, "how can I have acted so unfaithfully; but the kiss which in the joy of my heart I gave my parents, on the right cheek, that is to blame for it all, that is what stupefied me!" He sprang up, took the King's daughter by the hand, and led her to his parents' bed. "This is my true bride," said he; "if I marry the other, I shall do a great wrong." The parents, when they heard how everything had happened, gave their consent. Then the lights in the hall were lighted again, drums and trumpets were brought, friends and relations were invited to come, and the real wedding was solemnized with great rejoicing. The first bride received the beautiful dresses as a compensation, and declared herself satisfied.

IV. Three nights tale, in which the rival bride/villainess spirits the love interest away and erases his memories (compare The Snow Queen):

"The dragon, however, is an enchanted princess."
Immediately both of them regained their human shapes. But when the princess, who had before been the dragon, was delivered from enchantment, she took the youth by the arm, seated herself on the griffin, and carried him off with her. There stood the poor maiden who had wandered so far and was again forsaken. She sat down and cried, but at last she took courage and said, "Still I will go as far as the wind blows and as long as the cockerel crows, until I find him," and she went forth by long, long roads, until at last she came to the castle where both of them were living together; there she heard that soon a feast was to be held, in which they would celebrate their wedding, but she said, "God still helps me," and opened the casket that the sun had given her. A dress lay therein as brilliant as the sun itself. So she took it out and put it on, and went up into the castle, and everyone, even the bride herself, looked at her with astonishment. The dress pleased the bride so well that she thought it might do for her wedding-dress, and asked if it was for sale? "Not for money or land," answered she, "but for flesh and blood." The bride asked her what she meant by that, so she said, "Let me sleep a night in the chamber where the bridegroom sleeps." The bride would not, yet wanted very much to have the dress; at last she consented, but the page was to give the prince a sleeping-draught. When it was night, therefore, and the youth was already asleep, she was led into the chamber; she seated herself on the bed and said, "I have followed after thee for seven years. I have been to the sun and the moon, and the four winds, and have enquired for thee, and have helped thee against the dragon; wilt thou, then quite forget me?" But the prince slept so soundly that it only seemed to him as if the wind were whistling outside in the fir-trees. When therefore day broke, she was led out again, and had to give up the golden dress. And as that even had been of no avail, she was sad, went out into a meadow, sat down there, and wept. While she was sitting there, she thought of the egg which the moon had given her; she opened it, and there came out a clucking hen with twelve chickens all of gold, and they ran about chirping, and crept again under the old mother hen's wings; nothing more beautiful was ever seen in the world! Then she arose, and drove them through the meadow before her, until the bride looked out of the window. The little chickens pleased her so much that she immediately came down and asked if they were for sale. "Not for money or land, but for flesh and blood; let me sleep another night in the chamber where the bridegroom sleeps." The bride said, "Yes," intending to cheat her as on the former evening. But when the prince went to bed he asked the page what the murmuring and rustling in the night had been? On this the page told all; that he had been forced to give him a sleeping-draught, because a poor girl had slept secretly in the chamber, and that he was to give him another that night. The prince said, "Pour out the draught by the bed-side." At night, she was again led in, and when she began to relate how ill all had fared with her, he immediately recognized his beloved wife by her voice, sprang up and cried, "Now I really am released! I have been as it were in a dream, for the strange princess has bewitched me so that I have been compelled to forget thee, but God has delivered me from the spell at the right time." Then they both left the castle secretly in the night, for they feared the father of the princess, who was very powerful, and they seated themselves on the griffin which carried them home, and they lived thenceforth happily until their death.


V. Another three nights tale, The Two Royal Children, which I consider to be one of the greatest examples of the genre. The lovers are a prince and a foreign princess, returning home to his own kingdom from hers, and she is left behind to wait for him, as a kiss from his own mother renders him amnesiac due to a curse:
So the young folks went once more away together. And when they had walked quite ten miles, they arrived at the castle from whence the King's son came, and close by it was a village. When they reached it, the King's son said, "Stay here, my dearest, I will just go to the castle, and then will I come with a carriage and with attendants to fetch thee."

When he got to the castle they all rejoiced greatly at having the King's son back again, and he told them he had a bride who was now in the village, and they must go with the carriage to fetch her. Then they harnessed the horses at once, and many attendants seated themselves outside the carriage. When the King's son was about to get in, his mother gave him a kiss, and he forgot everything which had happened, and also what he was about to do. On this his mother ordered the horses to be taken out of the carriage again, and everyone went back into the house. But the maiden sat in the village and watched and watched, and thought he would come and fetch her, but no one came. Then the King's daughter took service in the mill which belonged to the castle, and was obliged to sit by the pond every afternoon and clean the tubs.

And the Queen came one day on foot from the castle, and went walking by the pond, and saw the well-grown maiden sitting there, and said, "What a fine strong girl that is! She pleases me well!" Then she and all with her looked at the maid, but no one knew her. So a long time passed by during which the maiden served the miller honorably and faithfully. In the meantime, the Queen had sought a wife for her son, who came from quite a distant part of the world. When the bride came, they were at once to be married. And many people hurried together, all of whom wanted to see everything. Then the girl said to the miller that he might be so good as to give her leave to go also. So the miller said, "Yes, do go there." When she was about to go, she opened one of the three walnuts, and a beautiful dress lay inside it. She put it on, and went into the church and stood by the altar. Suddenly came the bride and bridegroom, and seated themselves before the altar, and when the priest was just going to bless them, the bride peeped half round and saw the maiden standing there. Then she stood up again, and said she would not be given away until she also had as beautiful a dress as that lady there. So they went back to the house again, and sent to ask the lady if she would sell that dress. No, she would not sell it, but the bride might perhaps earn it. Then the bride asked her how she was to do this? Then the maiden said if she might sleep one night outside the King's son's door, the bride might have what she wanted. So the bride said, "Yes, she was willing to do that." But the servants were ordered to give the King's son a sleeping-drink, and then the maiden laid herself down on the threshold and lamented all night long. She had had the forest cut down for him, she had had the fish-pond cleaned out for him, she had had the castle built for him, she had changed him into a briar, and then into a church, and at last into a fish-pond, and yet he had forgotten her so quickly. The King's son did not hear one word of it, but the servants had been awakened, and had listened to it, and had not known what it could mean. The next morning when they were all up, the bride put on the dress, and went away to the church with the bridegroom. In the meantime the maiden opened the second walnut, and a still more beautiful dress was inside it. She put it on, and went and stood by the altar in the church, and everything happened as it had happened the time before. And the maiden again lay all night on the threshold which led to the chamber of the King's son, and the servant was once more to give him a sleeping-drink. The servant, however, went to him and gave him something to keep him awake, and then the King's son went to bed, and the miller's maiden bemoaned herself as before on the threshold of the door, and told of all that she had done. All this the King's son heard, and was sore troubled, and what was past came back to him. The next morning, he went at once to his beloved, and told her everything which had happened to him, and prayed her not to be angry with him for having forgotten her. Then the King's daughter opened the third walnut, and within it was a still more magnificent dress, which she put on, and went with her bridegroom to church, and numbers of children came who gave them flowers, and offered them gay ribbons to bind about their feet, and they were blessed by the priest, and had a merry wedding. But the bride had to depart. 

VI. What might have been the Ur-"three nights tale":

Meanwhile Edgar and the Master-Maid had ridden on fast and furious till they came near where the palace of the King, Edgar's father, could be seen in the far distance. And Edgar said:

"Let me go on first and tell my father and mother all that you have done for me, and they will welcome you as their daughter."

The Master-Maid shook her head sadly and said:

"Do as you will, but beware lest any one kiss you before you see me again."

"I want no kisses from any one but you," said Prince Edgar, and leaving her in a hut by the roadside he went on to greet the King and Queen.

When he got to the palace gate everybody was astonished to see him, as they had all thought he had been destroyed. And when they took him to the Queen, his mother, she rushed to him and kissed him before he could say nay.

No sooner had his mother kissed him than all memory of the Master-Maid disappeared from his mind. And when he told his mother and his father what he had done and how he had escaped, he said nothing of the help given him by the Master-Maid.

Soon afterwards the King and the Queen arranged for the marriage of Prince Edgar with a great Princess from a neighbouring country. And she was brought home with great pomp and ceremony to the King's palace. And one day after her marriage, when she was out, she passed by the hut in which the Master-Maid was dwelling.

Now the Master-Maid had put on that day a beautiful dress of rich silk, and when the Prince's wife saw it she went to the Master-Maid and said:

"I should like that dress. Will you not sell it to me?"

"Yes," said the Master-Maid, "but at a price you are not likely to give."

"What do you want for it?" said the Princess.

"I want to spend one night in the room of your bridegroom, Prince Edgar."

At first the Princess would not think of such a thing; but after thinking the matter over she thought of a plan, and said:

"Well, you shall have your wish," and took away with her the silken dress.

But at night, when the Master-Maid came to the palace and claimed her promise, the Princess put a sleep-giving drug in Edgar's cup.

When the Master-Maid came into Edgar's room she bent over his bed and cried:

"I cleaned the byre for thee,
I swung the axe for thee,
And now thou'lt not speak to me."

But still Edgar slept on, and in the morning the Master-Maid had to leave without speaking to him.

Next day, when the Princess went out to see what the Master-Maid had been doing, she found her dressed in a rich silver dress, and said to her:

"Will you sell that dress to me?"

And the Master-Maid said, "Yes, at a price."

Then the Princess said, "What price?"

"One night in Edgar's room," replied the Master-Maid.

The Princess knew what had happened the night before, so she agreed to let the Master-Maid pass still another night with her bridegroom. But all happened as before; and when the Master-Maid came into the room she bent over Edgar, lying upon the bed, and called out:

"I gave my bones for thee,
I shared the apples for thee,
And yet thou'lt not speak to me";

and had to leave him as before, without his waking up.

But this time Prince Edgar had heard something of what she said in his sleep. And when he woke up he asked his chamberlain what had happened during the night. And he told the Prince that for two nights running a maiden had been in his room and sung to him, but he had not answered.

Next day the Princess sought out the Master-Maid as before. And this time she was dressed in a dress of shining gold; and for that the Princess agreed to let her spend one more night in the Prince's room.

But this time the Prince, guessing what had happened, threw away the wine-cup, in which the Princess had placed the sleeping draught, and lay awake on his bed when the Master-Maid came in. She bent over him and cried:

"I grew the forest for thee,
I made the glass mount for thee,
For thee a stream flowed from my magic flask,
And yet thou'lt not wake and speak to me."

But this time Prince Edgar rose up in bed and recognized the Master-Maid, and called in his father and his mother and told them all that had happened, which had now come back to him.

So the Princess was sent back to her home, and Edgar married the Master-Maid and lived happy ever afterward.

ANNOTATIONS FOR THIS TALE (AND THREE NIGHTS TALES IN GENERAL):
 The essence of the tale consists in the Oblivion Kiss False Bride Sale of Bed Happy Marriage. 

 the Oblivion Kiss occurs in Scotland, Germany, Spain, Tyrol, Tuscany, Sicily, and Rome, all in connection with similar stories.

But, to prove that the folk-tales were not derived directly or solely from the classical romance they, in almost every case, had a series of adventures not found there, including the incidents, Obstacles to Pursuit, False Bride, and Sale of Bed. Now these incidents really belong to another formula, that of the Master-Maid, in which a villain's daughter or maidservant, after allying herself with the hero and fleeing away with him, loses her beloved through an Oblivion Kiss and has to win him again from his False Bride by purchasing the right of spending three nights with him. These incidents come in logically in the Master-Maid formula but are dragged in without real relevance into Cupid and Psyche; yet they occur as early as Basile where there is a dim reminiscence of the Oblivion Kiss.

TALES WITH UNFAITHFUL FEMALE LOVE INTERESTS (MALE LEADS)

I. A princess is resurrected magically by her husband, but the resurrection has erased all of her feelings:
So he picked up the leaves and laid one of them on the mouth of his dead wife, and the two others on her eyes. And hardly had he done this than the blood stirred in her veins, rose into her pale face, and coloured it again. Then she drew breath, opened her eyes, and said, "Ah, Gods, where am I?" "Thou art with me, dear wife," he answered, and told her how everything had happened, and how he had brought her back again to life. Then he gave her some wine and bread, and when she had regained her strength, he raised her up and they went to the door and knocked, and called so loudly that the sentries heard it, and told the King. The King came down himself and opened the door, and there he found both strong and well, and rejoiced with them that now all sorrow was over. 
A change had, however, taken place in his wife; after she had been restored to life, it seemed as if all love for her husband had gone out of her heart. After some time, when he wanted to make a voyage over the sea, to visit his old parents, and they had gone on board a ship, she forgot the great love and fidelity which he had shown her, and which had been the means of rescuing her from death, and conceived a wicked inclination for the skipper. And once when the young King lay there asleep, she called in the skipper and seized the sleeper by the head, and the skipper took him by the feet, and thus they threw him down into the sea. When the shameful deed was done, she said, "Now let us return home, and say that he died on the way. I will extol and praise thee so to my father that he will marry me to thee, and make thee the heir to his crown." But the faithful servant who had seen all that they did, unseen by them, unfastened a little boat from the ship, got into it, sailed after his master, and let the traitors go on their way. He fished up the dead body, and he fortunately brought the young King back to life.
The princess's father was astonished when he saw them come alone, and asked what had happened to them. When he learnt the wickedness of his daughter he said, "I cannot believe that she has behaved so ill, but the truth will soon come to light," and bade both go into a secret chamber and keep themselves hidden from every one. Soon afterwards the great ship came sailing in, and the godless woman appeared before her father with a troubled countenance. He said, "Why dost thou come back alone? Where is thy husband?" "Ah, dear father," she replied, "I come home again in great grief; during the voyage, my husband became suddenly ill and died, and if the good skipper had not given me his help, it would have gone ill with me. He was present at his death, and can tell you all." The King said, "I will make the dead alive again," and opened the chamber, and bade the two come out. When the woman saw her husband, she was thunderstruck, and fell on her knees and begged for mercy. The King said, "There is no mercy. He was ready to die with thee and restored thee to life again, but thou hast murdered him in his sleep, and shalt receive the reward that thou deservest." Then she was placed with her accomplice in a ship which had been pierced with holes, and sent out to sea, where they soon sank amid the waves.

II. After he breaks a promise, a disenchanted princess finishes with her husband. The young man's parents don't believe his adventures, thinking they are but tall tales, and he sees no response but to summon her with a wishing ring, in spite of the promise he had made to her (not to summon her):
Eight years had already gone by, when the King thought of his parents; and he wished to visit them.
The Queen, however, would not let him go away, and said, "I know beforehand that it will cause my unhappiness;" but he suffered her to have no rest until she consented. At their parting she gave him a wishing-ring, and said, "Take this ring and put it on thy finger, and then thou wilt immediately be transported whithersoever thou wouldst be, only thou must promise me not to use it in wishing me away from this place."
That he promised her, put the ring on his finger, and wished himself at home, just outside his own hometown. When he came back to his childhood home, he made himself known to his parents, but they did not at all believe that he was their son, and said they certainly had had a son, but that he was dead long ago. Then the young man said to his parents, "I am verily your son. Do you know of no mark on my body by which you could recognize me?" "Yes," said his mother, "our son had a raspberry mark under his right arm." He slipped back his shirt, and they saw the raspberry under his right arm, and no longer doubted that he was their son. Then he told them that he was King of the Golden Mountains, and a king's daughter was his wife. Then said the parents; "That is certainly not true."
On this the son fell in a passion, and without thinking of his promise, turned his ring round, and wished his wife with him. She was there in a second, but the Queen wept, and reproached him, and said that he had broken his word, and had brought misfortune upon her. He said, "I have done it thoughtlessly, and not with evil intention," and tried to calm her, and she pretended to believe this; but she had mischief in her mind.

Then he led her out of the town into the field, and showed her the stream where the little boat had been pushed off, and then he said, "I am tired; sit down, I will sleep awhile on thy lap." And he laid his head on her lap, and fell asleep. When he was asleep, she first drew the ring from his finger, then she drew away the foot which was under him, leaving only the slipper behind her, and wished herself back in her own kingdom. When he awoke, there he lay quite deserted, and his wife was gone, and so was the ring from his finger, the slipper only was still there as a token. And thus he thought: "Thou must be off, and walk on until thou arrivest in thine own kingdom." So he went away and came at length to a hill by which three giants were standing, disputing with each other because they did not know how to divide their father's property. When they saw him passing by, they called to him and said little men had quick wits, and that he was to divide their inheritance for them. The inheritance, however, consisted of a sword, which had this prperty that if any one took it in his hand, and said, "All heads off but mine," every head would lie on the ground; secondly, of a cloak which made any one who put it on invisible; thirdly, of a pair of boots which could transport the wearer to any place he wished in a moment. He said, "Give me the three things that I may see if they are still in good condition." They gave him the cloak, and when he had put it on, he was invisible. Then he resumed his own form and said, "The cloak is a good one, now give me the sword." They said, "No, we will not give thee that; if thou were to say, All heads off but mine,' all our heads would be off, and thou alone wouldst be left with thine." Nevertheless they gave it to him with the condition that he was only to try it against a tree. This he did, and the sword cut in two the trunk of a tree as if it had been a blade of straw. Then he wanted to have the boots likewise, but they said, "No, we will not give them; if thou hadst them on thy feet and wert to wish thyself at the top of the hill, we should be left down here with nothing." "Oh, no," said he, "I will not do that." So they gave him the boots as well. And now when he had got all these things, he thought of nothing but his wife and his child, and said as though to himself, "Oh, if I were but in the realm of the Golden Mountains," and at the same moment he vanished from the sight of the giants, and thus their inheritance was divided. When he was near his palace, he heard sounds of joy, and fiddles, and flutes, and the people told him that his wife was celebrating her wedding with another. Then he fell into a rage, and said, "False woman, she betrayed and deserted me whilst I was asleep!" So he put on his cloak, and unseen by all went into the palace. When he entered the dining hall a great table was spread with delicious food, and the guests were eating and drinking, and laughing, and jesting. She sat on a royal seat in the midst of them in splendid apparel, with a crown on her head. He placed himself behind her, and no one saw him. When she put a piece of meat on a plate for herself, he took it away and ate it, and when she poured out a glass of wine for herself, he took it away and drank it. She was always helping herself to something, and yet she never got anything, for plate and glass disappeared immediately. Then dismayed and ashamed, she arose and went to her chamber and wept, but he followed her there. She said, "Has the devil power over me, or did my deliverer never come?" Then he struck her in the face, and said, "Did thy deliverer never come? It is he who has thee in his power, thou traitor. Have I deserved this from thee?" Then he made himself visible, went into the hall, and cried, "The wedding is at an end, the true King has returned." The lords and councillors who were assembled there, ridiculed and mocked him, but he did not trouble to answer them, and said, "Will you go away, or not?" On this they tried to seize him and pressed upon him, but he drew his sword and said, "All heads off but mine," and all the heads rolled on the ground, and he alone was master, and once more King of the Golden Mountains.