Fairer-than-a-Fairy (Mailly)
A princess named Fairer-than-a-Fairy is kidnapped by an old fairy.
Fairer-than-a-Fairy is a literary fairy tale published anonymously in the 1718 collection Nouveaux contes de fées and attributed to the Chevalier de Mailly. It is also known as Le Prince Arc-en-ciel in French and as The Rainbow Prince in English. Andrew Lang included the tale in The Yellow Fairy Book.
Quick Facts
- French title
- Le Prince Arc-en-ciel
- English title
- The Rainbow Prince
- Author (attributed)
- Chevalier de Mailly
- Collection
- Nouveaux contes de fées
- Year of publication
- 1718
- Included in
- The Yellow Fairy Book (Andrew Lang)
Facts from the source article.
Synopsis
A king and queen, after many childless years, had a daughter so beautiful that the king named her Fairer-than-a-Fairy. This angered the fairies, who decided to kidnap her. They entrusted the task to the oldest fairy, Lagrée, who had only one eye and one tooth left and could preserve them only by soaking them in a magical liquid at night. Lagrée kidnapped the seven-year-old princess, whose cat and dog followed, and brought her to a castle. There the princess was given a pretty room but charged never to let a fire go out and to take care of two glass bottles. One day in the garden, sunlight struck a fountain, and a voice told her he was a prince held prisoner who could speak only as a rainbow when sunlight shone on that fountain. They talked when possible, but one day her distraction caused the fire to go out. Lagrée, delighted, ordered Fairer-than-a-Fairy to get a new fire from Locrinos, a cruel monster that ate whoever it found, especially young girls. On the way, a bird told her to pick up a shining pebble, which she did. At Locrinos's house, only his wife was home; impressed by the princess's manners, beauty, and the stone, she gave her the fire and another stone. The princess met her lover again, and they devised a way to meet more readily by placing a crystal bowl on her windowsill. One day the prince appeared woeful, having learned his prison was to be changed. The next day was cloudy until the very end; in her haste to reach him, Fairer-than-a-Fairy upset the bowl. Rather than lose the chance to speak, she filled it with water from the two bottles. She then set out with her dog and cat, a sprig of myrtle, and the stone from Locrinos's wife. Lagrée followed. When Fairer-than-a-Fairy slept in a shelter made by the stone, Lagrée caught up, but the dog bit her, making her fall and break her last tooth. While Lagrée raged, the princess escaped. She slept under a myrtle that sprang from the sprig, and when Lagrée reached her, the cat scratched her eye out, leaving the fairy helpless.
Analysis
Rachel Harriette Busk noted that the tale contains the episode of the prince's disappearance and the princess's quest for him, during which she is aided by three white and green old women who give her three objects to awaken the prince. Stanislao Prato listed Prince Arc-en-Ciel as a variant on the theme of the Animal as Bridegroom and the myth of Cupid and Psyche, and commented on the motif of gifts from three old ladies, comparing it to tales where a maiden receives three nuts that produce magical objects traded for three nights with her husband. Hans-Jörg Uther identified the main feature of tale type ATU 425A as bribing the false bride for three nights with the husband, and noted that an essential trait is the wife's quest and gifts and nights bought.
More in French Fairy Tales
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced