The Prince and the Gypsy Woman
Ukrainian fairy tale of a prince, three eggs, and a false bride.
A Ukrainian fairy tale, *The Prince and the Gypsy Woman* (Ukrainian: «Царевич і циганка», romanized: *Tsarevich i Zyhanka*), was first published in 1847 by the writer and folklorist Panteleimon Kulish. The story corresponds to the international tale type ATU 408, "The Love for Three Oranges," in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index. Scholarly sources note that among East Slavic languages, this specific tale type appears only in Ukraine.
In the story, a prince seeking a bride is told by a gypsy woman to climb a willow tree by a river and take three eggs from a nest. On his way home, he accidentally breaks the first egg, releasing a maiden who asks for water; he fails to give it, and she dies. The same happens with the second egg. From the third egg, another maiden emerges, and the prince gives her water in his hat. She climbs a willow tree and tells him to return with a carriage.
While the prince is gone, the gypsy woman sees the maiden’s reflection in the water alongside her own. She lures the maiden down, drowns her, and dresses in her clothes to impersonate her. The true maiden transforms into a fish with silver and golden scales. The prince catches the fish and brings it home, but the false bride claims it is dangerous, so he throws it into an orchard, where an apple tree with silver and golden leaves and fruit grows. The gypsy woman again deceives the prince, saying the tree is poisonous, and it is cut down.
An old man takes a piece of the tree to make a comb. When he and his wife leave home, the comb transforms into the maiden, who does their chores. They adopt her as their daughter. The prince later notices the old couple, who live at his court, now have a third family member. The old man explains the girl came from the wooden comb. The prince recognizes her as the maiden from the willow tree, marries her, and has the gypsy woman expelled and fed to the pigs.
Quick Facts
- Folk Tale Name
- The Prince and the Gypsy Woman
- Aarne-Thompson Grouping
- ATU 408, "The Love for Three Oranges"
- Region
- Ukraine
- Published In
- Украинские народные предания. Книжка первая (1847), by Panteleimon Kulish
- Related
- The Gypsy Tsaritsa / The Maiden from the Apple Tree / The Maiden Out of the Oranges / The Princess from the Egg
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The tale follows a prince who cannot find a bride until a gypsy woman advises him to climb a willow tree by a river and fetch three eggs. He does so, and on his journey home accidentally breaks open each egg, releasing a beautiful maiden who asks for water. He forgets to give water to the first two, and they die; the third maiden he gives water to, and she climbs a willow tree, bidding him return with a carriage. While the prince is away, the gypsy woman sees the maiden's reflection in the water, drowns her, and impersonates her. The true maiden transforms into a fish with silver and golden scales, then into an apple tree with silver and golden leaves and fruit, and finally into a wooden comb from which she emerges to help an old couple. The prince eventually recognizes her and marries her, expelling the gypsy woman and ordering her fed to the pigs.
Reader's Guide
The Prince and the Gypsy Woman is significant as a Ukrainian variant of the international tale type ATU 408, 'The Love for Three Oranges', and is notable for its use of eggs rather than citrus fruits as the containers for the maidens—a motif that scholarship locates in Southeastern Europe and Slavic texts. The tale's transformation sequence (maiden to fish to tree to comb) aligns with subtype AaTh 408A, which Christine Goldberg identifies from the Middle East to Italy and France, particularly in Greece and Eastern Europe. According to the East Slavic Folktale Catalogue, this tale type is registered only in Ukraine, not in Russian or Belarusian corpora, underscoring its regional specificity. The story also illustrates the common folkloric pattern of a false bride's substitution and the heroine's eventual recognition and reunion with the prince.
Did You Know?
- The tale was first collected and published by Ukrainian writer and folklorist Panteleimon Kulish in 1847.
- It is classified as tale type SUS 408 in the East Slavic Folktale Classification, corresponding to ATU 408.
- Scholarship states that among East Slavic languages, variants of this tale type are only found in Ukraine.
- The maiden emerges from eggs rather than oranges, a motif found in Southeastern Europe and Slavic texts.
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