The Turtle Prince (folktale)

In his translation of The Dravidian Nights Entertainment, Natesa Sastri translated two stories about the turtle (tortoise) prince. In the first one, titled Faith Is Always Rewarded, King Venkataja, from the city of Mallikârjunapurî, is married to a wife who has not borne him a son. He divorces her, places the former queen in a separate pavilion next to the palace, and marries a second time. The new queen also does not bear him children. The King searches for answers to this problem, and Mahêsvara and the Sûlapânin Isa help him by giving the king a magical mango that he should give to his queen. The king gives the mango to the second queen; she drinks the juice and discards the rest. The first queen's maid hears about the magic mango, finds the discarded seed, and gives it to the first queen. The first queen gives part of the seed to her maid, and they both eat of the magic mango. Consequently, the second queen gives birth to twin boys, the maid to a son, and the first queen to a tortoise. The narrative says that the tortoise son was no ordinary turtle, but a beautiful prince born in Paramêsvara's favour. One night, while spying to find out why food is mysteriously disappearing, the queen sees a human child come out of the tortoise shell; he has been sneaking out of his shell at night and eating rice. When he has gone, she smashes the shell and goes to sleep. When the boy tries to find his shell and sees it destroyed, he wakes his mother. He explains that he needed the shell, and asks her to have a box made to replace the shell. She apologizes for breaking the shell, and consents to his request for a box.

Sometime later, the king instructs his twin sons to travel north, to the mountain Himayagiri ("the frosty mountain"), and bring back the maiden of the mountain to be their father's third wife. Meanwhile, their half-brother, the tortoise prince, using his gift of Jñanâdrishti (a sort of cosmic awareness or omniscience), learns of the quest and knows their endeavor will fail if he does not go with them. He puts some charcoal on his skin to disguise himself and joins the twin princes on their journey. The twin princes do not recognise him as their brother, but think him to be a mountaineer, and they are glad to let him travel with them because he amuses them with stories.

They reach a red-coloured stream and the twin princes drink the water, but the tortoise prince knows that the stream is leftover water from the princess's bath. So he takes his two half-brothers, one in each arm, and leaps from one side of the stream to the other. The princess witnesses this, and having declared that she will marry the man who can cross the stream without stepping in it, she tells her father of the incident and prepares to marry the extraordinary man. The tortoise prince agrees, with the condition that he still wears the black soot at the ceremony. They marry, and the tortoise prince reveals his royal origins to his wife and advises her to go to Himayagiri if he does not return within 28 days.

The tortoise prince (still in his disguise) and the twin princes continue their journey. They come to another city, where a princess has devised a test for suitors: a man at the city entrance gives a pie to travelers and says they must find firewood, leaf, and oil, and return the pie. The tortoise prince deduces the answer and gives the man a sesamum plant (stem for firewood, its leaves as leaves, and its seed for oil). The princess tells her father, and he arranges the wedding the same day. After the wedding, the prince tells his story and tells her to go to Himayagiri if he does not return after an appointed time.

In a third city, a Pândita (learned lady) sets a task for her suitors: she will present a book of her writings on philosophy to the suitor, and he must write a satisfactory comment on it. The black prince succeeds and, with her father's consent, marries the learned lady. After the wedding, he tells her his story, the purpose of his journey, and that she should go to Himayagiri if he does not return within six days. In turn, his third wife tells him how to find the Himayagiri maiden: he should circle around the mountain and touch a certain creeper plant, which will carry him to the princess. Then he should prostrate before her and call her his mother, and inform her that his father wants her for his bride. The tortoise prince arrives at Himayagiri and sees that his two brothers have stopped at its base, uncertain of how to proceed. The prince does everything his third wife has advised, the princess consents to go with him, and they come down the creeper. The prince then realises that he forgot his golden scimitar up on the mountain and goes back to get it. At that moment, his two brothers, jealous of his successes throughout their journey, cut the rope, and he falls to his death.

The twin princes bring the Himayagiri maiden to their father. However, she feels bad about what happened to the tortoise prince, and resolves to make a penance in hopes that he can come back to life. She asks the king to postpone the wedding for six months because she must make a penance (without telling him why), and the king consents and makes the necessary arrangements for her rituals. Meanwhile, the tortoise prince's three wives go to the place where he died and weep over his shattered body. The third wife, the learned lady, knows a way to revive him, so they gather his remains, perform prayer and other rituals, and resurrect him. The quartet visits the home kingdoms of each wife and receive presents and dowries. Then, the prince procures a house a short distance from his town for his wives to wait in, while he goes home to tell his mother of his adventures. The tortoise prince's mother is delighted at seeing her son again, and after hearing his story, goes to meet his wives. She is well-pleased with them, and brings them home to her own palace.

After six months, the Himayagiri maiden wishes to know if the tortoise prince is alive, and devises a way to find out. She asks the king for one last item before her wedding: a golden lotus flower from beyond the seven oceans, saying to her prospective husband that if his twin sons brought her back, surely they can fetch the flower. However, she knows that only the tortoise prince can get the flower.

The twin princes go to the ocean shore and remember, with sorrow and regret, their treachery towards their extraordinary companion. The black prince appears behind them and offers to get the flower, having been informed of their mission by his omniscience, and instructed in how to complete the task by his third wife. He takes seven pebbles and uses each of them to drain the seven oceans; He then reaches the sacred waters called Akhilâdudakoti Brahmânda, chants a summoning command, gives a Rakshasa a note from his third wife, jumps on a crocodile and gets the golden lotus.

The tortoise prince and his half-brothers deliver the flower to the Himayagiri maiden. She finally consents to the wedding and asks the king to send invitations to all the lords of the world and to have the king's first wife, her son, and the son's three wives give her in marriage. The king visits his first wife and is surprised to see the son - his son - and the three princesses, but does not want to appear ignorant, so he conceals his surprise and invites them all to the wedding. On the wedding day, when kings from all parts of the world are assembled, the Himayagiri maiden tells them what she knows of the story of the tortoise prince, of his mother, his father, and his journey. The tortoise prince then tells the part of the story that the princess does not know, of how he obtained the golden lotus. The king embraces the tortoise prince as his son and marries the Himayagiri maiden. The prince forgives his half-brothers' misdeeds, and they all live peacefully.[3]

In Sastri's second tale, titled True Merit Shall Be Rewarded, in the northern city of Amarâvati, king Alakiyasingarâja and his minister Subhamantrî are good friends, and promise to have their sons and daughters marry each other, if they have them. Months later, the queen gives birth to a tortoise and the minister's wife to a daughter. Years pass and the king laments his lot of having a tortoise son. The tortoise prince talks to him and suggests they go through with the marriage promise. The minister is reluctant to consent to the marriage because of the suitor's status as an animal, but the minister's eldest daughter tells him that she made a vow to marry whoever brought her the parijata flower, and that his physical form does not matter, so long as he brings her the flower.

The tortoise prince wants his father to throw him in the ocean so he may begin his quest. The king does and the tortoise prince swims the seven mighty oceans to reach Udayagiri, the mountain where the Sun rises every morning. He salutes the Sun-god, Sûrya-bhagavan, and his charioteer, Aruna, as they begin their daily journey. The Sun questions the tortoise as to the purpose of his presence. The tortoise asks the deity why he was born an animal in this life, and chants 1,008 praises to the deity. The Sun-god tells him that his tortoise shape is a penance for a misdeed in a previous life. At the tortoise's request, the Sun-god blesses him with the ability to assume a human state at will, and directs the now-human prince towards a nearby sage.

The prince meets the sage, who directs him to two other sages. The third sage tells him that in the temple, there is a garden with a lake, where the divine maidens (Apsaras) come to bathe. The prince should hide nearby and steal the clothes of one of the maidens, escape to Ganêsa's temple, bolt the door, and hold onto it for enough time to convince the maiden to get the parijata flower for him. It all happens as the third sage said, and the Apsara regains her dress and rejoins her sisters. In her divine realm, she commissions a Vînâ guitar from the divine carpenter, takes a basket full of parijata flowers and dishes, and returns to the prince.

The divine maiden sets the dishes before them for a meal and explains that the guitar can summon her and the wonderful dishes he sees before him. The prince descends to the temple the next day and enters the third sage's house. The third sage notices the magic guitar and wishes to trade for it for a self-attacking club that can decimate armies. The prince parts with the guitar in exchange for the club. When he leaves, the club talks to him; it tells him that it wants to beat its previous owner, the third sage, because the sage had not given the club food for many years. The prince agrees and the club kills the third sage. The same event happens to the other two sages: the second sage trades a magic purse for the guitar and the first a pair of teleporting sandals; the prince kills them with the club and retrieves the magic guitar.

He summons the divine maiden and has dinner with her one last time (for now). He explains that he will deliver the parijata flower to the minister's daughter and marry her, but he will give the other magical objects to the divine maiden for safekeeping. He assumes his tortoise shape and swims back to his father's kingdom to present the minister's daughter with the flowers.

She receives the flowers and consents to a wedding date. The minister's eldest daughter marries the tortoise prince, with some sadness, while her sisters marry human husbands. One night, while his human wife is asleep, the prince crawls to the shore, to the place where the divine maiden hid the objects (a baniyan tree), and commands the club to take off his tortoise shell. He summons the maiden with the guitar and they have a splendid meal.

One day, his brothers-in-law decide to go hunting. The tortoise prince tells his wife to prepare a sword and a mount, for he will join them. She does so, despite expecting the mockery of the people. The tortoise prince rides his lame horse to the banyan tree, takes off the tortoiseshell, and becomes a man. He wears the sandals and the club and spreads divine ashes over his body. His brothers-in-law see him, mistake him for a god, and dine with him. The prince pretends to bless the pair and asks for the tips of their little fingers in return. Both men agree and cut off the tips of their little fingers to give him. On a second hunt, the god-like prince demands their rings.

Sometime later, an enemy army marches to conquer their city, and the tortoise prince is the only one who can help his brothers-in-law. He orders his wife to prepare seven tubs of hot water when he returns. He rides as a tortoise, retreats to a hidden place, and returns as a human with the magic club to vanquish the enemy army, to the admiration of his brothers-in-law. Afterwards, he dons the tortoise shell and returns to his wife.

He bids his wife leave the room, takes off the tortoiseshell, and enters the bath. His wife, spying on the other side of the door, sees his human form and swoons. When she wakes up, she breaks the tortoise shell. After the prince exits the bath, he demands his tortoise shell back, but his wife explains she smashed it to pieces. The prince excuses her and drops onto the bed out of sheer exhaustion. The minister's daughter rushes to her parents to show them the true form of her husband. The king and queen also see their son's human form. The brothers-in-law recognize him as the god-like bring they met in the forest. The prince and the minister's daughter remarry and he assumes the throne.[4]

Author Henry Parker collected a homonymous tale from Ceylon titled Ibi Kumārayā or The Turtle Prince. In this tale, two noblemen live in two houses in the same city. Their respective wives bear seven children each: one gives birth to seven girls, and the other to six boys and a turtle. Both men decide to have their sons and daughters marry amongst themselves, but there is the problem of the seventh couple: how can a human woman marry a turtle? The nobleman eventually relents and authorizes his daughter's marriage. Sometime later, the king of the same city announces that whoever brings him the Fire Cock (Gini kukulā, or fire[-coloured] cock) from the Land of the Rakshasas shall receive the kingdom. The turtle prince asks his mother to go to the king and offer his services. The turtle prince cooks a bit of rice and starts the journey. On the road, he hides behind some trees and takes off his "turtle jacket". He takes shelter with three old women in his quest for the "Jewelled Cock", and the women all warn him that many have tried and failed in this mission. Since he insists on soldiering on, the widow-mothers teach him magic and give him magic objects to create obstacles for the Rakshasas, should they pursue him after he gets the bird. The prince gets the bird and uses the magical items to hinder the pursuit of Rakshasas. He goes back to the trees, puts the turtle jacket on, and returns to the kingdom with the Fire Cock. Having succeeded, the turtle prince takes off his jacket and goes to hear the Bana with his wife. The wife, noticing the man is her husband, rushes home to burn the turtle jacket and keep her husband in human form permanently.[5] Parker sourced this tale from a tom-tom beater in Hiriyala, North Western Province, Sri Lanka.[6]

In another tale, The Prince who received the Turtle Shell, in a certain kingdom, the prince's teachers notice that he fails to learn what they teach him, and thus inform the king. His brothers prove to be more skilled than him, and dejected, the prince abandons the kingdom. He takes shelter with a cowherd and his wife. While he grazes the cows, a goddess shows compassion to him and gives him a turtle shell and a magic spell. With it, he can turn into a turtle and vice versa. He goes to another kingdom and becomes the adopted son of a flower mother. He learns the seventh princess is still single and decides to court her in both human and turtle forms. The princess brings the turtle to her palace; he takes off his disguise and tells her his story. With time, she becomes pregnant and the king questions her about it. She tells it is the flower mother's son, so he delivers her to him and banishes her from the palace. Sometime later, the king organizes a feast with a hunt and sends six of his sons-in-law to take part in it. The seventh princess tells her husband and he joins the hunting party in ragged clothes. Out of sight, he changes into a prince, kills the animals, takes their tongues, and returns to his shabby disguise. The brothers-in-law present the animals to the king, but the seventh prince shows up to take the credit for his deed and shows the tongues to the king.[7]

In another published tale, Concerning a Royal Princess and a Turtle, a king and a minister, due to their deep friendship and trust, promise to betroth their eldest children to each other. The king's wife give birth to a girl, and the minister's wife gives birth to a turtle. The time comes for their wedding vows, and the princess refuses to marry the turtle. However, she says, if they insist on continuing with the marriage, she wants the turtle to first bring her a Sūriya-kāntā flower. The turtle goes to the place where the sun (Surya) rises and places his head on the ground in front of the sun's chariot wheel. Surya gives the turtle the ability to change into a man at will and directs him to the trail of three Dēwatāwās. The Dēwatāwās point to him a hidden lake where "Virgin Women" (Kanniyā-Striyō) or Sun-maidens (Sūriyā-kāntāwō) bathe, and he must steal their clothes and force them to give him the flower. The youth gets the flower and is also given a cudgel and a magic lute. He returns to the turtle shell and marries the princess, while her sisters marry human princes. One day, the six princes go on a seven-day hunt, and the turtle prince, still in turtle form, asks his wife to bring him a mount and a sword. He receives a mule and a short sword and joins his brothers-in-law on the hunt. He hides in the forest, takes off the turtle shell, and summons the Virgin Women to give him a horse and a better sword. The prince, in human shape, hunts the best game for himself. After a while, he meets the six other princes and agrees to give them six dead deer, in exchange for a piece of cloth from each. The turtle prince changes back into a turtle and presents a dead rat as the catch of the day. This goes on for the next few days: the prince exchanges his game for the princes' rings. When the seven-day hunt ends, the turtle prince asks his wife to prepare a hot bath for him; the princess sees him coming out of the shell and burns it. At last, the prince, now fully human, presents his father-in-law with proof that he was the one who hunted the best game for him.[8]

In a tale collected by author M. N. Venkataswami with the title The Nymph of Wire Hill, a king has two wives, but no sons. He goes to the forest and meets an anchorite who directs him to a mango tree. The king takes the mangoes and brings them home to his wives. The younger wife eats the fruits, leaving the peels and cots. The senior wife eats the mango kernels. Months later, the younger wife gives birth to twin sons, and the senior wife to a tortoise.

The senior wife accepts her lot in life and cares for the tortoise as her son. One day, she and a servant notice that some food has been disappearing from their palace. It turns out that her tortoise son is indeed human, for he leaves the tortoiseshell in human form, eats the food, and goes to Davendraloka to learn, just as his half-brothers are learning from a pandit. The senior wife discovers the empty shell, notices her son is human after all, and smashes it. Losing his turtle shell, he asks his mother to fashion him a box to cover himself with.

Sometime later, the king becomes ill with longing for the "Nymph of the Wire Hill", and his sons decide to bring her to their father to be his next wife. The tortoise son, now human, tells his mother he must join his brothers since they cannot get the Nymph by themselves. His mother applies some colirium to his face and his appearance darkens, so his brothers cannot recognize him.

He joins his brothers and they begin their quest. Their first stop is a kingdom whose princess has declared she will marry the one who can jump across a large stream. The first princess tells her father she will marry the dark boy who accompanies the twin princes. He tells he is only an ascetic without much to his name. They marry and the prince spends some time with his wife, asking her how to get to Wire Hill. Before he departs, he gives her a Mangalasustram flower as a token of life.

Their next stop is another kingdom, where a princess has issued a challenge: who can bring her all the necessary provisions for life in a pie? The tortoise prince goes to the bazaar, buys a unit of all grains in a bundle, and produces some ghi on a leaf and a faggot of wood. The second princess marries the man who brought the provisions, which are the correct answer to her riddle. Before he departs, he gives the princess a flower a token of life.

The prince's third stop is another kingdom, where their princess has issued a proclamation that she will marry anyone who can decipher a drawing of the Devendraloka with some inscriptions underneath. The tortoise prince deciphers the drawing and the inscriptions and marries for the third time. While talking to his new wife, she tells him that the on the southern part of Wire Hill there is a wire that he can use to reach the Nymph. Before he departs, he plants a lily as a token of life and instructs her to go to Wire Hill in case the flower blackens.

At last, the three princes arrive at Wire Hill. The twin princes complain to each other about their companion's marital successes and plot against him. The tortoise prince climbs the wire and meets the Nymph. After spending some time with him, the Nymph climbs down the wire but asks the youth to bring her her parrot cage. The tortoise prince descends the wire with the bird cage, but the twin princes cut the wire and he falls to his death.

Each of the princesses notices that the token of life changes color and runs to Wire Hill, the first princess meeting the second and both meeting the third one. The trio reach Wire Hill and see the tortoise prince's bones scattered, and the wives gather up the bones. The youngest wife goes to a cistern, bathes seven times, and enters a meditation state, extending the folds of her garments to receive something. Parwati heeds her lamentations and Parmeshwara gives her a rod to use on the tortoise prince to revive him. The youngest princess uses the rod on her husband and returns it to the cistern.

The tortoise prince, now revived, takes his three wives, passes by each of their kingdoms to gather presents and amass a large retinue, and returns to his kingdom. He asks his three wives to meet and greet his mother, bathe her feet, and offer her a seat.

Meanwhile, the twin princes get the credit for bringing the Nymph of Wire Hill to their father. Still thinking of the youth who came to her at Wire Hill, she tells her husband-to-be, the king, that before their wedding she needs some Cobra-Lillies, found only at the end of seven and seven-fourteen seas, beyond the sea of milk. The tortoise prince notices his brothers are being sent for the Cobra-Lillies, and asks his third and youngest wife for advice. She gives him a letter and some seeds and explains what to do: he is to cast the seeds into the sea, which will open a dry passage for him; he is to walk all the way until he sees a turtle; he is to give the turtle the letter; the turtle will return and take him to its king, the Lord of Serpents.

The tortoise prince follows his third wife's instructions and finds the turtle, giving it the letter. The turtle takes the prince to the court of the Lord of Serpents, who greets him. He marries him to his daughter, the "celestial Swain", gives him some Cobra-Lillies, and sends both his daughter and son-in-law back on the turtle. The twin princes arrive on the beach and see the tortoise prince and his new wife coming. The prince agrees to give them the Cobra-Lillies.

Seeing that the task is fulfilled, the Nymph of Wire Hill agrees to set a date for her marriage with to the king and invites a grand assembly of nobles and monarchs. However, she notices the absence of the senior wife and her son. The king takes issue with this information, since, in his mind, only his younger wife bore him any sons. The Nymph of Wire Hill scolds her fiancé and tells him that his twin sons did nothing heroic, and the tortoise prince did everything. The king spits at the twin sons and banishes them, and embraces his senior wife, their tortoise son, and the tortoise's four wives.[9] Venkataswami classified the tale as a "Tortoise Prince Type",[10] and, according to his preface, the tale was provided by his cousin named M. Venkatamma, from Bezwada.[11]

Indian scholar A. K. Ramanujan collected and published a tale from Kannada with the title The Turtle Prince. In this tale, a king and his minister have no children, so they consult a holy man, who tells them that if devote themselves to Siva, their wives will become pregnant. Hearing the good news, they agree to have their children marry amongst each other.

Some time passes and the queen gives birth to a turtle and the minister's wife to a girl. Years pass, and the king is worried about his agreement to the minister since the animal prince cannot marry a human girl. The turtle prince tells his father to consult with the minister. The minister's daughter says she will marry the man who can bring her the celestial parijata flower.

The turtle begs his father to take him to the water so he can begin the journey. The turtle prince swims to Udaya mountain, where he prays to the sun god. The deity himself appears before him, explains that the prince's animal shape is penance for a misdeed in a past life, and transforms him into a handsome human prince.

He meets three sages on the way, the last of whom directs him to the temple of the elephant-faced god and tells him that nearby celestial maidens come down to earth to bathe and that he should steal the sari of one of them and return to the temple. He does and one of the celestial maidens begs the prince to give her sari back. The prince explains that he wants the parijata flowers that grow in the celestial realm.

The celestial maiden goes to her realm and then returns to the prince, bringing the flowers and also a flute with which he can summon her. The prince makes his way back to the sages, who each want the magic flute in exchange for a gift they have: the first a wand that can beat one's enemies, the second a sack that grants the owner whatever they wish for, and the third a pair of teleporting sandals. The prince trades the flute for each, commands the wand to beat up the sages, and retrieves the flute.

Once back in his kingdom, he hides the magical items and prays to the Sun God to become a turtle again. He presents the minister's daughter with the flowers and asks for the marriage date to be set. The minister arranges a grand ceremony to marry his eldest daughter to the turtle and his two other daughters to human princes.

Sometime later, the princes want to go on a hunt, and the tortoise decides to join them. His wife is aware of the mocking comments they already suffer, but relents and prepares him for the hunt. On the way, the turtle takes off its shell and becomes human. Fierce tigers frighten the hunting party but are no match for the prince. The brothers-in-law meet the prince ("they saw the turtle"), who agrees to give them the dead tigers in exchange for the left half of their mustaches. The men agree and everyone returns, the prince back to turtle form.

Later that night, while the minister's daughter is asleep, the prince takes off his shell, undresses his wife, caresses her body, and goes back to being a turtle. The next morning, she notices that someone came in the night, and decides to investigate. The next night, his wife discovers his human form and wants his charade to end. The next morning, the brothers-in-law go to court to take the credit for killing the tigers, but the turtle appears, takes off the shell, and becomes a man. He reveals he is the one responsible for the deed and shows the mustaches as proof. He is then crowned king.[12]

Zacharias P. Thundy published a tale from Kadar that he titled Beauty and the Beast: a turtle is born to a king, and before he marries the minister's daughter, is sent on a quest for the parijata flower.[13]

Stuart Blackburn collected a Tamil tale he titled The Turtle Prince: a raja and a minister promise to marry their children. When a turtle is born to the raja and six girls to the minister, the eldest daughter asks for her turtle suitor to get her a parijatam flower. The turtle prince goes to the sun god Surya, who grants him a boon: he can transform into human form and hold the turtle shell in his hand. With the directions of an ascetic, he steals the garments of a Kannimar to convince her to get him the flower. The Kannimar gives him the flower, and a vina in case he wants to summon her help anywhere. He also obtains a magic wand (baton) a magic bag and magic sandals. Assuming turtle form again, he returns home and marries the minister's eldest daughter. One day, he asks for a blind helper and a lame horse as a mount to join his brothers-in-law in the hunt. Later, he defends his father's kingdom against a foreign army, and, when he goes home to bathe, his wife takes the turtle shell and burns it.[14]

Blackburn collected at least 18 variants of the story (most with the turtle prince) and formulated a new Indian tale type he indexed as AT 441B Ind, "The Despised Animal-Husband".[19][lower-alpha 1] In a 2001 study, he stated that these stories are "very popular" South Indian tales.[20]

• Eglė the Queen of Serpents
• The Frog Prince
• The Golden Crab
• The Little Crab (Greek folktale)
• Prince Crawfish (Belarusian folktale)
• Sang Thong (Thai folktale; prince as snail)
• The Snail Son (Japanese folktale)