THE CROW-PERI
by Unknown · from Turkish fairy tales and folk tales
Adapted Version
A kind boy lived far away. His father died. The boy found a net. He went to the forest. He set the net. A crow flew down. The net caught the crow.
The crow asked to be free. She promised a pretty bird. The boy was kind. He opened the net. The crow flew away. The boy set his net again. He waited under the tree.
A pretty bird flew into the net. The boy saw it. He never saw such a bird. He took the bird. He went to the King. The King loved the bird. He gave the boy much money.
The King had a Mean Man. He did not like the boy. He told the King a plan. "The Pretty Bird needs a house. A house made of white tusks. He must find white tusks." The King called the boy. He told him to find white tusks.
The boy was sad. The Magic Crow came. She asked why he cried. The boy told her his trouble. The crow said, "Go to the King. Ask for many wagons. Then go to the forest. You will find white tusks."
The boy found many white tusks. He took them to the King. The King was happy. He built the bird's house. The Mean Man spoke again. "The bird does not sing. It needs its master. The boy can find the master."
The boy was sad again. The Magic Crow came. She told him what to do. "Ask the King for a big ship. Put a garden on the ship. Sail the ship to a big mountain. Many fairies live there."
The boy sailed to the mountain. The Fairy Queen saw the ship. She liked the ship. The boy asked her to come aboard. She came to see the garden. The boy sailed away. He took the Fairy Queen.
The boy brought the Fairy Queen. They went to the King's palace. The Pretty Bird saw her. It sang a happy song. The King was very happy. He loved the Fairy Queen. The King married the Fairy Queen.
The Fairy Queen got sick. The Mean Man spoke. "The boy can find magic cure. It is in her old home." The King sent the boy to her old home. This was a hard job. He must find the cure.
The Magic Crow came to the boy. She gave him a feather. "Two lions guard the palace. Touch them with this." The boy went to the palace with this. He touched the lions. He found the magic cure.
The boy brought the cure. The Magic Crow flew with him. The Fairy Queen drank it. She got well. She looked at the crow. "You made a mistake before. Now you are free." The crow changed. She became a pretty Fairy Maid.
The boy married the Fairy Maid. The Mean Man was sent far away. The boy became a good helper. He lived with joy ever after. Kindness and not giving up bring good things. Being mean makes bad things happen.
Original Story
THE CROW-PERI
Once upon a time that was no time there was a man who had one son. This man used to go out into the forest all day, and catch birds for sale to the first comer. At last, however, the father died and the son was left all alone. Now he did not know what had been his fathers profession, but while he was searching all about the floor he came upon the fowling-snare. So he took it, went out into the forest, and set the snare on a tree. At that moment a crow flew down upon the tree, but as the snare was cunningly laid the poor bird was caught. The youth climbed up after it, but when he had got hold of the bird, the crow began begging him to let her go, promising to give him in exchange something more beautiful and more precious than herself. The crow begged and prayed till at last he let her go free, and again he set the snare in the tree and sat down at the foot of it to wait. Presently another bird came flying up, and flew right into the snare. The youth climbed up the tree again to bring it down, but when he saw it he was full of amazement, for such a beautiful thing he had never seen in the forest before.
While he was still gazing at it and chuckling, the crow again appeared to him and said: “Take that bird to the Padishah, and he will buy it from thee.” So the youth took away the bird, put it in a cage, and carried it to the palace. When the Padishah saw the beautiful little creature he was filled with joy, and gave the youth so much money for it that he did not know what to do with it all. But the bird they placed in a golden cage, and the Padishah had his joy of it day and night.
Now the Padishah had a favourite who was grievously jealous of the good fortune of the youth who had brought the bird, and kept cudgelling his brains how he could get him beneath his feet. At last he hit upon a plan, and going in to the Padishah one day he said: “How happy that bird would be if only he had an ivory palace to dwell in!”
“Yes,” replied the Padishah, “but whence could I get enough ivory to make him a palace?”
“He who brought the bird hither,” said the favourite, “will certainly be able to find the ivory.”
So the Padishah sent for the little fowler, and bade him make an ivory palace for the bird there and then. “I know thou canst get the ivory,” said the Padishah.
“Alas, my lord Padishah!” lamented the youth, “whence am I to get all this ivory from?”
“That is thy business,” replied the Padishah. “Thou mayest search for it for forty days, but if it is not here by that time thy head shall be where now thy feet are.”
The youth was sore troubled, and while he was still pondering in his mind which road he should take, the crow came flying up to him, and asked him what he was grieving about so much. Then the youth told her what a great trouble that one little bird had brought down upon his head.
“Why this is nothing at all to fret about,” said the crow; “but go to the Padishah, and ask him for forty wagon-loads of wine!” So the youth returned to the palace, got all that quantity of wine, and as he was coming back with the cars, the crow flew up and said: “Hard by is a forest, on the border of which are forty large trenches, and as many elephants as there are in the wide world come to drink out of these trenches. Go now and fill them with wine instead of water. The elephants will thus get drunk and tumble down, and thou wilt be able to pull out their teeth and take them to the Padishah.”
The youth did as the bird said, crammed his cars full of elephants’ tusks instead of wine, and returned with them to the palace. The Padishah rejoiced greatly at the sight of all the ivory, had the palace built, rewarded the little fowler with rich gifts, and sent him home.
So there was the sparkling bird in his ivory palace, and right merrily did he hop about from perch to perch, but he could never be got to sing. “Ah!” said the evil counsellor, “if only his master were here he would sing of his own accord.”
“Who knows who his master is, or where he is to be found?” asked the Padishah sadly.
“He who fetched the elephants’ tusks could fetch the bird’s master also,” replied the evil counsellor.
So the Padishah sent for the little fowler once more, and commanded him to bring the bird’s master before him.
“How can I tell who his master is, when I caught him by chance in the forest?” asked the fowler.
“That is thy look-out,” said the Padishah; “but if thou find him not I will slay thee. I give thee forty days for thy quest, and let that suffice thee.”
So the youth went home, and sobbed aloud in his despair, when lo! the crow came flying up and asked him what he was crying for.
“Why should I not cry?” said the poor youth, and with that he began to tell the crow of his new trouble.—“Nay, but ’tis a shame to weep for such a trifle,” said the crow. “Go quickly now to the King and ask him for a large ship, but it must be large enough to hold forty maidservants, a beautiful garden also, and a bath-house.” So the youth returned to the King and told him what he wanted for his journey.
The ship was prepared as he had desired it, the youth embarked, and was just thinking whether he should go to the left or the right, when the crow came flying up, and said to him: “Steer thy ship always to the right, and go straight on until thou perceive a huge mountain. At the foot of this mountain dwell forty Peris, and when they perceive thy ship they will feel a strong desire to look at everything on board of it. But thou must allow only their Queen to come on board, for she is the owner of the bird, and while thou art showing her the ship, set sail and never stop till thou reach home.”
So the youth went on board the ship, steered steadily to the right, and never stopped once till he came to the mountain. There the forty Peris were walking on the sea-shore, and when they saw the ship they all came rushing up that they might examine the beautiful thing. The Queen of the Peris asked the little fowler whether he would not show her the ship, especially the inside of it, and he took her off in a little skiff and brought her to the vessel.
The Peri was monstrously delighted with the beautiful ship, walked in the garden with the damsels on board the ship, and when she saw the bath-room she said to the waiting-maids: “If I have come so far, I may as well have a bath into the bargain.” With that she stepped into the bath-room, and while she was bathing the ship went off.
They had gone a good distance across the sea before the Peri had finished her bathing. The Peri made haste, for it was now growing late, but when she stepped upon the deck she saw nothing but the sea around her. At this she fell a-weeping bitterly. What would become of her? she said; whither was she going? into whose hands was she about to fall? But the youth comforted her with the assurance that she was going to a King’s palace, and would be among good people.
Not very long afterwards they arrived in the city, and sent word to the King that the ship had come back. Then he brought the Peri to the palace, and as she passed by the ivory palace of the bird, it began to sing so beautifully that all who heard it were beside themselves for joy. The Peri was a little comforted when she heard it, but the King was filled with rapture, and he loved the beautiful Peri so fondly that he could not be a single moment without her. The wedding-banquet quickly followed, and with the beauteous Peri on his right hand, and the sparkling bird on his left, there was not a happier man in the world than that Padishah. But the poison of envy devoured the soul of the evil counsellor.
One day, however, the Sultana suddenly fell ill, and took to her bed. Every remedy was tried in vain, but the sages said that nothing could cure her but the drug which she had left behind her in her own fairy palace. Then, by the advice of the evil counsellor, the young fowler was again sent for to the palace, and commanded to go and seek for the drug.
So the good youth embarked on his ship again, and was just about to sail when the crow came to him and asked him whither he was going. The youth told her that the Sultana was ill, and he had been sent to fetch the drug from the fairy palace. “Well then, go!” said the crow, “and thou wilt find the palace behind a mountain. Two lions stand in the gates, but take this feather and touch their mouths with it, and they will not lift so much as a claw against thee.”
The youth took the feather, arrived in front of the mountain, disembarked, and quickly beheld the palace. He went straight up to the gates, and there stood the two lions. He took out his feather, and no sooner had he touched their mouths than they lay down one on each side and let him go into the palace. The Peris about the palace also saw the youth, and immediately guessed that their Queen was ill. So they gave him the drug, and immediately he took ship again, and returned to the palace of the Padishah. But the moment he entered the Peri’s chamber with the drug in his hand, the crow alighted on his shoulder, and thus they went together to the sick Sultana’s bed.
The Sultana was already in the throes of death, but no sooner had she tasted of the healing drug than she seemed to return to life again at a single bound. She opened her eyes, gazed upon the little fowler, and perceiving the crow upon his shoulder thus addressed her: “Oh, thou sooty slave! art thou not sorry for all that this good youth hath suffered for my sake?” Then the Sultana told her lord that this same crow was her serving-maid, whom, for negligence in her service, she had changed into a crow. “Nevertheless,” she added, “I now forgive her, for I see that her intentions towards me were good.”
At these words the crow trembled all over, and immediately a damsel so lovely stood before the young fowler that there was really very little difference between her and the Queen of the Peris. At the petition of the Sultana, the Sultan married the youth to the Crow-Peri, the evil-minded counsellor was banished, and the fowler became Vizier in his stead. And their happiness lasted till death.
Story DNA
Moral
Kindness and perseverance will be rewarded, while envy and malice lead to downfall.
Plot Summary
A young fowler releases a crow, who, in gratitude, helps him acquire a magical bird for the Padishah. The Padishah's jealous favorite repeatedly sets impossible tasks for the fowler, which the crow helps him overcome, leading him to bring the bird's true owner, a Peri Queen, to the Padishah. When the Peri Queen falls ill, the fowler retrieves a magical drug from her fairy palace, where the crow reveals herself to be the Queen's transformed maid. The maid is restored to her true form, marries the fowler, and the jealous favorite is banished, allowing the fowler to become Vizier and live happily ever after.
Themes
Emotional Arc
suffering to triumph
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
The use of terms like 'Padishah' and 'Peri' suggests an origin in cultures influenced by Persian or Islamic traditions, where such figures and concepts are prevalent in folklore.
Plot Beats (13)
- A young fowler, inheriting his father's snare, catches a crow in the forest.
- The crow begs for release, promising a more beautiful bird in return, and the fowler frees her.
- The fowler catches a beautiful bird, sells it to the Padishah, and receives a large reward.
- The Padishah's jealous favorite convinces the Padishah to demand an ivory palace for the bird.
- The crow advises the fowler to get forty wagon-loads of wine, which he uses to intoxicate elephants and collect their tusks.
- The fowler delivers the ivory, and the favorite then demands he find the bird's master.
- The crow instructs the fowler to prepare a ship with a garden and bath-house, and to sail to a mountain where forty Peris dwell.
- The fowler lures the Peri Queen onto his ship by showing her the amenities, then sails away with her while she is bathing.
- The Peri Queen (now Sultana) is brought to the Padishah, and the bird sings upon her arrival; the Padishah marries her.
- The jealous favorite convinces the Padishah to send the fowler to retrieve a magical drug from the Peri Queen's fairy palace to cure her illness.
- The crow gives the fowler a feather to pass two lions guarding the palace, and he retrieves the drug.
- Upon the fowler's return, the crow reveals herself to be the Sultana's maid, transformed for negligence, and is forgiven and restored to her true form.
- The fowler marries the Crow-Peri, the jealous counselor is banished, and the fowler becomes Vizier, living happily ever after.
Characters
The Youth
Of average height and build, with the lean physique of someone accustomed to physical labor in the forest. His features are likely unassuming, reflecting his humble origins as a fowler's son.
Attire: Simple, practical peasant attire suitable for a fowler in a Middle Eastern or Central Asian setting. Likely a loose-fitting tunic of coarse linen or cotton, perhaps in earthy tones, with simple trousers and sturdy leather sandals or bare feet. No elaborate adornments.
Wants: Initially, survival and continuing his father's trade. Later, to avoid the Padishah's wrath and fulfill his commands, and eventually to find happiness and security.
Flaw: Lack of self-reliance and easily overwhelmed by challenges, often needing external guidance (from the Crow-Peri).
Transforms from a simple, despairing fowler into a resourceful, successful Vizier, gaining confidence and a royal spouse through his trials.
Kind, naive, obedient, resourceful (when guided), easily troubled, ultimately courageous.
The Crow-Peri (as Crow)
A large, glossy black crow, with intelligent, knowing eyes. Her feathers would shimmer with an unnatural sheen, hinting at her magical nature.
Attire: Her natural crow plumage, which is uniformly black and sleek.
Wants: To atone for her past negligence, regain her true form, and guide the Youth to success, ultimately leading to her own redemption.
Flaw: Her past negligence led to her cursed form; she is dependent on the Youth's actions for her transformation.
Serves as a magical guide and mentor, eventually transforming back into her beautiful Peri form and marrying the Youth.
Wise, cunning, helpful, observant, forgiving (eventually), powerful.
The Padishah
A man of regal bearing, likely of a mature age, with a presence that commands respect. His build would be robust, reflecting a life of comfort and authority.
Attire: Rich, flowing robes of silk and brocade, perhaps in deep blues, greens, or purples, adorned with gold embroidery. A jeweled turban would crown his head, and a wide, ornate sash would cinch his waist. His attire would be indicative of a powerful ruler in a Persianate or Ottoman setting.
Wants: To possess beautiful and rare things, to maintain his authority, and to find happiness and contentment.
Flaw: Susceptible to the manipulations of his favorite counsellor, and prone to making unreasonable demands.
Remains largely unchanged, but his court is improved by the banishment of his evil counsellor and the appointment of the Youth as Vizier.
Demanding, easily swayed by flattery, fond of beauty, capable of generosity, but also quick to threaten.
The Evil Counsellor
Likely of a slender or wiry build, with features that might be sharp or calculating, reflecting his envious nature. Not necessarily physically imposing, but with a presence that suggests cunning.
Attire: Fine, but perhaps slightly less opulent than the Padishah's. Rich fabrics like silk or brocade, in darker or more subdued colors, suggesting his manipulative nature. He might wear a simpler, but still elegant, cap or turban.
Wants: To undermine the Youth, gain favor with the Padishah, and maintain his own position and influence.
Flaw: His overwhelming envy and malice ultimately lead to his downfall.
Remains consistently evil and is ultimately banished from the court.
Envious, manipulative, cruel, cunning, self-serving.
The Queen of the Peris (Sultana)
Of breathtaking beauty, described as having 'very little difference' from the transformed Crow-Peri. Her form is ethereal and graceful, with delicate features and an aura of enchantment.
Attire: Exquisitely beautiful and flowing garments, made of shimmering, fine fabrics like silk or chiffon, in soft, ethereal colors (e.g., pale blues, silvers, whites). Adorned with delicate jewelry, perhaps a circlet or intricate hair ornaments. Her attire would be magical and otherworldly, yet regal.
Wants: Initially, to explore the ship and enjoy its luxuries. Later, to recover from her illness and be reunited with her lost drug, and to live happily with the Padishah.
Flaw: Vulnerable to illness and separation from her magical remedies.
Is brought to the Padishah's palace, falls ill, is cured by the Youth, and lives happily as the Sultana.
Curious, appreciative of beauty, initially distressed, ultimately loving and forgiving.
The Sparkling Bird
A bird of extraordinary beauty, described as 'sparkling.' Its plumage would likely be iridescent, perhaps with feathers that catch the light like jewels, in vibrant, shifting colors.
Attire: Its own magnificent, sparkling plumage.
Wants: To be reunited with its true master, the Queen of the Peris.
Flaw: Cannot sing or truly thrive without its master.
Is brought to the Padishah, housed in an ivory palace, and finally sings when reunited with its owner.
Joyful (when happy), silent (when separated from its master), responsive to its true owner.
The Crow-Peri (as Peri)
A damsel of striking beauty, described as having 'very little difference' from the Queen of the Peris. Her form is graceful and enchanting, with delicate features.
Attire: Elegant and flowing garments of fine silk, perhaps in soft, rich colors, adorned with delicate jewelry. Her attire would be fitting for a magical being and a future Vizier's wife.
Wants: To live happily with the Youth, having been freed from her curse and forgiven.
Flaw: None apparent in her transformed state.
Transforms from a crow into a beautiful Peri, marries the Youth, and becomes the Vizier's wife.
Beautiful, grateful, loving, forgiving, wise (retaining her crow-form wisdom).
Locations
The Forest
A dense, ancient forest with tall trees where the fowler's father used to catch birds. The ground is likely covered with fallen leaves and undergrowth, providing cover for snares. Sunlight filters through the canopy.
Mood: mysterious, a place of livelihood and unexpected encounters
The youth first sets his father's snare and catches the Crow-Peri, and later the magical bird.
Padishah's Palace
A grand and opulent palace, likely in an Ottoman or Persian style, with courtyards, richly decorated chambers, and a specific room for the Padishah. It features a golden cage for the magical bird and later an elaborate ivory palace built within its grounds.
Mood: opulent, regal, sometimes tense due to the jealous favorite
The youth brings the magical bird, is commanded to build the ivory palace, and later brings the Peri Queen here. The Crow-Peri is transformed back into a damsel here.
Elephant Trenches at the Forest Border
Forty large trenches located on the border of a forest, where elephants from all over the world come to drink. These trenches are typically filled with water but are temporarily filled with wine by the youth.
Mood: wild, dangerous, strategic
The youth follows the Crow-Peri's advice to get ivory by intoxicating elephants.
Peri Queen's Fairy Palace
A magical palace located behind a huge mountain, guarded by two lions at its gates. It is the home of forty Peris and contains a healing drug. The architecture is ethereal and otherworldly, befitting a fairy dwelling.
Mood: enchanted, serene, slightly dangerous due to the guards
The youth retrieves the healing drug for the ailing Sultana.