The Horse Husband and the Witch

Once there was a sultan who had three daughters. One day the sultan had to set out on a long journey. Before he left he called his daughters: "My daughters, until I come back, take good care of my horse. Even if you neglect everything else, never let him go without his feed and water." The sultan loved this horse so much that he let no stranger come near it.

When the sultan had gone, the eldest daughter took the feed to the stable, but the horse would not let her near. The middle daughter went, and the horse drove her away too. Last of all the youngest daughter took the feed; when the horse saw her he did not stir, but ate his feed and drank his water. The two sisters were glad of this and left the care of the horse to their little sister.

When the sultan returned, the first thing he asked about was his horse. The sisters said, "He wouldn't let us near him; our little sister looked after him." When the sultan heard this, without a second thought he gave his youngest daughter to the horse as a wife, and married his two elder daughters to the sons of the mufti and the vizier. There was a wedding of forty days and forty nights. The sisters went to live in a splendid palace, and the youngest moved into the stable.

But there was a secret that no one knew. By day the youngest girl's husband was a horse and her home was a stable. But when night fell the stable turned into a rose garden and the horse turned into a handsome young man. No one but the two of them knew this secret. The young man warned his wife, "Never tell this secret to anyone."

One day the sultan held a great jereed contest at the palace. The bravest warriors of the land came to the field, but the husbands of the two elder daughters shone brightest. The sisters mocked their youngest sister: "Look, our husbands are like lions! Where is your horse husband?" The youngest told her husband about this. The horse husband shook himself, turned into a young man, mounted a horse and rode onto the field. He knocked all the warriors off their horses, his two brothers-in-law among them, and went back to the stable before anyone knew who he was.

The next day the same thing happened. On the third day the young man gave his wife three hairs: "If anything happens to me, or if you need my help, burn one of these hairs." Then he rode out onto the field again and again defeated everyone. Again the sisters said to their youngest sister, "Look how well that warrior fights; he's nothing like your dirty horse husband." The youngest could not bear it: "That warrior is my husband!" The moment she pointed at him with her finger, the young man vanished.

The girl ran to the stable, but there was neither horse nor young man. At midnight there was no rose and no garden. The girl wept all night: "I told his secret, I did not keep my word!" In the morning she went to her father and said she would go and look for her husband. Her father tried to talk her out of it, but the girl's mind was made up. She set out and walked for days, and at last, worn out, she sat down at the foot of a great mountain. She remembered the hairs and burned one. At once her husband appeared before her.

The young man said sadly, "I told you not to tell my secret to anyone. This mountain is our home. My mother is a witch; if she sees you she will harm you." Her husband turned the girl into an apple and put her on a shelf. The witch mother came down the mountain with a great noise: "I smell a human here!" Her son said, "Mother, if you promise not to be angry, I will show you something." The witch promised; her son touched the apple and the girl appeared. "This is my wife," he said. The witch could say nothing, but inside she thought, "I will give her such tasks that she will run away by herself."

One day, when her son had left the house, the witch said to the girl, "Sweep, but don't sweep!" and went away. The girl did not understand what she meant and burned the second hair. Her husband came and explained: "Sweep the room, but don't sweep the hall." The girl did so. When the witch came home in the evening, the girl said, "I swept and I didn't sweep." The witch grumbled, "That's not your wit, that's my son's words in your mouth."

The next day the witch gave the girl three jars: "Fill these with your tears." The girl wept, but how could a few drops of tears fill the jars? She burned the third hair. Her husband came and said, "Fill the jars with water and throw a pinch of salt into each." The girl did so. In the evening, when the witch looked at the jars, she was angry again: "This isn't your work either!"

Her husband understood that his mother meant to do the girl some harm, and said, "Now we have no choice but to run away." He took the girl and they fled. When the witch came home in the evening and found no one, she sent her sister, another witch, after them. The witch climbed into a jar, made a snake into a whip, and flew after them. When the young man saw his aunt coming, he turned the girl into a bathhouse and himself into the bath keeper. The aunt asked, "Did a girl and a boy pass this way?" The bath keeper said, "My bath has only just warmed up, there's nobody inside." The aunt thought he was a fool and went back.

The witch mother was very angry with her sister: "That bath keeper was my son, and the bathhouse was my daughter-in-law!" She sent her second sister. This time the young man turned the girl into a spring and himself into a man drawing water from it. The second aunt also took him for a fool and went back. At last the witch mother came herself. The young man turned the girl into a tree and himself into a snake coiled around it. The witch recognised them, but she was afraid of hurting her son. "My son," she said, "just give me the ring on the girl's little finger and I will leave you in peace."

The young man understood that only in this way could they be free of his mother, and he gave the witch the ring from the girl's little finger. The witch took the ring and went back to her own land. The young man touched the girl and himself, and both of them became human again. Because the young man's spell was broken, from then on he always stayed human; the witch side of him stayed behind with his mother.

The two of them returned together to the palace of the girl's father. When the sultan saw them he was overjoyed and gave them a great wedding all over again. When the sultan died they ruled the land and lived very happily. The girl never again broke a promise she had made. Three apples fell from the sky: one for the one who told the tale, one for the one who listened, and one for the sultan's daughter who, even after breaking her word, crossed mountains to find the one she loved.