Passion Lore
Folktales of love, lust and longing from around the world
Compiled & Edited by
Praveen Dabré
SMASHWORDS EDITION
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Praveen Dabré on Smashwords
Passion Lore
Copyright © 2010 by Praveen Dabré
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a compilation of traditional folklore from across the world. By definition these are in the public domain and free of copyright. However, the author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of those tales that are so copyrighted and have inadvertently been included in this collection.
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
Other Books in the Series
As a special offer to you, my reader, I would like to gift you a copy of any three of the above titles. Mail me at praveendabre@gmail.com indicating three titles of your choice and the format you’d like them in, and I will promptly send across gift coupons that will enable you to access your free copies from Smashwords.
* * * * *
Passion Lore
Folktales of love, lust and longing from around the world
* * * * *
The Tale of Bausis & Philemon
ZEUS, THE king of Mount Olympus, came down to visit the country folk disguised as a beggar. People turned him away until he came to the house of a poor elderly couple, Bausis and Philemon.
Bausis and Philemon shared their simple meal of bread and wine with their guest. Oddly enough, the wine jug never emptied and there was more bread after each slice was cut. It was then that Bausis and Philemon realized that this was no ordinary visitor, but a god from Mount Olympus.
They bowed low and apologized for the simple food they had to offer. Zeus replied, “When you have shared your best, there is never a need to apologize.”
In return for their generosity, Zeus granted them their only wish: to remain together always. And so when Bausis and Philemon died, an oak and a linden tree grew with their trunks entwined around each other, on the spot where the couple was buried.
– Greece
Mr. Monkey, the Bridegroom
THERE WAS a monkey which fell in love with a beautiful young girl. He dressed as a man and went to call on her. He was so well received that one day he took his best friend with him to see his lady-love. The young girl’s father asked Mr. Monkey’s friend some questions about his daughter’s lover.
The friend said that Mr. Monkey was good and rich, but there was a secret about him. The father wanted to know the secret, but the friend said he would tell him another day.
Mr. Monkey was finally engaged to the young lady, and the night of the wedding he invited his friend to the supper. The latter was jealous of Mr. Monkey, and at the end of the supper he began to sing. This was a song that made all monkeys dance, whether they wished to or not, so Mr. Monkey looked at his friend and beckoned him to stop singing.
He continued, however, to sing, and all at once Mr. Monkey got up and began to dance. He jumped about so wildly that his tail came out of his clothes, and everyone saw that he was a monkey.
The father understood the secret, and beat him dreadfully. His friend, however, ran off, dancing and singing.
– Louisiana, USA
The Story of Pressyne
ONE DAY, Elynas, the King of Albany, met a beautiful fairy by a fountain. So lovely was the fairy, who was called Pressyne that the King fell in love with her and eventually, made her his wife.
In time, Pressyne grew heavy with child. During her pregnancy, she made one condition to which King Elynas had to agree, that he would not see her while she was in labour.
However, in his excitement when he heard that she was giving birth to triplets, he rushed into the birthing chamber to see his new daughters, ignoring the taboo. As a result, a very unhappy Pressyne had to leave the kingdom forever, taking her three daughters with her to the lost Isle of Avalon. King Elynas mourned the loss of his family for seven years; his son, Nathas, by his first wife, became the king.
The three girls, Melusine, Melior, and Palatyne grew up in Avalon. On their fifteenth birthday, the eldest, Melusine, asked why they had been taken to Avalon. Upon hearing how their father had broken his word, forcing them to leave the kingdom, Melusine sought revenge.
Together with her sisters, Melusine captured Elynas and locked him, with his riches, in a mountain. Pressyne became enraged when she learned what the girls had done to their father, and punished each of them for their disrespect.
Melusine was condemned to take the form of a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. If she found a husband who would agree to never see her on Saturday, she would remain a human woman. But if her husband saw her on a Saturday, she would revert to the serpent form until Judgment Day.
Melior had to keep a sparrow hawk in a castle in Armenia until she was rescued, and Palatyne was imprisoned with her father’s treasure on a mountaintop in Arragon.
– France
The King and the ‘Nsiat Bird
WHEN ‘NDARAKE was King of Idu, being young and rich, he was very fond of fine girls, and had plenty of slaves. The ‘Nsiat bird was then living at Idu, and had a very pretty daughter, whom ‘Ndarake wished to marry.
When he spoke to the father about the matter, he replied that of course he had no objection personally, as it would be a great honour for his daughter to marry the king, but, unfortunately, when any of his family had children, they always gave birth to twins, which, as the king knew, was not allowed in the country; the native custom being to kill both the children and throw them into the bush, the mother being driven away and allowed to starve.
The king, however, being greatly struck with Adit, the bird’s daughter, insisted on marrying her, so the ‘Nsiat bird had to agree. A large amount of dowry was paid by the king, and a big play and feast was held. One strong slave was told to carry Adit ‘Nsiat during the whole play, and she sat on his shoulders with her legs around his neck; this was done to show what a rich and powerful man the king was.
After the marriage, in due course Adit gave birth to twins, as her mother had done before her. The king immediately became very fond of the two babies, but according to the native custom, which was too strong for any one to resist, he had to give them up to be killed.
When the 'Nsiat bird heard this, he went to the king and reminded him that he had warned the king before he married what would happen if he married Adit, and rather than that the twins should be killed, he and the whole of his family would leave the earth and dwell in the air, taking the twins with them.
As the king was so fond of Adit and the two children, and did not want them to be killed, he gladly consented, and the ‘Nsiat bird took the whole of his family, as well as Adit and her two children, away, and left the earth to live and make their home in the trees; but as they had formerly lived in the town with all the people, they did not like to go into the forest, so they made their nests in the trees which grew in the town, and that is why you always see the ‘Nsiat birds living and making their nests only in places where human beings are. The black birds are the cocks, and the golden-coloured ones are the hens. It was the beautiful colour of Adit which first attracted the attention of ‘Ndarake and caused him to marry her.
– Southern Nigeria
The Story of Melusine
THE FAIRY, Melusine, was the daughter of the fairy Pressyne and King Elynas of Albany. She became the Fairy Queen of the forest of Colombiers in the French region of Poitou.
One day, she and two of her subjects were guarding their sacred fountain when a young man, Raymond of Poitiers, burst out of the forest. Melusine spent the night talking with Raymond, and by dawn, they were betrothed, but with one condition. Melusine requested that Raymond promise that he would never see her on a Saturday. He agreed, and they were married.
Melusine brought her husband great wealth and prosperity. She built the fortress of Lusignan so quickly that it appeared to be made by magic. Over time, Melusine built many castles, fortresses, churches, towers and towns, each in a single night, throughout the region.
Melusine and Raymond had ten children, but each child was flawed. The eldest had one red eye and one blue eye, the next had an ear larger than the other, another had a lion’s foot growing from his cheek, and another had but one eye. The sixth son was known as Geoffrey-with-the-great tooth, as he had a very large tooth. In spite of the deformities, the children were strong, talented and loved throughout the land.
One day, Raymond’s brother visited him and made Raymond very suspicious about the Saturday activities of his wife. So the next Saturday, Raymond sought his wife, finding her in her bath where he spied on her through a crack in the door. He was horrified to see that she had the body and tail of a serpent from her waist down.
He said nothing until the day that their son, Geoffrey-with-the-great tooth, attacked a monastery and killed one hundred monks, including one of his brothers. Raymond accused Melusine of contaminating his line with her serpent nature, thus revealing that he had broken his promise to her.
As a result, Melusine turned into a fifteen-foot serpent, circled the castle three times, wailing piteously, and then flew away. She would return at night to visit her children, and then vanish. Raymond was never happy again.
Melusine appeared at the castle, wailing, whenever a count of Lusignan was about to die or a new one to be born. It was said that the noble line which originated with Melusine will reign until the end of the world. Her children included the King of Cyprus, the King of Armenia, the King of Bohemia, the Duke of Luxembourg, and the Lord of Lusignan.
– France
The White Butterfly
AN OLD man named Takahama lived in a little house behind the cemetery of the temple of Sozanji. He was extremely amiable and generally liked by his neighbours, though most of them considered him to be a little mad. His madness, it would appear, entirely rested upon the fact that he had never married or evinced desire for intimate companionship with women.
One summer day he became very ill, so ill, in fact, that he sent for his sister-in-law and her son. They both came and did all they could to bring comfort during his last hours. While they watched, Takahama fell asleep; but he had no sooner done so than a large white butterfly flew into the room and rested on the old man’s pillow. The young man tried to drive it away with a fan; but it came back three times, as if loath to leave the sufferer.
At last Takahama’s nephew chased it out into the garden, through the gate, and into the cemetery beyond, where it lingered over a woman’s tomb, and then mysteriously disappeared. On examining the tomb the young man found the name ‘Akiko’ written upon it, together with a description narrating how Akiko died when she was eighteen. Though the tomb was covered with moss and must have been erected fifty years previously, the boy saw that it was surrounded with flowers, and that the little water tank had been recently filled.
When the young man returned to the house he found that Takahama had passed away, and he returned to his mother and told her what he had seen in the cemetery.
‘Akiko?’ murmured his mother. “When your uncle was young he was betrothed to Akiko. She died of consumption shortly before her wedding day. When Akiko left this world your uncle resolved never to marry, and to live ever near her grave. For all these years he has remained faithful to his vow, and kept in his heart all the sweet memories of his one and only love.
Every day Takahama went to the cemetery, whether the air was fragrant with summer breeze or thick with falling snow. Every day he went to her grave and prayed for her happiness, swept the tomb and set flowers there. When Takahama was dying, and he could no longer perform his loving task, Akiko came for him. That white butterfly was her sweet and loving soul.”
– Japan
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears
A VERY long time ago when Ear was a beautiful woman and ready for marriage, there were several suitors wooing her. There were big creatures, there were small creatures. There were fast and sleek creatures and there were slow ones. But they all professed their love for Ear and demonstrated their skills—and there was such an impressive array of skills that Ear had a difficult time making a decision. Then along came mosquito.