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The Cottager and his Cat-Iceland fariy tales-Collected by Jón Árnason
A.About the collector:
Jón Árnason (born 17 August 1819 in , died 4 September 1888 in ) was an Icelandic writer, librarian, and museum director who made the first collection of Icelandic folktales.
Inspired by the brothers Grimm 's Kinder- , Jón began to collect and record folktales, together with Magnús Grímsson, a friend who was a schoolmaster and later a clergyman. Their first collection,Icelandic Folktales ,appeared in 1852, but attracted little notice. The two only resumed collecting after Konrad Maurer, the German legal historian and scholar of Icelandic literature, toured the country in 1858 and encouraged them. After Magnús Grímsson died in 1860, Jón Árnason finished the collection on his own. It was published in 2 volumes in 1862 and 1864 in Leipzig with Maurer's help as Icelandic Folktales and Legends, comprising over 1300 pages.
B.Summary
Once upon a time there lived an old man and his wife in a dirty, tumble-down cottage, not very far from the splendid palace where the king and queen dwelt. In spite of the wretched state of the hut, which many people declared was too bad even for a pig to live in, the old man was very rich, for he was a great miser, and lucky besides, and would often go without food all day sooner than change one of his beloved gold pieces. He fell ill, and had no strength to get well again, and in a few days he died, leaving his wife and one son behind him.
The night following his death, the son dreamed that an unknown man appeared to him and said that his father is dead and his mother will soon die, and all their riches will belong to son. Half of his wealth is ill-gotten, and this he must give back to the poor from whom he squeezed it. The other half he must throw into the sea. Watch, however, as the money sinks into the water, and if anything should swim, catch it and keep it, even if it is nothing more than a bit of paper.’ he remembrance of his dream troubled him greatly. He did not want to part with the riches that his father had left him, for he had known all his life what it was to be cold and hungry, and now he had hoped for a little comfort and pleasure. Still, he was honest and good-hearted, and if his father had come wrongfully by his wealth he felt he could never enjoy it, and at last he made up his mind to do as he had been bidden. He found out who were the people who were poorest in the village, and spent half of his money in helping them, and the other half he put in his pocket. From a rock that jutted right out into the sea he flung it in. In a moment it was out of sight, and no man could have told the spot where it had sunk, except for a tiny scrap of paper floating on the water.
He worked in his garden for the next few weeks, and he and his mother contrived to live on the fruit and vegetables he got out of it, and then she too died suddenly. The poor fellow felt very sad when he had laid her in her grave, and with a heavy heart he wandered into the forest, not knowing where he was going. By-and-by he began to get hungry, and seeing a small hut in front of him, he knocked at the door and asked if they could give him some milk. Two women and three men were at supper when he entered, and silently made room for him to sit down by them. When he had eaten he began to look about him, and was surprised to see an animal sitting by the fire different from anything he had ever noticed before. It was grey in colour, and not very big; but its eyes were large and very bright
The name of the little creature was cat.The young man bought the cat. He sent a message to the king to beg for an audience, and received a reply that he was to go into the great hall, where he would find his Majesty.
The king was at dinner with his court when the young man entered, and he signed to him to come near. The youth bowed low, and then gazed in surprise at the crowd of little black creatures who were running about the floor, and even on the table itself. Indeed, they were so bold that they snatched pieces of food from the King’s own plate, and if he drove them away, tried to bite his hands, so that he could not eat his food, and his courtiers fared no better. At this moment something was seen flying through the air. The cat was on the table, and with two or three shakes a number of rats were lying dead round him. Then a great scuffling of feet was heard, and in a few minutes the hall was clear.The king was very happy and he gave the young man to choice of two things:shall to be his Prim-Minister,or else he shall marry his daughter.The young man choice the princess and the kingdom.
C. Position in the Aarne-Thomson-Uther Index.
Supernatural Helpers 500–559
Concerning the characters and functions according to Vladimir Propp, the fairy tale could have the following functions:
DEPARTURE: The hero leaves the home environment, this time with a sense of purpose. Here begins their adventure.
RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: The hero acquires use of a magical agent as a consequence of their good actions.
WEDDING: The hero marries and is rewarded or promoted by the family or community, typically ascending to a throne
The helper- the CAT who come to help the hero.
D. Similarities with other known tales
There is an obvious similarity between ” The Cottager and his Cat” and ”Puss and Boots.”
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