The Stallion Houssan (Sudanese folktale)

Der Hengst Houssan (English: "The Stallion Houssan") is a Sudanese folktale from Kordofan, first collected in German by ethnologist Leo Frobenius and published in 1923.

It is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as ATU 314, "Goldener". Although it differs from variants wherein a hero acquires golden hair, its starting sequence (persecution by the hero's stepmother) is considered by scholarship as an alternate opening to the same tale type.

A sultan has a wife who gives birth to a son, while a mare in the stables gives birth to a male foal. The sultan's son and the foal grow up as best friends and companions. One day, the sultan's wife dies and he marries another woman. The second wife gives birth to her son and decides to get rid of her step-son. The sultan's first son, named Schatr Mohammed, comes home after school and pets his horse. One day, the horse, named Houssan, cries and warns the boy that his step-mother intends to kill him. She first tries to poison the boy's food, then gives him a new clothe laced with magic, but he declines the offer on both occasions. A slave tells the step-mother of the deep affection there is between the boy and his horse, and deduces the horse is helping him. With a trusted doctor's aid, she feigns illness and demands the horse be put down and its liver given to her as cure. Schatr Mohammed learns of his stepmother's ploy from his horse, and tells his father he wants to ride it one last time.

The next day, the sultan allows his son to saddle and ride Houssan, while the stepmother secretly orders her slaves to attack the boy. Houssan takes its riders beyond his father's city gates, and rides through the desert to another city. They stop before the gates; the horse tells the boy to take off his rich garments and find shabby one, and take seven hairs from its mane, which he can use to summon the horse whenever he wishes. Schatr Mohammed enters the city in his new identity, and finds work with the royal gardener as his assistant. One day, while there is a festival in the city, Schatr Mohammed seizes the opportunity to ride Houssan in secret, since everyone has gone to the festival. What he does not know, however, is that the sultan's seventh daughter watches him undress, take a bath and ride the horse. She begins to be fond of the gardener, and goes down to the garden to give him some food. After three years, the sultan's eldest daughter announces her plans to marry, and the sultan organizes a festival where his seven daughters are to select their husbands by throwing a kerchief to them. The sultan's six elder daughters choose respectable suitors, but the seventh does not throw her kerchief to any one the passing men. The sultan brings the gardener and the apprentice, and the princess gives him the kerchief. The sultan becomes enraged and exiles his daughter and her lowborn husband to the slaves' quarters.

One day, an enemy sultan arrives with his army and prepares to invade the city. The sultan summons his six sons-in-law to lead the army and protect the city. The battle is fierce and they barely resist, when Schatr Muhammed comes in riding his horse Houssan and makes the enemy army retreat. He then rides back to his wife, changes his clothes and feigns ignorance about recent events. The next day, the princess tells her husband that the sultan, her father, will go to the battlefield to discover the identity of their mysterious knight (Faris) and lead their army to victory. This becomes a fallible strategy, as the enemy king's troops close in on him to take him prisoner, but once more Schatr Mohammed appears in the nick of time to ward off the enemy army and defend his father-in-law. He is hurt in his arm, and the sultan closes the wound with a cloth. Schatr Mohammed races back to his wife in the city, now that the threat is over.

Later, the sultan announces that the Faris will inherit the kingdom, whoever he is. Schatr Mohammed goes to sleep in his shabby room, and his arm begins to bleed. His wife, the princess, notices the bleeding and rushes to her mother. The princess's mother goes to the slaves' quarters to heal him, and sees that the sultan's cloth is wrapped in his arm. His identity discovered, the princess's mother alerts the sultan, who summons him to his chambers as soon as he awakes. Schater Mohammed awakes, learns of this, and goes to his father-in-law's palace riding on Houssan.^[1]

The tale is classified in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 314, "The Goldener": a youth with golden hair works as the king's gardener. The type may also open with the prince for some reason being the servant of an evil being, where he gains the same gifts, and the tale proceeds as in this variant.^[2][3]

Scholarship notes three different opening episodes to the tale type: (1) the hero becomes a magician's servant and is forbidden to open a certain door, but he does and dips his hair in a pool of gold; (2) the hero is persecuted by his stepmother, but his loyal horse warns him and later they both flee; (3) the hero is given to the magician as payment for the magician's help with his parents' infertility problem.^[4][5][6] Folklorist Christine Goldberg, in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, related the second opening to former tale type AaTh 532, "The Helpful Horse (I Don't Know)", wherein the hero is persecuted by his stepmother and flees from home with his horse.^[7][a]

American folklorist Barre Toelken recognized the spread of the tale type across Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe, but identified three subtypes: one that appears in Europe (Subtype 1), wherein the protagonist becomes the servant to a magical person, finds the talking horse and discovers his benefactor's true evil nature, and acquires a golden colour on some part of his body; a second narrative (Subtype 3), found in Greece, Turkey, Caucasus, Uzbekistan and Northern India, where the protagonist is born through the use of a magical fruit; and a third one (Subtype 2). According to Toelken, this Subtype 2 is "the oldest", being found "in Southern Siberia, Iran, the Arabian countries, Mediterranean, Hungary and Poland". In this subtype, the hero (who may be a prince) and the foal are born at the same time and become friends, but their lives are at stake when the hero's mother asks for the horse's vital organ (or tries to kill the boy to hide her affair), which motivates their flight from their homeland to another kingdom.^[9]

Professor Anna Birgitta Rooth stated that the motif of the stepmother's persecution of the hero appears in tale type 314 in variants from Slavonic, Eastern European and Near Eastern regions. She also connected this motif to part of the Cinderella cycle, in a variation involving a male hero and his cow.^[10]

The motif of the princess throwing an apple (kerchief) to her suitor is indexed as motif H316, "Suitor test: apple thrown indicates princess' choice (often golden apple)".^[11] According to mythologist Yuri Berezkin and other Russian researchers, the motif is "popular" in Iran, and is also attested "in Central Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Near East, and Central Asia".^[12]

According to Turkologist Karl Reichl [ky], types ATU 314 and ATU 502 contain this motif: the princess chooses her own husband (of lowly appearance) in a gathering of potential suitors, by giving him an object (e.g., an apple). However, he also remarks that the motif is "spread in folk literature" and may appear in other tale types.^[13]

Germanist Günter Dammann [de], in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, argued that Subtype 2 (see above) represented the oldest form of the Goldener narrative, since the golden apple motif in the suitor selection roughly appears in the geographic distribution of the same subtype.^[14]

Swedish scholar Waldemar Liungman [sv] drew attention to a possible ancient parallel to the gardener hero of the tale type: in an account of the story of king Sargon of Akkad, he, in his youth, works as a gardener in a palace and attracts the attention of goddess Ishtar.^[15] According to scholars Wolfram Eberhard and Pertev Naili Boratav, this would mean that the motif is "very old" ("sehr alt") in the Near East.^[16]

According to Richard MacGillivray Dawkins, in the tale type, the hero as gardener destroys and restores the garden after he finds work, and, later, fights in the war. During the battle, he is injured, and the king dresses his wound with a kerchief, which will serve as token of recognition.^[17]

A motif that appears in tale type 314 is the hero having to find a cure for the ailing king, often the milk of a certain animal (e.g., a lioness). According to scholar Erika Taube [de], this motif occurs in tales from North Africa to East Asia, even among Persian- and Arabic-speaking peoples.^[18] Similarly, Hasan M. El-Shamy noted that the quest for the king's remedy appears as a subsidiary event "in the Arab-Berber culture area".^[19] In addition, Germanist Gunter Dammann, in Enzyklopädie des Märchens, noted that the motif of the quest for the remedy appeared "with relative frequency" in over half of the variants that start with the Subtype 2 opening (stepmother's persecution of hero and horse).^[20]

According to Germanist Günter Dammann [de], tale type 314 with the opening of hero and horse fleeing home extends from Western Himalaya and South Siberia, to Iran and the Arab-speaking countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.^[21] In addition, scholar Hasan El-Shamy stated that type 314 is "widely spread throughout north Africa", among Arabs and Berbers; in Sub-saharan Africa, as well as in Arabia and South Arabia.^[22]

Anthropologist Andreas Kronenberg published a Sudanese tale titled Das Wunderpferd ("The Wonderful Horse"), collected in 1973 from a teller named 'Awad Muḥammad Halīl. In this tale, a woman gives birth to a son and dies. Her husband remarries, but his new wife hates her step-son. The man owns a horse and gives it to his son as a pet. After school, the boy plays with the horse. One day, the step-mother tries to kill the boy by poisoning his food, but the horse warns him against eating it. Some time later, a West African doctor and magician comes to town and tells the step-mother the boy is being helped by the horse, so her next course of action is to kill the animal. On the magician's advice, she is to feign illness and ask for the horse's liver as cure; after the horse dies, it will be easy to kill her step-son. The step-mother's plan works and the boy's father is convinced to kill the boy's pet. The horse, however, aware of the danger, reveals their plan to the boy and advises him to ask for golden garments, a golden bridle and a golden sword, and to be allowed to ride it one last time, in a north and a south direction. The boy follows the horse's instructions and seizes the opportunity to fly away from home. They land in another city; the horse gives the boy two of its hairs and advises him to find work, then leaves. The boy then takes shelter with a poor old woman that lives next to the king's garden and agrees to drive the oxen to move the water wheel. One day, when everyone has gone to the mosque to pray, the boy summons his horse by burning its hairs. The boy puts on the golden garments and rides the animal around the garden, stamping over the flowers - an event witnessed by the king's seventh and youngest daughter from her window. The princess then inquires her mother about their servant at the garden, and, taking an interest in him, bakes fresh bread for him, leaving a golden coin in the sauce for him to find. Some time later, the king goes with his daughters for a stroll in the garden, the eldest picks a banana, the middle one an orange and the youngest three limes of varied ripeness. She goes to the gardener's assistant and explains her plan: she will show the king the three lemons; the gardener's assistant is to come and tell the king they are an analogy for their marriageability. The boy follows the princess's plan, and the king summons a crowd for his daughters to choose their husbands by throwing kerchiefs to their suitors, the youngest choosing the gardener's assistant, to the king's dismay. The king furnishes his elder daughters with beautiful palaces and the youngest with a dovecote. The gardener's assistant summons his loyal horse and it helps him to clean their house. Next, war breaks out and the king sends his six sons-in-law to fight for the kingdom, and gives a lame horse for the gardener's assistant. While his brothers-in-law ride in front, he summons his loyal horse and, wielding a sword, defeats his father-in-law's enemies, in a war that goes on for seven years. Later, the king goes blind, and his doctors prescribe milk from a gazelle that has just milked for the first time. The king's six sons-in-law ride with fine horses, while the gardener's assistant is given another lame horse; while his brothers-in-law are away, he summons the magic horse and rides to the desert, stopping by a "Zeriba". The youth greets the Zeriba's owner, a sheik, and asks to borrow the place for a week, as well as an old gazelle and a young one, and disguises himself as an Arab. Some time later, his six brothers-in-law come and ask for some milk. After a meal, the "Arab" agrees to give them gazelle's milk, but tells a fake story they have to be branded on their backs. The brothers-in-law agree to it and unknowingly are given the old gazelle's milk. The six brothers-in-law return to the king to give him the wrong gazelle's milk, which does not restore his sight. The gardener's assistant gives the correct one to his wife to give it to her father, which restores his sight. The gardener's assistant then declares himself to be the mysterious knight who fought in the war, and his brothers-in-law as his slaves, due to the brands on their backs. After the king checks his claims, he makes his youngest daughter's husband the king.^[23][24]

Gertrud von Massenbach collected tale in the Dongolawi language with the title Das Wunderpferd ("The Wonderful Horse"). In this tale, a king marries a woman, they have a son and she dies. Later, his own son suggests he remarries, and points to their servant as potential wife. The king remarries. However, his second wife is having an illicit affair with another man, and kills their poultry (chickens, geese, doves and ducks) for him. The king's son has a horse. One day, when he goes back from school, the horse warns the boy his stepmother is killing their poultry to feed another man. With this information, the boy reports to his father, and steals the meat back. Later, the stepmother tells the king she wants to eat the horse's meat, but, since the animal belongs to his son and not to him, says he will ask his son about it when he returns from school. After the boy comes home, the king asks if he agrees to sacrifice the horse to feed his stepmother. The boy answers yes, but asks for a last ride on the horse. The next day, the king's son mounts the horse and gallops far away to another land, where he finds work as a gardener to a Sultan. The boy works in the "Sagjenarbeit", and lies underneath a tree. The story explains that the Sultan has seven daughters who spend some time in the garden collecting fruits (bananas, oranges and apples). The king's son summons his horse by rubbing two of its hairs it gave him, and rides around the garden - an event witnessed by the Sultan's youngest daughter, from her window. One day, she orders the overseer to bring them their seven goose. Later, when the princesses are gathering fruits in the garden, the youngest finds three pomegranates, two large and intact, and one small burst open. The girl asks her mother the meaning of this, and she explains that it is past time to marry her. The six elder daughters marry sons of ministers, of kings and of pashas, while the youngest wishes to marry a poor man, which is to be found in their kingdom. Failing that, the sultan orders his gardener to be brought before him. When he is brought before the princess, she throws him a towel to symbolize her choice of husband, and is married in a simple ceremony to the gardener. The princess and the gardener live in a storage room for onions. The youth then rubs his horse's two hair, and his house turns into a castle for him and the princess. The Sultan's wife decides to pay her daughter and her husband a visit, and sees that their shabby house looks like a castle from the inside. Later, the Sultan summons his sons-in-law and equips them with weapons to fight in the war, while his seventh son-in-law is given a lame horse. The man on the lame horse actually kills the sultan's enemies, but his brothers-in-law boast their deed. The next day, another war breaks out, and the brothers-in-law take part in the fight, while the youth rides on his lame horse. Again, they boast of the deed of killing their enemies. At the end of the war, the sultan says he can recognize the true warrior who defeated his enemies, for he has a mark on his body. After confirming his suspicions, he gives everything to him, and they live in his palace.^[25][26]

Massenbach collected a short tale in the Dongolawi language, which she titled as a variant of the tale of Wunderpferd ("Wonderful Horse"). In this tale, a man and a woman marry and have two children, a boy and a girl. The woman dies, and the man remarries, fathering another boy with his second wife. The two boys, half-brothers, go to herd their father's cattle in the desert. Meanwhile, the second wife brings food to her own son and her stepson, and cannot seem to tell them apart, so she consults with an old woman. The old woman advises her to bring the boys food and to lei down naked, so her own son will come cover her with her clothes. The old woman's suggestion works, and the second wife prepares a poisoned meal to her stepson to kill him. However, the boy avoids the danger when he is warned by his foal. Failing that plan, the stepmother feigns illness, and says that only the liver of a red foal can cure her. The boy's father tells him his stepmother ("Tante", in the German translation), needs the liver of his red foal, and the boy asks for a sword, a gun and a saddle. His request is fulfilled; he mounts the red foal and gallops far away from his father's lands. He arrives at the "Sagje" of a king, and goes to live with an old woman in her hut. His horse gives him two strands of its hair, which his rider has but to rub, and the horse will come to his aid. One day, the local king's worker sees the boy and goes to talk to the king to hire him to work in the Sagje. The local king has seven daughter, who walked in his garden. An enemy king goes to attack the king every year, and the latter has to beat the drums of war to gather his people - the tale ends.^[27][28]

In a tale published by Sayed Hamid. A. Hurreiz from a Ja'alin source with the title The Mare, a boy is born at the same time a mare gives birth to a foal. The boy's mother dies, and a neighbour offers to marry his father, but, after the marriage, she begins to have an affair with another man. The woman feeds extravagant dishes to her lover, like chicken, pastries and sweets, but meagre foods to her husband and her stepson, like soup and bread. Muḥammad (the boy's name) goes back from the khalwa and talks to the mare, which tells him that his stepmother has been making food for a lover, and directs him to where she hides the food. Muḥammad goes to retrieve the food, and his stepmother dismisses it as mere forgetfulness on her part. This repeats again, until the woman's lover tells her that the mare is helping the boy and exposing them, so they have to get rid of the animal. With her lover's advice, she feigns illness, and demands the mare's liver as remedy. Muḥammad's father falls for the trick and prepares to sacrifice the mare, but the boy asks him for one last ride on it. He seizes the opportunity to gallop away from home to another kingdom. Once there, the mare gives him some of its hairs, and he finds work under the local king as the gardener's assistant. One day, Muḥammad summons the mare and rides around the garden - an event witnessed by the youngest princess from her window. She falls in love with the gardener's assistant and secretly gives him gold by a servant. The princess then plucks seven oranges from her father's garden and sends them to the king as analogy for her and her sisters' marriageability. The king correctly interprets the meaning behind his daughter's actions, and issues an order to assemble eligible bachelors in a gathering, so that his daughters may choose husbands by throwing them a handkerchief. It happens thus: the six elder princesses throw their handkerchiefs to rich suitors, while the youngest throws her to the lowly gardener's assistant. The king feels insulted by this, so he moves his youngest daughter and her husband to an onion storeroom, while he gifts lavish palaces for the elder six. Some time later, the king falls ill, and only the milk of a deer that is bikir and the daughter of bikir is prescribed as remedy. Muḥammad's brothers-in-law ride into the wilderness to find the milk, but the youth summons the mare and asks it to build him a palace and draw all animals next to the construction. The brothers-in-law have no success during the hunt, but discover Muḥammad's menagerie and ask for the deer milk. Muḥammad agrees to a deal: the milk in exchange for branding their backs, but Muḥammad gives them old deer's milk. The deal done, the brothers-in-law return to the king and give him the wrong milk, while Muḥammad gives him the correct one and cures his father-in-law. Later, war breaks out, Muḥammad joins the fray to defend the kingdom: he vanquishes his father-in-law's enemies, but is hurt in battle, and flees. The king then looks for the mysterious knight and finds Muḥammad. The youth explains his brothers-in-law are his slaves, and is made king.^[29][30]

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