Vaticinium 1
The Boy who Pretended to Know the Language of Birds
Overhearing that his master's wife will soon visit their orchard, a young man hides food, wine, and preserves at the base of the trees. When the wife enters the orchard, accompanied by the servant (or slave, depending on translation), the young man reacts to the calls of the nearby birds as though he can understand them. When the wife asks what the birds are saying, the servant replies that the birds have revealed the location of food and wine hidden in the garden; he then 'discovers' the supplies he had previously hidden as proof of his understanding. The wife is delighted. Then, in mock offense, he reacts negatively to another bird, and explains to the wife that this bird had suggested something rude. When she enquires further, he explains that bird had instructed him to sleep with the wife. Not wanting to insult the generous birds who had provided the feast, the wife encourages him - but the husband arrives before they can go further. (In some versions, they are nearly caught, but their excuse - that the wife had fallen and hurt herself - works; in other versions, they are not caught, but the slave attempts to enter the wife's chambers that night, runs into the husband, and their affair is revealed.)
(From Clouston and Basset)
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The (false) ability to understand the language of birds is a link to both Vaticinium and to Praeceptum galli - stories in which the protagonists really CAN understand the language of birds. There is also an obvious connection to stories like Canicula in which pseudo-supernatural elements are invoked to convince a woman to commit adultery.
Analogues: Decameron, 3.5. Der persische Dekameron, 26 ‚Der listige Dschahis‘. Nasreddin Hodscha (ed. Marzolph), 98. Reference stories, etc.: Rosenöl, II, No.182 (the story of Jahiz and his stepmother. He woos his stepmother, saying that a raven says that father and son will die if she doesn’t sleep with him). Kathasaritsagara, Chapter 121, ‘171AAA. The bold gambler Ṭhiṇṭhakarala’ (a motif in which the gambler pretends to understand the language of birds and plays a ruse). Bibliography: Chauvin VIII17; Landau 51. |
| Critical Literature |
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| Nishimura (2001), Clouston (1884), Basset (1903) |
| Vaticinium 1 appears in the following versions and secondary versions |
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| This inset story appears in no versions of the database |
| Vaticinium 1 is narrated in the following occurrences | ||||
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| Vaticinium 1 appears in the following manuscripts |
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