Le Serpentin Vert (translated as ''Green Serpent'' or ''Green Dragon'') is a French fairy tale written by Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy, popular in its day and representative of European folklore, that was published in her book ''New Tales, or Fairies in Fashion'' (''Contes Nouveaux ou Les Fées à la Mode''), in 1698. The serpent is representative of a

European dragon The European dragon is a legendary creature in folklore and mythology among the overlapping culture of Europe, cultures of Europe. The Roman poet Virgil in his poem Appendix Vergiliana#Culex ("The Gnat"), ''Culex'' lines 163–201, describing a ...

. His description is: "he has green wings, a many-coloured body, ivory jaws, fiery eyes, and long, bristling hair." The Green Dragon is really a handsome king placed under a spell for seven years by Magotine, a wicked fairy. In many ways the tale is based on the story of

Eros and Psyche Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from ''Metamorphoses'' (also called ''The Golden Ass''), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psy ...

, to which the narration pays conscious homage when referring to the "discovery" of the Green Dragon.

Plot

Feast scene

This story begins with a celebration feast for the birth of two twin princesses, who would later be named Laideronnette (the ugly one) and Bellotte (the Pretty one). The King and Queen invite many fairies but forget to invite Magotine, the sister of

Carabosse The Wicked fairy is the antagonist of ''Sleeping Beauty''. In some adaptations, she is known as Carabosse. The most notable adaptation of the character is Maleficent, a Disney villain who has appeared in various Disney media, beginning with the ...

, the oldest and most wicked fairy that existed. When she finds out about the party, she is so furious for not being invited that she places a spell on Laideronnette which turns her into the ugliest woman in the world. The other fairies intercede and persuade Magotine to stop before she can cast a similar spell on Bellotte.

Tower scene

Years pass by. Laideronnette grows up intelligent but lonely. She asks to live in a tower so that she does not have to see anyone. However one day she roams outside, and a Green Serpent sees her and begins to take an interest in her. She is so terrified of the Green Serpent at first sight that she flees from him, and accidentally gets swept out to sea. The Green Serpent appears swimming alongside her boat but, refusing his assistance, she nearly perishes in the ocean.

Faraway kingdom scene

When Laideronnette regains consciousness she finds that she has been saved and taken to be the guest of an unknown king in a far away kingdom. The Green Serpent's identity as the spell-bound king of the kingdom is revealed to the readers. However, Laideronnette is not taken to see the king and does not learn this secret. All she knows is that an unseen king is taking very good care of her. He starts talking to her at night, and proves such a good conversation companion over the years that she falls in love with this kind stranger, sight unseen, and they get married. The king convinces his wife to wait until the end of the seven-year period to see what he looks like, or else the wicked enchantment which forces him to hide his appearance will start all over again. Queen Laideronnette compares her own marriage with that of

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, which is her favourite reading, and noticing the similarities between their two stories, she determines to resist being "like Psyche" and to wait patiently. However, just as Psyche, and for the same reasons, she ends by being convinced by her family, whom she had invited to visit, to take a surreptitious look at her husband during the night. When she discovers that he is the very same Green Serpent that she once was so afraid of, war breaks out in the kingdom, and Magotine ruins the kingdom. The Green Serpent is then sent into

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

to begin his penance again from the start, while Queen Laideronnette is taken to become Magotine's prisoner and servant.

Tribulations and tests

The serpent king asks the good fairy Protectress to assist Laideronnette to complete three impossible trials that Magotine thinks up to torment her: first, to spin cobwebs into hair and then the hair itself into fishnets strong enough to catch salmon; second, to climb a mountain wearing iron shoes and a millstone around the neck. In her third errand as a servant, Queen Laideronnette is commanded to find the "Fount of Discretion" and to bring back its water with her in a pitcher full of holes, which she achieves with the help of magical birds. When she drinks from it, she becomes herself discreet, no longer plagued by the excessive curiosity which had caused her so many problems. When she splashes some water on her face, her ugliness vanishes and she regains her natural beauty.

Enchanted forest

Well pleased, the good fairy then renames her Queen Discreet and sends her into an

enchanted forest In folklore and fantasy, an enchanted forest is a forest under, or containing, magic (fantasy), enchantments. Such forests are described in the oldest folklore from regions where forests are common and occur throughout the centuries to modern wor ...

to hide for several years, as her challenge had been expected to last a long time and coming back early would imply that she had received outside help. Finally however when a period of time or imprisonment for the Green Serpent has come to an end, Queen Discreet returns to Magotine, who is much displeased by her transformations. As an ultimate challenge which she expects her to fail, Magotine instructs her to go into Hades and obtain for her some "water of long life" from

Proserpina Proserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whos ...

, the queen of

Descent into Hades

With the help and protection of the personification of "Love", who takes pity on her, Queen Discreet goes down into

. There she speaks to Proserpina, reminding her husband is held captive in her domain, and he obtains from her a flask filled with water of long life. Now cured of her curiosity, Discreet successfully refrains from drinking from the water, although the flask was intentionally badly stoppered by Proserpina, to induce her into temptation, as had been expected by Magotine. In Hades, "Love" uses his powers to restores the serpent king back to his original human form, and Discreet and her husband are re-united in Hades. Finally, "Love" brings the couple back to Magotine, inducing Magotine to break her spells against the king and queen, and then sends the couple back to their kingdom where they will live happily ever after. In the end, a moral is given: unnecessary curiosity is bad, discretion is good, and Love wins over all, even against the most ill-intended, provided one plays one's part.

Analysis

Parallels

German philologist

Ludwig Friedländer Ludwig Henrich Friedlaender (16 July 1824 – 16 December 1909) was a German philologist. He was one of the preeminent scholars of Ancient Rome of his time and is known for his research on Roman daily life and customs. He was a professor at Albe ...

listed ''Le Serpentin Vert'' (translated as "The Green Dragon") as part of the "

Cupid and Psyche Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from ''Metamorphoses'' (also called ''The Golden Ass''), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psy ...

" cycle of stories (which later became known as " The Search for the Lost Husband"). Similarly, scholar Jacques Barchilon considers the tale a literary retelling by MMe. d'Aulnoy of the Apuleian story. The inhuman husband tells Laideronette the story of Cupid and Psyche as a cautionary tale to convince her to wait until the right time to reveal himself. However, her relatives provoke her in breaking the taboo, despite knowing the story. According to Barbara Fass Leavy, Laideronette "must experience" Psyche's journey herself to learn the lesson intended.

Tale type

According to scholar

Jack Zipes Jack David Zipes (born June 7, 1937) is a literary scholar and author. He is a professor emeritus in the Department of German, Nordic, Slavic and Dutch at the University of Minnesota. Zipes is known for his work on fairy tales, folklore, crit ...

, the tale of ''The Green Serpent'' is classified in the international system as Aarne–Thompson–Uther type ATU 425, "The Search for The Lost Husband", stories where a girl or a princess is betrothed to a monstrous bridegroom, à la ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

''. More specifically, the tale is type 425B, "Son of the Witch", a category of tales wherein the heroine is forced to work for a witch on dangerous and impossible tasks. In the Catalogue of French Folktales, French scholars

Paul Delarue Paul Alfred Delarue, born 20 April 1889 in Saint-Didier, Nièvre, died 25 July 1956 in Autun, Saône-et-Loire, was a French folklorist. A specialist in the field of folklore, his crowning achievement was his , a catalog of folktales found in ...

and Marie-Louise Thèneze classify the tale as type 425A (or French ''sous-type'' A), following 's classification: ''Cupid and Psyche'' is type 425A with the witch's tasks, whereas type 425B contains the motif of gifts to the heroine and the "buying three nights" episode.

Translations

The story is sometimes translated as ''The Green Dragon'', after its main character. French illustrator

Edmund Dulac Edmund Dulac (born Edmond Dulac; 22 October 1882 – 25 May 1953) was a French-British naturalised magazine illustrator, book illustrator and stamp designer. Born in Toulouse, he studied law but later turned to the study of art at the Écol ...

translated the tale as ''The Green Serpent'' in his book ''Fairy Tales of the Allied Nations''. Literary critic

Roger Sale Roger Sale (1932 – May 11, 2017) was an American literary critic and author, brother of Kirkpatrick Sale and father of Tim Sale. He spent most of his career as a professor of English at the University of Washington. Children's literature Sale's ...

translated the tale as ''Green Snake''. The tale was also translated by professor A. S. Byatt as ''The Great Green Worm'' and included in compilation ''Wonder Tales: Six Stories of Enchantment'', edited by

Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publication ...

Legacy

The tale was one of many from d'Aulnoy's pen to be adapted to the stage by

James Planché James Robinson Planché (27 February 1796 – 30 May 1880) was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including ...

, as part of his ''Fairy Extravaganza''. He also translated the tale as ''Green-Serpent'', and renamed it ''The Island of Jewels'' when he adapted the tale to the stage.

References

External links

The SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages - The Green Serpent
(a reprint from ''The Fairy Tales of Madame D'Aulnoy'' by Miss Annie Macdonell and Miss Lee, English translators. London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1892.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Serpent, The Works by Madame d'Aulnoy Dragons in fairy tales Fairy tales about fairies Fairy tales about shapeshifting Fairy tales about talking animals Fairy tales about sisters Legendary serpents Fictional princes Male characters in fairy tales Fairy tales about princes Hades Underworld in classical literature Greek underworld in popular culture ATU 400-459