The Youth and the Maiden with Stars on their Foreheads and Crescents on their Breasts

The Youth and the Maiden with Stars on their Foreheads and Crescents on their Breasts is an Albanian folktale. It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".

Summary
A king dies. A new king ascends to the throne and orders that no one is to light any candle at night during his coronation. Despite the ban, the new king wears a disguise and walks through the city, until he reaches the house of the previous king's three daughters, who are talking to one another: the elder promises to weave a carpet large enough for the whole army to sit, and there would still be room left; the middle promises to weave a tent for the whole army, and there would still be room left, and the youngest promises to give birth to twins, a boy and a girl with stars on their foreheads and crescents on their breasts.

The new king summons the three sisters the next morning and marries all three, the elder two fulfilling their boasts in this tale. The youngest also gives birth to the titular twins, but her sisters take the children, place them in a box and order a servant to throw them in the river. They also tell the king his third wife gave birth to a little kitten and a mouse, and the king, enraged, orders the woman to be placed in the stairs and to be spat on.

Meanwhile, the box with the children is found by an old miller and his wife, and the couple raise them. After the old miller's wife dies, on his deathbed, the old miller tells the male twin to wait 40 days after his death to enter a cave and fetch a magic bridle. The male twin follows his last request, finds the bridle and summons two horses, one for him other for his sister, and they go to the king's city where the male twin opens a coffee house, while the female twin spends time at home.

One day, the king pays a visit to the coffee house, and sees the boy with the moon on his forehead. The king goes back to the palace and comments with his two wives about him. The two wives realize the twins have survived, and send an old woman to their house. The old woman talks to the female twin about the flower of the Earthly Beauty for her to play with. After the male twin returns home, his sister tells she wants the Earthly Beauty's flower.

The male twin summons a horse with the bridle and rides away. He first reaches a Kulshedra, who gives up eating him since the boy is so handsome. The first kulshedra does not know the location of the Earthly Beauty, so she sends him to her elder sister. The second Kulshedra also does not know, so she sends her to the eldest sister, another Kulshedra. The third one knows where she lives, and advises him to rub his scarf on her door, give brains to lion and grass to a lamb so the animals let him pass, enter the garden and pluck the flower.

The male twin takes the flower to his sister. Seeing that the boy survived, the king's two wives send the old woman again, who, this time, convinces the girl to ask for the Earthly Beauty's scarf. Thus the male twin also goes for the scarf.

The third time, the old woman convinces the girl to ask for the Earthly Beauty herself. The male twin rides to the third kulshedra, who warns him that to quest for the Earthly Beauty is no easy task, and advises him to find her ring first, since it is the source of her power. The male twin passes the animals in the garden and enters the Earthly Beauty's chambers. While she is fast asleep, the male twin takes off the ring from her finger and she wakes up. The maiden notices the boy has overpowered her and goes with him to his sister.

Later, the king visits the coffee house again and returns to the palace, to summon a feast for the boy with the star and his family. The twins' aunts - the third queen's sisters - order the cooks to poison the food, but the Earthly Beauty, who married the male twin, notices the danger and tells the twins not to eat anything, but they eat a bit from the king's dish of stewed prunes.

At the end of the feast, the king suggests each tell a story. The male twin tells the story of his life and their mother. The king learns of the truth, orders the execution of his two elder wives and restores the youngest as his queen.

Tale type
The tale is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children". In this cycle of stories, a woman promises to bear children of wondrous aspect, who are taken from her as soon as they are born by her jealous relatives (her sisters or her mother-in-law). The children survive and are adopted by a childless couple. Years later, the children are sent on a quest for marvellous items, which will eventually lead to reuniting the family.

Linguist Martin Camaj and Uta Schier-Oberdoffer noted that an Albanian tale they published (see below) matched Turkish tale type TTV 239. Turkish tale type TTV 239, as it appears in the Typen Turkischer Volksmärchen (devised by folklorists Wolfram Eberhard and Pertev Naili Boratav), is named Die Schöne or Güzel ("The Beautiful"), and concerns a quest for a woman of renowned beauty and supernatural powers, who becomes the male twin's wife at the end of the story and reveals the whole truth to the king.

In a late 19th analysis, scholar W. A. Clouston named Dozon's tale as the "Albanian version" of the story The Sisters Envious of Their Cadette, from The Arabian Nights - another tale of the same tale type.

Motifs
The tale features characters from Albanian mythology, like Bukura e dheut (translated as "Earthly Beauty") and the kulshedra. According to Elsie, kulshedra is a female creature of Albanian folklore, who is described as a serpent, and linked to storms.

Albania
Martin Camaj collected an Albanian variant translated as Das Mädchen mit dem Mond und der Junge mit dem Stern auf der Stirn, from informant Avdyl Dragideli. In Avdyl Dragideli's narration, the tale begins with three sisters declaring their wishes to marry the king, and promising great feats: the elder that she can weave a sleeping mat and a blanket for the whole army to seat, and half would still be unseated; the middle one that she can prepare food for the whole army, and there would still be half uneaten; the youngest promises to give birth to the titular twins with astral birthmarks.

Folklorist Maximilian Lambertz published an Albanian tale titled Stern auf der Stirn und Stern auf der Brust ("A Star on the Front and a Star on the Breast"). In this tale, three sisters talk about their marriage wishes to the king's son: the elder boasts she can bake a single batch of bread to feed the whole army; the middle one that she can clothe the whole army with a single bale of fabric; and the youngest promises to bear him a son with a star on the front and a girl with a star on the breast.

Folklorist Anton Berisha published another Albanian language tale, titled "Djali dhe vajza me yll në ballë".

Slovakia
In a Slovak variant, Zlatovlasé dvojčatá ("The Golden-Haired Twins"), the prince marries the youngest sister, who promises to give birth to twins with golden hair and a star on their breast. When the time comes, a woman named Striga steals the newly-born infants and casts them out in the water. The boy and girl are soon found and given the name Janík and Ludmilka. Years later, the Striga sets the boy on the quest for the golden pear and the woman named Drndrlienka as a companion for his sister. Scholar Jiří Polívka listed another version of this story, both grouped under his own classification "Deti nevinne vyhnatej matky" ("Sons of an Innocent Exiled Maiden").

South Slavic
In a South Slavic fairy tale, Die Mär von den drei wunderbaren Schwestern ("The Fairy Tale of the Three Wonderful Sisters"), the emperor spies three sisters talking, the youngest saying that she will give birth to twins with green eyes and golden hair, the boy will cry diamonds instead of tears and the girl will produce rose petals when she smiles. The emperor marries the youngest, she gives birth to the twins and they are replaced by puppies. The twins are saved by a miller. Years later, they hire builders with the boy's diamond tears and erect a palace. Their aunts send him after a wild Divenross (a horse from the samodivas), a golden branch that can talk, and a woman of great beauty named Pendel Hanuma. Pendel Hanuma marries the Brother and reveals the whole plot to the Emperor.

Serbia
In the 19th tale of author Đorđe Kojanov Stefanović's collection, translated as Bruder und Schwester, beide goldhaarig und silberzähnig ("Brother and Sister, golden-haired and silver-toothed"), the king searches the whole kingdom for a wife, and, in a certain place, listens to a maiden proclaiming she will bear the king twins, a boy and a girl, both with golden hair and silver teeth. The king takes the maiden as his wife and brings her home. When he leaves for war, the king orders the cook to look after her. After the queen gives birth to her twins, the cook buries the children in the garden and replaces them for puppies. The queen is banished to the dungeon and the king marries the cook's daughter. In the garden, two poplar trees sprout, a golden and a silver one. Two sheep eat some of the poplar trees and their wool becomes gilded, and the trees are later chopped down and made into beds. The beds are burnt down, but two sparks escape and touch the two sheep. The new queen orders the sheep to be killed and their livers to be given to her as remedy. The sheep are killed and their entrails are washed in the river, where the twins regain human form and are found by a fisherman. They are raised by the fisherman and leave home to another house. The evil queen learns of their survival and visits them to convince them to seek "the most beautiful flower on Earth", the Tambur-Flower (German: Tambur-Blume), and later the maiden named Djuzelgina.

Bosnia
In a Bosnian version published by author Milena Mrazović with the title Die Goldkindern ("The Gold-Children"), the youngest sister promises to give birth to a daughter with golden hair, golden hands and teeth of pearl, and a son with one golden hand, prophecizing her son will become the greatest hero that ever was. Years later, the emperor's first wife tries to get rid of the brother by telling him to kill some Moors that were threatening the realm; by sending him to tame a wild horse, Avgar, which lives in the mountains; to fetch an enchanted flowery wreath from the Jordan River; and to find an all-knowing young maiden whom "hundreds of princes have courted".

In a Bosnian-Romani tale, E Hangjuzela, Jal e Devlehki Manušni ("Hangjuzela, or the Heavenly Woman"), collected by professor Rade Uhlik from an 80-year-old woman named Seferovic Celebija, two sisters are washing their clothes in the river. The younger one says she wants to marry the king and bear a golden-toothed son and a golden-haired girl. She marries him and gives birth to the twins, who are replaced for puppies and thrown in the water. They are rescued by a fisherman. They grow up and sent on a quest for self-playing instruments (mandolins) from the giants and for Hangjuzela, the Heavenly Woman.

Montenegro
In a tale collected by Bulgarian folklorist Kuzman Shapkarev from Kičava, modern day Montenegro, "Прайната йе до крàина, а лошотията не е до вèка", a king and his vizier disguise themselves to mingle with the people. One night, they reach the edge of the village and spy on three sisters: the eldest promises to clothe the entire army with a single spool of wool; the middle one that she can feed the whole army with a single knead of bread; and the youngest promises to bear twins, a boy and a girl with teeth and gilded pearls. The king takes them and makes the youngest his queen. Her jealous sisters take the children as soon as they are born, replace them for kittens and order a shepherd to abandon them in the mountains. The queen is punished by being buried uo to the torso, while the shepherd raises the twins. The aunts learn of the children's survival and send an old woman to the twins' house. The old woman convinces the female twin to ask her brother for a wild sea-horse and the Dunya Gyuzel as a bride for him. The male twin tames the horse and goes to find Dunya Gyuzel, who tries to turn him into a marble statue. The male twin prevails and takes Dunya Gyuzel with him. Later, the twins and Dunya Gyuzel meet the king, and Dunya Gyuzel introduces herself as his daughter-in-law, thus revealing the truth to the king.

Bulgaria
Author Nikolay Rainov published a South Slavic tale titled "Слънце и месец" ("Sun and Moon"): a king dies, and his son ascends to the throne. To mark the occasion, the new king summons everyone to a feast, where he will choose his bride. However, none of the female guests strike his fancy, and he sends his guards to see if all girls are present. The guards arrive at the only illuminated house in the city, where an old woman asks about the commotion at the castle, and her three daughters talk among themselves about marrying the new king: the elder boasts she is able to feed the whole army with a grain of wheat, the middle one that she can clothe the whole army, and the youngest promises to bear him twins, a boy and a girl, one shining like the sun and the other like the moon. The guards report back to the king, who takes the three girls and their mother to live at the palace and marries the youngest. Some time later, the king has to go war, and, in his absence, the queen gives birth to her promised twins, the boy with a sun on his chest and the girl with a moon. The queen's elder sister takes the children and throws them in the water in a chest, and replaces them with a puppy and a kitten. The king returns and, deceived by the ruse, orders his wife to be locked in a cell and spat on by the people. As for the children, they are saved by a captain in a sailing ship, who raises the children until they are fifteen years old. On his deathbed, he tells the male twin to take the captain's horse and let it guide them: wherever it stops, the twins shall make their residence. The twins follow his adoptive father's request, and settle just next to the royal gardens, where they build a house. Their elder aunt, who became the new queen after her cadette's banishment, learns the twins are alive and consult with an old witch ways to dispose of them. The old witch pays a visit to the twins' house and convinces the female twin to send her brother for a giant mirror that shines like the sun in a forest; then, for a hen and its chicks that lays golden eggs, and lastly for a bride for her brother from the garden of the Samodivas ("Самодивска градина", in the original). When the male twin rides the horse to the garden of the Samodivas, the samodiva tries to petrify him, but the male twin overpowers her and she joins him as his bride. At the end of the tale, the Samodiva woman advises the twins to pass by their mother in the cell, kiss her and decorate her hair with flowers. They then join the king for a feast and the Samodiva says their horses are eating bones, just as absurd as a woman giving birth to animals. Author Assen Nicoloff translated the tale as Sun and Moon - Brother and Sister, and sourced it from Bulgaria. In Nicoloff's translation, the twins quest for a mirror, a golden hen and its chicks, a fountain spouting honey and butter, and lastly for a fairy maiden from a fairy ground.

Romania
Romanian author I. C. Fundescu published a Romanian tale titled Sora Criveţului. In this tale, fearing that his kingdom may be burnt to the ground, an emperor forbids lighting any candle at night. One particular house, however, breaks his ban, and the emperor goes with his viziers and cooks to check on them; three sisters are talking about their marriage wishes: the elder wants to marry the cook, for she is able to feed her home with a single piece of bread; the middle one wants to marry the vizier, for she boasts she could guard the treasure with a single woolen coat; and the youngest wishes to marry the emperor himself and bear him three children, two boys with stars on their hearts and a moon on their backs, and a girl with the sun in front. The emperor takes the three sisters and fulfill their marriage wishes. Nine months later, the new empress gives birth to her children (in three consecutive pregnancies), but her sisters take the babies and cast them in the water. The children are saved by shepherds and raised in the forest amidst flocks. Years later, the emperor assembles a crowd for a fighting contest whose winner will be richly rewarded with gold coins. The two boys take part in the contest and win. Meanwhile, the emperor's sisters-in-law recognize the boys and send a midwife to get rid of them. The old midwife pays a visit to the girl, and tells her to find the "cămaşa babei din sfîrcurile mării" ("the shirt of the old woman of the depths of the sea"). The male siblings journey together and, advised by a giant, swim to the bottom of the sea, strip the old woman of the sea to take her shirt, and rush back home, for the old woman will cast legions of dragons and snakes on them. Undeterred, they bring home the shirt. Later, they take part in another fighting contest and win, drawing the attention of their aunts. The old midwife visits the sisters a second time and convinces her to seek the titular "Sora Crivěţului". The boys go to the giants, who advise them to shout at the girl to show herself to them. They follow their advice, but they fail and become stones. Their sister goes to rescue them and get Sora Crivěţului, by shouting the same command. Sora Crivěţului appears to her and says the girl can save her brothers by fetching some water from a nearby basin and sprinkling it on the stones. After rescuing her brothers, Sora Crivěţului joins the siblings back to their homeland, where they build another palace. At the end of the tale, the emperor calls for the people to come and tell stories; Sora Crivěţului goes and tells the truth in the form of a tale.