Tales from the folklore of lower Britanny

nce upon a time, there was a king of France who liked beautiful apples so much that he was called the apple king. He had only one daughter, a princess of remarkable beauty.
He made it known all over his kingdom, and even abroad, that he would give his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man, whether he was a prince or the son of a farmer, who would bring him a dozen apples of the most beautiful kind. And so, all the roads were crowded with all sort of people going to the court and carrying apples; kings, princes, dukes, counts, marquis and knights, but also mere farmers and gardeners. A good farmer, named Dagorn, who lived in the region of Tréguier, had superb apples in his orchards. No one in the country could …Read more »

Once upon a time there was a widower, who lived with his three daughters. One day, one of his daughters said to him:
– Father, could you go to the fountain and fetch me a jug of water? There is not a drop left in the house, and I’ll need some for the stew.
– Very well my child, answered the old man.
And he took a jug and went to the fountain. as he was leaning over the water, filling up his jug, a toad sprang up and jumped at his face and clutched at it so tightly that all his efforts to get rid of it were useless.
– You will only be able to get me off your face if you promise to give me one of your daughters for a wife! Said the toad.
He left his jug by the fountain, and ran to the house.
– O God! what happened to you, father? his daughters exclaimed, when they saw him in such a state.
– Alas! my poor children …Read more »

Once upon a time, there was a gardener who had two sons. One day in May, as he was working in his garden, he noticed a small bird of a kind he had never seen before.
- This is one beautiful bird! he said to himself; if I could only catch it!
He managed to catch the small bird, and he put it in a cage, with the intention to offer it as a present to his lord. In its cage, the bird laid an egg, which was yellow as gold.
On the following day, the gardener’s wife had to go to town, to bring some eggs to her lord. As she was one egg short to have a full three dozen, she took the egg of the small bird and put it among the others; then, she went to town. When the lord saw the gold yellow egg, he was surprised, and he said to the gardener’s wife:
- What’s this egg?
- Well, My lord, I was one egg short to complete my three dozen, so I took this yellow egg, which was laid by a small bird that we have at our house. …Read more »

Once upon a time, on the Leguer river, there was a miller who took his rifle one day, to go hunting for swans and wild ducks by the mill pond. It was in December, the weather was cold, and the ground was all covered in snow. Upon arriving at the pond bank, he saw a female duck frolicking in the water. He aimed at it, shot and was astounded to see, right after the shot, a beautiful princess standing beside him, coming from he didn’t know where and who talked to him like this:
- Thank you, my good man! I have been around this place for a very long time, living in the shape of a wild duck, because of a spell cast on me by three demons which give me no rest. You brought me back to my human shape and can set me free completely, with a little bravery and tenacity.
- And what should I do for that? Asked the surprised miller.
- Spend three nights in a row in the old ruined manor which you can see up there.
- And what is there? The devil perhaps?
- Alas, it’s not only one, but twelve devils which will torment you. They will throw you …Read more »