Join us at the campfire for tales from around the world, told by storytellers of all backgrounds and creeds. From the heros and heroines of old, let us relearn and rediscover the wisdom of our ancestors. Shhh..the story begins..

One day, a man was cultivating his vineyard. As he was picking up stones, he noticed one which was very large. After some effort, the man managed to move the stone to one side and discovered, much to his surprise, that beneath the stone was a huge hole, out of which slithered an enormous serpent. The man was greatly afraid.

"Who gave you permission to remove the door to my house?" the serpent demanded to know.

The man excused himself by saying that he never imagined such a stone would happen to be the door to a house.

The serpent answered, "I know you have three marriageable daughters, and I desire you to give me one of them to be my bride. If you refuse, I will come at night and crush you. Now, begone and return shortly with your reply."

As he went home, the man was sad...so sad that his daughters asked him the cause of his sorrow and he explained to them that, while he was working in the vineyard moving a big stone, a serpent had emerged out of a hole that the stone was covering and demanded to know who had given him permission to remove the door to his house. The man recounted how he had excused himself, but that the serpent had ordered he deliver up one of his beloved daughters or the beast would come in the night and crush the life from his body.

The eldest daughter cried fearful tears and swore that she could never become the wife of a serpent. The second repeated her sister's declaration, but the youngest consoled her father and told him not to worry. She assured him that she would be more than happy to make the sacrifice. So, the man took the youngest of his girls by the hand and went with her into the vineyard.

The serpent was waiting for them at the entrance to his hole. From the threshold, he invited them to come down underground and he led them, crawling on his stomach. The father and daughter followed and soon arrived at a grand castle, whose doors opened upon magnificent apartments with walls upholstered in diamonds. The rooms were elegant with exquisite furniture and resplendent chandeliers suspended from every ceiling. The father and daughter were amazed to see such exceptional things and the girl was so astounded that she turned toward her father to tell him how delighted she would be to become the wife of such a serpent.

At once, they came to an understanding concerning the marriage. The serpent offered to his fiancée a white wedding dress and other gowns, equally as superb, to wear after the nuptials. The marriage took place and people of the highest society were invited. They attended the church ceremony, where the bride was beautiful in her white dress with its long train, and the serpent crawled beside her. After the marriage, the guests went to the castle where there was a sumptuous banquet at which delicious and rare morsels were served, such as pheasants cooked on skewers over a raging wood fire. Footmen in elaborate livery were on hand to cater to every whim.

That evening, when all the guests had withdrawn, the girl followed her husband into the bedroom. Suddenly, she was horrified to find herself alone without relatives or friends, and with nothing but a serpent beside her. Seeing her fright, the serpent reassured his bride, explaining that he could adopt human male form when he chose...either by day or by night, but not both. Immediately, he asked her to decide when she would desire him to become a man. She replied that she preferred him to be a man at night. Thus, she would be less terrified. By the light of day, she stated that her fright would be much greatly lessened by the sight of a beast than it would be during the shadows of evening.

So, the serpent removed his skin, hung it on a brass hook close to the bed, and appeared as a handsome young prince who had been bewitched by an evil fairy...a fairy who had cast this fate upon him, hoping that he would never succeed in finding one to wed him. At dawn, he donned his snakeskin once more. So, every night he was a prince and every morning, a serpent.

A few days later, the bride went to visit her parents. Her sisters were envious of her, seeing her clothed so stunningly in lavish dresses encrusted with diamonds. They suggested that they might visit with her in the castle. She was delighted that they wished to spend some time with her in her new home. She showed them her splendid wardrobe and all her fine jewels. They asked her if she wasn't afraid at having such a big serpent beside her, but her husband had instructed her that, if she should happen to invite her sisters to stay with her, she should be careful none touch the skin while he was sleeping, otherwise a horrible misfortune would befall the two of them.

When the young married woman brought her sisters into the bedroom she shared with the serpent, in order to answer their worried curiosity and to show them that her husband was, in actual fact, a handsome prince, she warned them about what the serpent had told her...that they should be careful not to touch the skin while her husband was asleep, lest a dreadful misfortune befall the two of them. Nevertheless, the eldest sister, seeing such a handsome gentleman, was consumed with jealousy. So that she could more closely look at him, she held a torch over his sleeping form. Then, out of spite, allowed the flames to lick at the discarded serpent skin.

The prince awoke with a start and quickly told his wife that she should have remembered his advice. To punish her sisters, he touched both of them with a magic wand and the two women suddenly found themselves in the countryside outside the castle, from where they were obliged to travel home on foot.

"You did not heed my warning," the prince sadly told his bride. "Therefore, you too must be punished. Take seven empty bottles and seven pairs of iron shoes. When you have filled these seven bottles with your tears and when you have worn out the seven pairs of shoes, you may come back to me."

Then, he also touched her with the magic wand, and she was in the open countryside, alone and lost. She wept bitterly, both night and day, and walked unceasingly. She was all the more afflicted and her wandering all the more painful because she was with child.

At the end of several months, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She kept herself alive by eating whatever she could find during her travels. She ate grass and fruit and thus managed to survive and provide nourishment for her son. She walked without stopping for seven years...each year filling one bottle with her tears and each year wearing out one pair of the iron shoes. Eventually, her once luxurious clothes were reduced to little more than rags.

At the end of seven years of wandering, she spied a village and heard bells ringing loudly. She asked the first person she met, what the occasion might be for such a grand festival. The reply was that a prince, who had lost his wife seven years before, was getting remarried.

Then, the serpent's wife took her boy by the hand and went to stand at the door of the church. Her husband, who recognized her immediately, was overjoyed and stopped on the threshold before entering.

To all those in attendance he stated, "I had a pretty key that I lost seven years ago. Today, I see that it has been recovered. What must I do? Keep the key or have a new one made?"

The congregation replied, "If you were truly satisfied with the old one, then why should you have a new one made?" And they shouted, "Keep the old one!"

Then, the prince said, "Here is my wife, who has returned to me after seven long and sorrowful years, and I am happy to take her back."

So saying, he led her and his son into his sumptuous castle, where they lived joyously and gratefully together for a very, very long time.

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