"The Enchanted Quill"/"The Enchanted Feather" (German:Die Zauberfeder), also known as "The Cursed Crow" (German:Die verwunschene Krähe) is a German Fairy Tale collected by Franz Xaver von Schönwerth. Originating in the area of Neuenhammer/Georgenberg (county of Neustadt a. d. Waldnaab), the tale has been published in The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales.
A man falls fast asleep while riding his horse until a crow wakes him up by pecking at his horse. When the man demands know why he bothered his ride, the crow replies the man was falling into a years-long sleep. The man asks how he can show his gratitude, to which the crow replies, "by giving me one of your sisters in marriage" and flies off.
The man rides back home and tells his three sisters about the deal with the crow. The two elder sisters are disgusted, but the youngest sister seems receptive to the idea. The next day, a magnificent carriage approaches the house, and the crow steps out of it. The youngest sister is the only one who greets him politely, but the crow invites the three sisters to visit his castle.
The crow and the four women travel through a spooky forest until arriving at a beautiful castle. The crow takes the youngest woman to another room after warning her sisters against spying on them. Nonetheless, the two sisters tiptoe toward the door and peek through the keyhole. They see a handsome young man sitting at a table and having a pleasant conversation with their sister. Suddenly, the castle vanishes, and the three sisters find themselves sitting under a fir. Having been turned back into a bird, the crow scolds the elder sisters and says the youngest is the only who can save him now, but she must walk to the city in rags and accept whatever work she is offered.
And so, the woman heads towards the nearest city and runs into a tailor who asks if she can cook and clean for the prince living there. The woman assures she can do all those things, and he takes him to the palace. Before long, though, it becomes obvious that she is completely useless at housework, and the servants delight in making fun of her.
She is weeping bitter tears in her room when the crow appears at her window and asks her to and pull one of his feathers. The crow explains if she uses his feather to write down a wish, it will come true. She reluctantly plucks one feather, and the next day she prepares a meal by writing down the names of many fine dishes. The food appears, and the prince and the princess are so thrilled that they reward her with beautiful garments.
Soon the caretaker becomes infatuated with her. When he tries to sneak into her room, she tells him to shut the door, and while he is doing so, she writes: "Let him spend all night opening and closing the door." In the morning the caretaker, deeply humiliated, is seen slinking away. The next evening, the huntsman tries to sleep with her, and she punishes him by writing: "Let him spend all night taking his boots off and putting them back on." At daybreak, he leaves in a huff. On the third morning, a third servant bothers him, and she gets rid of him by writing: "Let him spend all night opening and closing the door to the dovecote."
So, the cook finally gets the suitors off her back. But they are still determined to get revenge, so they make three whips and plan to ambush the cook. However, she gets wind of their plan, and writes down: "Let them whip each other with those devilish switches!" The three scorned suitors start lash each other, and although the prince and the princess try to help them, they end up receiving most of lashes.
Finally, the cook's ordeals undo the spell. The crow returns, now turned into a prince, and rides with the cook to his castle.
Compare with "East of the Sun and West of the Moon".
In the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index it is classified as a 425B, "Bird Husband", and 432 "The Prince as Bird".
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: One caretaker, a huntsman and a servant sneak into the cook's bedroom to try to sleep with her; though, the cook uses her magic feather to humiliate them and get them off her back.
- Animorphism: The crow used to be a human prince before being transformed by a curse.
- Become a Real Boy: The prince wants the main character to break the curse which turned into a crow and become human again.
- Clever Crows: The crow can speak, give sound advice and help the heroine. Subverted, since it was originally a human.
- Creepy Crows: The two elder sisters find the crow more than a bit disgusting and frightening. Later, when they travel through a dark, gloomy forest to visit the crow's castle, the three sisters become convinced that they must be traveling on the road to Hell.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The main character's name is never mentioned; she only goes by "the youngest sister" or "the cook".
- Forbidden Fruit: The talking crow invites the three sisters to visit his castle. Upon arriving, the crow takes the youngest sister to one room in the castle after warning her sisters against spying on them. The two sisters peek through the keyhole anyway and see the crow has become a handsome prince and is talking animatedly with their sister. Then the castle disappears, the prince reverts to his bird form, and he scolds the two sisters for ruining one chance to break his curse.The crow said to the two sisters: "Just watch out, and don't get too curious about things." He took the youngest into another room in the castle. The two sisters tiptoed toward the door and peeked through the keyhole. They saw a handsome young man sitting at a table, having a cozy conversation with their sister.
All at once everything changed: The castle and the carriage disappeared, and the three young women were standing under a fir tree. The crow was up in the branches, scolding them: "Now only the youngest can save me." - Forced Transformation: A curse turns a prince into a talking crow.
- Miracle Food: The main character uses the crow's magic feather to wish a tasty feast into existence.
- Nameless Narrative: The characters are referred to by a descriptor (the man, the crow, the youngest daughter...) or their job (the caretaker, the huntsman...)
- Rags to Riches: The cook, who comes from a poor background, becomes married to a prince and moves to a magnificent castle.
- Rewriting Reality: The main character is given a magic feather which may make any wish she writes down come true.Suddenly the crow appeared at the window, turned his wing to her, and said: "Pull out one of my feathers, and if you use it to write down a wish, the wish will come true." With a heavy heart she pulled a feather out. Before the noonday meal, she wrote down the names of the very finest dishes with the quill. The food appeared on the table in bowls that sparkled and glowed.
- Rule of Three: The main character has three siblings -one of which spends three years sleeping-, and three unwanted suitors.
- Scullery Maid: The youngest sister gets a job as a scullery maid for a prince in order to break her fiancé's curse.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: The cook is mocked by all her co-workers until her rags are replaced with beautiful garments. Then people start taking notice of her beautiful face and slim figure and she gains several unwanted suitors.
- Talking Animal: The crow is constantly giving the characters advice and instructions.
- A Taste of the Lash: The cook's unwanted and rejected suitors intend to get revenge on her by cornering her and whipping her; though, she realizes their plan and uses her magic quill to force the trio to whip themselves.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The man takes the strange talking crow who wants to become his brother-in-law completely in stride.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The protagonist's brother is the first character to appear in the story, and the first to completely disappear after getting his sister engaged to a cursed prince. Her sisters also vanish after accidentally botching an attempt to undo the curse.
- Youngest Child Wins: The youngest sister ends up getting married to a prince after undoing a curse.
