Beschrijving
Tale of the Cradle. Two traveling students spend the night in the house of a family with a beautiful wife and daughter. Everyone sleeps in the same room, with the youngest child in a cradle at the foot of the marriage bed.
During the night one of the students sneaks into the bed of the daughter. When the mother leaves the room, the second student moves the cradle, so that when she comes back she mistakes his bed for hers and him for her husband.
When the first student tries to go back to his own bed, he too is confused by the position of the cradle. He gets into bed with the father and, thinking that this is his friend, tells him what he has done. The father becomes angry and starts to beat the student. When the mother turns on the light, her lover puts the cradle back and moves his friend into their original bed. When she realizes what has happened, she tells her husband that they were visited by a demon. The students leave the following morning [K1345].
During the night one of the students sneaks into the bed of the daughter. When the mother leaves the room, the second student moves the cradle, so that when she comes back she mistakes his bed for hers and him for her husband.
When the first student tries to go back to his own bed, he too is confused by the position of the cradle. He gets into bed with the father and, thinking that this is his friend, tells him what he has done. The father becomes angry and starts to beat the student. When the mother turns on the light, her lover puts the cradle back and moves his friend into their original bed. When she realizes what has happened, she tells her husband that they were visited by a demon. The students leave the following morning [K1345].
Motief
K1345
Commentaar
Early European versions see Boccaccio, Decamerone (IX,6) and Chaucer, Reeve’s Tale.
Combinaties
1544.
Oorspronkelijk Verhaaltype
1363
Subgenre
mop