Chapter XVI: The Son of Seven Queens

_Source._--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 98-110, originally published in _Ind. Antiq._ x. 147 _seq._

_Parallels._--A long variant follows in _Ind. Antiq._, _l. c._ M. Cosquin refers to several Oriental variants, _l. c._ p. xxx. _n._ For the direction tabu, see Note on Princess Labam, _supra_, No. ii. The "letter to kill bearer" and "letter substituted" are frequent in both European (see my List _s. v._) and Indian Folk-Tales (Temple, Analysis, II. iv. _b_, 6, p. 410). The idea of a son of seven mothers could only arise in a polygamous country. It occurs in "Punchkin," _supra_, No. iv.; Day, _Folk-Tales of Bengal_, 117 _seq._; _Ind. Antiq._ i. 170 (Temple, _l. c._, 398).

_Remarks._--M. Cosquin (_Contes de Lorraine_, p. xxx.) points out how, in a Sicilian story, Gonzenbach (_Sizil. Mähr._ No. 80), the seven co-queens are transformed into seven step-daughters of the envious witch who causes their eyes to be taken out. It is thus probable, though M. Cosquin does not point this out, that the "envious step-mother" of folk-tales (see my List, _s. v._) was originally an envious co-wife. But there can be little doubt of what M. Cosquin _does_ point out--viz., that the Sicilian story is derived from the Indian one.