Prince Bayaya (Fairy tale)

Author: Božena Němcová

Time Period: 1701 CE–1850 CE

Country or Culture: Czech Republic

Genre: Fairy Tale

PLOT SUMMARY

In a European kingdom, a queen gives birth to twin boys while her husband is away at war. The older twin loves to ride on his horse, which is as old as he is. The younger twin prefers to play indoors and quickly becomes his mother’s favorite. When the twins are seven, their father returns home. The queen lies to her husband, telling him that her favorite son is actually their firstborn child. This makes the younger son heir to the throne. At seventeen, the older twin decides to leave home. To his surprise, his horse speaks to him and encourages him to strike out on his own.

The prince and his horse ride off until they come to a magic rock. The horse strikes the rock three times with its hooves. The rock opens and reveals a stable inside. The horse instructs the prince to disguise himself and enter the service of the king of a nearby city. If the prince needs help, he should approach the rock and hit it three times. The prince puts on an eye patch and pretends to be mute. The local king hires him out of pity. Because he is mute and ugly in his disguise, the widowed king allows Bayaya to entertain his three daughters, Zdobena, Budinka, and Slavena.

One day the king reveals his predicament to Bayaya. Many years prior, three dragons had threatened the kingdom. To ward off their attack, the king promised to give the dragons his three daughters once they reached womanhood. Now the dragons have returned to demand their sacrifice. Bayaya goes to the rock, strikes it three times, and reveals the problem to his horse. His horse tells him that it was because of the dragons that he brought Bayaya to this kingdom. The horse tells Bayaya to come back the next morning. When Bayaya returns, the horse instructs him to unearth a chest, which is filled with three outfits and a shining sword fit for a knight.

When Zdobena arrives at the rock to be sacrificed to the first dragon, Bayaya appears, nicely dressed and riding his horse. He slays the dragon and rides off before anyone can speak to him. Bayaya slays the second dragon on the second day, saving Budinka. On the third day, Bayaya slays the third dragon to save Slavena. Slavena approaches the knight to thank him, but the horse runs off before Bayaya can speak

Soon afterward, a neighboring kingdom declares war. The king summons all his nobles and promises his daughters to those who help him. They all march off to battle. Bayaya goes to the magic rock. His horse tells him to join the battle the next day in a white suit. Bayaya fights valiantly, defeating the enemy and helping to end the war. Bayaya is injured during the fighting, and the king uses a piece of his cape to wrap the wound. Before the king can thank the white knight for his help, Bayaya and his horse ride off.

With the war won, the king decides to select husbands for his daughters from all the nobles who fought for him. From the palace balcony, each princess will throw a golden apple at the noblemen, who are all lined up below. Whoever receives the apple will marry that princess. Bayaya takes his place inconspicuously at the end of the line.

Zdobena and Budinka throw their apples first. They land at Bayaya’s feet, but he slyly kicks them toward two other lucky suitors. However, Slavena’s apple rolls straight to Bayaya’s feet, and he picks it up. Slavena is distraught that she has to marry an ugly mute. On their wedding night, Bayaya’s horse bids him farewell. When Bayaya enters Slavena’s chambers, the princess recognizes him as the shining knight who rescued her and her sisters and is overjoyed. The newlyweds soon travel to Bayaya’s kingdom. There, Bayaya discovers that his brother has died, and Bayaya becomes king.

SIGNIFICANCE

In its original Czech, “Prince Bayaya” was first published in 1848 in the collection of Czech fairy tales Národní báchorky a powěsti (National tales and legends) by Božena Němcová. The Austrian Czech author Němcová strongly identified with her mother’s Czech heritage and was a key figure in the Czech national revival. During Němcová’s lifetime, the region that became the Czech Republic in 1993 was part of the Austrian empire. Němcová began collecting, transcribing, and editing Czech fairy tales such as the story of Prince Bayaya. Many scholars believe Němcová often inserted her own creative ideas into these traditional fairy tales, which in a sense became her own work. Němcová’s version of “Prince Bayaya” is thought to be an amalgamation of several shorter tales.

American writer Parker Fillmore included his English translation of the story of Prince Bayaya in the anthology Czechoslovak Fairy Tales (1919). Fillmore admits that he altered the stories somewhat to appeal to the tastes of American children. Although not a literal translation, Fillmore’s rendition of “Prince Bayaya” remains one of the most accessible versions of this Czech fairy tale in English.

Significantly, “Prince Bayaya” incorporates many popular elements of European fairy tales in its elaborate story of a slighted prince who eventually finds happiness. In so doing, “Prince Bayaya” illustrates well the form and function of traditional fairy tales. For example, “Prince Bayaya” begins with the common European fairy tale motif of a young protagonist who is cheated out of his birthright. He finds the support of a magical, anthropomorphic animal, another common element of traditional European fairy tales.

From an archetypal point of view, Prince Bayaya embarks on a quest leading to his rite of passage. By accepting the demand of his loyal supernatural horse, who insists that Bayaya humble himself in the service of a foreign king, Bayaya temporarily loses his elevated social status. He is symbolically wounded by his disguise as pale, one-eyed, and mute youth. Through this plot element, the fairy tale expresses the collective hope that any real disadvantaged person may rise up in life.

In his true identity, Prince Bayaya is a shining knight. Slaying dragons, Bayaya rescues the three princesses. From a psychological view, Prince Bayaya’s fulfillment of his desires is delayed until he has reached full adulthood. This is illustrated by his horse’s condition that he not reveal his true identity until all of his tasks are accomplished. For its happy ending, “Prince Bayaya” relies on the motif of a fortunate marriage and the final assumption of the prince’s birthright.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fillmore, Parker. “Prince Bayaya.” Czechoslovak Fairy Tales. New York: Harcourt, 1919. 77–98. Print.

Francikova, Dasa. “Female Friends in Nineteenth-Century Bohemia: Troubles with Affectionate Writing and ‘Patriotic Relationships.’” Journal of Women’s History 12.3 (2000): 23–28. Print.

Iggers, Wilma Abeles. Women of Prague. Providence: Berghahn, 1995. Print.

Němcová, Božena. The Grandmother. Trans. Gregor Frances. Prague: Vitalis, 2006. Print.

Součková, Milada. The Czech Romantics. The Hague: Mouton, 1958. Print.