Queens like many women in
the old tales play an important but secondary role. They die off, they are step-mothers (with all
the old connotations), they are not listened to, and in general are a bit superfluous.
Two of my favorite queens are
the Queen from “The Lute Player,” of whom I spoke Saturday, and the Queen who
outwits her husband the king by taking him with her. There are various tales in which this happens;
“The Basil Plant” from Chile is one. I
found it in Suzanne Barchers book, WiseWomen. There is also “The Peasant's Clever Daughter,” which I have
seen various places. Here’s an internet
link to “The Peasant's Clever Daughter.”
So
both stories go that a clever peasant girl marries the king. In “The Basil Plant” the girl’s one-up-man-ship
is too much for the king to bear; so he feels he must marry her. “The Clever Peasant Girl” answers the
riddle: "Come to me not clothed, not
naked, not riding, not walking, not in the road, and not out of the road, and
if thou canst do that I will marry thee."
Once married the king tells his new wife to keep her nose out of his
business. But when she sees how he
dispenses justice, she just can’t sit around doing nothing.
Knowing she is behind the “tricks”
being played upon him, the king plans to either send her home or burn her
up. But she is allowed to take with her “from
the palace that which was dearest and most precious in (her) eyes” or to ask a
favor. In both cases the king is her
choice. He sees the wisdom of her
actions and from then on she is either the one who dispenses justice or she
helps with it.
Not a bad way to get
noticed. The king couldn't very well
ignore his queen and go on ruling himself if he died in the fire with her or
stayed at her cottage for the rest of their lives.
