A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A princess gives Cinder-Youth a casket containing a flint before his brothers abandon him in a well. She says striking it will summon an efrit able to fulfil his desires. He first uses it in the seventh world to obtain the immense supply of meat and water needed by the emerald Anka. The apparition has a mouth compared to the size of the world and immediately asks for orders.

After the Anka returns the youth to the surface, he strikes the flint again and requests news of the three princesses. The efrit returns with the women themselves, enabling their onward journey to their father. The narrative gives this helper no personal name, explains no imprisonment inside the flint and imposes no limit of three wishes. Its human-like racialised description in the English text is not a category of real peoples.

Flint summonsVast mouth comparisonProvision of food and waterRetrieval of princesses
01

Origins & earliest records

Turkish storytelling collected in Anatolia, through Hungarian and English publication

02

Records & interpretation

Complete English tale and final comparative footnote read, preserving separate opponents and journeys.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Turkish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales

    Ignácz Kúnos (collector); R. Nisbet Bain (translator from Hungarian) · 1901

    “The Cinder-Youth,” pp. 84–96; footnote10 compares the flesh-offering incident with Bird Zhar and Bird Mogol tales. London: A. H. Bullen. English through Hungarian1889, as stated in preface.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Complete English tale and attached comparison note read

Turkish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales

Ignácz Kúnos / R. Nisbet Bain; London: A. H. Bullen, 1901. The Cinder-Youth, pp. 84–96; footnote10

Complete cache kunos-bain-7.txt,16609characters. Full three-faceddevil/wife rescue, separatewelldevil, betrayedbrother, blackramdescent, nestrescue and bothAnkajourneys, restoredthigh/finalkingdommarriage read. Firstflightnohumanflesh; whiteascentonlyprincessprediction. Simurghrawunchanged, regionalbirdnotassertednewuniversalidentity. No original-language/artworkcollation.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical English folktale translation through HungarianKúnos/Bain1901, The Cinder-YouthResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

FT·2099 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑