A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Although the title calls him the ghost of the spring, the spirit in this tale has lived peacefully in a deserted well for many years. A wood-cutter’s wife falls in and grips him by the ears; when her husband lowers a rope, the ghost escapes on it instead of her. He thanks his rescuer and offers a dishonest route to wealth: he will possess a princess, then leave when the man applies three moistened wooden tablets to her face. The possession brings severe pain that the story’s doctors and astrologers cannot cure, and the agreed sign produces an immediate recovery. The wood-cutter is rewarded with marriage to her. These are fictional possession and cure mechanisms, not medical claims.
The same ghost next possesses the daughter of a neighbouring ruler, the first ruler’s brother. When the wood-cutter is sent to heal her too, the spirit angrily says his original debt has already been paid and threatens to take both princesses. The man escapes the threat by claiming that his first wife has returned from the well and is just outside. Terrified, the ghost leaves the princess, city and kingdom, and the narrator says he is never seen again. The second princess recovers and becomes the man’s second wife. The first wife’s actual return is a bluff, not a narrated rescue or resurrection, and the spirit’s previous human life, death and personal name are never supplied.
Origins & earliest records
Turkish storytelling collected in Anatolia, through Hungarian and English publication
Records & interpretation
Complete English tale and ending read, with its attached footnote where present.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Turkish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales
“The Ghost of the Spring and the Shrew,” pp.196–205. London:A.H.Bullen,1901. Complete English tale and attached glosses; pagination follows hosted transcription.
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
Turkish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales
Ignácz Kúnos / R. Nisbet Bain; London: A. H. Bullen, 1901. The Ghost of the Spring and the Shrew, pp.196–205
Complete cache kunos-bain-17.txt,12158characters, including subsequent empty page markers206–209; narrative ends before206. All four notes14–17 read: Chinese emperor, para/farthing, firman/rescript, Giaour/unbeliever. First wife not actually recovered; ghost not killed or resurrected. Misogynistic tale premise and religious social hierarchy not adopted as facts. Title spring versus narrative well preserved.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical English folktale translation through HungarianKúnos/Bain1901, The Ghost of the Spring and the ShrewResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.