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

Overview

In Estefanella Hirigaray’s The Pretty but Idle Girl, a prospective bride must make seven shirts but scarcely knows how to thread a needle. An old woman, called a witch in the narrative, offers to finish the work on condition that the girl remember her name in a year and a day. Failure would let the helper do whatever she wished with her. Marie Kirikitoun claims that nobody can remember the name. She completes the shirts, allowing the marriage, but the bride remains anxious and unsmiling.

At a feast intended to cheer her, another old woman reports seeing someone leap from ditch to ditch while repeating Marie Kirikitoun and boasting that the name will not be remembered. The bride immediately writes it down and rewards the informant. When the original helper returns, the bride knows her name. The tale ends with the successful answer; it does not describe the witch tearing herself apart or give a different name from another European bargain story. Marie’s clothing, size and means of completing the sewing remain unspecified.

Seven shirts completedYear-and-day bargainRepeated hidden nameOverheard boastWritten remembranceDefeated claim
01

Origins & earliest records

Wentworth Webster, Basque Legends, chapter IV, pp. 56–58. Selected tales attributed to Estefanella Hirigaray; section commentary also includes unnamed informants.

02

Records & interpretation

A located historical English collection retains named tale attribution and distinguishes its introductory comparisons from the narrated actions.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Basque Legends, IV: Marie Kirikitoun, pp. 56–58

    Wentworth Webster, collector and translator; Estefanella Hirigaray, selected tale narrator · 1879, second edition

    Actual edition title checked; selected tales read through the final outcomes.

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.

References

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

  1. Primary historical collected narrativeWebster: Basque Legends, chapter IVResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

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