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Overview
An orphan finds Mogarzea asleep beside a great fire and shelters inside one leg of his trousers. Discovered at dawn, he claims to have been sent as a son and is accepted as a shepherd. Mogarzea later explains that he is a prince whose journey to marry a fairy at the Sweet-milk Lake ended when hostile elves stole his soul. He remains with his sheep on a restricted plot, unable to enjoy anything or laugh.
The boy traps the elves and recovers the soul in a bottle. Following their instructions, he climbs onto Mogarzea’s chest and jumps until the replacement “lazy soul” leaves, then makes him swallow his own soul and the bottle’s water, applying a supplied plaster. Mogarzea immediately becomes lively. He grants the boy’s request to remain his son, without a claim of biological descent. He later carries the captive elves and the log trapping their fingers on his back to his father’s kingdom. After the boy’s marriage and the emperor’s death, he divides the kingdom with his rescuer. The tale explicitly distinguishes removed original soul from the conjured substitute.
Origins & earliest records
Roumanian Fairy Tales, collected by Mite Kremnitz, adapted and arranged by J. M. Percival (New York: Henry Holt, 1885), Mogarzea and His Son, pp. 62–69.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected English narrative through annual bathing visits and the kingdom’s division. The preface assigns tale 6 to P. Ispirescu’s collection.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Roumanian Fairy Tales: Mogarzea and His Son, pp. 62–69
Preface assigns tale 6 to P. Ispirescu. Complete English adaptation; Romanian original not collated.
Family, evolution & connections
Mogarzea, his adopted son and the fairy’s children
Complete English adaptation, pp. 62–69; royal father, permanent adoption, subsequent marriage and children.
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- Mogarzea’s unnamed royal father
- Unnamed orphan — adopted son, husband of the Milk Lake fairy
- Their unnamed children, number unspecified
Explicit parentage and adoption statements; node labels distinguish biological descent from adoption. Mogarzea’s father, orphan and children are unnamed; child count is unspecified. Adoption is not biological descent. The fairy’s coerced capture precedes marriage. The three soul-stealing elves have no stated kinship, and the fairies are not stated sisters. Romanian originals have not been collated.
His unnamed royal father
Mogarzea is a prince who returns to his father’s kingdom. The father is unnamed; the story supplies no mother or siblings.
The unnamed orphan whom Mogarzea accepts as his son
After the rescue, the orphan asks to remain Mogarzea’s son forever, and Mogarzea grants the request. The orphan’s original parents are already dead; this is adoption, not a new biological birth.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary historical English adaptationKremnitz/Percival 1885: Mogarzea and His SonResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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