The ninth peahen transformed into a maiden under the apple tree, William Sewell’s illustration
The ninth peahen appears as a maiden beneath the apple tree, with another peahen in the branches. The tale expressly describes the ninth sister’s transformation; it does not show all nine changing form.
Overview
Nine peahens visit a palace tree that flowers and bears golden fruit within one night. Eight gather the apples while the ninth descends to the youngest prince and becomes a beautiful woman. She gives him two apples before returning to bird form. When an old woman secretly cuts a lock of her hair, all nine leave and cease visiting the tree.
The prince finds that they bathe daily in a distant lake, but a bribed servant repeatedly sends him into enchanted sleep. The ninth tries to wake him and finally sends a cryptic message that enables him to proceed. He later reaches her own palace, where she is queen and resumes maiden form to greet him. Their marriage is interrupted when a dragon abducts her, and restored after a horse-assisted escape. The ninth’s expressly narrated human changes are distinguished from the other sisters’ peahen appearances.
Origins & earliest records
Woislav M. Petrovitch, Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians, Chapter XIV.IX, printed pp. 267–280. First publication August 1914; inspected imprint lists November 1916 and December 1921 reprints. Earlier oral and Serbian-language witnesses remain separate research questions.
Records & interpretation
Entire selected tale read in two consecutive bounded sections, including the final horse exchange and the dragon’s death. Narrated forms belong to this witness; actual illustrations have not yet been visually matched.
In the literature
“their nuptials were solemnized”
Chapter XIV IX, p.272; marriage after reunion · Woislav M. Petrovitch
A bribed servant repeatedly puts the prince to sleep before the lake meetings. The beloved leaves a cryptic instruction, after which the prince kills the servant. A hermit directs him to the peahens’ palace, where the queen becomes a maiden and their marriage follows. No independent calendar or precise duration is supplied for the search.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians, XIV.IX: The Golden Apple-tree and the Nine Peahens, pp. 267–280
Primary selected text and imprint read. No unpublished narrator or earliest origin date inferred.
- 02
Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians
Woislav M. Petrovitch, Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians, London: George G. Harrap; selected December1921 reprint of first August1914 edition, November1916 reprint recorded. Complete Chapter XIV IX The Golden Apple-tree and the Nine Peahens, pp.267–280, independently read in original English prose rendering; original Serbian source not independently inspected.
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.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians
Woislav M. Petrovitch, Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians, London: George G. Harrap; selected December1921 reprint of first August1914 edition, November1916 reprint recorded. Complete Chapter XIV IX The Golden Apple-tree and the Nine Peahens, pp.267–280, independently read in original English prose rendering; original Serbian source not independently inspected.
- Nine peahens visit the glowing apple-tree; eight eat fruit while the ninth becomes a maiden, meets the youngest prince and gives him two apples before changing back. She calls the others sisters. An old woman cuts her hair while secretly watching; the peahens leave and do not return. The story explicitly shows the ninth’s human transformation, not separate human transformations for all eight companions.
- A bribed servant repeatedly puts the prince to sleep before the lake meetings. The beloved leaves a cryptic instruction, after which the prince kills the servant. A hermit directs him to the peahens’ palace, where the queen becomes a maiden and their marriage follows. No independent calendar or precise duration is supplied for the search.
Chapter XIV IX, The Prince’s Quest / The Quest Resumed, pp.270–273
- The husband violates the prohibition on the twelfth cellar, frees a dragon and loses the queen to it. After one failed escape and advice obtained through her, he wins a flying horse and they finally escape. The dragon’s own horse throws and kills its rider; the queen rides that second horse home. The queen’s bird form is not identified with the old woman’s mare.
Specific tale; first work1914 distinguished from selected1921 reprint. Original Serbian source and individual oral narrator not independently established. No sacred formula excerpted.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textPetrovitch: The Golden Apple-tree and the Nine Peahens, complete taleResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationThe ninth peahen transformed into a maiden under the apple tree, William Sewell’s illustration
The ninth peahen appears as a maiden beneath the apple tree, with another peahen in the branches. The tale expressly describes the ninth sister’s transformation; it does not show all nine changing form.