A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A princess escapes her mother’s order to have her killed and reaches a small farmhouse marked by traces of pigs. A man shelters her there, offering to receive her as either wife or daughter; she chooses the latter, and they use separate beds. When another queen seeks the girl as a bride for her lovesick son, the foster guardian requires that the visitor come to the house herself.
As that queen approaches, the humble dwelling becomes a palace, the guardian becomes a powerful emperor, and the pigs become dukes. These changes overturn the visitor’s assumption that she is summoning a poor country girl. The text gives no number of pigs, speaking episode or account of their earlier transformation. Its ending celebrates the princess’s marriage without explaining whether the pigs were previously enchanted courtiers or animals newly given human rank and form.
Origins & earliest records
Consiglieri Pedroso, Portuguese Folk-Tales, translated from the original manuscript by Henriqueta Monteiro, London: Elliot Stock for the Folk-Lore Society, 1882; tale I, The Vain Queen, pp. 3–6. No individual narrator or collecting locality is identified.
Records & interpretation
The located 1882 English translation presents this figure within a complete collected narrative. Pedroso’s introductory pp. 1–2 describe the thirty published selections from his larger collection.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Portuguese Folk-Tales I: The Vain Queen, pp. 3–6
Complete narrative read through the concluding marriage or revival; no unlocated comparative interpretation is assigned to this figure.
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.
- Primary textPortuguese Folk-Tales, original 1882 edition scan and transcriptionResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.