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

Overview

A royal woman attempts to keep a rabbit found in her garden, successively fastening it with a garter, handkerchief and golden necklet. It escapes with each object. An old storyteller later follows an ass with golden panniers beneath a milestone and discovers a palace served by visible hands without visible bodies.

At dawn the rabbit arrives, bathes in a tub and becomes a handsome prince. After combing his hair and expressing longing for the woman who loves him, he bathes again and resumes rabbit form. The storyteller reports this encounter to the grieving princess, who accompanies her back underground.

There the princess finds an apparently dead man. Unlike her frightened attendant, she enters, throws water on him and prays; he returns to life as the same prince the storyteller had observed. The spellbound court regains human appearance too. The princess identifies herself as the princess of Naples and agrees to their wedding. This narrative setting does not establish Naples as Pedroso’s collecting locality.

Rabbit escapes restraintsBathing changes appearanceHuman princeRevival following water and prayer
01

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 VII, pp. 29–32. The selected account does not identify an individual narrator or collecting locality.

02

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.

  1. 01

    Portuguese Folk-Tales VII: The Rabbit, pp. 29–32

    Collected by Consiglieri Pedroso; translated by Henriqueta Monteiro · 1882

    Located complete narrative in the original London edition; Ralston’s comparative introduction is separate commentary.

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 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.

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