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

Overview

The old storyteller sees hands leading an ass beneath a milestone, yet cannot see the person who directs it. Following the animal into an underground palace, she observes many hands attending to household work. When the princess visits, the same busy hands are visible throughout the richly furnished rooms.

After the princess revives the apparently dead rabbit-prince with water and prayer, the hands take the forms of people composing his court. The text identifies their condition as enchantment; it does not describe severed limbs, murdered servants or a separate species of hand-shaped creatures. Their restored identities accompany the prince’s marriage.

Visible working handsUnseen bodiesPalace serviceRestored human courtiers
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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