A father once lived with his seven daughters. When he and his wife needed to leave home for a long journey, he gathered the girls together and gave them a strict instruction. They were to remain inside the house until their parents returned. He had left enough provisions for them, so there was no reason for them to leave.
The seven sisters promised to obey.
For two years, they followed their father’s command. They remained inside the house and lived on the food their parents had provided. But during the third year, their patience began to disappear. One day, after washing their clothes, the sisters climbed onto the roof to spread them out to dry. From there, they could see people moving through the streets and returning from the market with fresh food.
The sight made the elder sisters hungry.
“Why should we remain inside while everyone else goes to the market?” one of them asked. “Let us go and buy some meat and vegetables.”
The youngest sister immediately reminded them of their father’s warning.
“Our father told us not to open the door until he returned. We should obey him.”
Her sisters became angry. They mocked her for being afraid and insisted that they would only go out for a short time. When she continued to object, they became violent and pushed her aside.
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The six elder sisters took a basket and went to the market.
When they returned, they carried meat and vegetables into the house and began preparing their meal. In their excitement, however, they forgot to close the door.
The youngest sister noticed the mistake.
She was frightened.
She quietly moved into the entrance hall and hid behind a large barrel.
Before long, a strange woman appeared at the open doorway.
The woman was a witch.
She entered the house and approached the eldest sister.
“Where shall I begin?” the witch asked.
The eldest sister, unaware of the danger surrounding her, answered that the witch should begin with the hand that had struck their youngest sister.
The witch seized her and swallowed her.
She then approached the second sister and asked the same question.
The second sister replied that the witch should begin with the mouth that had insulted and spat at the youngest girl.
One after another, the sisters revealed the cruel things they had done to their younger sibling.
The witch devoured them all.
The youngest sister remained hidden behind the barrel, terrified that the creature would discover her.
When the witch finally left, the girl waited until she was certain the danger had passed. Then she ran from the house.
She did not know where she was going. She only knew that she had to get as far away as possible.
After travelling for some time, she came upon a great castle belonging to an ogre.
Near the entrance stood a large pot. The frightened girl climbed inside, pulled the cover over herself and hid.
The ogre soon returned.
He sensed that someone was nearby and began searching the castle. He called out to the stranger, promising that he would not harm them.
The girl remained silent.
The ogre continued searching until he finally promised that whoever was hiding would be treated as family. If the stranger was old, he would be treated as a parent; if young, as a child.
The girl finally came out.
When the ogre saw her, he decided to take her in as his daughter.
From that day, she lived safely in the castle.
The ogre treated her kindly. Whenever he went hunting, he brought her food. He gave her hares, partridges and gazelles, while he kept the flesh of human beings for himself.
He also entrusted her with several keys, each opening a different room in the castle.
But there was one key he kept for himself.
It opened an upper chamber.
The girl eventually became curious about the forbidden room and asked the ogre for the key.
He refused.
“There is nothing there that you need to see,” he told her.
His refusal only increased her curiosity.
One day, she secretly watched him hide the key in a hole in the ground before going to sleep.
The next morning, when the ogre left to hunt, she retrieved the key and climbed upstairs.
She unlocked the forbidden chamber.
At first, there appeared to be nothing unusual inside. The room was almost empty, except for a window.
The girl opened it and looked outside.
Below was a beautiful garden belonging to a prince. An ox was drawing water from a well and watering the garden.
Then the ox spoke.
“Good morning, daughter of Buk Ettemsuch.”
The girl froze.
The ox continued.
“Your father is feeding you until you are fat enough to put on a spit and cook.”
The girl’s heart filled with fear.
She quickly closed the window and began to cry.
When the ogre returned, he noticed her distress and asked what had happened.
The girl confessed that she had entered the forbidden room and told him what the ox had said.
The ogre did not become angry. Instead, he gave her instructions about what to say if the ox spoke to her again.
The following morning, the girl returned to the window.
The ox greeted her again and repeated the frightening warning.
This time, she answered with the words the ogre had taught her.
Immediately, the ox collapsed and became unable to move.
For seven days and seven nights, it remained helpless.
Without the ox to draw water, the prince’s beautiful garden began to dry up.
The prince was furious.
He prepared to kill the animal, but the ox begged for mercy and explained that a beautiful girl had spoken to him from the upper chamber.
The prince was surprised.
He decided to investigate.
The following morning, he hid in the garden.
When the girl opened the window, the ox greeted her again.
She repeated the strange words the ogre had taught her.
The ox collapsed once more.
The prince had witnessed everything.
He now knew that the ox had been telling the truth.
He approached the ogre and asked for the girl’s hand in marriage.
The ogre agreed, but before allowing her to leave, he gave her one final instruction.
She must never speak to the prince.
There was only one exception.
If the prince ever addressed her with the words “By the head of Buk Ettemsuch,” she would be allowed to answer.
The girl promised.
She travelled with the prince to his palace.
Once there, the prince tried repeatedly to speak with his new wife.
She remained silent.
At first, he assumed she was shy.
But the silence continued for days.
Eventually, the prince became frustrated and threatened to marry another woman.
He did so.
Yet the silent girl possessed strange abilities.
When the second bride arrived, she demonstrated that ordinary objects would obey her commands. Firewood came when she called for it, fire appeared, and a pot and oil came to her.
She then placed her fingers into the boiling oil, and they became fried fish.
The second bride was amazed.
She believed that she could perform the same feat.
But when she tried, she was badly burned and died.
The prince later married another woman.
Again, the daughter of Buk Ettemsuch demonstrated an extraordinary ability.
She sat upon a sharp stake and began spinning around on it.
The new bride believed she could imitate her.
When the girl moved away, the bride sat on the stake and was killed.
Still, the prince did not understand why his first wife refused to speak.
He eventually decided to discover the secret himself.
One day, he secretly hid inside her room and watched her.
The girl became thirsty and called for her pitcher and water jug to fetch water from the spring.
The two vessels went outside.
While they were being filled, the water jug accidentally struck the pitcher and broke its spout.
The broken pitcher returned to the girl and complained.
The water jug begged the girl not to punish him.
“By the head of Buk Ettemsuch,” he pleaded.
The girl sighed.
“If only my husband had used those words,” she said. “Then I could have spoken to him from the beginning.”
The prince had heard everything.
At last, he understood the reason for his wife’s silence.
He stepped forward and addressed her with the required words.
“By the head of Buk Ettemsuch, speak to me.”
The girl’s vow was finally broken.
She could speak to her husband.
She explained everything that had happened, including the promise she had made to the ogre who had protected her.
The prince finally understood her strange behaviour and respected the loyalty she had shown.
The girl who had lost her six sisters, escaped a witch and survived under the protection of an ogre had finally found a safe home.
Her journey had begun with a simple warning from her father.
Her sisters’ curiosity had brought disaster upon them, but her own obedience had saved her life.
She had survived because she listened when others refused to listen.
She had also learned that courage sometimes means remaining patient and keeping a promise even when doing so is difficult.
In the end, the daughter of Buk Ettemsuch was no longer simply a frightened girl who had escaped a terrible fate.
She had survived every danger placed before her and found a new life.
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Moral Lesson
Obedience, patience and loyalty can protect us in dangerous situations, while careless curiosity and disobedience can bring serious consequences.
Knowledge Check
1. How many daughters did the father have?
He had seven daughters.
2. What did the father instruct his daughters to do while he was away?
He instructed them to remain inside the house until he returned.
3. What happened when the six elder sisters disobeyed?
They went to the market and left the door open, allowing a witch to enter and devour them.
4. How did the youngest sister survive?
She obeyed her father, hid from the witch and escaped from the house after the danger had passed.
5. Who took the girl in after she escaped?
An ogre found her and treated her as his daughter.
6. Why did the girl remain silent after marrying the prince?
The ogre had ordered her not to speak unless the prince addressed her using the special words “By the head of Buk Ettemsuch.”
7. How did the prince finally discover her secret?
He secretly watched her and overheard her speaking to the water jug and pitcher.
Source
Adapted from Hans Stumme, Märchen und Gedichte aus der Stadt Tripolis in Nordafrika, 1898, pp. 120 onward, and Andrew Lang’s The Grey Fairy Book, 1900, as “The Daughter of Buk Ettemsuch.”
