A queen on her deathbed makes her son swear to marry only that girl who can fit into her shoes. When his sister notices that she herself would be that girl, she goes away in order to avert the threat of incest and to find another woman who can fit into the shoes. In a lonely hut in the woods, she makes friends with Šofolica, the daughter of a witch, whom the shoes fit.

The girls flee from the woods to return to the royal court. Along the way, they both fall into a well. After their death two elderberry bushes are growing from the well. A shepherd makes flutes from their branches. When they are played, not the sound of the flute is heard, but a song about the story of the girls. The shepherd demonstrates the singing flutes to the king, who listens to the song and orders food to be served. Sheperd and king hide in the room, while the flutes are transformed into the two girls, who begin to eat the served meals. The king and the shepherd succeed in taking hold of the girls and, in this way, the girls are released from the spell. Together they celebrate their weddings, Šofolica with the prince and the princess with the shepherd.

The tale ‘I Šofolica’ about a girl fleeing from the threat of incest is also to be found in many folk tales from Lithuania, Poland and Russia – thus from all over Eastern Europe. Decked out in the narrative form of a tale of magic, the theme of the incest taboo is treated by interweaving various motifs from different tales. The marriage of siblings must be avoided, even if it runs counter to the mother’s bequest.

Correspondingly, the observance of the taboo is fraught with difficulty. Among other things, the girl has to flee from her brother and try to find a substitute bride. In this version, it is Šofolica, daughter of a witch, with whom the protagonist makes friends. The magic flight from the witch, which takes place in three steps (the transformation of three magic objects into three insurmountable barriers for the pursuer), the ‘death’ of both girls and their transformation into objects (in this case, flutes) are very popular motifs in fairy tales and have equivalents in many Indian and oriental tales of magic (see also the magic tales by Demir Aliev).

The tale in the version by Andras Lakatos is one of the few examples of a story with an integrated song in the oral tradition of Lovara, which is, in fact, characteristic of oriental tales. This type of narrative can be found chiefly in countries that came under the influence of the Ottomans (compare ‘Arzi and Kamber’): handed down unchanged, stanzas in direct speech and repeatedly sung are an integral part of the narrative and important for the further action. Furthermore, they break up the flow of the narrative, capture the attention of the listeners and add a poetic dimension to the story.

Further reading

Cech, Petra; Fennesz-Juhasz, Christiane; Halwachs, Dieter W.; Heinschink, Mozes F. (ed.). 2001. Fern von uns im Traum… Märchen, Erzählungen und Lieder der Lovara / Te na dikhas sunende… Lovarenge paramiči, tertenetura taj gjila. Klagenfurt: Drava Verlag. (transcript and German translation: pp. 136–51).