Udea and her Seven Brothers

"Udea and her Seven Brothers" is a Northern African fairy tale collected by Hans von Stumme in Märchen und Gedichte aus der Stadt Tripolis. Scottish novelist Andrew Lang included it in The Grey Fairy Book.

It is Aarne-Thompson type 451.

A man and wife had seven sons. One day, the sons set out hunting and told their aunt that if their mother had a daughter, to wave a white handkerchief, and they would return at once; but if a son, a sickle, and they would keep on. It was a daughter, but the aunt wished to be rid of the boys, so she waved a sickle. The daughter, Udea, grew up not knowing about her brothers. One day, an older child taunted her for driving her brothers away, who were forever roaming the world; she questioned her mother and set out to find them. Her mother gave her a camel, some food, a cowrie shell about the camel's neck as a charm, a negro, Barka, and his wife to take care of her. On the second day, Barka told Udea to get off the camel so that his wife could ride in her place. The mother was close by and told Barka to leave Udea alone. On the third day, Barka again told Udea to let his wife ride the camel in her place, but the mother was now too far away to hear and command Barka. Udea called out for her mother to no avail and Barka threw the girl to the ground. The wife climbed onto the camel and Udea walked on the ground, her bare feet cut up because of the stones on her path.

One day, they passed a caravan, where they were told of the castle where the brothers lived. Barka let Udea ride the camel to the castle, but smeared her with pitch, so that her brothers would not recognize her. However, they accepted her without question. Her tears of joy left white marks on her face. One alarmed brother took a cloth and rubbed the mark until the pitch was gone. The brother asked her who had painted her skin black, to which she would not answer, in fear of Barka's anger. She finally relented, describing the treatment she received during her travels. The seven brothers were outraged and beheaded both Barka and his wife.

The brothers went hunting for seven days, instructing Udea to lock herself in the castle with only the cat who grew up in the house. She would follow the cat's advice in all matters and eat nothing that the cat did not eat. They returned, and found her well. The brothers then told her of the castle elves and pigeons, who could be called to fetch the brothers in case Udea was in any danger. The pigeons had seven days' worth of food and water left by the brothers during each hunting trip; Udea asked why they did not have her feed the pigeons daily, because the food they had laid out was old after seven days. They agreed and told her any kindness towards the pigeons would be considered a kindness towards themselves.

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