The Silent Princess

Cultural origins: This is a Turkish tale. It can be told in tandem with the Jewish story The Magic Pomegranate, which is the exact story this Prince tells to the silent princess one night in this story.

Intended audience: Early Middle School (11-13)

Why this audience?: This story asks complex questions fit for a middle school audience. It is about the nature of ownership when it comes to women. Of course, this is archaic, but it is still a question that should continue to be asked: should anyone be owned by another person? Is marriage like that? These are serious questions and the Silent Princess has a great message of strength: She belongs to no one but herself.

Characters:  The Pasha
                        The Prince
                        An Old Man
                        The Sultan
                        The Silent Princess
                        The Witness
                        

Scenes/Settings:The Pasha's Palace,home of the Prince, cursed to love the silent Princess
                                The Sultan's Palace, home of the silent Princess

Synopsis: One the son of the Pasha, the young prince, was very young he took to playing in the palace gardens. He threw a ball that shattered the water jug of an elderly woman who cursed him, "May you be punished by falling in love with the silent princess." His thoughts would not stop from dwelling on this mysterious silent princess so he travelled far and wide looking for this princess. Finally he met an old man who told him the fate of every prince who had gone to woo the silent princess. If they failed to get the princess to talk they had their head chopped off. The prince went anyway considering a quick death much better than dying of a broken heart slowly. He was led before the veiled princess and a witness and he told the witness a story, since the princess wouldn't talk to him. At the end of his first story the young prince did not finish the story, the witness pushed him for an answer and the silent princess finished the story as if it was obvious. This evidence of speech was not good enough for the King who insisted the prince get her to talk two more times. The next night he told another story of men fighting over a woman, similar to the story from the night before. When leaving off the ending the princess was cajoled into speech insisting that, "...that woman belongs to no one but herself." The third night the young prince again told a story of men who were all arguing over who had the rights of ownership over a beautiful woman. The silent princess was waiting to finish this story, for she knew it was made for her and the prince. They were wed and she spoke often of how they were the perfect match.

Story Climaxes/High Points: As soon as the Princess is asked what the ending to the Prince's third story she waits in silence and then cries out with laughter the obvious ending: This woman belongs to no one but herself.

Special Chants/Phrases: 
Beginning: Once there was and once there was not a Pasha who had but one son.

"Fools! Isn't it obvious? This woman belongs to no one but herself."
"Thank you Princess, I am sure that you have answered correctly."

Bibliographic Information:

Baltuck, Naomi. (1995). The Silent Princess. In Apples From Heaven (pp. 87-94). North Haven, CT: Linnet Books.