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Spelling/grammar fix(es)
Changed line(s) 19,32 (click to see context) from:
Maleen and her chambermaid wandered around the countryside, feeding on nettle leaves, until they arrived in the Marleen's lover's country and found work as scullery maids in the royal kitchen.
Meanwhile, the king had convinced his son to reluctantly consent to an arranged marriage on grounds of Maleen surely being lost to him. A wedding had been fixed, and the prince's betrothed moved in the palace.
Nonetheless, the chosen bride was as wicked as she was ugly, and was too embarrassed to show her face; for which Maleen had to deliver every meal to the room where the bride had shut in. When the wedding day arrived, the bride forced Maleen to take her place. Maleen put on her wedding gown and entered the royal hall. The prince felt shocked by his fiancée being a dead ringer for his lover, but he said himself he was imagining things because Maleen was surely dead.
As the prince was leading her to the church, Maleen whispered a rhyme to three different objects. When the prince asked what she is saying, she answered she was only thinking of Maid Maleen. Feeling even more disturbed, the prince asked if she knew Maleen, but his bride claimed she had only heard of her. Then, before entering the church, the prince put a gold chain round her neck.
Later, the false bride is led into the prince's chambers, wearing a veil over her face. However, the prince figures out she is not his true bride when he asks what she said to the nettle-plant, the bridge and the church-door, and why she is not wearing his gift. The false bride is forced to confess she switched places with a scullery maid, and the prince demands she goes and brings that maid to his apartment.
Instead, the false bride attempts to get Maleen arrested and beheaded; but the resulting ruckus attracts the prince's attention, who notices Maleen wearing his wedding gift and takes her to his room, where he openly remarks she reminds him of his dead lover, Maid Maleen. At last, Maleen dares to reveal their identity, and they kiss. The prince marries Maleen, and the false bride is executed.
"The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing for a long time, and when the children passed by it they sang"
Meanwhile, the king had convinced his son to reluctantly consent to an arranged marriage on grounds of Maleen surely being lost to him. A wedding had been fixed, and the prince's betrothed moved in the palace.
Nonetheless, the chosen bride was as wicked as she was ugly, and was too embarrassed to show her face; for which Maleen had to deliver every meal to the room where the bride had shut in. When the wedding day arrived, the bride forced Maleen to take her place. Maleen put on her wedding gown and entered the royal hall. The prince felt shocked by his fiancée being a dead ringer for his lover, but he said himself he was imagining things because Maleen was surely dead.
As the prince was leading her to the church, Maleen whispered a rhyme to three different objects. When the prince asked what she is saying, she answered she was only thinking of Maid Maleen. Feeling even more disturbed, the prince asked if she knew Maleen, but his bride claimed she had only heard of her. Then, before entering the church, the prince put a gold chain round her neck.
Later, the false bride is led into the prince's chambers, wearing a veil over her face. However, the prince figures out she is not his true bride when he asks what she said to the nettle-plant, the bridge and the church-door, and why she is not wearing his gift. The false bride is forced to confess she switched places with a scullery maid, and the prince demands she goes and brings that maid to his apartment.
Instead, the false bride attempts to get Maleen arrested and beheaded; but the resulting ruckus attracts the prince's attention, who notices Maleen wearing his wedding gift and takes her to his room, where he openly remarks she reminds him of his dead lover, Maid Maleen. At last, Maleen dares to reveal their identity, and they kiss. The prince marries Maleen, and the false bride is executed.
"The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing for a long time, and when the children passed by it they sang"
to:
Maleen and her chambermaid wandered around the countryside, feeding on nettle leaves, until they arrived in the Marleen's Maleen's lover's country and found work as scullery maids in the royal kitchen.
Meanwhile, the king had convinced his son to reluctantly consent to an arranged marriage on grounds of Maleen surely being lost to him. A wedding had been fixed, and the prince's betrothed movedin into the palace.
Nonetheless, However, the chosen bride was as wicked as she was ugly, and was too embarrassed to show her face; for which Maleen had to deliver every meal to the room where the bride had shut locked herself in. When the wedding day arrived, the bride forced Maleen to take her place. Maleen put on her wedding gown and entered the royal hall. The prince felt shocked by his fiancée being a dead ringer for his lover, but he said himself thought he was imagining things because Maleen was surely dead.
As the prince was leading her to the church, Maleen whispered a rhyme to three different objects. When the prince asked her what sheis saying, said, she answered she was only thinking of Maid Maleen. Feeling even more disturbed, the prince asked if she knew Maleen, but his bride claimed she had only heard of her. Then, before entering the church, the prince put a gold chain round around her neck.
Later, the false brideis was led into the prince's chambers, wearing a veil over her face. However, the prince figures figured out she is not his wasn't true bride when he asks asked what she said to the nettle-plant, the bridge and the church-door, objects, and why she is not wasn't wearing his gift. The false bride is was forced to confess she switched places with a scullery maid, and the prince demands demanded that she goes and brings bring that maid to his apartment.
chambers.
Instead, the false brideattempts attempted to get Maleen arrested and beheaded; but beheaded. Thankfully the resulting ruckus attracts attracted the prince's attention, who notices attention; he noticed Maleen wearing his wedding gift and takes brought her to his room, where he openly remarks remarking that she reminds him of resembles his dead lover, Maid Maleen. At last, deceased lover. Maleen dares finally reveals her identity to reveal their identity, him, and they kiss. The prince marries Maleen, and the false bride is executed.
"The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing for a long time, and when the children passed by it theysang"
sang."
Meanwhile, the king had convinced his son to reluctantly consent to an arranged marriage on grounds of Maleen surely being lost to him. A wedding had been fixed, and the prince's betrothed moved
As the prince was leading her to the church, Maleen whispered a rhyme to three different objects. When the prince asked her what she
Later, the false bride
Instead, the false bride
"The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing for a long time, and when the children passed by it they
Changed line(s) 37,38 (click to see context) from:
''Maid Maleen'' has been adapted to webcomic by ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}}'': [[https://erstwhiletales.com/comic/maid-maleen-pg01/ here]].
to:
''Maid Maleen'' has also been adapted to webcomic form by ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}}'': [[https://erstwhiletales.com/comic/maid-maleen-pg01/ here]].
''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}}''.
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* ChildMarriageVeto: Maleen is locked away as punishment for refusing an arranged marriage set up by her father.
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Changed line(s) 15,18 (click to see context) from:
Once upon a time there was a princess named Maid Maleen who was deeply in love with a neighbor country's prince, who loved her in turn. However, Maleen's father intended to marry his daughter someone else, so he rejected her lover's proposal. When his daughter declared she would not accept other husband, the king got Maleen and her chambermaid locked away in a tower with food and drink enough to keep them alive for seven years.
Time passed, and Maleen and her servant knew the seven years were coming to an end because they were about to run out of supplies. Yet they could not hear any sound of people working to break them out. Maleen decided they had to escape by their own means, so both women used a knife to get several bricks loose. When they could finally see outside, they found the kingdom destroyed and deserted.
Time passed, and Maleen and her servant knew the seven years were coming to an end because they were about to run out of supplies. Yet they could not hear any sound of people working to break them out. Maleen decided they had to escape by their own means, so both women used a knife to get several bricks loose. When they could finally see outside, they found the kingdom destroyed and deserted.
to:
Once upon a time there was a princess named Maid Maleen who was deeply in love with a neighbor country's prince, who loved her in turn. However, Maleen's father intended to marry his daughter someone else, so he rejected her lover's proposal. When his daughter declared she would not wouldn't accept any other man as her husband, the king got Maleen and her chambermaid locked away in a tower with food and drink enough to keep them alive for seven years.
Time passed, and Maleen and her servant knew the seven years were coming to an end because they were about to run out of supplies. Yet theycould not couldn't hear any sound of people working to break them out. Maleen decided they had to escape by their own means, so both women used a knife to get several bricks loose. When they could finally see outside, they found the kingdom destroyed and deserted.
Time passed, and Maleen and her servant knew the seven years were coming to an end because they were about to run out of supplies. Yet they
Changed line(s) 23,24 (click to see context) from:
Nonetheless, the chosen bride was as wicked as ugly, and was too embarrassed to show her face; for which Maleen had to deliver every meal to the room where the bride had shut in. When the wedding day arrived, the bride forced Maleen to take her place. Maleen put on her wedding gown and entered the royal hall. The prince felt shocked by his fiancée being a dead ringer for his lover, but he said himself he was imagining things because Maleen was surely dead.
to:
Nonetheless, the chosen bride was as wicked as she was ugly, and was too embarrassed to show her face; for which Maleen had to deliver every meal to the room where the bride had shut in. When the wedding day arrived, the bride forced Maleen to take her place. Maleen put on her wedding gown and entered the royal hall. The prince felt shocked by his fiancée being a dead ringer for his lover, but he said himself he was imagining things because Maleen was surely dead.
Changed line(s) 56 (click to see context) from:
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Maid Maleen gets locked away in a tower for seven years, becomes a homeless wanderer who lives off nettle leaves until she finds work as a scullery maid, gets nearly beheaded... but she ultimately gets married to her life's love and finds happiness.
to:
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Maid Maleen gets locked away in a tower for seven years, becomes a homeless wanderer who lives off nettle leaves until she finds work as a scullery maid, gets nearly beheaded... but she ultimately gets married to her life's love and finds happiness.
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* UptownGirl: Maleen gets married to her prince after being reduced to work as a scullery maid.
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* NobleFugitive: When Maleen breaks out of the tower and discovers her father's kingdom has been destroyed by some enemy army, she flees into the wilderness.
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Changed line(s) 29,30 (click to see context) from:
Instead, the false bride attempts to get Maleen arrested and beheaded; but the resulting ruckus attracts the prince's attention, who notices Maleen wearing his wedding gift and takes her to his room, where he openly remarks she reminds him of his dead lover, Maid Maleen. At last, Maleen dares to reveal their identity, and they kiss.
to:
Instead, the false bride attempts to get Maleen arrested and beheaded; but the resulting ruckus attracts the prince's attention, who notices Maleen wearing his wedding gift and takes her to his room, where he openly remarks she reminds him of his dead lover, Maid Maleen. At last, Maleen dares to reveal their identity, and they kiss.
kiss. The prince marries Maleen, and the false bride is executed.
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* FallenPrincess: When Maleen breaks out of the tower, her father's kingdom has been destroyed, and she finds herself wandering around the countryside and living off nettle leaves until she manages to get a job as a scullery maid.
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* BigDamnReunion: After seven years, Maleen manages to break out of the tower, makes her way to her prince's country, and she is reunited with him again.
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* HaveWeMet: Maleen and her prince meet again after seven years of separation, but they don't recognize each other until the prince mentions she greatly resembles his former lover.
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* TalkingToPlants: Maleen talks to a nettle-plant on the way to the church.
-->"Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant,\\
Nettle-plant so small!\\
What are you doing here,\\
Alone by the wall?\\
I have the time known,\\
When unroasted, unboiled,\\
I ate thee alone!"
-->"Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant,\\
Nettle-plant so small!\\
What are you doing here,\\
Alone by the wall?\\
I have the time known,\\
When unroasted, unboiled,\\
I ate thee alone!"
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None
Changed line(s) 33,34 (click to see context) from:
It can be read [[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52521/52521-h/52521-h.htm#hdr_51 here]], [[https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/maid_maleen here]] and [[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_Household_Tales,_Volume_2/Maid_Maleen here]].
to:
It can be read [[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52521/52521-h/52521-h.htm#hdr_51 here]], [[https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/maid_maleen here]] and here]], [[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_Household_Tales,_Volume_2/Maid_Maleen here]].
here]] and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20200513111837/https://surlalunefairytales.com/maidmaleen/index.html here with annotations]].
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* CueTheSun: Maleen likens her happy ending to "the sun [shining on her] once more" after "seven years in the darkness".
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* CueTheSun: Maleen likens her happy ending to "the sun [shining on her] once more" after "seven years in the darkness".
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* PrincessProtagonist: The story is about princess Maleen breaking out of the tower where she was locked away, and struggling to survive after fleeing from her destroyed kingdom.
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* AlliterativeName: '''M'''aid '''M'''aleen
* AlliterativeTitle: The story is named after the main character, whose initials are "M.M."
* AlliterativeTitle: The story is named after the main character, whose initials are "M.M."
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maid_maleen_arthur_rackham_1917.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Maid Maleen and her chambermaid break out of the tower. Illustration by Arthur Rackham (1917)]]
->"Kling, klang, gloria.\\
Who sits within this tower?\\
A King's daughter, she sits within,\\
A sight of her I cannot win,\\
The wall it will not break,\\
The stone cannot be pierced.\\
Little Hans, with your coat so gay,\\
Follow me, follow me, fast as you may."
"Maid Maleen" (German: "Jungfrau Maleen") is a German FairyTale included by Creator/TheBrothersGrimm in ''Children's and Household Tales'' (''Kinder- und Hausmärchen)''.
Once upon a time there was a princess named Maid Maleen who was deeply in love with a neighbor country's prince, who loved her in turn. However, Maleen's father intended to marry his daughter someone else, so he rejected her lover's proposal. When his daughter declared she would not accept other husband, the king got Maleen and her chambermaid locked away in a tower with food and drink enough to keep them alive for seven years.
Time passed, and Maleen and her servant knew the seven years were coming to an end because they were about to run out of supplies. Yet they could not hear any sound of people working to break them out. Maleen decided they had to escape by their own means, so both women used a knife to get several bricks loose. When they could finally see outside, they found the kingdom destroyed and deserted.
Maleen and her chambermaid wandered around the countryside, feeding on nettle leaves, until they arrived in the Marleen's lover's country and found work as scullery maids in the royal kitchen.
Meanwhile, the king had convinced his son to reluctantly consent to an arranged marriage on grounds of Maleen surely being lost to him. A wedding had been fixed, and the prince's betrothed moved in the palace.
Nonetheless, the chosen bride was as wicked as ugly, and was too embarrassed to show her face; for which Maleen had to deliver every meal to the room where the bride had shut in. When the wedding day arrived, the bride forced Maleen to take her place. Maleen put on her wedding gown and entered the royal hall. The prince felt shocked by his fiancée being a dead ringer for his lover, but he said himself he was imagining things because Maleen was surely dead.
As the prince was leading her to the church, Maleen whispered a rhyme to three different objects. When the prince asked what she is saying, she answered she was only thinking of Maid Maleen. Feeling even more disturbed, the prince asked if she knew Maleen, but his bride claimed she had only heard of her. Then, before entering the church, the prince put a gold chain round her neck.
Later, the false bride is led into the prince's chambers, wearing a veil over her face. However, the prince figures out she is not his true bride when he asks what she said to the nettle-plant, the bridge and the church-door, and why she is not wearing his gift. The false bride is forced to confess she switched places with a scullery maid, and the prince demands she goes and brings that maid to his apartment.
Instead, the false bride attempts to get Maleen arrested and beheaded; but the resulting ruckus attracts the prince's attention, who notices Maleen wearing his wedding gift and takes her to his room, where he openly remarks she reminds him of his dead lover, Maid Maleen. At last, Maleen dares to reveal their identity, and they kiss.
"The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing for a long time, and when the children passed by it they sang"
It can be read [[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52521/52521-h/52521-h.htm#hdr_51 here]], [[https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/maid_maleen here]] and [[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_Household_Tales,_Volume_2/Maid_Maleen here]].
Listen to the audiobook [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7uhiRUhn1Q&t=14s here]].
''Maid Maleen'' has been adapted to webcomic by ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}}'': [[https://erstwhiletales.com/comic/maid-maleen-pg01/ here]].
Creator/ShannonHale's 2007 ''Literature/BookOfAThousandDays'' and 2015 German tv movie ''Prinzessin Maleen'' ("Princess Maleen") are based on the fairy tale. The sixth chapter of ''Manga/LudwigRevolution'' is a parody of ''Maid Maleen''.
''Maid Maleen'' is Aarne–Thompson Type 870 - The Entombed Princess, and has some elements in common with Type 310 - The Maiden in the Tower -see "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}"- and Type 510 - The Persecuted Heroine -see "Literature/{{Catskin}}" and "Literature/{{Donkeyskin}}"-.
----
!!Tropes found in this fairy tale:
* AbusiveParents: When Maleen refuses to go along with her father's arranged marriage, he tries to "break her spirit" by locking her away in a tower for seven years.
* ArrangedMarriage: Both Maleen and her prince have arranged marriages; she refuses hers and thus gets locked in a tower, and he goes through with his because he thinks she is lost to him forever.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: The false bride has "a face as ugly as her heart was wicked".
* BrideAndSwitch: Maleen, working as scullery maid is asked to substitute herself for the bride by the bride herself, who either wants to hide her ugliness or her pregnancy. Alas for the bride, this means that Maid Maleen can reveal that she is the prince's old love, not actually dead.
* CueTheSun: Maleen likens her happy ending to "the sun [shining on her] once more" after "seven years in the darkness".
* BuriedAlive: Maleen and her maid are sealed away in a tower with no door or windows. The king ''intended'' to get them out after seven years -expecting his daughter to be more "pliable" after her long captivity-, but he became unable to do so when his kingdom was destroyed. If both women had not decided to find a way to break through the wall when they were running out of food, they would have starved to death inside their giant tomb.
* ButWhatAboutTheAstronauts: When Maleen and her servant get out, they discover some enemy destroyed their country and killed everyone while they were ironically safe inside their tomb.
* DamselOutOfDistress: After spending several years imprisoned, Maleen notices their food supplies are running dangerous low and realizes nobody is going to release them; so, she and her maid dig a hole in the wall and get themselves out of the tower.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Maid Maleen gets locked away in a tower for seven years, becomes a homeless wanderer who lives off nettle leaves until she finds work as a scullery maid, gets nearly beheaded... but she ultimately gets married to her life's love and finds happiness.
* GirlInTheTower: Maleen is trapped in a tower by her cruel father after she rejects an arranged marriage. Unlike many examples, she escapes and must learn to navigate the world seven years later and find her way back to her true love.
* GreatOffscreenWar: When the princess and her maid break out, they find out that Maleen's father got into a fight with the wrong ruler during their captivity, since "her father's castle lay in ruins, the town and the villages were, so far as could be seen, destroyed by fire, the fields far and wide laid to waste, and no human being was visible. [...]The enemy had ravaged the whole kingdom, driven away the King, and slain all the inhabitants." Regardless of who destroyed the realm -their identity is never revealed-, Maleen and her servant have no longer a home, so they are forced to wander around the ravaged countryside until they arrive in another city.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: The false bride attempts to get Maleen killed before the prince finds out Maleen is his childhood love.
* NoNameGiven: Maid Maleen is the only character who is given a name.
* NurseryRhyme: The tower where Maleen was imprisoned inspired children to sing a nursery rhyme as they passed it.
-->"Kling, klang, gloria.\\
Who sits within this tower?\\
A King's daughter, she sits within,\\
A sight of her I cannot win,\\
The wall it will not break,\\
The stone cannot be pierced.\\
Little Hans, with your coat so gay,\\
Follow me, follow me, fast as you may."
* OffWithHisHead: The false bride attempts to get Maleen beheaded; instead, her treachery is discovered, and her head is cut off.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: Maleen says that she will only marry her childhood love, while her father wants her to marry somebody else. She gets locked in a tower for her trouble.
* RagsToRoyalty: Maleen and her maid burrow out of the tower and live in appalling poverty until she can find her way to the prince's kingdom and win him back.
-->''Oh, nettle-plant,\
Little nettle-plant,\\
What dost thou here alone?\\
I have known the time\\
When I ate thee unboiled,\\
When I ate thee unroasted.''
* RebelliousPrincess: Maleen refuses to go through an arranged marriage and is locked away in a tower as punishment. When she realizes nobody will come to set her free, she and her chambermaid dig a hole in a wall and run away.
* RichesToRags: Maleen becomes a homeless wanderer when her kingdom is destroyed. She and her servant wander from one village to another, living off nettle leaves, until they get hired as scullery maids.
* RuleOfSeven: Maleen and her chambermaid spend seven years locked away in a tower.
* RuleOfThree: When Maleen is pretending to be the bride, she speaks to three objects; the bride must find out from her three times what she said, and the bridegroom figures out the substitution.
* SculleryMaid: After breaking out of their prison-tower, the princess and her chambermaid find jobs as scullery maids in the nearest city.
* UncertainDoom: When Maleen gets out of the tower where she spent seven years imprisoned, she finds her father's royal castle and town lay in empty, burned ruins. It is unknown whether her father was slain together with all his subjects by the enemy army, or he was merely driven away.
* UndyingLoyalty: Maleen's chambermaid remains always by her side, no matter what.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After Maleen and her servant get a job, the latter is not mentioned anymore.
* YouHaveWaitedLongEnough: Maleen arrives in the city when the prince is about marry his new bride.
----
[[caption-width-right:350:Maid Maleen and her chambermaid break out of the tower. Illustration by Arthur Rackham (1917)]]
->"Kling, klang, gloria.\\
Who sits within this tower?\\
A King's daughter, she sits within,\\
A sight of her I cannot win,\\
The wall it will not break,\\
The stone cannot be pierced.\\
Little Hans, with your coat so gay,\\
Follow me, follow me, fast as you may."
"Maid Maleen" (German: "Jungfrau Maleen") is a German FairyTale included by Creator/TheBrothersGrimm in ''Children's and Household Tales'' (''Kinder- und Hausmärchen)''.
Once upon a time there was a princess named Maid Maleen who was deeply in love with a neighbor country's prince, who loved her in turn. However, Maleen's father intended to marry his daughter someone else, so he rejected her lover's proposal. When his daughter declared she would not accept other husband, the king got Maleen and her chambermaid locked away in a tower with food and drink enough to keep them alive for seven years.
Time passed, and Maleen and her servant knew the seven years were coming to an end because they were about to run out of supplies. Yet they could not hear any sound of people working to break them out. Maleen decided they had to escape by their own means, so both women used a knife to get several bricks loose. When they could finally see outside, they found the kingdom destroyed and deserted.
Maleen and her chambermaid wandered around the countryside, feeding on nettle leaves, until they arrived in the Marleen's lover's country and found work as scullery maids in the royal kitchen.
Meanwhile, the king had convinced his son to reluctantly consent to an arranged marriage on grounds of Maleen surely being lost to him. A wedding had been fixed, and the prince's betrothed moved in the palace.
Nonetheless, the chosen bride was as wicked as ugly, and was too embarrassed to show her face; for which Maleen had to deliver every meal to the room where the bride had shut in. When the wedding day arrived, the bride forced Maleen to take her place. Maleen put on her wedding gown and entered the royal hall. The prince felt shocked by his fiancée being a dead ringer for his lover, but he said himself he was imagining things because Maleen was surely dead.
As the prince was leading her to the church, Maleen whispered a rhyme to three different objects. When the prince asked what she is saying, she answered she was only thinking of Maid Maleen. Feeling even more disturbed, the prince asked if she knew Maleen, but his bride claimed she had only heard of her. Then, before entering the church, the prince put a gold chain round her neck.
Later, the false bride is led into the prince's chambers, wearing a veil over her face. However, the prince figures out she is not his true bride when he asks what she said to the nettle-plant, the bridge and the church-door, and why she is not wearing his gift. The false bride is forced to confess she switched places with a scullery maid, and the prince demands she goes and brings that maid to his apartment.
Instead, the false bride attempts to get Maleen arrested and beheaded; but the resulting ruckus attracts the prince's attention, who notices Maleen wearing his wedding gift and takes her to his room, where he openly remarks she reminds him of his dead lover, Maid Maleen. At last, Maleen dares to reveal their identity, and they kiss.
"The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing for a long time, and when the children passed by it they sang"
It can be read [[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/52521/52521-h/52521-h.htm#hdr_51 here]], [[https://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/maid_maleen here]] and [[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_Household_Tales,_Volume_2/Maid_Maleen here]].
Listen to the audiobook [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7uhiRUhn1Q&t=14s here]].
''Maid Maleen'' has been adapted to webcomic by ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}}'': [[https://erstwhiletales.com/comic/maid-maleen-pg01/ here]].
Creator/ShannonHale's 2007 ''Literature/BookOfAThousandDays'' and 2015 German tv movie ''Prinzessin Maleen'' ("Princess Maleen") are based on the fairy tale. The sixth chapter of ''Manga/LudwigRevolution'' is a parody of ''Maid Maleen''.
''Maid Maleen'' is Aarne–Thompson Type 870 - The Entombed Princess, and has some elements in common with Type 310 - The Maiden in the Tower -see "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}"- and Type 510 - The Persecuted Heroine -see "Literature/{{Catskin}}" and "Literature/{{Donkeyskin}}"-.
----
!!Tropes found in this fairy tale:
* AbusiveParents: When Maleen refuses to go along with her father's arranged marriage, he tries to "break her spirit" by locking her away in a tower for seven years.
* ArrangedMarriage: Both Maleen and her prince have arranged marriages; she refuses hers and thus gets locked in a tower, and he goes through with his because he thinks she is lost to him forever.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: The false bride has "a face as ugly as her heart was wicked".
* BrideAndSwitch: Maleen, working as scullery maid is asked to substitute herself for the bride by the bride herself, who either wants to hide her ugliness or her pregnancy. Alas for the bride, this means that Maid Maleen can reveal that she is the prince's old love, not actually dead.
* CueTheSun: Maleen likens her happy ending to "the sun [shining on her] once more" after "seven years in the darkness".
* BuriedAlive: Maleen and her maid are sealed away in a tower with no door or windows. The king ''intended'' to get them out after seven years -expecting his daughter to be more "pliable" after her long captivity-, but he became unable to do so when his kingdom was destroyed. If both women had not decided to find a way to break through the wall when they were running out of food, they would have starved to death inside their giant tomb.
* ButWhatAboutTheAstronauts: When Maleen and her servant get out, they discover some enemy destroyed their country and killed everyone while they were ironically safe inside their tomb.
* DamselOutOfDistress: After spending several years imprisoned, Maleen notices their food supplies are running dangerous low and realizes nobody is going to release them; so, she and her maid dig a hole in the wall and get themselves out of the tower.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Maid Maleen gets locked away in a tower for seven years, becomes a homeless wanderer who lives off nettle leaves until she finds work as a scullery maid, gets nearly beheaded... but she ultimately gets married to her life's love and finds happiness.
* GirlInTheTower: Maleen is trapped in a tower by her cruel father after she rejects an arranged marriage. Unlike many examples, she escapes and must learn to navigate the world seven years later and find her way back to her true love.
* GreatOffscreenWar: When the princess and her maid break out, they find out that Maleen's father got into a fight with the wrong ruler during their captivity, since "her father's castle lay in ruins, the town and the villages were, so far as could be seen, destroyed by fire, the fields far and wide laid to waste, and no human being was visible. [...]The enemy had ravaged the whole kingdom, driven away the King, and slain all the inhabitants." Regardless of who destroyed the realm -their identity is never revealed-, Maleen and her servant have no longer a home, so they are forced to wander around the ravaged countryside until they arrive in another city.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: The false bride attempts to get Maleen killed before the prince finds out Maleen is his childhood love.
* NoNameGiven: Maid Maleen is the only character who is given a name.
* NurseryRhyme: The tower where Maleen was imprisoned inspired children to sing a nursery rhyme as they passed it.
-->"Kling, klang, gloria.\\
Who sits within this tower?\\
A King's daughter, she sits within,\\
A sight of her I cannot win,\\
The wall it will not break,\\
The stone cannot be pierced.\\
Little Hans, with your coat so gay,\\
Follow me, follow me, fast as you may."
* OffWithHisHead: The false bride attempts to get Maleen beheaded; instead, her treachery is discovered, and her head is cut off.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: Maleen says that she will only marry her childhood love, while her father wants her to marry somebody else. She gets locked in a tower for her trouble.
* RagsToRoyalty: Maleen and her maid burrow out of the tower and live in appalling poverty until she can find her way to the prince's kingdom and win him back.
-->''Oh, nettle-plant,\
Little nettle-plant,\\
What dost thou here alone?\\
I have known the time\\
When I ate thee unboiled,\\
When I ate thee unroasted.''
* RebelliousPrincess: Maleen refuses to go through an arranged marriage and is locked away in a tower as punishment. When she realizes nobody will come to set her free, she and her chambermaid dig a hole in a wall and run away.
* RichesToRags: Maleen becomes a homeless wanderer when her kingdom is destroyed. She and her servant wander from one village to another, living off nettle leaves, until they get hired as scullery maids.
* RuleOfSeven: Maleen and her chambermaid spend seven years locked away in a tower.
* RuleOfThree: When Maleen is pretending to be the bride, she speaks to three objects; the bride must find out from her three times what she said, and the bridegroom figures out the substitution.
* SculleryMaid: After breaking out of their prison-tower, the princess and her chambermaid find jobs as scullery maids in the nearest city.
* UncertainDoom: When Maleen gets out of the tower where she spent seven years imprisoned, she finds her father's royal castle and town lay in empty, burned ruins. It is unknown whether her father was slain together with all his subjects by the enemy army, or he was merely driven away.
* UndyingLoyalty: Maleen's chambermaid remains always by her side, no matter what.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After Maleen and her servant get a job, the latter is not mentioned anymore.
* YouHaveWaitedLongEnough: Maleen arrives in the city when the prince is about marry his new bride.
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