Tale Summary
A poor boy named Will lives with his family. One day he goes into the woods and meets a band of thieves so he asks if he can join them. They give him a task to see if he is worthy: go get a coin purse from the next passerby in the woods. Soon enough he is off to the trail. As soon as the next person walks by, he stops them on the trail. He tells the man to hand over his coin purse, and when he gets it, he empties it and passes the coins back to the man. The bandits found it funny so Will, eager to prove himself, takes another shot at it. Using his wit, Will was then able to steal some cattle from farmers without using violence. Will stayed with these bandits for many years and built up a fortune. One day he rode back to his poor family鈥檚 farm on a carriage and caught up with his family. He tells his mother that he was now the Master Thief but to make sure not to tell anyone. The very next day his mother and the neighborhood gossip met together and she let it slip. The lord of the area caught wind of the news that Will was back in town and that he was now a Master Thief. Soon, the lord called Will to his castle with an offer. Will should deserve death for his crimes, but if he is able to prove himself as a master to the lord, then he can go free. First, he is to steal the lord's horse from the stables that night while one of his men sits on it keeping watch. That night, Will disguises himself as an old woman and asks the man if she might rest in the warmth. He agrees and 鈥渟he鈥� pulls liquor out of her coat and offers him some. When he is drunk and falls asleep, he props up the saddle with a crossbar and rides the horse into the night. The lord then gives him another challenge: to steal the sheet from under him that night. Will sets up a dummy on a ladder at the lord's window. The lord shoots the dummy and watches him fall. Excited, he rushes to see his body and after he leaves the room Will tricks the lord's wife and gets the sheet. The next day the lord gives him a third challenge. Will needs to bring a priest to the castle that night in a bag. Will waits until nightfall and tricks the priest into thinking he is an angel who arrived on earth during the rapture and climbing into the bag will get him to heaven. The last challenge was to steal the lord's horse from under him. A disguised Will tricks the lord into hopping off so that this man can go catch the master thief. Will grabs the horse and the lord allows him to live his life in peace.
听
Fairy Tale Title
The Master Thief
Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)
Joseph Jacobs
Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)听
John D. Batten
Common Tale Type
The Master Thief, Tasks for a Thief
Tale Classification
ATU 1525, ATU 1525A
Page Range of Tale听
pp. 121-128
Full Citation of Tale听
鈥淭he Master Thief鈥� Europa鈥檚 Fairy Book, Joseph Jacobs, New York, London: G.P. Putnam鈥檚 Sons, 1916, pp. 121-128.
Original Source of the Tale
Cassandrino听from Giovanni Francesco Straparola's听The Pleasant Nights
Tale Notes
The Master Thief is an adaptation of Cassandrino which is a tale from The Pleasant Nights. It was published听in the 1550s as a compilation of fairy tales and Cassandrino was the first tale on the first night of storytelling. Apart from the name of the main character, the story structure was almost identical. The text in The Master Thief was adapted for younger readers from the original text so that it would be easier to read. Additionally, there were illustrations accompanying the text to hold the young readers鈥� attention. The picture selected below is a good example of the illustrations included in the rest of the text. These illustrations are only at the beginning and the end of听each tale but they depict scenes within the tale. They are all black and white and are not gruesome or graphic in any way that would be inappropriate for a child, even if they depict violence.
Research and Curation
Jackson Davy, 2022
Book Title听
Europa's Fairy Book
Book Author/Editor(s)听
Joseph Jacobs
Illustrator(s)
John D. Batten
Publisher
G. P. Putnam's sons, The Knickerbocker Press
Date Published
1916
Decade Published听
1910-1919
Publisher City
New York
London
Publisher Country
United States
United Kingdom
Language
English
Rights
Public Domain
Digital Copy
Book Notes
Europa鈥檚 Fairy Tales is a book from the 1910s which was a collection of fairy tales. It was printed for children with illustrations and easy-to-read text.