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There is a Gujarati folktale about four friends that go out to seek their fortune. They accidentally eat magic mangoes that determine their fate: one of them becomes king, one can laugh sapphires and cry pearls, and one goes to prison.

The king and his sapphire-laughing minister betray the two other friends. Those two take revenge with the help of the fourth lucky fruit. In the end the minister is cursed like Midas: whatever he tries to eat turns into sapphires.

One of my favorite ruby stories is a legend recorded by King Sancho IV of Spain. It tells about an English king who gets lost while hunting in the winter. He encounters a naked beggar, takes pity on him, dresses him in his own clothes, and carries him to shelter.

The grateful beggar asks the king to blow his nose. When the king does, a ruby larger than a hen's egg falls into the handkerchief: a magical (though a bit gross) reward for the king's kindness.

In a folktale from Simla, a man is exiled with is father and 4 wives. The youngest hides some valuable rubies in bread. Later she gives one to her father-in-law to sell, but he falls into a greedy merchant's trap - and so does his son.

The woman then dresses up as a policeman and joins the king's forces. She defeats a monster, earns favor, and solves the case of the men's disappearance, bringing justice to the evil merchant.

In another folktale from India a clever turtle saves a goose from a fowler with rubies and trickery. He offers the man a ruby for the goose. The man asks for two rubies. The turtle brings a second ruby from his pond, but then says "let me see that first one, to make sure they match."

In the meantime, the goose gets away, and the turtle dives into the pond with both rubies.

By the way, I blogged about the Myanmar legend about the origin of rubies here:
http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2020/11/storyspotting-rubies-and-royalty-crown.html

This is also the origin story of the (in)famous Mogok ruby mines. It features a Naga princess who falls in love with the Sun, and three magic eggs, one of which bursts in Mogok and fills the land with rubies.

#folklore #folktales #MinCup23 #thread #StorySpotting

Another exciting folktale is The Ruby Prince from the Punjab.

In this one, a king receives a priceless ruby that turns into a baby boy in the queen's treasure chest. The Ruby Prince kills a monster and wins a wife, but tells her never to ask where he came from. When she inevitably does, he disappears.

She later finds out that he lives with the King of Snakes now. She takes dance lessons, enchants the king with her dance, and wins her husband back.

The Magic Ruby on the Snake's Head is a tale from Thailand. It tells about a magician that finds out that he can enchant a snake, and make it grow a priceless ruby on its head in 1000 years. The magician doesn't survive that long, but the snake grows into a giant man-eating monster.

Later a princess declares she wants the ruby for her necklace (to inspire people to rid the land of the monster). A prince finds a way to kill the monster and take the gem.

#folktales
#folklore
#MinCup23
#thread

End of thread! For more ruby-related folktales, and sources, check out my Gemstone Folklore blog post here:
http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2022/04/r-is-for-ruby-revenge-gemstone-folklore.html

Happy voting everyone!

@echanda You can find a link in the blog post in the last toot

@geographile The beggar's, as far as I can tell

@NinjaDebugger lol I was having the same thought