Although attributed to the folklore of Schoharie County New York, this folktale almost certainly has German origins. In common with Perrault’s famous Bluebeard, the plot involves a large house, a set of keys and a room that must not be entered. The main difference is that in this story the heroine falls in love with and marries a bull! Having killed and decapitated her older sisters, the beast was planning the same fate for her. The story teaches two life lessons: 1) don’t let curiosity get the better of you; and 2) black cats are not so evil after all.
Our source of the story is Folk-Lore from Schoharie County, New York by Emelyn Gardner, published in the Journal of American Folklore, 1914. Gardener cites her source as a second-hand oral account, originally related by a woman from Germany.
Original Text / PDF (848 words)