The Maiden of the Tree of Raranj and Taranj

The tale is said to be "very popular in the Orient".^[16] Scholar Ulrich Marzolph remarked that the tale type AT 408 was one of "the most frequently encountered tales in Arab oral tradition", albeit missing from The Arabian Nights compilation.^[17] Scholar Hasan El-Shamy lists 21 variants of the tale type across Middle Eastern and North African sources, grouped under the banner The Three Oranges (or Sweet-Lemons).^[18]

In an Iraqi tale published by professor B. A. Yaremenko with the title "Раранджа и Транджа" ("Raranja and Tranja"), a childless woman makes a vow to Allah to dig two ditches and fill them with honey and butter for the people. As time passes, her prayers are answered, and she and her husband have a golden-haired son. One day, a very old woman approaches him while he is playing with friends and tells the boy to remind his mother of her promise. The boy returns home and tells his mother about the incident. Afraid something might happen to her son, she hires builders to excavate two ditches and fill it with honey and butter, then invites the people to partake of her offerings. The same old woman takes her jug and goes to fetch some for her, but can only find some remains which she places in her jug. As she walks home, the boy tumbles into her and she drops her jug. In anger, she curses the boy to burn with love for the "raranja and tranja". The boy then becomes fascinated with such a thing and, years later, decides to look for her. He rides his horse to a crossroads and finds an old man who points him to the right direction. Then, he meets a giant woman working at a mill and making flour; he takes some of the flour and suckles on the giantess's breasts in order to gain her trust. After he explains the reason for his journey, the giantess tries to dissuade him, for the path ahead if full of monsters that guard the "raranja and tranja". Despite her warning, he soldiers on, plucks three fruits and begins hid ride home. Homewards, he hears a voice saying it wants water; the first fruit falls down from his bag into the ground in a rotten state, and so does the second one. When he hears a third time a voice, he rushes to a stream and drops the fruit there, and out comes a golden-haired maiden. He takes her with him next to his home village and leaves her up a tree near a stream, while he looks for some food for her. As he goes away, an old witch appears with some dirty dishes, sees the maiden's reflection in the water, mistakes it for her own reflection, and goes to complain to her mistress. She returns to the maiden on the tree, sticks a needle on her, turning her into a little bird, and takes her place. After the youth returns, the witch passes herself off as the fruit maiden. As for the real one, she flies into her beloved as a bird, but the false bride kills it. In the place where the bird's blood landed, springs a lotus tree (which Yaremenko explains is a wild jujube) of green and gold colour and studded with pearls. The false wife demands the tree be made into a cradle for her unborn child, and it happens so. After the witch places the baby on the cradle, the child cries in pain, and the witch gets rid of the cradle by selling it to a poor woman. At the poor woman's house, the fruit maiden comes out of the cradle to do the dishes and clean the house, and is eventually found out by the poor old woman. The old woman promises to keep her secret. Later, the witch realizes the cradle she sold had pearls in it, buys it back and orders the maidens in the village to come and sew a pearl-studded dress for her. The fruit maiden joins with the other girls in the activity and tells her story while stringing pearls together. The youth realizes she is the true fruit maiden, and takes her with him to his home village.^[19] According to Yaremenko, the expression "raranja and tranja" means 'sour lemon and bitter oranges'.^[20]

In an Iraqi tale titled The Three Cucumbers, a king is childless, and his wife promises God they will build two brooks, one of honey and another of oil, if God gives them a child. A son is born to them, to the monarchs' happiness, and they forget their vow. As the prince grows up, he has dream about a man that reminds him of their father's promise. The prince tells his parents about his dream and the queen fulfills her vow. One day, an old woman comes to fetch honey for her in a jug, and the spoiled prince breaks her jug. The old woman, who is a witch, curses him to fall in love with the three cucumbers. Moved by her words, the prince wanders the world until he finds an old man that gives him a ring. The ring summons a steed which the prince uses to reach the three cucumbers and takes them. On the way back, he cuts open the first cucumber and releases a maiden that asks for water. Surprised by her presence, the prince cannot give her water and she dies. The same thing happens with the second cucumber. Fearing for third maiden, he hastens to reach a brook and breaks the third cucumber, releasing another maiden. He gives her water and she becomes more beautiful. The prince then takes the cucumber maiden to his parents, marries her and they have a child. Some time later, the cucumber maiden walks by a river with her child, when a slave girl sees the maiden's reflection in the water, drowns her and takes her place as the prince's wife, by saying she has transformed into a slave. The prince believes in her, out of love for her and takes her back. As for the true cucumber maiden, drops of her blood turns into a dove that keeps tweeting and pestering the false princess. Fearing the bird will tell the truth, the false princess asks the prince to kill the bird and serve it as a dish for her son. The prince kills the bird and serves it; out of its blood a tall tree sprouts. The false princess asks the prince to burn down the tree, which he does, but a hen springs out of the tree's ashes. The false princess delivers the hen to an old woman neighbour. The old woman leaves home to buy some items, and finds her house swept clean. She discovers the true cucumber maiden, who comes out of her hen skin to do chores at the old woman's house. The cucumber maiden explains the old woman everything that transpired, and the old woman goes to inform the prince. The prince then burns the slave girl and her three children.^[21]