“Blue Beard.” The Arthur Rackham fairy book : a book of old favourites with new illustrations, Arthur Rackham, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott., 1933, pp. 143-152.

Tale Summary

There once was a rich man who lived outside Baghdad, who had many riches but also had a blue beard which frightened all the women away. His neighbor had two fine sons and daughters, and he desired one of the girls, named Anne and Fatima, he did not care which. Both refused him, on account of his beard, and that he had been married multiple times before and no one knew what became of his wives. He took them, their mother, and the other girls from the neighborhood, to the countryside with him. They had such a wonderful time partying that the younger daughter, Fatima, agreed to wed him. After a month, he was obliged to leave for several weeks, and gave his wife a number of keys which unlocked his fineries, and one which unlocked a closet. He told her never to open the closet or she would face his wrath, and she agreed. She invited over her friends and the neighbor ladies, and they all ran through the rooms unlocking the riches in wonder. After a while, she became too curious, and Fatima left the others and unlocked the closet door. She saw the door covered in blood, as well as the bodies of several dead women which hung on the wall. Fatima realized these must have been her husband’s missing brides. After closing the door and running to her room, Fatima noticed blood on the key which she could not wash off, because it was a magic key. Her husband returned that evening, and the next morning he asked for his keys. When she handed them back, he saw the blood and knew what she had done. He promised to kill her, but she implored him to allow her to say her prayers, and so he gave her half a quarter of an hour. Fatima found her sister Anne, and told her that she had the previous day sent for her brothers and she must go to the watchtower and give them a signal to make haste when she saw them. Again and again Blue Beard shouted up to Fatima to hurry down so that he could kill her, but again and again she stalled him until she could see her brothers coming. It was then when her husband made such a terrible noise that she came down to him. Before he could kill her, Fatima’s brothers burst through the door and killed Blue Beard, leaving Fatima the mistress of his estates. She used her money to marry her sister to a man who loved her, bought captain’s commissions for her brothers, and married herself to a worthy gentleman.