“The Belt and the Necklace.” The Turnip Princess: and other newly discovered fairy tales, Franz Xaver von Schönwerth, New York: Penguin Books, 2015, pp. 130-131.

Tale Summary

There was once a princess named Barbara, who was teased for her bad looks. One day, a gnome appeared and gave her three plums, and instructed her to throw one of the plums into the sea. He explained that two mermaids would emerge from the water, and told her to then throw the second plum into the sea, so that one of the mermaids would come on land and give her a magical belt. If she threw the third one into the water, the other mermaid would give her a necklace. He told her that if she put on the items, she would become the most beautiful woman ever seen, and if she wore the necklace as a belt or vice versa, she would become invisible. He warned her never to take them off or lose them. The princess did as she was told, and everything that the gnome had told her came true. However, the first mermaid had Barbara agree to hand over her third child when it turned three, and the second mermaid had her promise to give up the most beautiful of her children. When Barbara put on the belts and necklace, she turned into a beautiful woman and became queen. When her third child, a boy, turned 3 years old he was taken into the water by one of the mermaids. The sixth child born to Barbara, also a boy, was the most beautiful of them all and was doted on by the queen. She put out an order that no one was to allow the child near water, but one evening an old woman appeared and asked for shelter, and stole the boy away while everyone was asleep. The queen confessed to the king what had happened and as punishment she was thrown into the sea. The water did nothing to her, and she sank until she reached the palace of the mermaids, where her two boys were. One day, when the mermaids were spending time at the surface, Barbara wore the necklace as a belt and vice versa, and while invisible fled with her two boys back to the palace, where they were greeted with much joy.