A man has two wives, one of whom is childless, the other bears in succession
seven sons and a daughter. The childless wife cuts off the little finger of
each and takes them one by one into the forest, where they are brought up. An
old woman comes one day and tells the daughter that if her brothers love her
they will give her a bat. The girl cries to her brothers for a bat, and one of
them consults an aged man, who sends him to the sea shore. He puts down his
gun under a tree, and a bat from above cries out, "What wild beast is this ?"
The youth replies, "You just go to sleep, old fellow." The bat comes down,
touches the gun and it becomes a piece of wood; touches the youth and he
becomes microscopic. This in turn happens to all the brothers, after which the
girl goes to the sea-shore, and when she is under the tree the bat calls out,
"What wild beast is this?" But she does not answer she waits till the bat is
asleep, then climbs the tree, and catching the "bird" (sic), asks it where her
brothers are, and on her promising to clothe the bat in silver and gold, the
creature touches the guns and the brothers, and they are restored to their
proper forms. The bat then conducts them to their father's house, where he
asks lodgings and is refused by the childless wife. The husband takes them in
however and kills a sheep for their entertainment. The childless wife poisons
the meat, and the bat warns the children, bidding them try a cock, a dog, and
a cat with it, which is done, and the animals die. The brothers now decline
the food and ask that their sister be allowed to prepare somewhat for them to
eat. Then the bat touches the eyes of the children, who immediately recognise
their parents, and great is the rejoicing. The childless wife is torn in
pieces by being dragged at the tail of a wild horse, and the bat, having been
dressed in silver and gold, is sent back to his tree.
Sir Richard has given (p. 313, note) some particulars of the version in Hahn's
collection of modern Greek tales, which generally corresponds with Galland's
story. There is a different version in M. Legrand's "Recueil de Contes
Populaires Grecs" (Paris, 1881), which combines incidents in the modern Arabic
story of Arab Zandyk with some of those in Galland and some which it has
exclusively: