Wednesday, April 19, 2023

P is for Pubic Hair (Body Folktales)

This year, my A to Z Challenge theme is Body Folktales. Enjoy! 

CW: Adult themes.

(Image from here.)

This is one topic that folktales get really fun about.


This legend explains the origin of body hair; I blogged about it before. When Adam and Eve wash themselves in water that gives them body hair, Eve gets stung by a bee between her legs, and swatting her hand at the little creature she accidentally creates centuries of business for bikini wax.


This story is a Hungarian variant of ATU 1175 - Straightening curly hair. A man hires the Devil as a servant, with the agreement that if he can't give him enough work the Devil will take over as master, and the man and his wife will become servants. Whatever the man orders, the Devil fulfills immediately, until he begins to get worried about the whole deal. He confides in his wife, who confidently takes over the next day: she hands the Devil one of her pubic hairs, and orders him to straighten it. The Devil spends hours trying to pull the hair straight, but it always springs back. He finally asks the woman if there's a lot of work left - at which point she lifts her skirt. Seeing all the hairs waiting to be straightened, the Devil gives up and flees.

White hair (Hungary)

One of the most popular erotic folktales of Hungary. A man swears to only marry a woman who has white hair between her legs. A clever maiden makes a little thong out of rabbit fur, and manages to catch herself a husband. However, the fur wears out eventually, and the truth comes to light. The husband complains to an older woman about the change. The old woman hands him a boiled egg and tells him to gently knock it against his forehead for a few hours. Obviously, this activity results in a dark bruise. The old woman points out he couldn't expect things to stay white down there either with so much... knocking.

Golden breasts, diamond navel, chain of gold (African-American tale)

A poor boy has three dancing pigs, which he exchanges with a princess for finding out what secret features she has on her body. Turns out she has golden breasts, a black diamond in her navel, and a golden chain around her thighs that matches her pubic hair. Later on the king announces he'll marry his daughter to whomever can divine what her secret features are. Obviously the boy wins.

The sun snarer (Menominee)

A young man's clothes are burned by the sun, so he goes home and asks his sister for a pubic hair. Using the hair he makes a noose and traps the sun with it; by the time a mouse manages to chew through the noose, the sun has learned its lesson.

Pasquino and the pig (Italy)

A priest wants to seduce the young mother of one of his students, but she rejects him. He then decides to put a love spell on her, and threatens her son into bringing him some of the woman's pubic hairs. The boy brings him some pig hairs instead. Thus, when the priest puts the spell into effect, a very amorous sow bursts into the church, chasing him upstairs and then out a window.

That's all for today, people :) Which story do you find the most entertaining?

5 comments:

  1. Who knew pubic hair could be so entertaining?

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  2. I liked Pasquino and the pig . . .

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  3. Some very amusing ones. The priest obviously didn't have a very good grasp of psychology - what kid is going to collect his own mother's pubic hair?
    https://nydamprintsblackandwhite.blogspot.com/2023/04/pencheon-preble-primer.html

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  4. The Devil as Servant had me laughing out loud at the end.

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  5. White Hair is definitely hilarious!

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