for helping the protagonist (cf. The Princess and the Frog, "Rumpelstiltskin") Cheating death, the ability to overcome doom Fate goddesses The Seven Hathors who appear at the prince's birth to decree his fate may appear analogous to the Moirai or Parcae of Graeco-Roman mythology, or to the Norns of Norse mythology. Inevitability of fate Since the tale ends on an ambiguous note, some versions and translations of the story conclude with the death of the prince, as if to keep with the idea of inevitability of fate or the futility of trying to escape it. Under this lens, the tale is close to Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index tale type ATU 930, "The Prophecy that Poor boy shall marry rich girl". One example is Indian tale The King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate: the king tries to dispose of his predestined future son-in-law, but his actions only serve to ensure that such fate will come to pass. In folkloristics, the tale is classified as ATU 934A, "The Predestined Death". Avoidance of fate Once again, due to the unknown precise ending of the story, and also to the general direction of the traits (the dog’s hesitance, the death of the snake, the crocodile’s offer of help) one very likely conclusion of the tale is the general avoidance of the prince’s gruesome fate and the more positive ending of having him avoid death by those creatures, eventually being free of his doomed fate. Adaptations Literature The Tale of the Doomed Prince has been translated into French, by Gaston Maspero, as Le Prince prédestiné. Andrew Lang listed as his source for the tale The Prince and the Three Fates in The Brown Fairy Book. References Bibliography William Kelly Simpson, ed., The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, and Poetry (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973), 85–91. Gaston Maspero, Popular Stories of Ancient Egypt, Kessinger Publishing 2003, , pp. 185ff. M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol.2, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), 200-203. Graham Anderson, Fairytale in the Ancient World, Routledge 2000, Wiedemann, Alfred, Volksmund, Band VI. Alfred Wiedemann Altaegyptische Sagen und Maerchen", Deutsche Verlagsaktiengesellschaft Leipzig, 1906, pp. 78 – 85 Chris Eyre, On Fate, Crocodiles and the Judgement of the Dead: Some Mythological Allusions in Egyptian Literature, Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur Vol. 4 (1976): 104-114, accessed October 5, 2010, . Further reading Bleeker, C. J. "Die Idee Des Schicksals in Der Altägyptischen