carnations, but that day, a tailor, who lives next to the girl who tends to the geese, asks Mr Simigdáli how he can sleep at night what with all the girl's talk. Mr Simigdáli realises something is off so he secretly readies his horse and only pretends to drink the potion; so, when the princess begins to talk to him, he rises and takes her with him on his horse. In the morning, the queen sends for him, but he is not there. She tries to make her own man, but when the figure is done, she curses instead of praying, and the figure rots. The princess and Mr Simigdáli return home and live happily ever after. And, as the Greek saying has it, they lived happily but we lived even more so! Analysis Although the tale is classified as the more general type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband", the tale pertains to a cycle of stories found in Italy, Greece and Turkey, about a heroine creating her own husband. It could be considered, therefore, a subtype specific to Italy. The type is also considered a Greek-Turkish oikotype of The Disenchanted Husband, which, according to 's study, falls under type 425B: the artificial husband created by the heroine and the exchange of three nuts for three nights with her husband. Motifs Pintosmalto is a literary variant of the tale of the lost husband. The Armenian Nature's Ways follows part of it, ending with the princess's marriage to the newly created man. Other variants of the search for the lost bridegroom usually involve an enchanted man rather than a newly created one, as in The Enchanted Pig, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and Black Bull of Norroway. The Two Kings' Children includes a similar series of exchanges for the true bride to reach the bridegroom. According to Max Lüthi, the heroine cracks open the nuts and almonds she gets from her helpers and finds beautiful dresses that depict the skies (or heavens), the earth and the seas. In addition, Lüthi remarked that the reference to forty indicated the presence of the tale in the Orient, since the numeral has cultural significance for Middle Eastern cultures (e.g., indicating a period of maturation or purification). The hero's ingredients Folklorists and Michael Merakles noted that in these tales, the hero is named after the materials with which