was how the beautiful monastery was built. When the monastery was completed, the Prince asked the builders if they could ever make a similarly splendid building. Manole and his masons told the Prince that they surely could always build an even greater building. Hearing that and fearing they'll build a bigger and more beautiful building for someone else, the Prince had them all stranded on the roof so that they would perish and never build something to match it. They fashioned wooden wings and tried to fly off the roof. But, one by one, they all fell to the ground. A well of clear water, named after Manole, is believed to mark the spot where Manole himself fell. Negru Vodă Negru Vodă from the tale appears to be a fusion between Radu Negru, the traditional founder of Ţara Românească (Wallachia), and Neagoe Basarab, the historical builder of the church. Publication and legacy Alongside "Miorița", "Toma Alimoș" and "Dolca", it was published by Vasile Alecsandri in the first collection of Romanian folk creations in 1852, entitled "Poezii populare, balade (Cântice bătrânești) adunate și îndreptate de Vasile Alecsandri". Although the popular text has several variants, because the author is anonymous and the ballad was transmitted orally from generation to generation, the one published by Alecsandri is consecrated in literary form. Many Romanian writers had the legend as a motif and source of inspiration. Among them, Lucian Blaga (in his Meşterul Manole theatre play) brought forth a modern take on the myth. In Blaga's version, Manole's self-sacrifice is not prompted by any gesture of Prince Radu, but it is instead a personal journey. Analysis The role of Ana, in particular was widely discussed by scholars, often as an example of a model wife, who never wavers from commitment and duty to Manole even in the face of supernatural efforts to stop her, but also as a feminist critique of marriage, which requires women to sacrifice themselves and become confined within the walls of the house for the sake of their husbands' work. The attempt by Manole and the other masons to flee the roof by building wooden wings only appears in the Romanian version and is a variation of the Icarus myth. Similarities A similar tale in the Hungarian culture is Kőműves Kelemen ("Kelemen, the Bricklayer"), whose synopsis is essentially equivalent to the story of Manole. Another story is that of Rozafa, the