The huntsman told the old witch that he was a royal messenger sent to fetch the finest vegetables for the king, but he was afraid that the heat would make it wither.

The old witch's daughter told him where the cloak was and said she would give him back the heart as it had been stolen, but he said it would make no difference, if they wed, so they married shortly afterwards.

[2] British traveller Rachel Harriette Busk collected a variant from Rome: The Transformation Donkey.

[3] The beginning of the tale sometimes involves male twins or a pair of brothers that eat the bird's head and heart (or liver, or breast), unaware of its magical properties.

One such variant was collected by Hans Stumme, in North Africa (Die Geschichte von den beiden Knaben, die das Herz und den Kopf des Vogels gegessen hatten, und von der Rhalia Bint Manssor).

[4][5] Variants of the story differ in the kind of vegetable or herb that is ingested, and the sort of physical transformation, mostly into animals.

For instance, in a Czechoslovak tale, collected by Parker Fillmore, the protagonist finds a sorrel and is transformed into a goat.

[6] The Brothers Grimm collected a previous version titled Die lange Nase, with many similarities to this tale.