snuBL
HHH
wmmmmm
1MW1
ffln KsSQs B&BB8
■ ■•■"■.''•'■'
IBM
■ . i '■ ■
■.,-.::...,...,..
m
am
In WSSWmSWM
1
WmnWmmmwBSSmWSM
SraHrani
■■mP
ffl|W]HHy|mBMBWHHHME{wiB
8oHHin9ffilfflHH§Dl
HnWnBBIUIUnffiBHHmDflfiaE
raraOBHflflnflSmBflmw&i
|W||||M
hbmhmWBBHBhpHh
Sft^'Vluufly
Class L3| p\J ( £»-
Book * *w 7
(bpyright N?_
COJe^RioHT deposit.
/
__
ITALIAN POPULAR TALES
THOMAS FREDERICK CRANE, A. M,
PROFESSOR OP THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES
IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY
1 7
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
a<
Copyright, t88s,
By THOMAS FREDERICK CRANE.
All rights reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge :
Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.
To
GIUSEPPE PITRE.
$
w
PREFACE.
The growing interest in the popular tales of Europe has
led me to believe that a selection from those of Italy would
be entertaining to the general reader, and valuable to the
student of comparative folk-lore.
The stories which, with but few exceptions, are here pre-
sented for the first time to the English reader, have been
translated from recent Italian collections, and are given
exactly as they were taken down from the mouths of the
people, and it is in this sense, belonging to the people,
that the word popular is used in the title of this work. I
have occasionally changed the present to the past tense,
and slightly condensed by the omission of tiresome repe-
titions ; * but otherwise my versions follow the original
closely, too closely perhaps in the case of the Sicilian tales,
which, when recited, are very dramatic, but seem disjointed
and abrupt when read.
The notes are intended to supplement those of Pitre and
Kohler by citing the stories published since the Fiabe,
Novelle e Racconti, and the Sicilianische Marchen, and also
to furnish easy reference to the parallel stories of the rest
of Europe. As the notes are primarily intended for stu-
dents I have simply pointed out the most convenient
sources of information and those to which I have had ac-
* Other condensations are indicated by brackets.
VI PREFACE.
cess. My space has obliged me to restrict my notes to
what seemed to me the most important, and I have as a
rule given only references which I have verified myself.
My object has been simply to present to the reader and
student unacquainted with the Italian dialects a tolerably
complete collection of Italian popular tales ; with theories
as to the origin and diffusion of popular tales in general,
or of Italian popular tales in particular, I have nothing to
do at present either in the text or notes. It is for others
to draw such inferences as this collection seems to war-
rant.
It was, of course, impossible in my limited space to do
more than give a small selection from the class of Fairy
Tales numbering several hundred ; of the other classes
nearly everything has been given that has been published
down to the present date. The Fairy Tales were selected
to represent as well as possible typical stories or classes,
and I have followed in my arrangement, with some modifi-
cation and condensation, Hahn's Marchen- und Sagformeln
(Griechiscke und Albanesische Marchen, vol. i. p. 45), an
English version of which may be found in W. Henderson's
Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England
and the Borders. With an Appendix on Household Stories,
by S. Baring-Gould. London, 1866.
In conclusion, I must express my many obligations to
Dr. Giuseppe Pitre, of Palermo, without whose admirable
collection this work would hardly have been undertaken,
and to the library of Harvard College, which so generously
throws open its treasures to the scholars of less favored
institutions.
T. F. CRANE.
Ithaca, N. Y., September 9, 1885.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Introduction ix
Bibliography xix
List of Stories xxix
I. Fairy Tales i
II. Fairy Tales Continued 97
III. Stories of Oriental Origin 149
IV. Legends and Ghost Stories 185
V. Nursery Tales 240
VI. Stories and Jests 275
Notes . . . . • 317
List of Books referred to . .. . . . . 384
Index 387
INTRODUCTION.
By popular tales we mean the stories that are handed
down by word of mouth from one generation to another of
the illiterate people, serving almost exclusively to amuse
and but seldom to instruct. These stories may be roughly
divided into three classes : nursery tales, fairy stories, and
jests. In countries where the people are generally edu-
cated, the first two classes form but one ; where, on the
other hand, the people still retain the credulity and sim-
plicity of childhood, the stories which with us are confined
to the nursery amuse the fathers and mothers as well as
the children. These stories were regarded with contempt
by the learned until the famous scholars, the brothers
Grimm, went about Germany some sixty years ago collect-
ing this fast disappearing literature of the people. The
interesting character of these tales, and the scientific value
attributed to them by their collectors, led others to follow
their footsteps, and there is now scarcely a province of
Germany that has not one or more volumes devoted to its
local popular tales. The impulse given by the Grimms was
not confined to their own country, but extended over all
Europe, and within the last twenty years more than fifty
volumes have been published containing the popular tales
of Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Germany,
England, Scotland, France, Biscay, Spain, Portugal, and
Greece. Asia and Africa have contributed stories from
India, China, Japan, and South Africa. In addition to
these we have now to mention what has been done in this
field in Italy.
X INTRODUCTION.
From their very nature the stories we are now consider-
ing were long confined to the common people, and were
preserved and transmitted solely by oral tradition. It did
not occur to any one to write them down from the lips of
the people until within the present century. The exist-
ence of these stories is, however, revealed by occasional
references, and many of them have been preserved, but
not in their original form, in books designed to entertain
more cultivated readers.1 The earliest literary collection
of stories having a popular origin was made in the six-
teenth century by an Italian, Giovan Francesco Straparola,
of Caravaggio.2 It is astonishing that a person of Strapa-
rola's popularity should have left behind him nothing but
a name. We only know that he was born near the end of
the fifteenth century at Caravaggio, now a small town half
way between Milan and Cremona, but during the Middle
Ages an important city belonging to the duchy of Milan.
In 1550 he published at Venice a collection of stories in the
style of the Decameron, which was received with the great-
est favor. It passed through sixteen editions in twenty
years, was translated into French and often printed in that
language, and before the end of the century was turned
into German. The author feigns that Francesca Gonzaga,
daughter of Ottaviano Sforza, Duke of Milan, on account
of commotions in that city, retires to the island of Murano,
near Venice, and surrounded by a number of distinguished
ladies and gentlemen, passes the time in listening to stories
related by the company. Thirteen nights are spent in this
way, and seventy-four stories are told, when the approach
of Lent cuts short the diversion. These stories are of the
most varied form and origin ; many are borrowed without
acknowledgment from other writers, twenty-four, for exam-
ple, from the little known Morlini, fifteen from Boccaccio,
Sachetti, Brevio, Ser Giovanni, the Old-French fabliaux,
the Golden Legend, and the Romance of Merlin. Six
others are of Oriental origin, and may be found in the
Pantschatantra, Forty Viziers, Siddhi Kur, and Thousand
and One Nights, ,3 There remain, then, twenty-nine stories,
INTRODUCTION. xi
the property of Straparola, of which twenty-two are mdr-
chen, or popular tales. We say "the property" of Strapa-
rola : we mean they had never appeared before in the
literature of Europe, but they were in no sense original
with Straparola, being the common property which the
Occident has inherited from the Orient. There is no need
of mentioning in detail here these stories as they are fre-
quently cited in the notes of the present work, and one,
the original of the various modern versions of "Puss in
Boots," is given at length in the notes to Chapter I.4 Two
of Straparola's stories have survived their author's oblivion
and still live in Perrault's " Peau d'Ane" and " Le Chat
Botte" while others in the witty versions of Madame D' Aul-
noy delighted the romance-loving French society of the
seventeenth century.5 Straparola's work had no influence
on contemporary Italian literature, and was soon forgotten,
— an unjust oblivion, for to him belongs the honor of hav-
ing introduced the Fairy Tale into modern European litera-
ture. He has been criticised for his style and blamed for
his immorality. The former, it seems to us, is not bad,
and the latter no worse than that of many contemporaneous
writers who have escaped the severe judgment meted out
to Straparola.
We find no further traces of popular tales until nearly a
century later, when the first edition of the celebrated Pen-
tamerone appeared at Naples in 1637. Its author, Giam-
battista Basile (known as a writer by the anagram of his
name, Gian Alesio Abbatutis), is but little better known to
us than Straparola. He spent his youth in Crete, became
known to the Venetians, and was received into the Acade-
mia degli Stravaganti. He followed his sister Adriana, a
celebrated cantatrice, to Mantua, enjoyed the duke's favor,
roamed much over Italy, and finally returned to Naples,
near where he died in 1632.6 The Pentamerone, as its title
implies, is a collection of fifty stories in the Neapolitan
dialect, supposed to be narrated, during five days, by ten
old women, for the entertainment of the person (Moorish
slave) who has usurped the place of the rightful princess.7
xii introduction;
Basile's work enjoyed the greatest popularity in Italy, and
was translated into Italian and into the dialect of Bologna.
It is worthy of notice that the first fairy tale which ap-
peared in France, and was the avant-coureur of the host
that soon followed under the lead of Charles Perrault,
" U Adroit e Princesse" is found in the Pentamerone? We
know nothing of the sources of Basile's work, but it con-
tains the most popular and extended of all European tales,
and must have been in a great measure drawn directly from
popular tradition. The style is a wonderful mass of con-
ceits, which do not, however, impair the interest in the
material, and it is safe to say that no people in Europe
possesses such a monument of its popular tales as the
Pentamerone. Its influence on Italian literature was not
greater than that of Straparola's Piacevoli Notti. From
the Pentamerone Lorenzo Lippi took the materials for the
second cantare of his Malmantile Racquistato, and Carlo
Gozzi drew on it for his curious fiabe, the earliest dram-
atizations of fairy tales, which, in our day, after amusing
the nursery, have again become the vehicles of spectac-
ular dramas. Although there is no proof that Mile. Lhe-
ritier and Perrault took their stories from Straparola and
the Pentamerone, there is little doubt that the French
translation of the former, which was very popular (Jannet
mentions fourteen editions between 1560 and 1726) awak-
ened an interest in this class of stories, and was thus the
origin of that copious French fairy literature, which, be-
sides the names mentioned above, includes such well-known
writers as Mde. D'Aulnoy, the Countess Murat, Mile. De
La Force, and Count Caylus, all of whom drew on their
Italian prototypes more or less.9
Popular as were the two collections above mentioned
they produced but one imitation, La Posillecheata, a collec-
tion of five stories in the Neapolitan dialect and in the
style of the Pentamerone, by Pompeo Sarnelli, Bishop of
Bisceglie, whose anagram is Masillo Reppone. The first
edition appeared at Naples in 1684, and it has been re-
published twice since then at the same place. The work
INTRODUCTION. xiii
is exceedingly coarse, and has fallen into well-deserved
oblivion.10
Nearly two centuries elapsed before another collection of
Italian tales made its appearance. The interest that the
brothers Grimm aroused in Germany for the collection and
preservation of popular traditions did not, for obvious rea-
sons, extend to Italy. A people must first have a con-
sciousness of its own nationality before it can take suffi-
cient interest in its popular literature to inspire even its
scholars to collect its traditions for the sake of science, to
say nothing of collections for entertainment. In i860,
Temistocle Gradi, of Siena, published in his Vigilia di
Pasqua di Ceppo, eight, and in his Saggio di Letterature
varie, 1865, four popular tales, as related in Siena. These
were collected without any other aim than that of enter-
tainment, but are valuable for purposes of comparison. No
attempt at a scientific collection of tales was made until
1869, when Professor De Gubernatis published the Novel-
line di Santo Stefano, containing thirty-five stories, pre-
ceded by an introduction on the relationship of the myth
to the popular tale. This was the forerunner of numerous
collections from the various provinces of Italy, which will
be found noted in the Bibliography. The attention of
strangers was early directed to Italian tales, and the earli-
est scientific collection was the work of two Germans,
Georg Widter and Adam Wolf, who published a translation
of twenty-one Venetian tales in the Jahrbuch fur romanische
und englische Literatur, Vol. VII. (1866), pp. 1-36, 121-
154, 249-290, with comparative notes by R. Kohler. In
the same volume were published, pp. 381-400, twelve tales
from Leghorn, collected by Hermann Knust; and finally
the eighth volume of the same periodical, pp. 241-260, con-
tains three stories from the neighborhood of Sora, in Na-
ples. In 1867 Schneller published at Innsbruck a German
translation of sixty-nine tales, collected by him in the Ital-
ian Tyrol. Of much greater interest and importance than
any of the above are the two volumes of Sicilian tales, col-
lected and translated into German by Laura Gonzenbach,
XIV INTRODUCTION.
afterwards the wife of the Italian general, La Racine.
There are but two . other collections of Italian stories by
foreigners: Miss Busk's Folk-Lore of Rome, and the anony-
mous Tuscan Fairy Tales recently published.
The number of stories published, in German and Eng-
lish, is about twice as many as those published in Italian
before Pitre s collection, being over four hundred. Pitre
contains more than all the previous Italian publications to-
gether, embracing over three hundred tales, etc., besides
those previously published by him in periodicals and else-
where. Since Pitre s collection, the three works of Com-
paretti, Visentini, and Nerucci, have added one hundred
and eighty tales, not to speak of wedding publications, con-
taining from one to five stories. It is, of course, impossi-
ble to examine separately all these collections, — we will
mention briefly the most important. To Imbriani is due
the first collection of tales taken down from the mouths of
the people and compared with previously published Italian
popular tales. In 1871 appeared his Novellaja fiorentina,
and in the following year the Novellaja Milanese. These
two have been combined, and published as a second edi-
tion of the Novellaja fiorentina, containing fifty Floren-
tine and forty-five Milanese tales, besides a number of
stories from Straparola, the Pentamerone, and the Italian
novelists, given by way of illustration. The stories are
accompanied by copious references to the rest of Italy, and
Liebrecht's references to other European parallels. It is
an admirable work, but one on which we have drawn but
seldom, restricting ourselves to the stories in the various
dialects as much as possible. The Milanese stories are in
general very poor versions of the typical tales, being dis-
torted and fragmentary. In 1873 Dr. Giuseppe Pitre, of
Palermo, well known for his collection of popular Sicilian
songs, published three specimens of a collection of Sicilian
popular tales, and two years later gave to the world his
admirable work, Fiabe, Novelle e Racconti, forming vols. IV.-
VII. of the Biblioteca delle Tradizioni populari Siciliane per
cura di Giuseppe Pitre. It is not, however, numerically
INTRODUCTION. XV
that Pitre's collection surpasses all that has previously been
done in this field. It is a monument of patient, thorough
research and profound study. Its arrangement is almost
faultless, the explanatory notes full, while the grammar and
glossary constitute valuable contributions to the philology
of the Italian dialects. In the Introduction the author,
probably for the first time, makes the Sicilian public ac-
quainted with . the fundamental principles of comparative
mythology and its relation to folk-lore, and gives a good
account of the Oriental sources of the novel. He has, it
seems to us, very properly confined his notes and compari-
sons entirely to Italy, with references of course to Gonzen-
bach and Kohler's notes to Widter-Wolf when necessary.
In other words, his work is a contribution to Italian folk-
lore, and the student of comparative Aryan folk-lore must
make his own comparisons : a task no longer difficult,
thanks to the works of Grimm, Hahn, Kohler, Cox, De
Gubernatis, etc. The only other collection that need be
mentioned here is the one in the Canti e Racconti del Po~
polo italiano, consisting of the first volume of the Novellino
pop. ital. pub. ed ill. da Dom. Comparetti, and of Visentini's
Fiabe Mantovane. The stories in both of the above works
are translated into Italian. In the first there is no arrange-
ment by locality or subject; and the annotations, instead of
being given with each story, are reserved for one of the
future volumes, — an unhandy arrangement, which detracts
from the value of the work.
We will now turn our attention from the collections
themselves to the stories they contain, and examine these
first as to their form, and secondly as to their contents.
The name applied to the popular tale differs in various
provinces, being generally a derivative of the Latin fabida.
So these stories are termed favuli and frauli in parts of
Sicily, favole in Rome, fiabe in Venice, foe in Liguria, and
fole in Bologna. In Palermo and Naples they are named
cunti, novelle and novelline in Tuscany, esempi in Milan,
and storie in Piedmont.11 There are few peculiarities of
form, and they refer almost exclusively to the beginning
XVI INTRODUCTION.
and ending of the stories. Those from Sicily begin either
with the simple "ccera" (there was), or " 'na vota ccera"
(there was one time), or " si raccunta chi 'na vota ccera " (it
is related that there was one time). Sometimes the formula
is repeated, as, "si cunta e s' arricunta " (it is related and re-
lated again), with the addition at times of "a lor signuri"
(to your worships), or the story about to be told is quali-
fied as " stu bellissimu cuntu " (this very fine story). Ordi-
narily they begin, as do our own, with the formula, " once
upon a time there was." The ending is also a variable for-
mula, often a couplet referring to the happy termination
of the tale and the relatively unenviable condition of the
listeners. The Sicilian ending usually is : —
" Iddi arristaru filici e cuntenti,
E nuatri semu senza nenti."
(They remained happy and contented, and we are without
anything.) The last line often is "E nui semu cca munnamu
li denti " (And here we are picking our teeth), or " Ma a
nui 'un ni desinu nenti1' (But to us they gave nothing),
which corresponds to a Tuscan ending : —
" Se ne stettero e se la goderono
E a me nulla mi diedero."
(They stayed and enjoyed it, and gave nothing to me.) A
common Tuscan ending is : —
" In santa pace pia
Dite la vostra, ch' io detto la mia."
(In holy pious peace tell yours, for I have told mine.) In
some parts of Sicily (Polizzi) a similar conclusion is found : —
" Favula scritta, favula ditta ;
Diciti la vostra, ca la mia e ditta."
(Story written, story told ; tell yours, for mine is told.) So
in Venice, —
" Longa la tua, curta la mia ;
Conta la tua, che la mia xe finia."
(Long yours, short mine ; tell yours, for mine is ended.)
The first line is sometimes as follows : —
INTRODUCTION. XV11
" Stretto il viuolo, stretta la via ;
Dite la vostra, ch' io detto la mia."
(Narrow the path, narrow the way ; tell yours, for I have
told mine.) The most common form of the above Tuscan
ending is : —
" Stretta e la foglia e larga e la via,
Dite la vostra che ho detto la mia."
(Narrow is the leaf, broad is the way, etc.) This same
ending is also found in Rome.12 These endings have been
omitted in the present work as they do not constitute an
integral part of the story, and are often left off by the nar-
rators themselves. The narrative is usually given in the
present tense, and in most of the collections is animated
and dramatic. Very primitive expedients are employed to
indicate the lapse of time, either the verb indicating the
action is repeated, as, " he walked, and walked, and walked,"
a proceeding not unknown to our own stories, or such ex-
pressions as the following are used: Cuntu 'un porta tempu,
or lu cuntu 'un metti tempu, or 'Ntra li cunti nun cc'e
tempu, which are all equivalent to, " The story takes no
note of time." These Sicilian expressions are replaced in
Tuscany by the similar one : // tempo delle novelle passa
presto (" Time passes quickly in stories "). Sometimes the
narrator will bring himself or herself into the story in a
very naive manner ; as, for example, when a name is wanted.
So in telling a Sicilian story which is another version of
" The Fair Angiola " given in our text, the narrator, Gna
Sabbedda, continues : " The old woman met her once, and
said : ' Here, little girl, whose daughter are you ? ' " Gna
Sabbedda's, for example ; I mention myself, but, however, I
was not there." 13
If we turn our attention now to the contents of our
stories we shall find that they do not differ materially from
those of the rest of Europe, and the same story is found,
with trifling variations, all over Italy.14 There is but little
local coloring in the fairy tales, and they are chiefly inter-
esting for purposes of comparison. We have given in our
text such a copious selection from all parts of the country
b
XV111 INTRODUCTION.
that the reader can easily compare them for himself with
the tales of other lands in their more general features. If
they are not strikingly original they will still, we trust, be
found interesting variations of familiar themes ; and we
shall perhaps deem less strange to us a people whose chil-
dren are still amused with the same tales as our own.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizioni popolari. Rivista tri-
mestrale diretta da G. Pitre e S. Salomone-Marino. Palermo,
1882-1885. 8vo.
The following popular tales have been published in the Archi-
vio: Novelle popolari toscane, edited by G. Pitre, vol. I. pp. 35-69,
183-205, 520-540; vol. II. pp. 157-172. La Storia del Re Crin,
collected by A. Arietti [Piedmont], vol. I. pp. 424-429. Cuntu di
lu Ciropiddhu, novellina popolare messinese, collected by T. Can-
nizzaro, vol. I. pp. 518-519. Novelle popolari sarde, collected by
P. E. Guarnerio, vol. II. pp. 19-38, 185-206, 481-502; vol. III.
pp. 233-240. La Cenerentola a Parma e a Camerino, collected by
Caterina Pigorini-Beri, vol. II. pp. 45-58. Fiabe popolari crennesi
\_provincia di Miland\, collected by V. Imbriani, vol. II. pp. 73-81.
Fiaba veneziana [== Pitre, xxxix.J, collected by Cristoforo Pasqua-
ligo, vol. II. pp. 353-358. 77 Re Porco, novellina popolare mar-
chigiana, collected by Miss R. H. Busk, vol. II. pp. 403-409. Tre
novellini ptigliesi di Cerignola, collected by N. Zingarelli, vol. III.
pp. 65-72. La Bona Fia, fiaba veneziana, collected by A. Dalme-
dico, vol. III. pp. 73-74. Tradizioni popolari abruzzesi, Novelle,
collected by G. Finamore, vol. III. pp. 359-372, 331-350. I Tre
Maghi ovverosia II Merlo Bianco, novella popolare montalese,
collected by G. Nerucci, vol. III. pp. 373-388, 551-568.
Bartoli, A., e G. Sansoni.
Una novellina e una poesia popolare gragnolesi. Florence,
1881. 8°. Pp. 15. Per le Nozze Biagi-Piroli. Edizione di
100 copie numerate.
The novellina is a version of Pitre, Nos. 159, 160 (" The Treas-
ure of Rhampsinitus ").
Basile, Giambattista.
Lo Cunto de li Cunti. Overo Lo Trattenemiento de Pec-
XX BIBLIOGRAPHY.
cerille. De Gian Alesio Abbattutis. Iornate Cinco. Naples,
Per Camillo Cavallo. .1644. 120.
II conto de' conti trattenimento a' fanciulli. Trasportato
dalla Napolitana all' Italiana favella, ed adornato di bellissime
Figure. Naples, 1784.
La Chiaqlira dla Banzola o per dir mii Fol divers tradutt dal
parlar Napulitan in lengua Bulgnesa per rimedi innucent dla
sonn, e dla malincunj. Dedica al merit singular dl gentilessem
sgnori d' Bulogna. Bologna, 1813. 40.
Der Pentamerone oder : Das Marchen aller Marchen von
Giambattista Basile. Aus dem Neapolitanischen iibertragen
von Felix Liebrecht. Nebst einer Vorrede von Jacob Grimm.
2 vols. Breslau, 1846. 8°.
The Pentamerone, or the Story of Stories, Fun for the Little
Ones. By Giambattista Basile. Translated from the Neapoli-
tan by John Edward Taylor. With Illustrations by George
Cruikshank. Second edition. London, 1850. 8°.
Archiv fur das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Litera-
turen. Herausgegeben von Ludwig Herrig. Vol. XLV. p. 1.
. Eine neapolitanische Marchen-sammlung aus der ersten Halfte
des XVII. Jahrhunderts — Pentamerone des Giambattista Ba-
sile.
Basile, Giambattista. Archivio di Letteratura popolare. Na-
ples, 1883-85.
A monthly periodical devoted to popular literature. The vol-
umes which have already appeared contain a large number of pop-
ular tales collected at Naples or in the vicinity.
Bernoni, Dom. Giuseppe.
Fiabe popolari veneziane raccolte da Dom. Giuseppe Ber-
noni. Venice, 1875. 8°.
Leggende fantastiche popolari veneziane raccolte da Dom.
Giuseppe Bernoni. Venice, 1873. 8°.
Le Strighe : Leggende popolari veneziane raccolte da Dom.
Giuseppe Bernoni. Venice, 1874. 160.
Tradizioni popolari veneziane raccolte da Dom. Giuseppe
Bernoni. Puntate I.-IV. Venice, 1875-77.
Bolognini, Dr. Nepomuceno.
Fiabe e Legende della Valle di Rendena nel Trentino. Ro-
vereto, 1881. 8°. Pp. 50. [Estratto dal VII. Annuario della
Societa degli Alpinisti Tridentini.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY. xxi
Busk, R. H.
Household Stories from the Land of Hofer ; or, Popular
Myths of Tirol, including the Rose-Garden of King Lareyn.
London, 1871. 8°.
The Folk-Lore of Rome. Collected by word of mouth from
the people. By R. H. Busk. London, 1874. 8°.
Canti e Racconti del Popolo Italiano.
See Comparetti and Visentini.
COMPARETTI, DOMENICO.
Novelline popolari italiane pubblicate ed illustrate da Do-
menico Comparetti. Vol. I. Turin, 1875. 8°.
In Canti e Racconti del Popolo italiano. Pubblicati per cura di
D. Comparetti ed A. D'Ancona. Vol. VI.
Coote, Henry Charles.
Some Italian Folk-Lore, Folk-Lore Record, I., pp. 187-215.
Notice of Comparetti's Nov. pop. ital., with translations.
Corazzini, Francesco.
I Componimenti minori della letteratura popolare italiana
nei principali dialetti o saggio di letteratura dialettale com-
parata. Benevento, 1877. 8°.
Novelle toscane, beneventane, apicese (Benvento), bolognese,
bergamasca e vicentina. Pp. 409-489.
Coronedi-Berti, Carolina.
Novelle popolari bolognesi raccolte da Carolina Coronedi-
Berti. Bologna, 1874. 8°.
La Fola del Muretein, Novellina popolare Bolognese. Es-
tratto dalla Rivista Europea. Florence, 1873. 8°. Pp. 9.
Crane, T. F.
A Nursery Tale. The Cornell Review, May, 1876, pp. 337-
347-
Italian Fairy Tales. St. Nicholas, December, 1878, pp. 101-
107.
Italian Popular Tales. North American Review, July, 1876,
pp. 25-60.
Le Novelle Popolari Italiane. In Giornale di Sicilia. Pa-
lermo. Nos. 186-188; 190, 195, 206, 207, 216, 225, 236, 239,
240. Aug.-Oct., 1877.
Italian translation of above Article.
Recent Italian Popular Tales. The Academy, London,
March 22, 1879, pp. 262-263.
XX11 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Sicilian Folk-Lore. Lippincott's Magazine, October, 1876,
PP- 433-443-
Devoted to Pitre's collection.
La Novellistica Popolare di Sicilia per T. F. Crane. Ver-
sione dall' Inglese per F. Polacci Nuccio. Estratto dalle
Nuove Effemeridi Siciliane, Vol. VI. Palermo, 1877. 8°.
Pp. 26.
Italian translation of above Article.
De Gubernatis, A.
Le Novelline di Santo Stefano raccolte da Angelo De Gu-
bernatis e precedute da una introduzione sulla parentela del
mito con la novella. Turin, 1869. 8°.
See Rivista di Letteratura Popolare.
Zoological Mythology, or the Legends of Animals. By An-
gelo De Gubernatis. 2 vols. London, 1872. 8°.
De Nino, Antonio.
Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi. Vol. III. Fiabe. Florence, 1883.
160.
FlNAMORE, GENNARO.
Tradizioni popolari abruzzesi. Vol. I. Novelle. Prima Parte,
Lanciano, 1882. 8°. Parte seconda, Lanciano, 1885.
Frizzi, Giuseppe.
Novella montanina, Florence, 1876. 8°. Pp. 36. Edizione
di 150 esemplari.
Gargiolli, Carlo.
Novelline e Canti popolari delle Marche. Fano, 1878. 8°.
Pp. 18.
Per le Nozze Imbriani-Rosnati.
Gianandrea, Antonio.
Biblioteca delle Tradizioni popolari marchigiane. Novelline
e Fiabe popolari marchigiane raccolte e annotate da Antonio
Gianandrea. Jesi, 1878. 120. Punt. I. pp. 32.
See Academy, March 22, 1879, p. 262.
Delia novella del Petit Poucet. In Giornale di Filologia
Romanza, II., pp. 231-234.
A few copies were printed separately.
Gonzenbach, Laura.
Sicilianische Marchen. Aus dem Volksmund gesammelt
von Laura Gonzenbach. Mit Anmerkungen Reinhold Kohler's
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Xxiii
und einer Einleitung herausgegeben von Otto Hartwig. 2 vols.
Leipzig, 1870. 8°.
Gradi, Temistocle.
Saggio di Letture varie per i Giovani di Temistocle Gradi
da Siena. Turin, 1865. 8°.
La Vigilia di Pasqua di Ceppo. Otto Novelle di Temistocle
Gradi. Coll' aggiunta di due racconti. Turin, i860. 8°.
Guarnerio, P. E.
Una novellina nel dialetto di Luras in Gallura (Sardinia).
Milan, 1884. Per le Nozze Vivante-Ascoli. Edizione di soli
L. esemplari.
An incomplete version of the Cupid and Psyche myth.
Imbrtani, Vittorio.
La Novellaja fiorentina cioe fiabe e novelline stenografate in
Firenze dal dettato popolare e corredate di qualcbe noterella
da Vittorio Imbriani. Naples, 187 1. Esemplari 150. 160.
La Novellaja milanese, esempii e panzane lombarde raccolte
nel Milanese da Vittorio Imbriani. Bologna, 1872. Esem-
plari 40. 8°.
Paralipomeni alia Novellaja Milanese. Bologna, pp. 9.
Tratura a parte del Propugnatore, Vol. VI. Esemplari 30.
'A 'Ndriana Fata. Cunto pomiglianese. Per nozze. Po-
migliano d' Arco, 1875. 8°. Pp. 14. 250 esemplari fuori di
commercio.
Due Fiabe Toscane annotate da V. I. Esemplari 100. Na-
ples, 1876. 8°. Pp. 23.
These fiabe are also in Nerucci, pp. 10, 18.
Dodici conti pomiglianesi con varianti avellinesi, montellesi,
bagnolesi, milanesi, toscane, leccesi, ecc. Illustrati da Vittorio
Imbriani. Naples, 1877. 8°.
'E Sette Mane-Mozze. In dialetto di Avellino. Principato
Ulteriore. Pomigliano d' Arco, 1877. 8°. Per le nozze Pitre-
Vitrano. Esemplari cc. Fuori commercio.
La Novellaja Fiorentina. Fiabe e Novelline stenografate in
Firenze dal dettato popolare da Vittorio Imbriani. Ristampa
accresciuta di molte novelle inedite, di numerosi riscontri e di
note, nelle quali e accolta integralmente La Novellaja Milanese
dello stesso raccoglitore. Leghorn, 1877. 8°.
Ive, Antonio.
Fiabe popolari rovignesi. Per le Nozze Ive-Lorenzetto.
XXIV BIBLIOGRAPHY.
XXVIII. Novembre, 1877. Vienna, 1S77, 8°. Pp. 32. Edi-
zione fuori di commercio di soli 100 esemplari.
See Academy, March 22, 1879, P- 2^2-
Fiabe popolari rovignesi raccolte ed annotate da Antonio
Ive. Per le Nozze Ive-Rocco. Vienna, 1878. 8°. Pp. 26.
Edizione fuori di commercio di soli 100 esemplari.
See Academy, March 22, 1879, p. 262.
Kaden, Woldemar.
Unter den Olivenbaumen. Siiditalienische Volksmarchen.
Nacherzahlt, Leipzig, 1880. 8°.
Of the forty-four stories in this work thirty-four are translated
from Pitre's Fiabe, six from Comparetti's Nov. pop. ital., and
three from Imbriani's XII. Conti pomig., without any acknowledg-
ment. This plagiarism was first exposed by R. Kohler in the Lit-
erarisches Centralblatt, 1881, vol. XXXII. p. 337, and afterwards
by Pitre in the Nuove Effemeridi siciliane, 1881.
Knust, Hermann.
Italienische Marchen. (Leghorn.) In Jahrbuch fur roma-
nische und englische Literatur. Leipzig, 1866. Vol. VII. Pp.
381-401.
KOEHLER, REINHOLD.
Italienische Volksmarchen. (Sora). In Jahrbuch fur ro-
manische und englische Literatur. Leipzig, 1867. Vol. VIII.
Pp. 241-260.
Marc-Monnier.
Les Contes de Nourrice de la Sicile, d'apres des recueils
nouveaux publies recemment in Italic Revue des Deux
Mondes, 15 Aug., 1875.
Devoted to Pitre's collection.
Les Contes de Pomigliano et la filiation des Mythes popu-
lates. Revue des Deux Mondes, 1 Nov., 1877.
Contes populaires de l'ltalie. Les Contes de Toscane et
de Lombardie. Revue des Deux Mondes, 1 Dec, 1879.
Devoted to the Novellaja Fiorentina of Imbriani.
Les Contes populaires en Italic Paris, 1880. 160.
Reprint of the above articles.
Morosi, Prof. Dott. Giuseppe.
Studi sui Dialetti Greci della Terra d' Otranto. Preceduto
da una raccolta di Canti, Leggende, Proverbi, e Indovinelli.
Lecce, 1870. 40. Leggende, pp. 73-77.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. XXV
Nerucci, Prof. Gherardo.
Sessanta novelle popolari montalesi (Circondario di Pistoja).
Florence, 1880. 120.
Cincelle da Bambini in nella stietta parlatura rustica d' i'
Montale Pistolese. Pistoia, 1881. 8°.
Ortoli, J. B. Frederic.
Les Contes populaires de File de la Corse. Paris, 1883. 8°.
Vol. XVI. of Literatures populaires de toutes les Nations,
Paris, Maisonneuve.
Panzanega d' on re. In dialetto di Crenna [Provincia di Mi-
lano]. Rome, 1876. 8°. Pp. 15. 200 esemplari fuori di com-
mercio.
Papanti, Giovanni.
Novelline popolari livornesi raccolte e annotate da Giovanni
Papanti. Leghorn, 1877. 8°. Pp. 29.
Per le nozze Pitre- Vitrano. Edizione fuori di commercio di soli
150 esemplari.
Pellizzari, P.
Fiabe e Canzoni popolari del Contado di Maglie in Terra
d' Otranto. Fasc. I. Maglie, 1884. 8°. Pp. 143.
Pitre, Giuseppe.
Saggio (Primo) di Fiabe e Novelle popolari Siciliane raccolte
da Giuseppe Pitre. Palermo, 1873. 8°. Pp. 16.
Nuovo Saggio (Secundo) di Fiabe e Novelle popolari Sici-
liane raccolte ed illustrate da Giuseppe Pitre. Estratto dalla
Rivista di Filologia Romanza, vol. I., fasc. II. e III. Imola,
1873. 8°. Pp.34.
Otto Fiabe (Terzo Saggio) e Novelle Siciliane raccolte dalla
bocca del Popolo ed annotate da Giuseppe Pitre. Bologna,
1873. Estratto dal Propugnatore, Vol. VI. 8°. Pp. 42.
Novelline popolari siciliane raccolte in Palermo ed annotate
da Giuseppe Pitre. Palermo, 1873. 8°.
Edizione di soli 100 esemplari.
Fiabe, Novelle e Racconti. 4 vols. Palermo, 1875. 8°.*
Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari siciliane per cura di Giu-
seppe Pitre. Vols. IV.-VII.
La Scatola di Cristallo. Novellina popolare senese raccolta
da Giuseppe Pitre. Palermo, 1875. 8°.
Per le Nozze Montuoro-Di Giovanni.
* When Pitre is mentioned without any other qualification than that of a
numeral, this work is understood.
XXVI BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Cinque novelline popolari siciliane ora per la prima volta
pubblicate da G. Pitre, Palermo, 1878. 8°.
Per le Nozze Salomone Marino-Abate. Ediz. di 50 esemplari.
See Academy, March 22, 1879, P- 2^2-
Novelline popolari toscane ora per la prima volta pubblicate
da G. Pitre. II Medico grille Vocaboli. La Gamba. Ser-
pentino. Palermo, 1878. 8°. Pp. 16.
Per le Nozze Imbriani-Rosnati. Tirato a soli 25 esemplari.
Una variante toscana della novella del Petit Poucet. 8°.
Pp. 6.
Estratto dalla Rivista di Lett. Pop. Vol. I. pp. 161-166.
La Tinchina dell' alto Mare. Fiaba toscana raccolta ed
illustrata da Giuseppe Pitre, Quattrasteriscopoli, 1882. 8°.
Pp. 14.
Per le Nozze Papanti-Giraudini. Esemplari novanta.
II Zoccolo di Legno, Novella popolare fiorentina. In Gior-
nale Napoletano della Domenica, 2 July, 1882. [= Pitre,
Fiabe, No. XIII.]
I tre pareri. Novella popolare toscana di Pratovecchio nel
Cosentino. In Giornale Napoletano della Domenica, 20 Au-
gust, 1882. [= Pitre, Fiabe, No. CXCVIL]
Novelle popolari toscane. Florence, 1885. 160.
Collected by Giovanni Siciliano. A few of the stories in this
collection have already been published in the Archivio per lo
Studio delle Tradizioni popolari.
Prato, Stanislao.
La Leggenda Indiana di Nala in una Novellina popolare
Pitiglianese. 8°. Pp. 8. Extract from I Nuovi Goliardi.
La Leggenda del Tesoro di Rampsinite nelle varie redazioni
Italiane e Straniere. Como, 1882. 8°. Pp. xii., 51. Edizione
di soli 100 esemplari numerati.
Una Novellina popolare monferrina. Como, 1882. 8°. Pp.
67. Edizione di soli 80 esemplari.
Quattro Novelline popolare livornesi accompagnate da vari-
anti umbre raccolte, pubblicate ed illustrate con note compara-
tive. Spoleto, 1880. Gr. 8°. Pp. 168.
L' Uomo nella Luna. Fol. pp. 4. Estratto dalla rivista di
Ancona : II Preludio, del 30 gennaio, 188 1.
L' Orma del Leone, un racconto orientale nella tradizione
popolare. Romania XII., pp. 535-565.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. XXvii
Ralston, W. R. S.
Sicilian Fairy Tales. Fraser's Magazine, New Series, vol.
XIII. 1876, pp. 423-433..
Rivista di Letteratura Popolare diretta da G. Pitre, F.
Sabatini. Rome, 1877.
Vol. I., pp. 81-86, contains Novelline di Sto. Stefano di Calci-
naia in continuation of Le Novelline di Santo Stefano, see De
Gubernatis ; p. 161, G. Pitre, Una variante toscana della novella
del Petit Poucet ; p. 213, R. Kohler Das RatJiseh7iarchen von dem
ermordeten Geliebten ; p. 266, G. Pitre, La Lucerna, nov. pop.
tosc.j p. 288, F. Sabatini, La Lanterna, nov. pop. bergamasca.
Romane, quattro novelline popolari. Nel giornale II Man-
zoni (Spoleto), No. 1, 1 Marzo, 1880.
Sabatini, Francesco.
La Lanterna. Novella popolare siciliana pubblicata ed illus-
trata a cura di Francesco Sabatini. Imola, 1878. 8°. Pp. 19.
Per le nozzi Salomone-Marino-Abate. Edizione di soli 180
esemplari. See Academy, March 22, 1879, P- 2^>2-
Sarnelli, Pompeo, Bishop of Bisceglie.
La Posillecheata de Masillo Reppone di Gnanopole. Na-
ples, 1789. In Collezione di tutti li poeti in lingua Napole-
tana. 28 vols. 120. Naples, 1789.
SCALAGERI DELLA FRATTA, CaMILLO.
Sette novellette, non piu ristampate da oltre due secoli, ri-
pubblicate da V. Imbriani. Pomigliano d' Arco, 1875. 8°. Pp.
15. Soli 150 esemplari.
SCHNELLER, CHRISTIAN.
Marchen und Sagen aus Walschtirol. Ein Beitrag zur deut-
schen Sagenkunde. Gesammelt von Christian Schneller. Inns-
bruck, 1867. 8°.
SOMMA, MlCHELE.
Cento Racconti per divertire gli amici nelle ore oziose e
nuovi brindisi per spasso nelle tavole e nelle conversazioni.
Messina, 1883. 160.
The book really contains one hundred and thirty-one stories,
and deserves mention here solely for its relation to the class of
stories discussed in Chapter VI.
Straparola, Giovan Francesco.
Piacevoli Notti di M. Giovan Francesco Straparola da Cara-
vagio, Nelle quali si contengono le Favole con i loro Enimmi
da dieci donne, et da duo giovani raccontate. 2 vols. Venice,
Per Comin da Trino di Monferrato, 1562. 8°.
XXV111 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Le Tredici Piacevolissime Notte di M. Gio : Francesco Stra-
parola da Caravaggia. Divise in due libri . . . con licenza de'
superiori. Venice, 1604. Appresso Zanetto Zanetti. 8°.
Con figure.
Les Facetieuses Nuits de Straparole. Traduites par Jean
Louveau et Pierre de Larivey. 2 vols. Paris, 1857. 8°.
Bibliotheque elzeverienne.
Die Marchen des Straparola. Aus dem Italienischen, mit
Anmerkungen von Dr. F. W. V. Schmidt. Berlin, 18 17. 8°.
In Marchen-Saal. Sammlung alter Marchen mit Anmerkun-
gen ; herausgegeben von Dr. F. W. V. Schmidt. Erster Band.
Giovan Francesco Straparola da Caravaggio. Inaugural-
Dissertation zur Erlangung der philosophischen Doctorwiirde
in Gottingen von F. W. J. Brakelmann. Gottingen, 1867. 8°.
Teza, E.
La Tradizione dei Sette Savi nelle novelline magiare di E.
Teza. Bologna, 1874. Pp. 56. Contains : Mila e Bucria,
novellina veneziana, p. 26 ; La Novellina del Pafagallo, novellina
toscana, p. 52.
Tuscan Fairy Tales (Taken down from the Mouths of the
People). With sixteen illustrations by J. Stanley, engraved by
Edmund Evans. London, 1880. 160.
Venetian Popular Legends.
The Cornhill Magazine, July, 1875, pp. 80-90.
Devoted to Bernoni's collections.
VlSENTINI, ISAIA.
Fiabe Mantovane raccolte da Isaia Visentini. Turin, 1879.
In Canti e Racconti del Popolo italiano. Vol. VII.
Widter-Wolf.
Volksmarchen aus Venetian. Gesammelt und herausgegeben
von Georg Widter und Adam Wolf. Mit Nachweisen und
Vergleichungen verwandter Marchen von Reinhold Kohler.
In Jahrbuch fur romanische und englische Literatur. Leipzig,
1866. VII. vol., pp. 1-36; 121-154; 249-290.
LIST OF STORIES.
Those marked with an * are translated from the dialect ; those in italics are found in the
notes.
PAGE
I. * The King of Love. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 18, Lu Re
d1 Amtiri) I
II. Zelinda and the Monster. (Tuscan, Nerucci, No. i,
Zelinda e il Mostro) 7
III. * King Bean. (Venetian, Bernoni, Fiabe, No. 17, El
Re de Favd) 12
IV. * The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and
the Speaking Bird. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 36, Li
Figghi di lu Cavuliciddaru) . . . . . 17
V. The Fair Angiola. (Sicilian, Gonzenbach, No. 53,
Von der schbnen A ngiola) ...... 26
VI. The Cloud. (Tuscan, Comparetti, No. 32, La JVuvo-
laccid) 30
VII. * The Cistern. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 80, La Jisternd) 36
VIII. * The Griffin. (Neapolitan, Imbriani, P omiglianesi,
p. 195, L' Auciello Crifone) ...... 40
IX. Cinderella. (Tuscan, Novellaja fiorentina, p. 151,
La Cenerentold) ........ 42
X. * Fair Maria Wood. (Vincenza, Corazzini, p. 484,
La Bela Maria del Legnd) 48
XI. * The Curse of the Seven Children. (Bolognese,
Coronedi-Berti, No. 19, La Maledizion di Set Fiti) . 54
XII. Oraggio and Bianchinetta. (Tuscan, Novellaja
fiorentina, p. 314, Oraggio e Bianchinetta) ... 58
XIII. The Fair Fiorita. (Basilicata, Comparetti, No. 20,
La Bella Fiorita) 61
XIV. * Bierde. (Istrian, Ive, 1877, p. 13, Bierde) ... 68
XV. * Snow- white-fire-red. (Sicilian, Pitr&, No. 13, 2?z-
anca-comu-nivi-rtissa-co7nu-focu) ..... 72
XVI. How the Devil married Three Sisters. (Vene-
tian, Widter-Wolf, No. 11, Der Tetifel heirathet drei
Schwestern) . 78
XXX LIST OF STORIES.
XVII. In Love with a Statue. (Piedmontese, Com-
paretti, No. 29, U Innamorato d"1 una Statud) . 85
XVII I. * Thirteenth. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 33, Tridi-
cinu) ......... 90
XIX. * The Cobbler. (Milanese, Novellaja ftorentina,
p. 575, El Sciavattin) 94
^ XX. Sir Fiorante, Magician. (Tuscan, De Gubernatis,
Sto. Stefano, No. 14, Sor Fiorante mago) . . 322
XXI. The Crystal Casket. (Tuscan, La Scatola di Cris-
tallo raccolta da G. Pitre) 326
XXII. * The Stepmother. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 283, La
Parrastrd) 331
XXIII. * Water and Salt. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 10, L' Ac-
qua e lu Sali) ....... 333
XXIV. * The Love of the Three Oranges. (Istrian, Ive,
1878, p. 3, D Amur dei tri Naranci) . . . 338
XXV. The King who wanted a Beautiful Wife.
(Sicilian, Gonzenbach, No. "j% Von dem Kbnige,
der eine sch'dne Frau wollte) 97
XXVI. * The Bucket. (Milanese, Novellaja fiorentina,
p. 190, E l Sidellin) 100
XXVII. The Two Humpbacks. (Tuscan, Novellaja fio-
rentina, p. 559, I due Gobbi) 103
XXVIII. The Story of Catherine and her Fate. (Si-
cilian, Gonzenbach, No. 21, Die Geschichte von
Caterina tend ihrem SchicksaT) .... 105
XXIX. * The Crumb in the Beard. (Bolognese, Coro-
nedi-Berti, No. 15, La Fola d' Brisla in Barbd) . 110
XXX. * The Fairy Orlanda. (Neapolitan, Novellaja
fiorentina, p. 333, *A Fata Orlannd) . . ♦. 114
XXXI. The Shepherd who made the King's Daugh-
ter laugh. (Sicilian, Gonzenbach, No. 31, Von
dem Schdfer der die Konigstochter zum Lachen
brachte) 119
XXXII. The Ass that lays Money. (Tuscan, Nerucci,
No. 43, 77 Ciuchino caca-zecchini) . . . .123
XXXIII. * Don Joseph Pear. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 88,
Don Giuseppi Pirti) . . . . . .127
^ XXXIV. Puss in Boots. (Straparola, XI. 1.) 348
XXXV. * Fair Brow. (Istrian, Ive, 1877, p. 19, Biela
Fronle) 131
XXXVI. Lionbruno. (Basilicata, Comparetti, No. 4.1, Lion-
brund) ........ i 136
XXXVII. * The Peasant and the Master. (Sicilian,
Pitre, No. 194, Lu Burgisi e lu Patruni) . . 150
LIST OF STORIES. XXxi
XXXVIII. The Ingrates. (Piedmontese, Comparetti, No.
67, Gli Ingrati) 150
XXXIX. * The Treasure. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 138, La
Truvattira) . . . . . . . . .156
XL. * The Shepherd. (Milanese, Novellaja fioren-
tina, p. 572, El Pegoree) 156
XLI. * The Three Admonitions. (Sicilian, Pitre,
No. 197, Li tri Rigordi) 157
XLII. * Vineyard I was and Vineyard I am. (Ve-
netian, Bernoni, Trad. pop. venez., Punt. I. p. 11,
Vigna era e Vigna son) . . . . 159
XLIII. The Language of Animals. (Piedmontese,
Comparetti, No. 56, II Linguaggio degli Animali) 161
XLIV. * The Mason and his Son. (Sicilian, Pitre,
No. 160, Lu Muraturi e so Figghiu) . . . 163
XLV. The Parrot. First Version. (Tuscan, Com-
paretti, No. \, II Pappagallo) . . . .168
XLVI. The Parrot. Second Version. (Tuscan, Teza,
La Tradizione dei Sette Savi, etc., p. 52, La No-
vellina del Papagalld) 169
XLVII. * The Parrot which tells Three Stories.
Third Version. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 2, Lu Pap-
pagaddu chi cunta tri cunti) 173
First Story of the Parrot . . . 175
Second Story of the Parrot . . . .178
Third Story of the Parrot 180
XLVIII. * Truthful Joseph. (Neapolitan, Pomiglianesi,
p. 1, Giuseppe 'A Veretti) 184
XLIX. The Man, the Serpent, and the Fox. (Otranto,
Morosi, p. 75) ■ 354
L. * The Lord, St. Peter, and the Apostles.
(Sicilian, Pitre, No. 123, Lu Signuri, S. Petru e
li Apostuli) 1 86
LI. The Lord, St. Peter, and the Blacksmith.
(Venetian, Widter-Wolf, No. 5, Der Herrgott, St.
Peter und der Schmied) 188
LII. * In this World one weeps and another
laughs. (Sicilian, Pitre, Cinque nov. pop. sicil.,
p. J, A stti munnu cu1 chianci e cu* ridi) . . 190
LIII. * The Ass. (Sicilian, Pitre, Cinque nov. pop. si-
cil., p. 8, Lu Sceccii) 190
LIV. St. Peter and his Sisters. (Tyrolese, Schnel-
ler, p. 6, St. Petrus u?id seine Schwestern) . . 193
LV. * Pilate. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 119, Pilatti) . 194
LVL * The Story of Judas. (Sicilian, Pitre, vol. I.
p. cxxxviii., Lu Cunlu di Giudd) . . . . 195
XXX11 LIST OF STORIES.
LVII. * Desperate Malchus. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 120,
Marcn dispiratu) 196
LVIII. * Malchus at the Column. (Venetian, Ber-
noni, Preghiere pop. veneziane, p. 18, Malco a la
Colond) ......... 197
LIX. * The Story of Buttadeu. (Sicilian, Pitre,
vol. I. p. cxxxiii., La Storia di Buttadeii) . . 197
LX. The Story of Crivoliu. (Sicilian, Gonzenbach,
No. 85, Vom Crivbliu) 198
LXI. The Story of St. James of Galicia. (Sicil-
ian, Gonzenbach, No. 90, Die Geschichte von San
Japicu alia Lizid) ....... 202
LXII. * The Baker's Apprentice. (Sicilian, Pitre,
No. in, Lu Giuvini di lu Furnaru) . . . 212
LXIII. * Occasion. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 124, Accaciuni) . 215
LXIV. * Brother Giovannone. (Sicilian, Pitre, No.
125, Fra Giugannuni) 217
LXV. Godfather Misery. (Tuscan, De Gubernatis,
Sto. Stefano, No. 32, Compar Miser id) . . 221
LXVI. Beppo Pipetta, (Venetian, Widter-Wolf, No. 7,
Beppo Pipetta) 222
LXVI I. * The Just Man. (Venetian, Bernoni, Trad. pop.
venez., Punt. I. p. 6, El Giustd) .... 226
LXVIII. * Of a Godfather and a Godmother of St.
John who made love. (Venetian, Bernoni,
Leggende, p. 3, De una comare e tin cojnpare de
San Zuane che i conversava in fra de lori) . 228
LXIX. * The Groomsman. (Venetian, Bernoni, Leggende,
p. 7, De un compare de V anelo ch' el gd struca la
man a la sposa co cativa intenzion) . . .231
LXX. * The Parish Priest of San Marcuola. (Ve-
netian, Bernoni, Leggende, p. 17, De un piovan de
San Marcuola, che gd dito che i morti in dove che
i xe i restd) 234
LXXI. * The Gentleman who kicked a Skull. (Ve-
netian, Bernoni, Leggende, p. 19, De un signor che
gd da 'na peada a tin cragno da mortd) . . 236
LXXII. * The Gossips of St. John. (Sicilian, Pitre, No.
no, Li Cumpari di S. Giuvanni) . . . . 369
LXXIII. * Saddaedda. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 128, Sadda-
eddd) 238
LXXIV. * Mr. Attentive. (Venetian, Bernoni, Punt. II.
p. 53, Sior Intento) 240
I LXXV. * The Story of the Barber. (Sicilian, Pitre,
No. 141, Lu Cuntu di lu Varveri) . . . 241
LIST OF STORIES. XXxiii
LXXVI. * Don Firriulieddu. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 130,
Don Firriulieddu) . . . . . . .241
LXXVI I. Little Chick-Pea. (Tuscan, Rivista di Lett.
pop. I. p. 161, Cecind) ....... 242
LXXVIII. * Pitidda. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 131, Pitiddd) . 248
LXXIX. * The Sexton's Nose. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 135,
Lu Nasu di lu Sagristanu) 250
LXXX. * The Cock and the Mouse. (Principato Ul-
teriore, Imbriani, P omiglianesi, p. 239, '0 Gallo
e '<? Sorece) 252
LXXXI. * Godmother Fox. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 132, •
Cummari Vurpidda) 254
LXXXI I. * The Cat and the Mouse. (Sicilian, Pitre,
No. 134, La Gatta e lu Surci) .... 257
LXXXI 1 1. *A Feast Day. (Venetian, Bernoni, Fiabe,
No. 4, 'JVa Giornada de Sagrd) .... 261
LXXXIV. * The Three Brothers. (Venetian, Bernoni,
Trad. pop. venez., Punt. I. p. 18, I tre Fradei) . 263
LXXXV. Buchettino. (Tuscan, Papanti, Novelline pop.
livornesi, p. 25, Buchettino) 265
LXXXVI. * The Three Goslings. (Venetian, Bernoni,
Trad. pop. venez., Punt. III. p. 65, Le Tre Ochete) 267
LXXXVI I. * The Cock. (Venetian, Bernoni, Trad. pop.
venez., Punt. III. p. 69, El Galo) .... 270
LXXXVIII. The Cock that wished to become Pope.
(Sicilian, Gonzenbach, No. 66, Von dem Hahne,
der Pabst werden wollte) 272
LXXXIX. The Goat and the Fox. (Otranto, Morosi, p.
73) 375
XC The Ant and the Mouse. (Otranto, Morosi, p.
73) 376
XCI. * The Cook. (Milan, Novellaja fiorentina, p.
621, El Coeugh) 275
XCI I. * The Thoughtless Abbot. (Sicilian, Pitre,
No. 97, U Abbati senza Pinseri) .... 276
XCI 1 1. * Bastianelo. (Venetian, Bernoni, Fiabe, No.
6, Bastianelo) 279
XCIV. * Christmas. (Neapolitan, Imbriani, Pomigli-
anesi, p. 226, Natale) 283
XCV. * The Wager. (Venetian, Bernoni, Fiabe, No.
13, La Scornessa) ....... 284
XCVI. * Scissors They Were. (Sicilian, Pitre, No.
257, Fbrfici ford) . 285
XCVII. * The Doctor's Apprentice. (Sicilian, Pitre,
No. 180, D Apprinnista di lu Medicu) . . 287
XXXIV LIST OF STORIES.
XCVIII. * Firrazzanu's Wife and the Queen. (Sicil-
ian, Pitre, No. 156, La Mugghieri di Firrazzanu e
la Riggind) 288
XCIX. * Giufa and the Plaster Statue. (Sicilian,
Pitre, No. 190, 1, Giufa e la statua di ghissu) . 291
C. * Giufa and the Judge. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 190,
3, Giufa e lu Judici) . . . . . . 293
CI. The Little Omelet. (Tuscan, Novellaja fioren-
tina, p. 545, La Frittatind) 294
CI I. * Eat, my Clothes ! (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 190, 9,
Manciati, rubbiceddi mei /) 296
CIII. Giufa's Exploits. (Sicilian, Gonzenbach, No. 37,
Giufa) . . 297
CIV. *The Fool. (Venetian, Bernoni, Fiabe, No. 11,
El Matd) 302
CV. * Uncle Capriano. (Sicilian, Pitre, No. 157, Lu
Zu Crapianu) ....... 303
CVI. * Peter Fullone and the Egg. (Sicilian, Pitre, No.
200, Petru Fudduni e V ovu) . . . .381
CVI I. The Clever Peasant. (Sicilian, Gonzenbach, No.
50, Vom Klugen Bauer) 309
s CVI 1 1. The Clever Girl. (Tuscan, Comparetti, No. 43,
La Ragazza astutd) 311
CIX. Crab. (Mantuan, Visentini, No. 41, GAmbard) . 314
ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
CHAPTER I.
FAIRY TALES.
The most wide-spread and interesting class of Fairy Tales
is the one in which a wife endeavors to behold the face of
her husband, who comes to her only at night. She suc-
ceeds, but her husband disappears, and she is not reunited
to him until she has expiated her indiscretion by weary
journeys and the performance of difficult tasks. This class,
which is evidently the popular form of the classic myth of
Cupid and Psyche, may for convenience be divided into
four classes. The first turns on the punishment of the
wife's curiosity ; the second, on the husband's (Melusina) ;
in the third the heroine is married to a monster, is sepa-
rated from him by her disobedience, but finally is the means
of his recovering his human form ; the fourth class is a va-
riant of the first and third, the husband being an animal in
form, and parted from his wife by the curiosity or disobedi-
ence of the latter or of her envious sisters.
To illustrate the first class, we select, from the large num-
ber of stories before us, a Sicilian tale (Pitre, No. 18) en-
titled :
I. THE KING OF LOVE.
Once upon a time there was a man with three daughters,
who earned his living by gathering wild herbs. One day
he took his youngest daughter with him. They came to a
garden, and began to gather vegetables. The daughter saw
a fine radish, and began to pull it up, when suddenly a Turk
2 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
appeared, and said : " Why have you opened my master's
door ? You must come in now, and he will decide on your
punishment."
They went down into the ground, more dead than alive ;
and when they were seated they saw a green bird come in
and bathe in a pan of milk, then dry itself, and become a
handsome youth. He said to the Turk : "What do these
persons want ? " " Your worship, they pulled up a radish,
and opened the door of the cave." " How did we know,"
said the father, "that this was Your Excellency's house?
My daughter saw a fine radish ; it pleased her, and she
pulled it up." "Well, if that's the case," said the master,
"your daughter shall stay here as my wife ; take this sack
of gold and go ; when you want to see your daughter, come
and make yourself at home." The father took leave of his
daughter and went away.
When the master was alone with her, he said : " You
see, Rosella (Rusidda), you are now mistress here," and
gave her all the keys. She was perfectly happy (literally,
" was happy to the hairs of her head"). One day, while the
green bird was away, her sisters took it into their heads to
visit her, and asked her about her husband. Rosella said
she did not know, for he had made her promise not to try to
find out who he was. Her sisters, however, persuaded her,
and when the bird returned and became a man, Rosella
put on a downcast air. " What is the matter ? " asked her
husband. "Nothing." "You had better tell me." She
let him question her a while, and at last said : " Well,
then, if you want to know why I am out of sorts, it is be-
cause I wish to know your name." Her husband told her
that it would be the worse for her, but she insisted on
knowing his name. So he made her put the gold basins
on a chair, and began to bathe his feet. " Rosella, do you
really want to know my name ? " " Yes." And the water
came up to his waist, for he had become a bird, and had got
into the basin. Then he asked her the same question
again, and again she answered yes, and the water was up
to his mouth. " Rosella, do you really want to know my
FAIRY TALES. 3
name ? " " Yes, yes, yes ! " " Then know that I am
called The King of Love ! " And saying this he dis-
appeared, and the basins and the palace disappeared like-
wise, and Rosella found herself alone out in an open plain,
without a soul to help her. She called her servants, but no
one answered her. Then she said : " Since my husband
has disappeared, I must wander about alone and forlorn to
seek him ! "
The poor woman, who expected before long to become a
mother, began her wanderings, and at night arrived at an-
other lonely plain ; then she felt her heart sink, and, not
knowing what to do, she cried out : —
" Ah ! King of Love,
You did it, and said it.
You disappeared from me in a golden basin,
And who will shelter to-night
This poor unfortunate one ?"
When she had uttered these words an ogress appeared
and said : " Ah ! wretch, how dare you go about seeking
my nephew ? " and was going to eat her up ; but she took
pity on her miserable state, and gave her shelter for the
night. The next morning she gave her a piece of bread,
and said : " We are seven sisters, all ogresses, and the
worst of all is your mother-in-law ; look out for her ! "
To be brief, the poor girl wandered about six days, and
met all six of the ogresses, who treated her in the same
way. The seventh day, in great distress, she uttered her
usual lament, and the sister of the King of Love appeared
and said, " Rosella, while my mother is out, come up ! "
and she lowered the braids of her hair, and pulled her up.
Then she gave her something to eat, and told her how to
seize and pinch her mother until she cried out : " Let me
alone for the sake of my son, the King of Love ! "
Rosella did as she was told, but the ogress was so an-
gry she was going to eat her. But her daughters threat-
ened to abandon her if she did. " Well, then, I will write
a letter, and Rosella must carry it to my friend." Poor
Rosella was disheartened when she saw the letter, and,
4 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
descending, found herself in the midst of a plain. She
uttered her usual complaint, when the King of Love ap-
peared, and said : " You see your curiosity has brought
you to this point ! " Poor thing ! when she saw him she
began to cry, and begged his pardon for what she had done.
He took pity on her, and said : " Now listen to what you
must do. On your way you will come to a river of blood ;
you must bend down and take some up in your hands, and
say : ' How beautiful is this crystal water ! such water as
this I have never drunk ! ' Then you will come to another
stream of turbid water, and do the same there. Then you
will find yourself in a garden where there is a great quan-
tity of fruit ; pick some and eat it, saying : ' What fine
pears ! I have never eaten such pears as these.' After-
ward, you will come to an oven that bakes bread day and
night, and no one buys any. When you come there, say :
' Oh, what fine bread ! bread like this I have never eaten,'
and eat some. Then you will come to an entrance guarded
by two hungry dogs ; give them a piece of bread to eat.
Then you will come to a doorway all dirty and full of cob-
webs ; take a broom and sweep it clean. Half-way up the
stairs you will find two giants, each with a dirty piece of
meat by his side ; take a brush and clean it for them.
When you have entered the house, you will find a razor, a
pair of scissors, and a knife ; take something and polish
them. When you have done this, go in and deliver your
letter to my mother's friend. When she wants to make
you enter, snatch up a little box on the table, and run away.
Take care to do all the things I have told you, or else you
will never escape alive."
Rosella did as she was told, and while the ogress was
reading the letter Rosella seized the box and ran for her
life. When the ogress had finished reading her letter, she
called : " Rosella ! Rosella ! " When she received no an-
swer, she perceived that she had been betrayed, and cried
out : " Razor, Scissors, Knife, cut her in pieces ! " They
answered : " As long as we have been razor, scissors, a,\d
knife, when did you ever deign to polish us ? Rosella came
FAIRY TALES. 5
and brightened us up." The ogress, enraged, exclaimed :
"Stairs, swallow her up!" "As long as I have been
stairs, when did you ever deign to sweep me? Rosella
came and swept me." The ogress cried in a passion :
" Giants, crush her ! " " As long as we have been giants,
when did you ever deign to clean our food for us ? Rosella
came and did it."
Then the furious ogress called on the entrance to bury
her alive, the dogs to devour her, the furnace to burn her,
the fruit-tree to fall on her, and the rivers to drown her ;
but they all remembered Rosella' s kindness, and refused to
injure her.
Meanwhile Rosella continued her way, and at last be-
came curious to know what was in the box she was carry-
ing. So she opened it, and a great quantity of little pup-
pets came out ; some danced, some sang, and some played
on musical instruments. She amused herself some time
with them; but when she was ready to go on, the little
figures would not return to the box. Night approached,
and she exclaimed, as she had so often before : —
" Ah ! King of Love," etc.
Then her husband appeared and said, " Oh, your curios-
ity will be the death of you !" and commanded the puppets
to enter the box again. Then Rosella went her way, and
arrived safely at her mother-in-law's. When the ogress
saw her she exclaimed : "You owe this luck to my son, the
King of Love ! " and was going to devour poor Rosella, but
her daughters said : "Poor child ! she has brought you the
box ; why do you want to eat her ? " " Well and good. You
want to marry my son, the King of Love ; then take these
six mattresses, and go and fill them with birds' feathers ! "
Rosella descended, and began to wander about, uttering
her usual lament. When her husband appeared Rosella
told him what had happened. He whistled and the King
of the Birds appeared, and commanded all the birds to
come and drop their feathers, fill the six beds, and carry
them back to the ogress, who again said that her son had
helped Rosella. However, she went and made up her son's
6 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
bed with the six mattresses, and that very day she made
him marry the daughter of the King of Portugal. Then
she called Rosella, and, telling her that her son was mar-
ried, bade her kneel before the nuptial bed, holding two
lighted torches. Rosella obeyed, but soon the King of
Love, under the plea that Rosella was not in a condition to
hold the torches any longer, persuaded his bride to change
places with her. Just as the queen took the torches in her
hands, the earth opened and swallowed her up, and the
king remained happy with Rosella.
When the ogress heard what had happened she clasped
her hands over her head, and declared that Rosella's child
should not be born until she unclasped her hands. Then
the King of Love had a catafalque erected, and stretched
himself on it as though he were dead, and had all the bells
tolled, and made the people cry, " How did the King of
Love die ? " The ogress heard it, and asked : " What is
that noise ? " Her daughters told her that their brother
was dead from her fault. When the ogress heard this she
unclasped her hands, saying, " How did my son die ? " At
that moment Rosella's child was born. When the ogress
heard it she burst a blood-vessel (in her heart) and died.
Then the King of Love took his wife and sisters, and they
remained happy and contented.1
There is another version of this story in Pitre (No. 281)
entitled, "The Crystal King," which resembles more closely
the classic myth.
A father marries the youngest of his three daughters to
a cavalier (the enchanted son of a king) who comes to his
wife at night only. The cavalier once permits his wife to
visit her sisters, and they learn from her that she has
never seen her husband's face. The eldest gives her a
wax candle, and tells her to light it when her husband is
asleep, and then she can see him and tell them what he is
like. She did so, and beheld at her side a handsome youth ;
but while she was gazing *at him some of the melted wax
fell on his nose. He awoke, crying, " Treason ! treason ! "
FAIRY TALES. 7
and drove his wife from the house. On her wanderings
she meets a hermit, and tells him her story. He advises her
to have made a pair of iron shoes, and when she has worn
them out in her travels she will come to a palace where
they will give her shelter, and where she will find her hus-
band. The remainder of the story is of no interest here.2
In the second class of stories belonging to this myth
it is the curiosity of the husband which is punished, the
best known example of this class, out of Italy, being. the
beautiful French legend of Melusina.3 A Sicilian story in
Gonzenbach, No. 16, "The Story of the Merchant's Son
Peppino," is a very close counterpart of "The King of
Love," above given. Peppino is wrecked on a rock in the
sea ; the rock opens, fair maidens come out and conduct
Peppino to a beautiful castle in the cave. There a maiden
visits him at night only. After a time Peppino wishes to
see his parents, and his wife allows him to depart, with the
promise to return at a certain date. His parents, after
hearing his story, give him a candle with which to see his
wife. Everything happens as in the first story ; the castle
disappears, and Peppino finds himself on the top of a snow-
covered mountain. He recovers his wife only after the
lapse of many years and the accomplishment of many diffi-
cult tasks.4
The third class, generally known by the title of " Beauty
and the Beast," is best represented by a story from Montale
(near Pistoja), called :
II. ZELINDA AND THE MONSTER.
There was once a poor man who had three daughters ;
and as the youngest was the fairest and most civil, and had
the best disposition, her other two sisters envied her with a
deadly envy, although her father, on the contrary, loved her
dearly. It happened that in a neighboring town, in the
month of January, there was a great fair, and that poor
man was obliged to go there to lay in the provisions neces-
sary for the support of his family ; and before departing he
8 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
asked his three daughters if they would like some small
presents in proportion, you understand, to his means. Ro-
sina wished a dress, Marietta asked him for a shawl, but
Zelinda was satisfied with a handsome rose. The poor
man set out on his journey early the next day, and when
he arrived at the fair quickly bought what he needed, and
afterward easily found Rosina's dress and Marietta's shawl ;
but at that season he could not find a rose for his Zelinda,
although he took great pains in looking everywhere for one.
However, anxious to please his dear Zelinda, he took the
first road he came to, and after journeying a while arrived
at a handsome garden inclosed by high walls ; but as the
gate was partly open he entered softly. He found the gar-
den filled with every kind of flowers and plants, and in a
corner was a tall rose-bush full of beautiful rose-buds.
Wherever he looked no living soul appeared from whom he
might ask a rose as a gift or for money, so the poor man,
without thinking, stretched out his hand, and picked a rose
for his Zelinda.
Mercy ! scarcely had he pulled the flower from the stalk
when there arose a great noise, and flames darted from the
earth, and all at once there appeared a terrible Monster
with the figure of a dragon, and hissed with all his might,
and cried out, enraged at that poor Christian : " Rash man !
what have you done ? Now you must die at once, for you
have had the audacity to touch and destroy my rose-
bush." The poor man, more than half dead with terror,
began to weep and beg for mercy on his knees, asking par-
don for the fault he had committed, and told why he had
picked the rose ; and then he added : " Let me depart ; I
have a family, and if I am killed they will go to destruc-
tion." But the Monster, more wicked than ever, re-
sponded : " Listen ; one must die. Either bring me the
girl that asked for the rose or I will kill you this very mo-
ment." It was impossible to move him by prayers or lam-
entations ; the Monster persisted in his decision, and did
not let the poor man go until he had sworn to bring him
there in the garden his daughter Zelinda.
FAIRY TALES. 9
Imagine how downhearted that poor man returned home!
He gave his oldest daughters their presents and Zelinda
her rose ; but his face was distorted and as white as though
he had arisen from the dead ; so that the girls, in terror,
asked him what had happened and whether he had met
with any misfortune. They were urgent, and at last the
poor man, weeping bitterly, related the misfortunes of that
unhappy journey and on what condition he had been able
finally to return home. "In short," he exclaimed, "either
Zelinda or I must be eaten alive by the Monster." Then
the two sisters emptied the vials of their wrath on Zelinda.
" Just see," they said, " that affected, capricious girl ! She
shall go to the Monster ! She who wanted roses at this
season. No, indeed ! Papa must stay with us. The stupid
creature ! " At all these taunts Zelinda, without growing
angry, simply said : " It is right that the one who has
caused the misfortune should pay for it. I will go to the
Monster's. Yes, Papa, take me to the garden, and the
Lord's will be done."
The next day Zelinda and her sorrowful father began
their journey and at nightfall arrived at the garden gate.
When they entered they saw as usual no one, but they be-
held a lordly palace all lighted and the doors wide open.
When the two travellers entered the vestibule, suddenly
four marble statues, with lighted torches in their hands, de-
scended from their pedestals, and accompanied them up the
stairs to a large hall where a table was lavishly spread.
The travellers, who were very hungry, sat down and began
to eat without ceremony ; and when they had finished, the
same statues conducted them to two handsome chambers
for the night. Zelinda and her father were so weary that
they slept like dormice all night.
At daybreak Zelinda and her father arose, and were
served with everything for breakfast by invisible hands.
Then they descended to the garden, and began to seek the
Monster. When they came to the rose-bush he appeared
in all his frightful ugliness. Zelinda, on seeing him, be-
came pale with fear, and her limbs trembled, but the Mon-
10 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
ster regarded her attentively with his great fiery eyes, and
afterward said to the poor man : " Very well ; you have
kept your word, and I am satisfied. Now depart and leave
me alone here with the young girl." . At this command
the old man thought he should die ; and Zelinda, too, stood
there half stupefied and her eyes full of tears ; but en-
treaties were of no avail ; the Monster remained as obdu-
rate as a stone, and the poor man was obliged to depart,
leaving his dear Zelinda in the Monster's power.
When the Monster was alone with Zelinda he began to
caress her, and make loving speeches to her, and managed
to appear quite civil. There was no danger of his forget-
ting her, and he saw that she wanted nothing, and every
day, talking with her in the garden, he asked her: "Do you
love me, Zelinda ? Will you be my wife ? " The young
girl always answered him in the same way : " I like you,
sir, but I will never be your wife." Then the Monster ap-
peared very sorrowful, and redoubled his caresses and at-
tentions, and, sighing deeply, said: "But you see, Zelinda,
if you should marry me wonderful things would happen.
What they are I cannot tell you until you will be my wife."
Zelinda, although in her heart not dissatisfied with that
beautiful place and with being treated like a queen, still
did not feel at all like marrying the Monster, because he
was too ugly and looked like a beast, and always answered
his requests in the same manner. One day, however, the
Monster called Zelinda in haste, and said : " Listen, Ze-
linda ; if you do not consent to marry me it is fated that
your father must die. He is ill and near the end of his
life, and you will not be able even to see him again. See
whether I am telling you the truth." And, drawing out an
enchanted mirror, the Monster showed Zelinda her father
on his death-bed. At that spectacle Zelinda, in despair
and half mad with grief, cried : " Oh, save my father, for
mercy's sake ! Let me be able to embrace him once more
before he dies. Yes, yes, I promise you I will be your
faithful and constant wife, and that without delay. But
save my father from death."
FAIRY TALES. II
Scarcely had Zelinda uttered these words when suddenly
the Monster was transformed into a very handsome youth.
Zelinda was astounded by this unexpected change, and the
young man took her by the hand, and said : " Know, dear
Zelinda, that I am the son of the King of the Oranges.
An old witch, touching me, changed me into the terrible
Monster I was, and condemned me to be hidden in this rose-
bush until a beautiful girl consented to become my wife."
The remainder of the story has no interest here. Ze-
linda and her husband strive to obtain his parents' consent
to his marriage. They refuse' and the young couple run
away from the royal palace and fall into the power of an
ogre and his wife, from whom they at last escape.5
A characteristic trait of this class of stories is omitted in
the above version, but found in a number of others. In a
Sicilian version (Pitre, No. 39, "The Empress Rosina") the
monster permits Rosina to visit her family, but warns her
that if she does not return at the end of nine days he will
die. He gives her a ring the stone of which will grow
black in that event. The nine days pass unheeded, and
when Rosina looks at her ring it is as black as pitch. She
returns in haste, and finds the monster writhing in the last
agony under the rose-bush. Four days she rubbed him
with some ointment she found in the palace, and the mon-
ster recovered. As in the last story, he resumes his shape
when Rosina consents to marry him. In one of Pitre's
variants the monster allows Elizabeth to visit her dying
father, if she will promise not to tear her hair. When her
father dies she forgets, in her grief, her promise, and tears
out her hair. When she returns to the palace the monster
has disappeared. She seeks him, exclaiming : —
" Fierce animal mine,
If I find thee alive
I will marry thee although an animal."
She finds him at last, and he resumes his form.6
The fourth class consists of stories more or less distantly
connected with the first and third classes above mentioned,
12 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
and which turn on the heroine's separation from, and search
after, her lost husband, usually an animal in form.
The example we have selected from this class is from
Venice (Bernoni, XVII.), and is as follows : —
III. KING BEAN.
There was once an old man who had three daughters.
One day the youngest called her father into her room, and
requested him to go to King Bean and ask him whether he
wished her for his wife. The poor old man said: "You
want me to go, but what shall I do ; I have never been
there?" "No matter," she answered; "I wish you to obey
me and go." Then he started on his way, and asked (for
he did not know) where the king lived, and they pointed
out the palace to him. When he was in the king's pres-
ence he said : " Your Majesty's servant." The king replied :
" What do you want of me, my good old man ? " Then he
told him that his daughter was in love with him, and
wanted to marry him. The king answered : " How can she
be in love with me when she has never seen or known
me ? " " She is killing herself with weeping, and cannot
stand it much longer." The king replied : " Here is a
white handkerchief ; let her dry her tears with it."
The old man took back the handkerchief and the mes-
sage to his daughter, who said : " Well, after three or four
days you must go back again, and tell him that I will kill
myself or hang myself if he will not marry me."
The old man went back, and said to the king: "Your
Majesty, do me the favor to marry my daughter ; if not, she
will make a great spectacle of herself." The king replied :
" Behold how many handsome portraits I have here, and
how many beautiful young girls I have, and not one of
them suits me." The old man said: "She told me also
to say to you that if you did not marry her she would kill
herself or hang herself." Then the king gave him a knife
and a rope, and said : " Here is a knife if she wants to kill
herself, and here is a rope if she wants to hang herself."
FAIRY TALES. 1 3
The old man bore this message back to his daughter,
who told her father that he must go back to the king again,
and not leave him until he obtained his consent. The old
man returned once more, and, falling on his knees before
the king, said : " Do me this great favor : take my daughter
for your wife ; do not say no, for the poor girl is beside
herself." The king answered : " Rise, good old man, and
I will consent, for I am sorry for your long journeys. But
hear what your daughter must do first. She must prepare
three vessels : one of milk and water, one of milk, and 'one
of rose-water. And here is a bean ; when she wants to
speak with me, let her go out on the balcony and open the
bean, and I will come."
The old man returned home this time more satisfied, and
told his daughter what she must do. She prepared the
three vessels as directed, and then opened the bean on the
balcony, and saw at once something flying from a distance
towards her. It flew into the room by the balcony, and
entered the vessel of water and milk to bathe ; then it
hastened into the vessel of milk, and finally into that con-
taining the rose-water. And then there came out the hand-
somest youth that was ever seen, and made love to the
young girl. Afterward, when they were tired of their love-
making, he bade her good-night, and flew away.
After a time, when her sisters saw that she was always
shut up in her room, the oldest said : " Why does she shut
herself up in her room all the time ? " The other sister re-
plied : " Because she has King Bean, who is making love
to her." The oldest said : "Wait until she goes to church,
and then we will see what there is in her room." One day
the youngest locked her door, and went to church. Then
the two sisters broke open the door, and saw the three ves-
sels prepared, and said : " This is the vessel in which the
king goes to bathe." The oldest said : " Let us go down
into the store, and get some broken glass, and put a little
in each of the three vessels ; and when the king bathes in
them, the glass will pierce him and cut all his body."
They did so, and then left the room looking as it did
14 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
first. When the youngest sister returned, she went to her
room, and wished to talk with her husband. She opened
the balcony, and then she opened the bean, and saw at
once her husband come flying from a distance, with his
arms open to embrace her. He flew on to the balcony,
and threw himself into the vessel of milk and water, and
the pieces of glass pierced his body ; then he entered the
vessel of milk and that of rose-water, and his body was
filled with the fragments of glass. When he came out of
the rose-water, he flew away. Then his wife hastened out
on the balcony, and saw a streak of blood wherever he had
flown. Then she looked into the vessels, and saw all three
full of blood, and cried : " I have been betrayed ! I have
been betrayed!"
She called her father, and told him that she had been
betrayed by her sisters, and that she wished to go away
and see whether she could cure her husband. She de-
parted, and had not gone far when she found herself in a
forest. There she saw a little house, with a little bit of a
door, at which she knocked, and heard a voice saying,
"Are you Christians ? " She replied, "Yes." Then the door
opened, and she saw a holy hermit, who said : " Blessed
one, how did you get here ? In a moment the witches will
come who might bewitch you." She replied : " Father, I am
seeking King Bean, who is ill." The hermit said : " I know
nothing about him. Climb that tree ; the witches will soon
come, and you will learn something from them. If you
want anything afterward, come to me, and I will give it to
you."
When she was up the tree she heard a loud noise and
the words, " Here we are ! here we are ! " and all the
witches run and seat themselves on the ground in the
midst of the forest, and begin to say : " The cripple is not
here ! Where has that cursed cripple gone ? " Some one
answered: " Here she is coming!" Another said : "You
cursed cripple, where have you been ? " The cripple an-
swered : " Be still ; I will tell you now. But wait a moment
until I shake this tree to see whether there is any one in
FAIRY TALES. I 5
it." The poor girl held on firmly so as not to fall down.
After she had shaken it this cripple said to her compan-
ions: "Do you want me to tell you something? King
Bean has only two hours to live." Another witch said :
" What is the matter with him ? " The cripple answered :
" He had a wife, and she put some broken glass in the
three vessels, and he filled his body with it." Another
witch asked : " Is there nothing that can cure him ? " The
cripple replied : " It is very difficult." Another said :
"What would be necessary ? " The cripple said : " Listen
to what it needs. One of us must be killed, and her blood
put in a kettle, and have added to it the blood of one of
these doves flying about here. When this blood is well
mixed, it must be heated, and with this blood the whole
body of the king must be anointed. Another thing yet is
necessary. Under the stone you see there is a flask of
water. The stone must be removed, a bottle of the water
must be poured over the king, and all the bits of glass will
come out of him, and in five minutes he will be safe and
sound."
Then the witches ate and drank until they were intoxi-
cated and tired, and then threw themselves down on the
ground to sleep. When the young girl saw that they were
asleep, she descended quietly from the tree, knocked at the
hermit's door, told him what the witches had said, and
asked him for a kettle, knife, and bottle. He gave them to
her, and caught a dove, which he killed, bled, and put the
blood in a kettle.
The young girl did not know which one of the witches
to kill, but finally she decided to kill the cripple who had
spoken, and put her blood in the kettle. Afterward she
lifted the stone, found the flask of water, and filled her
bottle with it. She then returned to the hermit, and told
him all she had done. He gave her a physician's dress,
which she put on, and went to the palace of King Bean.
There she asked the guards to let her pass, for she was
going, she said, to see about curing the king. The guards
refused at first, but, seeing her so confident, allowed her to
1 6 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
enter. The king's mother went to her at once and said :
"My good physician, if you can cure my son, you shall
mount the throne, and I will give you my crown." "I
have come in haste from a distance," said the physician,
"and will cure him." Then the physician went to the
kitchen, put the kettle on the fire, and afterward entered
the room of the king, who had but a few minutes to live,
anointed his whole body with the blood, and then poured
the bottle of water all over him. Then the glass came out
of his body, and in five minutes he was safe and sound.
The king said : "Here, physician, is my crown. I wish to
put it on your head." The physician answered: "How
did your Majesty come to have this slight trouble?" The
king said : " On account of my wife. I went to make love
to her, and she prepared for me three vessels of water and
milk, of milk, and of rose-water, and put broken glass in
them, so that I had my body full of it." Said the physi-
cian : " See whether it was your wife who worked you this
treason ! Could it not have been some one else ?" "That
is impossible," said the king; "for no one entered her
room." "And what would you do," said the physician, "if
you had her now in your hands ? " " I would kill her with
a knife." " You are right," said the physician ; " because, if
it is true that she has acted thus, she deserves nothing but
death."
Then the physician said he must depart ; but the king's
mother said : " No, no ! It shall never be said that after
saving my son's life you went away. Here you are, and
here I wish you to stay ; and, on account of the promise I
made you, I wish my crown to come upon your head." "I
want but one thing," said the physician. " Command, doc-
tor ; only say what you desire." " I wish the king to write
on the palm of one of my hands my name and surname,
and on the other his name and surname." The king did
so, and the physician said : " Now I am going to make
some visits, then I will return."
Instead of returning, the pretended physician went to her
own home, and threw away the water and milk in the three
FAIRY TALES. \ J
vessels, and put in other pure water and milk and rose-
water. Then she went out on the balcony, and opened the
bean. The king, who felt his heart opened, seized his dag-
ger, and hastened to his wife to kill her. When she saw
the dagger, she raised her hands, and the king beheld his
name and hers. Then he threw his dagger away, bathed
in the three vessels, and then threw his arms about his
wife's neck, and exclaimed : " If you are the one who did
me so much harm, you are also the one who cured me/'
She answered : " It was not I. I was betrayed by my
sisters." "If that is so," said he, "come at once to my
parents' house, and we will be married there." When she
arrived at the king's palace, she related everything to his
parents, and showed them her hands with her name and
surname. Then the king's parents embraced her, and gave
her a wedding, and she and the king loved each other as
long as they lived.7
The next class to which we shall direct our attention is
the one in which jealous relatives (usually envious sisters
or mother-in-law), steal a mother's new-born children, who
are exposed and afterwards rescued and brought up far
from their home by some childless person ; or the mother
is accused of having devoured them, and is repudiated or
punished, and finally delivered and restored to her former
position by her children, who are discovered by their fa-
ther.8
The following story, belonging to this class, is from Pitre
(No. 36), slightly condensed.
IV. THE DANCING WATER, THE SINGING APPLE, AND
THE SPEAKING BIRD.9
There was once an herb-gatherer who had three daugh-
ters who earned their living by spinning. One day their
father died and left them all alone in the world. Now the
king had a habit of going about the streets at night, and
listening at the doors to hear what the people said of him.
1 8 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
One night he listened at the door of the house where the
three sisters lived, and heard them disputing about some-
thing. The oldest said : " If I were the wife of the royal
butler, I would give the whole court to drink out of one
glass of water, and there would be some left." The second
said : "If I were the wife of the keeper of the royal ward-
robe, with one piece of cloth I would clothe all the attend-
ants, and have some left. The youngest said : " Were I
the king's wife, I would bear him three children : two sons
with apples in their hands, and a daughter with a star on
her brow."
The king went back to his palace, and the next morning
sent for the sisters, and said to them : " Do not be fright-
ened, but tell me what you said last night." The oldest
told him what she had said, and the king had a glass of
water brought, and commanded her to prove her words.
She took the glass, and gave all the attendants to drink, and
there was some water left. " Bravo ! " cried the king, and
summoned the butler. " This is your husband. Now it
is your turn," said the king to the next sister, and com-
manded a piece of cloth to be brought, and the young girl
at once cut out garments for all the attendants, and had
some cloth left. " Bravo ! " cried the king again, and gave
her the keeper of the wardrobe for her husband. " Now
it is your turn," said the king to the youngest. " Your
Majesty, I said that were I the king's wife, I would bear
him three children : two sons with apples in their hands,
and a daughter with a star on her brow." The king re-
plied : " If that is true, you shall be queen ; if not, you shall
die," and straightway he married her.
Very soon the two older sisters began to be envious of
the youngest. " Look," said they : " she is going to be
queen, and we must be servants ! " and they began to hate
her. A few months before the queen's children were to
be born, the king declared war, and was obliged to depart ;
but he left word that if the queen had three children : two
sons with apples in their hands and a girl with a star on
her brow, the mother was to be respected as queen ; if not,
FAIRY TALES. 1 9
he was to be informed of it, and would tell his servants
what to do. Then he departed for the war.
When the queen's children were born, as she had prom-
ised, the envious sisters bribed the nurse to put little dogs
in the place of the queen's children, and sent word to the
king that his wife had given birth to three puppies. He
wrote back that she should be taken care of for two weeks,
and then put into a tread-mill.
Meanwhile the nurse took the little babies, and carried
them out of doors, saying : " I will make the dogs eat them
up," and she left them alone. While they were thus ex-
posed, three fairies passed by and exclaimed : " Oh how
beautiful these children are ! " and one of the fairies said :
"What present shall we make these children ? " One an-
swered : " I will give them a deer to nurse them." " And I
a purse always full of money." " And I," said the third
fairy, " will give them a ring which will change color when
any misfortune happens to one of them."
The deer nursed and took care of the children until they
grew up. Then the fairy who had given them the deer
came and said : " Now that you have grown up, how can
you stay here any longer ? " " Very well," said one of the
brothers, " I will go to the city and hire a house." " Take
care," said the deer, " that you hire one opposite the royal
palace." So they all went to the city and hired a palace
as directed, and furnished it as if they had been royal per-
sonages. When the aunts saw these three youths, imagine
their terror ! " They are alive ! " they said. They could
not be mistaken, for there were the apples in their hands,
and the star on the girl's brow. They called the nurse
and said to her : " Nurse, what does this mean ? are our
nephews and niece alive ? " The nurse watched at the win-
dow until she saw the two brothers go out, and then she
went over as if to make a visit to the new house. She en-
tered and said : " What is the matter, my daughter ; how do
you do ? Are you perfectly happy ? You lack nothing.
But do you know what is necessary to make you really
happy ? It is the Dancing Water. If your brothers love
20 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
you, they will get it for you ! " She remained a moment
longer and then departed.
When one of the brothers returned, his sister said to
him : "Ah ! my brother, if you love me go and get me the
Dancing Water." He consented, and next morning saddled
a fine horse, and departed. On his way he met a hermit,
who asked him, " Where are you going, cavalier ? " " I am
going for the Dancing Water." " You are going to your
death, my son ; but keep on until you find a hermit older
than I." He continued his journey until he met another
hermit, who asked him the same question, and gave him
the same direction. Finally he met a third hermit, older
than the other two, with a white beard that came down to
his feet, who gave him the following directions : " You
must climb yonder mountain. On top of it you will find a
great plain and a house with a beautiful gate. Before the
gate you will see four giants with swords in their hands.
Take heed ; do not make a mistake ; for if you do that is
the end of you ! When the giants have their eyes closed,
do not enter ; when they have their eyes open, enter.
Then you will come to a door. If you find it open, do not
enter; if you find it shut, push it open and enter. Then
you will find four lions. When they have their eyes shut,
do not enter ; when their eyes are open, enter, and you will
see the Dancing Water." The youth took leave of the
hermit, and hastened on his way.
Meanwhile the sister kept looking at the ring constantly,
to see whether the stone in it changed color ; but as it did
not, she remained undisturbed.
A few days after leaving the hermit the youth arrived at
the top of the mountain, and saw the palace with the four
giants before it. They had their eyes shut, and the door
was open. "No," said the youth, "that won't do." And
so he remained on the lookout a while. When the giants
opened their eyes, and the door closed, he entered, waited
until the lions opened their eyes, and passed in. There he
found the Dancing Water, and filled his bottles with it, and
escaped when the lions again opened their eyes.
FAIRY TALES. 21
The aunts, meanwhile, were delighted because their
nephew did not return ; but in a few days he appeared and
embraced his sister. Then they had two golden basins
made, and put into them the Dancing Water, which leaped
from one basin to the other. When the aunts saw it they
exclaimed : " Ah ! how did he manage to get that water ? "
and called the nurse, who again waited until the sister
was alone, and then visited her. "You see," said she,
"how beautiful the Dancing Water is! But do you know
what you want now ? The Singing Apple." Then she de-
parted. When the brother who had brought the Dancing
Water returned, his sister said to him : " If you love me
you must get for me the Singing Apple." " Yes, my sister,
I will go and get it."
Next morning he mounted his horse, and set out. After
a time he met the first hermit, who sent him to an older
one. He asked the youth where he was going, and said :
" It is a difficult task to get the Singing Apple, but hear
what you must do : Climb the mountain ; beware of the
giants, the door, and the lions ; then you will find a little
door and a pair of shears in it. If the shears are open,
enter ; if closed, do not risk it." The youth continued his
way, found the palace, entered, and found everything favor-
able. When he saw the shears open, he went in a room
and saw a wonderful tree, on top of which was an apple.
He climbed up and tried to pick the apple, but the top of
the tree swayed now this way, now that. He waited until
it was still a moment, seized the branch, and picked the
apple. He succeeded in getting safely out of the palace,
mounted his horse, and rode home, and all the time he was
carrying the apple it kept making a sound.
The aunts were again delighted because their nephew
was so long absent ; but when they saw him return, they
felt as though the house had fallen on them. Again they
summoned the nurse, and again she visited the young girl,
and said : " See how beautiful they are, the Dancing Water
and the Singing Apple ! But should you see the Speaking
Bird, there would be nothing left for you to see." " Very
22 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
well," said the young girl ; "we will see whether my brother
will get it for me."
When her brother came she asked him for the Speaking
Bird, and he promised to get it for her. He met, as usual
on his journey, the first hermit, who sent him to the second,
who sent him on to a third one, who said to him : " Climb
the mountain and enter the palace. You will find many
statues. Then you will come to a garden, in the midst of
which is a fountain, and on the basin is the Speaking Bird.
If it should say anything to you, do not answer. Pick a
feather from the bird's wing, dip it into a jar you will find
there, and anoint all the statues. Keep your eyes open,
and all will go well."
The youth already knew well the way, and soon was in
the palace. He found the garden and the bird, which, as
soon as it saw him, exclaimed : " What is the matter, noble
sir ; have you come for me ? You have missed it. Your
aunts have sent you to your death, and you must remain
here. Your mother has been sent to the tread-mill." " My
mother in the tread-mill ? " cried the youth, and scarcely
were the words out of his mouth when he became a statue
like all the others.
When the sister looked at her ring she saw that it had
changed its color to blue. "Ah !" she exclaimed, and sent
her other brother after the first. Everything happened to
him as to the first. He met the three hermits, received his
instructions, and soon found himself in the palace, where
he discovered the garden with the statues, the fountain,
and the Speaking Bird.
Meanwhile the aunts, who saw that both their nephews
were missing, were delighted ; and the sister, on looking at
her ring, saw that it had become clear again.
Now when the Speaking Bird saw the youth appear in
the garden it said to him : " What has become of your
brother? Your mother has been sent to the tread-mill."
"Alas, my mother in the tread-mill!" And when he had
spoken these words he became a statue.
The sister looked at her ring, and it had become black.
FAIRY TALES. 2$
Poor child ! not having anything else to do, she dressed
herself like a page and set out.
Like her brothers, she met the three hermits, and received
their instructions. The third concluded thus : " Beware, for
if you answer when the bird speaks you will lose your life."
She "continued her way, followed exactly the hermit's direc-
tions, and reached the garden in safety. When the bird
saw her it exclaimed : " Ah ! you here, too ? " Now you
will meet the same fate as your brothers. Do you see
them ? one, two, and you make three. Your father is at
the war. Your mother is in the tread-mill. Your aunts are
rejoicing." She did not reply, but let the bird sing on.
When it had nothing more to say it flew down, and the
young girl caught it, pulled a feather from its wing, dipped
it into the jar, and anointed her brothers' nostrils, and they
at once came to life again. Then she did the same with
all the other statues, with the lions and the giants, until all
became alive again. Then she departed with her brothers,
and all the noblemen, princes, barons, and kings' sons re-
joiced greatly. Now when they had all come to life again
the palace disappeared, and the hermits disappeared, for
they were the three fairies.
The day after the brothers and sister reached the city
where they lived, they summoned a goldsmith, and had
him make a gold chain, and fasten the bird with it. The
next time the aunts looked out they saw in the window of
the palace opposite the Dancing Water, the Singing Apple,
and the Speaking Bird. "Well," said they, " the real trouble
is coming now !"
The bird directed the brothers and sister to procure a
carriage finer than the king's, with twenty-four attendants,
and to have the service of their palace, cooks and servants,
more numerous and better than the king's. All of which
the brothers did at once. And when the aunts saw these
things they were ready to die of rage.
At last the king returned from the war, and his subjects
told him all the news of the kingdom, and the thing they
talked about the least was his wife and children. One day
24 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the king looked out of the window and saw the palace op-
posite furnished in a magnificent manner. " Who lives
there ? " he asked, but no one could answer him. He
looked again and saw the brothers and sister, the former
with the apples in their hands, and the latter with the star
on her brow. " Gracious ! if I did not know that my wife
had given birth to three puppies, I should say that those
were my children," exclaimed the king. Another day he
stood by the window and enjoyed the Dancing Water and
the Singing Apple, but the bird was silent. After the
king had heard all the music, the bird said : " What does
your Majesty think of it?" The king was astonished at
hearing the Speaking Bird, and answered : " What should
I think? It is marvellous." "There is something more
marvellous," said the bird ; "just wait." Then the bird told
his mistress to call her brothers, and said : " There is the
king; let us invite him to dinner on Sunday. Shall we not? "
" Yes, yes," they all said. So the king was invited and ac-
cepted, and on Sunday the bird had a grand dinner pre-
pared and the king came. When he saw the young people,
he clapped his hands and said : " I cannot persuade my-
self ; they seem my children."
He went over the palace and was astonished at its rich-
ness. Then they went to dinner, and while they were eat-
ing the king said : " Bird, every one is talking ; you alone
are silent." "Ah! your Majesty, I am ill; but next Sun-
day I shall be well and able to talk, and will come and dine
at your palace with this lady and these gentlemen." The
next Sunday the bird directed his mistress and her broth-
ers to put on their finest clothes ; so they dressed in royal
style and took the bird with them. The king showed them
through his palace and treated them with the greatest cers-
mony : the aunts were nearly dead with fear. When they
had seated themselves at the table, the king said : " Come,
bird, you promised me you would speak ; have you nothing
to say ? " Then the bird began and related all that had
happened from the time the king had listened at the door
until his poor wife had been sent to the tread-mill ; then
FAIRY TALES. 2$
the bird added : " These are your children, and your wife
was sent to the mill, and is dying." When the king heard
all this, he hastened to embrace his children, and then went
to find his poor wife, who was reduced to skin and bones
and was at the point of death. He knelt before her and
begged her pardon, and then summoned her sisters and the
nurse, and when they were in his presence he said to the
bird : " Bird, you who have told me everything, now pro-
nounce their sentence." Then the bird sentenced the
nurse to be thrown out of the window, and the sisters to
be cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. This was at once
done. The king was never tired of embracing his wife.
Then the bird departed and the king and his wife and chil-
dren lived together in peace.10
We next pass to the class of stories in which children
are promised by their parents to witches or the Evil One.
The children who are thus promised are often unborn, and
the promise is made by the parents either to escape some
danger with which they are threatened by witch or demon,
or in return for money. Sometimes there is a misunder-
standing, as in Grimm's story of the " Handless Maiden,"
where the Miller in return for riches promises the Evil
One to give him "what stands behind his mill." The Mil-
ler supposes his apple-tree is meant, but it is his daughter,
who happened to be behind the mill when the compact was
made. The most usual form of the story in Italian is this :
A woman who expects to give birth to a child is seized with
a great longing for some herb or fruit (generally parsley)
growing in the witch's garden. The witch (ogress) catches
her picking it, and only releases her on condition that she
shall give her the child after it is born and has reached a
definite age. The following Sicilian story from Gonzenbach
(No. 53) will illustrate this class sufficiently :
26 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
V. THE FAIR ANGIOLA.
Once upon a time there were seven women, neighbors,
all of whom were seized with a great longing for some ju-
jubes which only grew in a garden opposite the place
where they all lived, and which belonged to a witch. Now
this witch had a donkey that watched the garden and told
the old witch when any one entered. The seven neighbors,
however, had such a desire for the jujubes that they en-
tered the garden and threw the donkey some nice soft
grass, and while he was eating it they filled their aprons
with jujubes and escaped before the witch appeared. This
they did several times, until at last the witch noticed that
some one had been in her garden, for many of the jujubes
were gone. She questioned the donkey, but he had eaten
the nice grass and noticed nothing. Then she resolved the
third day to remain in the garden herself. In the middle
of it was a hole, in which she hid and covered herself with
leaves and branches, leaving only one of her long ears
sticking out. The seven neighbors once more went into
the garden and began picking jujubes, when one of them
noticed the witch's ear sticking out of the leaves and
thought it was a mushroom and tried to pick it. Then the
witch jumped out of the hole and ran after the women, all
of whom escaped but one. The witch was going to eat
her, but she begged hard for pardon and promised never to
enter the garden again. The witch finally forgave her on
the condition that she would give her her child, yet unborn,
whether a boy or girl, when it was seven years old The
poor woman promised in her distress, and the witch let her
go-
Some time after the woman had a beautiful little girl
whom she named Angiola. When Angiola was six years
old, her mother sent her to school to learn to sew and knit.
On her way to school she had to pass the garden where
the witch lived. One day, when she was almost seven,
she saw the witch standing in front of her garden. She
beckoned to Angiola and gave her some fine fruits and
FAIRY TALES. 2 J
said : " You see, fair Angiola, I am your aunt. Tell your
mother you have seen your aunt, and she sends her word
not to forget her promise." Angiola went home and told
her mother, who was frightened and said to herself : " Ah !
the time has come when I must give up my Angiola."
Then she said to the child : " When your aunt asks you
to-morrow for an answer, tell her you forgot her errand."
The next day she told the witch as she was directed.
" Very well," she replied, " tell her to-day, but don't for-
get." Thus several days passed ; the witch was constantly
on the watch for Angiola when she went to school, and
wanted to know her mother's answer, but Angiola always
declared that she had forgotten to ask her. One day, how-
ever, the witch became angry and said : " Since you are
so forgetful, I must give you some token to remind you
of your errand." Then she bit Angiola's little finger so
hard that she bit a piece out. Angiola went home in tears
and showed her mother her finger. " Ah ! " thought her
mother, " there is no help for it. I must give my poor
child to the witch, or else she will eat her up in her anger."
The next morning as Angiola was going to school, her
mother said to her : " Tell your aunt to do with you as she
thinks best." Angiola did so, and the witch said : " Very
well, then come with me, for you are mine."
So the witch took the fair Angiola with her and led her
away to a tower which had no door and but one small win-
dow. There Angiola lived with the witch, who treated her
very kindly, for she loved her as her own child. When the
witch came home after her excursions, she stood under the
window and cried : " Angiola, fair Angiola, let down your
pretty tresses and pull me up ! " Now Angiola had beauti-
ful long hair, which she let down and with which she pulled
the witch up.
Now it happened one day when Angiola had grown to
be a large and beautiful maiden, that the king's son went
hunting and chanced to come where the tower was. He
was astonished at seeing the house without any door, and
wondered how the people got in. Just then the old witch
28 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
returned home, stood under the window, and called : " An-
giola, fair Angiola, let down your beautiful tresses and pull
me up. " Immediately the beautiful tresses fell down, and
the witch climbed up by them. This pleased the prince
greatly, and he hid himself near by until the witch went
away again. Then he went and stood under the window
and called: "Angiola, fair Angiola, let down your beauti-
ful tresses and pull me up." Then Angiola let down her
tresses and drew up the prince, for she believed it was the
witch. When she saw the prince, she was much fright-
ened at first, but he addressed her in a friendly manner and
begged her to fly with him and become his wife.
She finally consented, and in order that the witch should
not know where she had gone she gave all the chairs, ta-
bles, and cupboards in the house something to eat; for
they were all living beings and might betray her. The
broom, however, stood behind the door, so she did not no-
tice it, and gave it nothing to eat. Then she took from
the witch's chamber three magic balls of yarn, and fled
with the prince. The witch had a little dog that loved the
fair Angiola so dearly that it followed her.
Soon after they had fled, the witch came back, and
called : " Angiola, fair Angiola, let down your beautiful
tresses and draw me up." But the tresses were not let
down for all she called, and at last she had to get a long
ladder and climb in at the window. When she could not
find Angiola, she asked the tables and chairs and cup-
boards : " Where has she fled ? " But they answered :
"We do not know." The broom, however, called out from
the corner : " The fair Angiola has fled with the king's son,
who is going to marry her." Then the witch started in
pursuit of them and nearly overtook them. But Angiola
threw down behind her one of the magic balls of yarn, and
there arose a great mountain of soap. When the witch
tried to climb it she slipped back, but she persevered until
at last she succeeded in getting over it, and hastened after
the fugitives. Then Angiola threw down the second ball
of yarn, and there arose a great mountain covered all
FAIRY TALES. 29
over with nails small and large. Again the witch had to
struggle hard to cross it ; when she did she was almost
flayed. When Angiola saw that the witch had almost
overtaken them again, she threw down the third ball, and
there arose a mighty torrent. The witch tried to swim
across it, but the stream kept increasing in size until she
had at last to turn back. Then in her anger she cursed
the fair Angiola, saying : " May your beautiful face be
turned into the face of a dog ! " and instantly Angiola's
face became a dog's face.
The prince was very sorrowful and said : " How can I
take you home to my parents ? They would never allow
me to marry a maiden with a dog's face." So he took her
to a little house, where she was to live until the enchant-
ment was removed. He himself returned to his parents ;
but whenever he went hunting he visited poor Angiola.
She often wept bitterly over her misfortunes, until one day
the little dog that had followed her from the witch's said :
" Do not weep, fair Angiola. I will go to the witch and
beg her to remove the enchantment." Then the little dog
started off and returned to the witch and sprang up on
her and caressed her. " Are you here again, you ungrate-
ful beast ? " cried the witch, and pushed the dog away.
" Did you leave me to follow the ungrateful Angiola ? " But
the little dog caressed her until she grew friendly again
and took him up on her lap. " Mother," said the little dog,
" Angiola sends you greeting ; she is very sad, for she can-
not go to the palace with her dog's face and cannot marry
the prince." "That serves her right," said the witch.
" Why did she deceive me ? She can keep her dog's face
now ! " But the dog begged her so earnestly, saying that
poor Angiola was sufficiently punished, that at last the
witch gave the dog a flask of water, and said : " Take that
to her and she will become the fair Angiola again." The
dog thanked her, ran off with the flask, and brought it
safely to poor Angiola. As soon as she washed in the
water, her dog's face disappeared and she became beautiful
again, more beautiful even than she had been before. The
30 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
prince, full of joy, took her to the palace, and the king and
queen were so pleased with her beauty that they welcomed
her, and gave her a splendid wedding, and all remained
happy and contented.11
An interesting class of stories is the one in which the
heroes are twin brothers (sometimes three born at the
same time, or a larger number) who are born in some un-
usual manner, generally in consequence of the mother's
partaking of some magic fruit or fish. One of the brothers
undertakes some difficult task (liberation of princess, etc.)
and falls into great danger ; the other brother discovers
the fact from some sympathetic object and proceeds to res-
cue him. The following story from Pisa (Comparetti, No.
32) will give a good idea of the Italian stories of this class :
VI. THE CLOUD.
Once upon a time there was a fisherman who had a wife
and many children. Now it happened that the fisherman
did not catch any fish for a time and did not know how to
support his family. One day he cast his net and drew out
a large fish which began to talk : " Let me go and cast in
your net again and you will catch as many fish as you
wish." The fisherman did so and caught more fish than
he remembered to have taken before. But in a few days
the fish were gone and the fisherman cast his net again,
and again caught the big fish, which said : " I see clearly
that I must die, so kill me now, and cut me into pieces.
Give half to the king, a piece to your wife, one to your dog,
and one to your horse ; the bones you will tie to the
kitchen rafters ; your wife will bear sons, and when any-
thing happens to one of them the fish-bone will sweat
drops of blood." The fisherman did as he was told, and in
due time his wife gave birth to three sons, the dog to three
puppies, and the horse to three colts. The boys grew up
and went to school and learned much and prospered. One
day the oldest said : " I want to go and see a little of the
FAIRY TALES. 3 1
world," and took one of the dogs, one of the horses, and
some money, and set out, after receiving his father's and
mother's blessing. He arrived at a forest, and there saw a
lion, an eagle, and an ant which had found a dead ass that
they wanted to divide among themselves, but could not
agree and so were quarrelling. They saw the youth, and
called on him to make the division. He was afraid at first,
but took heart and gave the lean meat to the eagle, the
brains to the ant, and the rest to the lion. They were all
satisfied, and the youth continued his way. After he had
gone a few steps the animals called him back, and the lion
said : " You have settled our dispute, and we wish to re-
ward you ; when you wish to become a lion, you have only
to say : ' No more a man, a lion, with the strength of a
hundred lions ! ' ' The eagle said : " When you wish to be-
come an eagle, say : ' No more a man, an eagle, with the
strength of a hundred eagles ! ' " The ant, also, gave him
power to transform himself into an ant in the same way.
The youth thanked them and departed. As he was pass-
ing along the shore of the sea, he saw a dog-fish that was
out of the water ; he put it back into the sea. The fish
said : " When you need me, come to the sea and cry :
' Dog-fish, help me!"'
The youth continued his way and arrived at a city all
hung with mourning. " What is the matter ? " the young
man asked. " There is here," they told him, "a big cloud
(it was a fairy) that every year must have a young girl.
This year the lot has fallen on the king's daughter. If
they do not give her up, the cloud will throw so many
things into the city that we shall all be killed." The youth
asked if he could see how the thing went, and they told him
he could. The ceremony began with muffled drums and
an escort of soldiers ; the king and queen in tears accom-
panied their daughter, who was taken to the top of a moun-
tain, placed in a chair, and left alone. The youth, who had
followed them, hid himself behind a bush. Then the cloud
came, took the young girl in her lap, took her finger in her
mouth, and began to suck her blood. This was what the
32 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
cloud lived on. The princess remained half dead, like a
log, and then the cloud carried her away. The youth, who
had seen all this, cried : " No more a man, an eagle, with
the strength of a hundred eagles ! " Then he became an
eagle and flew after the cloud. They arrived at a palace,
the doors flew open and the cloud entered and carried the
princess up-stairs. The eagle alighted on a tree opposite
and saw a large room all full of young girls in bed. When
the cloud entered they exclaimed : " Mamma ! here is our
mamma ! " The poor girls were always in bed, because
the fairy half killed them. She put the princess in a bed,
and said to the girls : " I am going to leave you for a few
days." She went away and left the girls. The youth was
near and heard everything ; he said : " No more an eagle,
an ant, with the force of a hundred ants ! " He became an
ant, entered the palace unseen, and went to the room
where the young girls were. There he resumed his shape,
and the girls were astonished at seeing a man appear so
suddenly, and one of them said to him : " Take care, there
is a fairy here ; if she finds you on her return she will kill
you." "Do not be troubled," he answered, "for I wish to
see about setting you all free." Then he went to the bed of
the king's daughter and asked her if she had some token to
send her mother. She gave him a ring, and the youth took
it and went to the queen, told her where her daughter was,
and asked her to send some food to the poor girl. She did
so, and the youth retraced his steps, reached the palace, in-
formed the girls, and drew up the food with ropes. He
then said to the girls : " When the fairy returns, ask her
what you shall do when she dies ; thus you will find out how
to kill her." Then he hid himself, and when the fairy re-
turned the girls asked her the question ; but she answered :
" I shall never die." They urged her to tell them, and the
next day she took them out on a terrace, and said : " Do
you see that mountain far off there ? On that mountain is a
tigress with seven heads. If you wish me to die, a lion must
fight that tigress and tear off all seven of her heads. In her
body is an &gg, and if any one hits me with it in the middle
FAIRY TALES. 33
of my forehead I shall die ; but if that egg falls into my
hands the tigress will come to life again, resume her seven
heads, and I shall live." " Good ! " said the young girls ; "cer-
tainly our mamma can never die." But in their hearts they
were discouraged. When the fairy had departed, the youth
came forth and they told him all. " Do not be disheart-
ened," he said, and straightway went to the princess' father,
asked him for a room, a pan of bread, a barrel of good wine,'
and a child seven years old. He took all these things and
shut himself up in the room, and said to the child : " Do
you want to see something, my child ? I am going to turn
into a lion." Then he turned into a lion, and the child was
afraid ; but the youth persuaded him that it was only him-
self after all, and the child fed him, and was no longer
frightened. As soon as he had instructed the child, he
took all the things and went to the mountain where the ti-
gress was. Then he filled the pan with bread and wine and
said to the child : "I am going to become a lion ; when
I return give me something to eat." Then he became a
lion, and went to fight the tigress. Meanwhile the fairy
returned home, saying : " Alas ! I feel ill ! " The young
girls said to themselves, in delight : " Good ! " The youth
fought until night, and tore off one of the tigress' heads ;
the second day another, and so on until six heads were
gone. The fairy kept losing her strength all the time.
The youth rested two days before tearing off the last head,
and then resumed the fight. At evening the last head was
torn off, and the dead tigress disappeared, but the youth
was not quick enough to catch the egg, which rolled from
her body into the sea and was swallowed by the dog-fish.
Then the youth went to the sea : " Dog-fish, help me ! "
The fish appeared : " What do you want ? " " Have you
found an egg?" "Yes." "Give it to me;" and the fish
gave him the egg. He took it and went in search of the
fairy, and suddenly appeared before her with the egg in his
hand. The fairy wanted him to give her the egg, but he
made her first restore all the young girls to health and
send them home in handsome carriages. Then the youth
3
34 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
took the egg, struck it on the fairy's forehead, and she fell
down dead. When the youth saw that she was really dead,
he entered a carriage with the king's daughter and drove to
the palace. When the king and queen saw their daughter
again, they wept for joy, and married her to her deliverer.
The wedding took place with great magnificence, and there
were great festivities and rejoicings in the city.
A few days after, the husband looked out of the window
and saw at the end of the street a dense fog ; he said to his
wife : "I will go and see what that fog is." So he dressed
for the chase and went away with his dog and horse.
After he had passed through the mist, he saw a mountain
on which were two beautiful ladies. They came to meet
him, and invited him to their palace. He accepted and
they showed him into a room, and one of the ladies asked :
" Would you like to play a game of chess ? " " Very well,"
he answered, and began to play and lost. Then they took
him into a garden where there were many marble statues,
and turned him into one, together with his clog and horse.
These ladies were sisters of the fairy, and this was the way
they avenged her death.
Meanwhile the princess waited and her husband did not
return. One morning the father and brothers of the youth
found the kitchen full of blood, which dropped from the fish-
bone. " Something has happened to him," they said, and
the second brother started in search of him with another
one of the dogs and horses. He passed by the palace of
the princess, who was at the window, and those brothers
looked so much alike that when she saw him she thought
it was her husband and called him. He entered and she
spoke to him of the fog, but he did not understand her ; he
let her talk on, however, imagining that his brother was
mixed up in that affair. The next morning he arose and
went to see the fog with his dog and horse. He passed
through the fog, found the mountain and the two ladies,
and, to make the story short, the same thing happened to
him that happened to his brother, and he became stone.
And the queen waited, and in the father's kitchen the bone
dropped blood faster than ever.
FAIRY TALES. 35
The third brother too set out with his dog and horse.
When he came to the palace, the princess saw him from
the window, took him for her husband, and called him in.
He entered and she reproved him for having made her
wait so long, and spoke of the mist ; but he did not under-
stand her and said : "I did not see very clearly what was
in the mist, and I wish to go there again." He departed,,
and when he had passed through the mist he met an old
man who said to him : " Where are you going ? Take care,
your brothers have been turned into statues. You will
meet two ladies ; if they ask you to play chess with them,
here are two pawns, say that you cannot play except with
your own pawns. Then make an agreement with them
that, if you win, you can do with them what you please ; if
they win, they can do what they please with you. If you
win, and they beg for mercy, command them to restore to
life all the stone statues with which the palace is filled, and
when they have done so, you can do what you will with
these ladies."
The youth thanked the old man, departed, followed his
directions, and won. The two ladies begged for their lives,
and he granted their prayer on condition of restoring to life
all those stone statues. They took a wand, touched the
statues, and they became animated ; but no sooner were
they all restored to life than they fell on the two ladies and
cut them into bits no larger than their ears.
Thus the three brothers were reunited. They related
their adventures, and returned to the palace. The princess
was astonished when she saw them, and did not know
which was her husband. But he made himself known, told
her that these were his brothers, and they had their par-
ents come there, and they all lived happily together, and
thus the story is ended.12
We now pass to the class of stories in which one of
several brothers succeeds in some undertaking where the
others fail, and thereby draws down on himself the hatred
of the others, who either abandon him in a cavern, or kill
36 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
him and hide his body, which is afterwards discovered by a
musical instrument made of one of the bones or of the
reeds growing over the grave. The former treatment is
illustrated by a Sicilian tale (Pitre, No. 80) called :
VII. THE CISTERN.
There were once three king's sons. Two of them were
going hunting one day, and did not want to take their
youngest brother with them. Their mother asked them to
let him go with them, but they would not. The youngest
brother, however, followed them, and they had to take him
with them. They came to a beautiful plain, where they
found a fine cistern, and ate their lunch near it. After
they had finished, the oldest said : " Let us throw our
youngest brother into the cistern, for we cannot take him
with us." Then he said to his brother: " Salvatore, would
you like to descend into this cistern, for there is a treas-
ure in it ? " The youngest consented, and they lowered
him down. When he reached the bottom, he found three
handsome rooms and an old woman, who said to him :
"What are you doing here?" "I am trying to find my
way out ; tell me how to do it." The old woman answered :
" There are here three princesses in the power of the ma-
gician ; take care." " Never mind, tell me what to do ; I am
not afraid." "Knock at that door." He did so and a prin-
cess appeared : " What has brought you here ? " " I have
come to liberate you ; tell me what I have to do." " Take
this apple and pass through that door ; my sister is there,
who can give you better directions than I can."
She gave him the apple as a token. He knocked at that
door, another princess appeared, who gave him a pomegran-
ate for a remembrance and directed him to knock at a third
door. It opened and the last princess appeared. "Ah!
Salvatore " (for she knew who he was), " what have you
come for ? " " I have come to liberate you ; tell me what to
do." She gave him a crown, and said : " Take this ; when
you are in need, say : ' I command ! I command ! ' and
FAIRY TALES. 37
the crown will obey you. Now enter and eat ; take this
bottle ; the magician, you see, is about rising ; hide your-
self behind this door, and when he awakens he will ask
you : ' What are you here for ? ' You will answer : ' I have
come to fight you ; but you must agree to take smaller horse
and sword than mine, because I am smaller than you.'
You will see there a fountain which will invite you to drink ;
do not risk it, for all the statues you see there are human
beings who have become statues drinking that water ;
when you are thirsty drink secretly from this bottle."
With these directions the youth went and knocked at the
door. Just then the magician arose and said : " What are
you here for ? " " I have come to fight with you." And he
added what the princess had told him. The fountain in-
vited him to drink, but he would not. They began to fight,
and at the first blow the youth cut off the magician's
head. He took the head and sword, and went to the prin-
cesses and said : " Get your things together, and let us go, for
my brothers are still waiting at the mouth of the cistern."
Let us now return to the brothers. After they had low-
ered their youngest brother into the cistern, they turned
around and went back to the royal palace. The king
asked : " Where is your brother ? " " We lost him in a wood,
and could not find him." " Quick! " said the king, " go and
find my son, or I will have your heads cut off." So they
departed, and on their way found a man with a rope and a
bell, and took them with them. When they reached the
cistern, they lowered the rope with the bell, saying among
themselves : " If he is alive he will hear the bell and
climb up ; if he is dead, what shall we do with our father ? "
When they lowered the rope, Salvatore made the princesses
ascend one by one. As the first appeared, who was the
oldest, the oldest brother said : " Oh, what a pretty girl !
This one shall be my wife." When the second appeared,
the other brother said : " This is mine." The youngest
princess did not wish to ascend, and said to Salvatore :
"You go up, Salvatore, first; if you do not, your brothers
will leave you here." He said he would not ; she said he
38 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
must ; finally he prevailed, and she ascended. When she
appeared the two brothers took her, and left Salvatore in
the cistern, and returned to the palace. When they arrived
there, they said to their father : " We have looked for Sal-
vatore, but we could not find him ; but we have found
these three young girls, and now we wish to marry them."
"I," said the oldest brother, "will take this one." "And
I," said the second, " take this one. The other sister we
will marry to some other youth."
Now let us return to Salvatore, who, when he found him-
self alone and disconsolate, felt in his pockets and touched
the apple. " O my apple, get me out of this place ! " And
at once he found himself out of the cistern. He went to
the city where he lived, and met a silversmith, who took
him as an apprentice, feeding and clothing him. While he
was with the silversmith, the king commanded the latter to
make a crown for his oldest son, who was to be married :
"You must make me a royal crown for my son, and to-
morrow evening you must bring it to me."
He gave him ten ounces and dismissed him. When he
reached home, the silversmith was greatly disturbed, for he
had such a short time to make the crown in. Salvatore
said : " Grandfather, why are you so disturbed ? " The mas-
ter replied : " Take these ten ounces, for now I am going
to seek refuge in a church, for there is nothing else for me
to do." (For in olden times the church had the privilege
that whoever robbed or killed fled to the church, and
they could not do anything with him.) The apprentice re-
plied : " Now I will see if I can make this crown. My
.master would take refuge in a church for a trifle." So he
began to make the crown. What did he do ? He took out
the apple and commanded it to make a very beautiful
crown. He hammered away, but the apple made the
crown. When it was finished he gave it to the wife of the
silversmith, who took it to her husband. When the latter
saw that he need not flee to the church, he went to the
king, who, well pleased, invited him to the feast in the
evening. When he told this at home, the apprentice said :
FAIRY TALES. 39
" Take me to the feast." " How can I take you when you
have no clothes fit to wear ? I will buy you some, and
when there is another feast I will take you." When it
struck two, the silversmith departed, and Salvatore took
the apple and said : " O my apple, give me clothes and
carriages and footmen, for I am going to see my brother
married." Immediately he was dressed like a prince, and
went to the palace, where he hid in the kitchen, saw his
brother married, and then took a big stick and gave the
silversmith a sound beating. When the latter reached
home, he cried : " I am dying ! I am dying ! " " What is the
matter ? " asked the apprentice, and when he learned what
had happened, he said : " If you had taken me with you to
the feast this would not have happened."
A few days after, the king summoned the silversmith
again to make another crown within twenty-four hours.
Everything happened as before : the apprentice made a
crown handsomer than the first, with the aid of the pome-
granate. The smith took it to the king, but after the feast
came home with his shoulders black and blue from the
beating he received.
After a time they wanted to marry the third sister, but
she said : " Who wishes me must wait a year, a month, and
a day." And she had no peace wondering why Salvatore
did not appear for all he had the apple, the pomegran-
ate, and the crown. After a year, a month, and a day, the
wedding was arranged, and the smith had orders to make
another crown more beautiful than the first two. (This was
so that no one could say that because the young girl was a
foreigner they treated her worse than the others.) Again
the smith was in despair, and the apprentice had to make,
by the aid of his magic crown, a better and larger crown
than the others. The king was astonished when he saw
the beautiful crown, and again invited the silversmith to the
feast. The smith returned home sorrowful, for fear that he
should again receive a beating, but he would not take his
apprentice with him.
After Salvatore had seen him depart, he took his magic
40 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
crown and ordered splendid clothes and carriages. When
he reached the palace, he did not go to the kitchen, but be-
fore the bride and groom could say " yes," " Stop ! " said
Salvatore. He took the apple and said: "Who gave me
this ? " " I did," replied the wife of the oldest brother.
"And this ?" showing the pomegranate. "I, my brother-in-
law," said the wife of the second brother. Then he took
out the crown. " Who gave me that ? " " I, my husband,"
said the young girl whom they were marrying. And at
once she married Salvatore, "for," said she, "he freed me
from the magician."
The bridegroom was fooled and had to go away, and the
astonished silversmith fell on his knees, begging for pity
and mercy.13
In some of the versions of the above story, the hero, after
he is abandoned by his brothers in the cistern or cave, is
borne into the upper world by an eagle. The rapacious
bird on the journey demands from the young man flesh
from time to time. At last the stock of flesh with which
he had provided himself is exhausted and he is obliged to
cut off and give the eagle a piece of his own flesh. In one
version (Pitre, ii. p. 208) he gives the eagle his leg ; and
when the journey is concluded the bird casts it up, and the
hero attaches it again to his body, and becomes as sound as
ever.14
The class of stories in which the brother is killed and
his death made known by a musical instrument fashioned
from his body is sufficiently illustrated by a short Neapoli-
tan story (Imbriani, Pomiglianesi, p. 195) entitled:
VIII. THE GRIFFIN.
There was once a king who had three sons. His eyes
were diseased, and he called in a physician who said that to
cure them he needed a feather of the griffin. Then the
king said to his sons : " He who finds this feather for me
shall have my crown." The sons set out in search of it.
FAIRY TALES. 4 1
The youngest met an old man, who asked him what he was
doing. He replied : " Papa is ill. To cure him a feather
of the griffin is necessary. And papa has said that who-
ever finds the feather shall have his crown." The old man
said : " Well, here is some corn. When you reach a certain
place, put it in your hat. The griffin will come and eat it.
Seize him, pull out a feather, and carry it to papa." The
youth did so, and for fear that some one should steal it from
him, he put it into his shoe, and started all joyful to carry
it to his father. On his way he met his brothers, who
asked him if he had found the feather. He said No ; but
his brothers did not believe him, and wanted to search him.
They looked everywhere, but did not find it. Finally they
looked in his shoe and got it. Then they killed the young-
est brother, and buried him, and took the feather to their
father, saying that they had found it. The king healed his
eyes with it. A shepherd one day, while feeding his sheep,
saw that his dog was always digging in the same place,
and went to see what it was, and found a bone. He put it
to his mouth, and saw that it sounded and said : " Shep-
herd, keep me in your mouth, hold me tight, and do not let
me go ! For a feather of the griffin, my brother has played
the traitor, my brother has played the traitor."
One day the shepherd, with this whistle in his mouth,
was passing by the king's palace, and the king heard him,
and called him to see what it was. The shepherd told him
the story, and how he had found it. The king put it to his
mouth, and the whistle said : " Papa ! papa ! keep me in
your mouth, hold me tight, and do not let me go. For a
feather of the griffin, my brother has played the traitor, my
brother has played the traitor." Then the king put it in
the mouth of the brother who had killed the youngest, and
the whistle said : " Brother ! brother ! keep me in your
mouth, hold me fast, and do not let me go. For a feather
of the griffin, you have played the traitor, you have played
the traitor." Then the king understood the story and had
his two sons put to death. And thus they killed their
brother and afterwards were killed themselves.15
42 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
The feminine counterpart of " Boots," or the successful
youngest brother, is Cinderella, the youngest of three sis-
ters who despise and ill-treat her. Her usual place is in
the chimney-corner, and her name is derived from the grime
of cinders and ashes (her name in German is Aschenputtel).
Assisted by some kind fairy who appears in various forms,
she reveals herself in her true shape, captivates the prince,
who finally recognizes her by the slipper. There are two
branches of this story: the one just mentioned, and one
where the heroine assumes a repulsive disguise in order to
escape the importunities of a father who wishes to marry
her. This second branch may be distinguished by the
name of " Allerleirauh," the well-known Grimm story of
this class. For the first branch of this story we have se-
lected a Florentine story {Novellaja fior. p. 151) called:
IX. CINDERELLA.
Once upon a time there was a man who had three daugh-
ters. He was once ordered to go away to work, and said to
them : "Since I am about making a journey, what do you
want me to bring you when I return ? " One asked for a
handsome dress ; the other, a fine hat and a beautiful shawl.
He said to the youngest: "And you, Cinderella, what do
you want ? " They called her Cinderella because she always
sat in the chimney-corner. "You must buy me a little
bird Verdelio." " The simpleton ! she does not know what
to do with the bird ! Instead of ordering a handsome dress,
a fine shawl, she takes a bird. Who knows what she will
do with it ! " " Silence ! " she says, " it pleases me." The
father went, and on his return brought the dress, hat, and
shawl for the two sisters, and the little bird for Cinderella.
The father was employed at the court, and one day the king
said to him : " I am going to give three balls ; if you want
to bring your daughters, do so ; they will amuse themselves
a little." "As you wish," he replies, "thanks!" and ac-
cepts. He went home and said : " What do you think,
girls ? His Majesty wishes you to attend his ball." " There,
FAIRY TALES. 43
you see, Cinderella, if you had only asked for a handsome
dress ! This evening we are going to the ball." She re-
plied : " It matters nothing to me ! You go ; I am not com-
ing." In the evening, when the time came, they adorned
themselves, saying to Cinderella : " Come along, there will
be room for you, too." "I don't want to go; you go; I
don't want to." "But," said their father, "let us go, let us
go ! Dress and come along ; let her stay." When they had
gone, she went to the bird and said : " O Bird Verdelio,
make me more beautiful than I am ! " She became clothed
in a sea-green dress, with so many diamonds that it blinded
you to behold her. The bird made ready two purses of
money, and said to her : " Take these two purses, enter
your carriage, and away ! " She set out for the ball, and left
the bird Verdelio at home. She entered the ball-room.
Scarcely had the gentlemen seen this beautiful lady (she
dazzled them on all sides), when the king, just think of it,
began to dance with her the whole evening. After he had
danced with her all the evening, his Majesty stopped, and
she stood by her sisters. While she was at her sisters'
side, she drew out her handkerchief, and a bracelet fell out.
"Oh, Signora," said the eldest sister, "you have dropped
this." " Keep it for yourself," she said. " Oh, if Cinder-
ella were only here, who knows what might not have hap-
pened to her ? " The king had given orders that when
this lady went away they should find out where she lived.
After she had remained a little, she left the ball. You can
imagine whether the servants were on the lookout ! She
entered her carriage and away! She perceives that she
is followed, takes the money and begins to throw it out of
the window of the carriage. The greedy servants, I tell
you, seeing all that money, thought no more of her, but
stopped to pick up the money. She returned home and
went up-stairs. " O Bird Verdelio, make me homelier than
I am ! " You ought to see how ugly, how horrid, she be-
came, all ashes. When the sisters returned, they cried :
" Cin-der-ella ! " " Oh, leave her alone," said her father ;
" she is asleep now, leave her alone ! " But they went up
44 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
and showed her the large and beautiful bracelet. " Do
you see, you simpleton ? You might have had it." " It
matters nothing to me." Their father said : " Let us go to
supper, you little geese."
Let us return to the king, who was awaiting his ser-
vants, who had not the courage to appear, but kept away.
He calls them. " How did the matter go ? " They fall at
his feet. " Thus and thus ! She threw out so much
money ! " " Wretches, you are nothing else," he said,
" were you afraid of not being rewarded ? Well ! to-morrow
evening, attention, under pain of death." The next even-
ing the usual ball. The sisters say : " Will you come this
evening, Cinderella ? " " Oh," she says, " don't bother me !
I don't want to go." Their father cries out to them :
" How- troublesome you are ! Let her alone ! " So they
began to adorn themselves more handsomely than the
former evening, and departed. " Good-by, Cinderella ! "
When they had gone, Cinderella went to the bird and said :
" Little Bird Verdelio, make me more beautiful than I am !"
Then she became clothed in sea-green, embroidered with
all the fish of the sea, mingled with diamonds more than
you could believe. The bird said : " Take these two bags
of sand, and when you are followed, throw it out, and so
they will be blinded." She entered her carriage and set
out for the ball. As soon as his Majesty saw her he began
to dance with her and danced as long as he could. After
he had danced as long as he could (she did not grow weary,
but he did), she placed herself near her sisters, drew out
her handkerchief, and there fell out a beautiful necklace all
made of coal. The second sister said : " Signora, you have
dropped this." She replied: "Keep it for yourself." "If
Cinderella were here, who knows what might not happen
to her ! To-morrow she must come ! " After a while she
leaves the ball. The servants (just think, under pain of
death !) were all on the alert, and followed her. She began
to throw out all the sand, and they were blinded. She
went home, dismounted, and went up-stairs. "Little Bird
Verdelio, make me homelier than I am ! " She became
FAIRY TALES. 45
frightfully homely. When her sisters returned they began
from below : " Cin-der-ella ! if you only knew what that
lady gave us ! " " It matters nothing to me ! " " But to-
morrow evening you must go ! " " Yes, yes ! you would
have had it ! " Their father says : " Let us go to supper
and let her alone ; you are really silly ! "
Let us return to his Majesty, who was waiting for his.
servants to learn where she lived. Instead of that they were
all brought back blinded, and had to be accompanied.
" Rogue ! " he exclaimed, " either this lady is some fairy or
she must have some fairy who protects her."
The next day the sisters began : " Cinderella, you must
go this evening ! Listen ; it is the last evening ; you must
come." The father : " Oh let her alone ! you are always
teasing her ! " Then they went away and began to pre-
pare for the ball. When they were all prepared, they went
to the ball with their father. When they had departed,
Cinderella went to the bird : " Little Bird Verdelio, make
me more beautiful than I am ! " Then she was dressed in
all the colors of the heavens ; all the comets, the stars, and
moon on her dress, and the sun on her brow. She enters
the ball-room. Who could look at her ! for the sun alone they
lower their eyes, and are all blinded. His Majesty began
to dance, but he could not look at her, because she dazzled
him. He had already given orders to his servants to be on
the lookout, under pain of death ; not to go on foot, but to
mount their horses that evening. After she had danced
longer than on the previous evenings she placed herself by
her father's side, drew out her handkerchief, and there fell
out a snuff-box of gold, full of money. " Signora, you have
dropped this snuff-box." " Keep it for yourself ! " Imag-
ine that man : he opens it and sees it full of money. What
joy ! After she had remained a time she went home as
usual. The servants followed her on horseback, quickly ;
at a distance from the carriage ; but on horseback that was
not much trouble. She perceived that she had not pre-
pared anything to throw that evening. " Oh ! " she cried,
" what shall I do ? " She left the carriage quickly, and in
46 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
her haste lost one of her slippers. The servants picked it
up, took the number of the house, and went away. Cin-
derella went up-stairs and said : " Little Bird Verdelio, make
me more homely than I am ! " The bird does not answer.
After she had repeated it three or four times, it answered :
" Rogue ! I ought not to make you more homely, but . . ."
and she became homely and the bird continued : " What
are you going to do now ? You are discovered." She be-
gan to weep in earnest. When her sisters returned, they
cried : " Cin-der-ella ! " You can imagine that she did not
answer them this evening. " See what a beautiful snuff-
box. If you had gone you might have had it." " I do not
care ! Go away ! " Then their father called them to sup-
per.
Let us now turn to the servants who went back with the
slipper and the number of the house. " To-morrow," said
his Majesty, " as soon as it is day, go to that house, take a
carriage, and bring that lady to the palace." The servants
took the slipper and went away. The next morning they
knocked at the door. Cinderella's father looked out and
exclaimed : " Oh, Heavens ! it is his Majesty's carriage ;
what does it mean ? " They open the door and the ser-
vants ascend. " What do you want of me ? " asked the
father. "How many daughters have you?" "Two."
"Well, show them to us." The father made them come in
there. " Sit down," they said to one of them. They tried
the slipper on her ; it was ten times too large for her. The
other one sat down ; it was too small for her. " But tell
me, good man, have you no other daughters ? Take care
to tell the truth ! because his Majesty wishes it, under pain
of death ! " " Gentlemen, there is another one, but I do
not mention it. She is all in the ashes, the coals ; if you
should see her! I do not call her my daughter from
shame." " We have not come for beauty, or for finery ; we
want to see the girl ! "
Her sisters began to call her : " Cin-der-ella ! " but she
did not answer. After a time she said : " What is the mat-
ter ? " " You must come down ! there are some gentlemen
FAIRY TALES. 47
here who wish to see you." " I don't want to come." " But
you must come, you see ! " " Very well ; tell them I will
come in a moment." She went to the little bird : " Ah
little Bird Verclelio, make me more beautiful than I am ! "
Then she was dressed as she had been the last evening,
with the sun, and moon, and stars, and in addition, great
chains all of gold everywhere about her. The bird said :
" Take me away with you ! Put me in your bosom ! " She
puts the bird in her bosom and begins to descend the stairs.
" Do you hear her ? " said the father, " do you hear her ?
She is dragging with her the chains from the chimney-
corner. You can imagine how frightful she will look ! "
When she reached the last step, and they saw her, " Ah ! "
they exclaimed, and recognized the lady of the ball. You
can imagine how her father and sisters were vexed. They
made her sit down, and tried on the slipper, and it fitted
her. Then they made her enter the carriage, and took her to
his Majesty, who recognized the lady of the other evenings.
And you can imagine that, all in love as he was, he said to
her : " Will you really be my wife ? " You may believe she
consents. She sends for her father and sisters, and makes
them all come to the palace. They celebrate the marriage.
Imagine what fine festivals were given at this wedding !
The servants who had discovered where Cinderella lived
were promoted to the highest positions in the palace as a
reward.16
In the second class of stories alluded to above, the hero-
ine flees in disguise from her home to avoid a marriage
with her father or brother. The remainder of the story re-
sembles Cinderella : the heroine reveals herself from time
to time in her true form, and finally throws off her disguise.
The following story, which illustrates this class, is from the
province of Vicenza (Corazzini, p. 484), and is entitled :
48 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
X. FAIR MARIA WOOD.
There was once a husband and wife who had but one
child, a daughter. Now it happened that the wife fell ill
and was at the point of death. Before dying she called her
husband, and said to him, weeping : " I am dying ; you are
still young ; if you ever wish to marry again, be mindful to
choose a wife whom my wedding ring fits ; and if you cannot
find a lady whom it fits well, do not marry." Her husband
promised that he would do so. When she was dead he
took off her wedding ring and kept it until he desired to
marry again. Then he sought for some one to please him.
He went from one to another, but the ring fitted no one.
He tried so many but in vain. One day he thought of
calling his daughter, and trying the ring on her to see
whether it fitted her. The daughter said : " It is useless,
dear father ; you cannot marry me, because you are my
father." He did not heed her, put the ring on her ringer,
and saw that it fitted her well, and wanted to marry his
daughter nolens volens. She did not oppose him, but con-
sented. The day of the wedding, he asked her what she
wanted. She said that she wished four silk dresses, the
most beautiful that could be seen. He, who was a gentle-
man, gratified her wish and took her the four dresses, one
handsomer than the other, and all the handsomest that had
ever been seen. " Now, what else do you want ? " said he.
" I want another dress, made of wood, so that I can conceal
myself in it." And at once he had this wooden dress made.
She was well pleased. She waited one day until her hus-
band was out of sight, put on the wooden dress, and under
it the four silk dresses, and went away to a certain river not
far off, and threw herself in it. Instead of sinking and
drowning, she floated, for the wooden dress kept her up.
The water carried her a long way, when she saw on the
bank a gentleman, and began to cry : " Who wants the fair
Maria Wood ? " That gentleman who saw her on the water,
and whom she addressed, called her and she came to the
bank and saluted him. " How is it that you are thus
FAIRY TALES. 49
dressed in wood, and come floating on the water without
drowning ? " She told him that she was a poor girl who
had only that dress of wood, and that she wanted to go out
to service. " What can you do ? " " I can do all that is
needed in a house, and if you would only take me for a ser-
vant you would be satisfied."
He took her to his house, where his mother was, and told
her all that had happened, saying : " If you, dear mother,
will take her as a servant, we can try her." In short,
she took her and was pleased with this woman dressed in
wood.
It happened that there were balls at that place which the
best ladies and gentlemen attended. The gentleman who
had the servant dressed in wood prepared to go to the ball,
and after he had departed, the servant said to his mother :
" Do me this kindness, mistress : let me go to the ball too,
for I have never seen any dancing." " What, you wish to
go to the ball so badly dressed that they would drive you
away as soon as they saw you ! " The servant was silent,
and when the mistress was in bed, dressed herself in one
of her silk dresses and became the most beautiful woman
that was ever seen. She went to the ball, and it seemed as
if the sun had entered the room ; all were dazzled. She
sat down near her master, who asked her to dance, and
would dance with no one but her. She pleased him so
much that he fell in love with her. He asked her who she
was and where she came from. She replied that she came
from a distance, but told him nothing more.
At a certain hour, without any one perceiving it, she went
out and disappeared. She returned home and put on her
wooden dress again. In the morning the master returned
from the ball, and said to his mother : " Oh ! if you had
only seen what a beautiful lady there was at the ball !
She appeared like the sun, she was so beautiful and well
dressed. She sat down near me, and would not dance
with any one but me." His mother then said : " Did you
not ask her who she was and where she came from ? "
" She would only tell me that she came from a distance ;
4
5<D ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
but I thought I should die ; I wish to go again this even-
ing." The servant heard all this dialogue, but kept silent,
pretending that the matter did not concern her.
In the evening he prepared himself again for the ball,
and the servant said to him : " Master, yesterday evening
I asked your mamma to let me, too, go to the ball, for I
have never seen dancing, but she would not ; will you have
the kindness to let me go this evening ? " " Be still, you
ugly creature, the ball is no place for you ! " " Do me this
favor," she said, weeping, " I will stand out of doors, or
under a bench, or in a corner so no one shall see me ; but
let me go ! " He grew angry then, and took a stick and
began to beat the poor servant. She wept and remained
silent.
After he had gone, she waited until his mother was in
bed, and put on a dress finer than the first, and so rich as
to astonish, and away to the ball ! When she arrived all
began to gaze at her, for they had never seen anything
more beautiful. All the handsomest young men surround
her and ask her to dance ; but she would have nothing to
do with any one but her master. He again asked her who
she was, and she said she would tell him later. They danced
and danced, and all at once she disappeared. Her master
ran here and there, asked one and another, but no one
could tell him where she had gone. He returned home
and told his mother all that had passed. She said to him :
" Do you know what you must do ? Take this diamond
ring, and when she dances with you give it to her ; and if
she takes it, it is a sign that she loves you." She gave
him the ring. The servant listened, saw everything, and
was silent.
In the evening the master prepared for the ball and the
servant again asked him to take her, and again he beat
her. He went to the ball, and after midnight, as before,
the beautiful lady returned more beautiful than before, and
as usual would dance only with her master. At the right
moment he took out the diamond ring, and asked her if
she would accept it. She took it and thanked him, and he
FAIRY TALES. 5 1
was happy and satisfied. Afterward he asked her again
who she was and where from. She said that she was of
that country
That when they speak of going to a ball,
They are beaten on the head ;
.and said no more. At the usual hour she stopped dancing
and departed. He ran after her, but she went like the,
wind, and reached home without his finding out where she
went. But he ran so in all directions, and was in such suf-
fering, that when he reached home he was obliged to go to
bed more dead than alive. Then he fell ill and grew worse
every day, so that all said he would die. He did nothing
but ask his mother and every one if they knew anything of
that lady, and that he would die if he did not see her. The
servant heard everything ; and one day, when he was very
ill, what did she think of ? She waited until her mistress'
eye was turned, and dropped the diamond ring in the broth
her master was to eat. No one saw her, and his mother
took him the broth. He began to eat it, when he felt
something hard, saw something shine, and took it out. . . .
You can imagine how he looked at it and recognized the
diamond ring ! They thought he would go mad. He
asked his mother if that was the ring and she swore that
it was, and all happy, she said that now he would see her
again.
Meanwhile the servant went to her room, took off her
wooden dress, and put on one all of silk, so that she ap-
peared a beauty, and went to the room of the sick man.
His mother saw her and began to cry : " Here she is ; here
she is ! " She went in and saluted him, smiling, and he was
so beside himself that he became well at once. He asked
her to tell him her story, — who she was, where she came
from, how she came, and how she knew that he was ill. She
replied : " I am the woman dressed in wood who was your
servant. It is not true that I was a poor girl, but I had that
dress to conceal myself in, for underneath it I was the same
that I am now. I am a lady ; and although you treated me
so badly when I asked to go to the ball, I saw that you loved
52 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
me, and now I have come to save you from death." You
can believe that they stayed to hear her story. They were
married and have always been happy and still are.17
In the various stories thus far mentioned which involve
the family relations, we have had examples of treachery on,
the part of brothers, ill-treatment of step-children, etc. It
remains now to notice the trait of treachery on the part of
sister or mother towards brother or son. The formula as
gjven by Hahn (No. 19) is as follows : The hero, who is
fleeing with his sister (or mother), overcomes a number of
dragons or giants. The only survivor makes love to the
sister (or mother), and causes her, for fear of discovery, to
send her brother, in order to destroy him, on dangerous ad-
ventures, under the pretence of obtaining a cure for her ill-
ness. The hero survives the dangers, discovers the decep-
tion, and punishes the guilty ones. Traces of this formula
are found in several Italian stories,18 but it constitutes only
two entire stories : one in Pitre (No. 71) the other in Com-
paretti (No. 54, "The Golden Hair," from Monferrato, Pied-
mont). The latter is in substance as follows : A king with
three sons marries again in his old age. The youngest
son falls in love with his step-mother and the jealous father
tries to poison her. The son and wife flee together, and fall
in with some robbers whom they kill, and set at liberty a
princess who has the gift of curing blindness and other dis-
eases. They afterward find a cave containing rooms and
all the necessaries of life, but see no one. They spend the
night there, and the next morning the youth goes hunting ;
and as soon as he has departed a giant appears and solicits
the step-mother's love, saying that if she will marry him,
she will always be healthy and never lose her youth. But
first it will be necessary to remove from her step-son's
head a golden hair, and then he will become so weak that
he can be killed by a blow. She was unwilling at first, be-
cause he had saved her life, but finally yielded. First she
tried to get rid of him by pretending to be ill, and sending
him for some water from a fountain near which was a lion.
FAIRY TALES. 53
He obtained the water safely. Then his step-mother, pre-
tending to comb his hair, cut off the golden hair, and the
giant dragged him by the feet fifty miles, and let him fall
first in the bushes and then on the ground. From the
wounds in his head he became blind, but recovered his
sight by means of the princess mentioned in the first part
of the story, whom he married. After his golden lock had '
grown out again he returned to the cave and killed the
giant, punishing his step-mother by leaving her there with-
out even looking at her.
The story in Pitre (No. 71, "The Cyclops") is more de-
tailed. A queen who has been unfaithful to her husband
is put in confinement, gives birth to a son, and afterward,
through his aid, escapes. They encounter some cyclops, a
number of whom the son kills ; but one becomes secretly
the mother's lover. To get rid of her son, she sends him
for the water of a certain fountain, which he brings back
safely. Finally the mother binds the son fast, under the
pretence of playing a game, and delivers him to the cyclops,
who kills him and cuts him into small bits, which he loads
on his horse and turns him loose. The youth is, however,
restored to life by the same water that he had brought
back, and kills the cyclops and his mother, finally marrying
the princess to whom he owes his life.19
In marked contrast to the above class is the one in which
a number of brothers owe their deliverance from enchant-
ment to the self-sacrifice of a sister. Generally the sister
is the innocent cause of her brothers' transformation. They
live far from home, and their sister is not aware for a long
time of their existence. When she learns it she departs in
search of them, finds them, and, after great risk to herself,
delivers them. But two versions of this story have yet been
published in Italy: one from Naples (Pent. IV. 8), the other
from Bologna (Coronedi-Berti, No. 19). The latter version
we give at length.
54 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
XL THE CURSE OF THE SEVEN CHILDREN.
There was once a king and a queen who had six chil-
dren, all sons. The queen was about to give birth to an-
other child, and the king said that if it was not a daughter
all seven children would be cursed. Now it happened
that the king had to go away to war ; and before departing
he said to the queen, " Listen. If you have a son, hang a
lance out of the window ; if a daughter, a distaff ; so that I
can see as soon as I arrive which it is." After the king had
been gone a month, the queen gave birth to the most beau-
tiful girl that was ever seen. Imagine how pleased the
queen was at having a girl. She could scarcely contain her-
self for joy, and immediately gave orders to hang the distaff
out of the window ; but in the midst of the joyful confu-
sion, a mistake was made, and they put out a lance.
Shortly after, the king returned and saw the sign at the
window, and cursed all his seven sons ; but when he en-
tered the house and the servants crowded around him to
congratulate him and tell him about his beautiful daughter,
then the king was amazed and became very melancholy.
He entered the queen's room and looked at the child, who
seemed exactly like one of those wax dolls to be kept in a
box ; then he looked about him and saw nothing of his
sons, and his eyes filled with tears, for those poor youths
had wandered out into the world.
Meanwhile the girl grew, and when she was large she
saw that her parents caressed her, but always with tears in
their eyes. One day she said to her mother : " What is the
matter with you, mother, that I always see you crying ? "
Then the queen told her the story, and said that she was
afraid that some day she would see her disappear too.
When the girl heard how it was, what did she do ? One
night she rose softly and left the palace, with the intention
of going to find her brothers. She walked and walked, and
at last met a little old man, who said to her : " Where are
you going at this time of the night ? " She answered : " I am
in search of my brothers." The old man said : " It will be
FAIRY TALES. 55
difficult to find them, for you must not speak for seven
years, seven months, seven weeks, seven days, seven hours,
and seven minutes." She said : •" I will try." Then she
took a bit of paper which she found on the ground, wrote
on it the day and the hour with a piece of charcoal, and
left the old man and hastened on her way. After she had
run a long time, she saw a light and went towards it, and •
when she was near it, she saw that it was over the door of
a palace where a king lived. She entered and sat down on
the stairway, and fell asleep. The servants came later to
put out the light, and saw the pretty girl asleep on the
stone steps ; they awakened her, asking her what she was
doing there. She began to make signs, asking them to
give her a lodging. They understood her, and said they
would ask the king. They returned shortly to tell her to
enter, for the king wished to see her before she was shown to
her room. When the king saw the beautiful girl, with hair
like gold, flesh like milk and wine, teeth white as pearls,
and little hands that an artist could not paint as beautiful
as they were, he suddenly imagined that she must be the
daughter of some lord, and gave orders that she should be
treated with all possible respect. They showed her to a
beautiful room ; then a maid came and undressed her and
put her to bed. Next morning, Diana, for so she was
called, arose, saw a frame with a piece of embroidery in it,
and began to work at it. The king visited her, and asked
if she needed anything, and she made signs that she did
not. The king was so pleased with the young girl that he
ended by falling in love with her, and after a year had
passed he thought of marrying her. The queen-mother,
who was an envious person, was not content with the match,
because, said she, no one knows where she came from, and,
besides, she is dumb, something that would make people
wonder if a king should marry her. But the king was so ob-
stinate that he married her ; and when his mother saw that
there was no help, she pretended to be satisfied. Shortly
after, the queen-mother put into the king's hands a letter
which informed him of an imminent war, in which, if he
56 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
did not take part, he would run the risk of losing his realm.
The king went to the war, in fact, with great grief at leaving
his wife ; and before departing, he commended her earnestly
to his mother, who said : " Do not be anxious, my son, I shall
do all that I can to make her happy." The king embraced
his wife and mother, and departed.
Scarcely had the king gone when the queen-mother sent
for a mason, and made him build a wall near the kitchen-
sink, so that it formed a sort of box. Now you must know
that Diana expected soon to become a mother, and this
afforded the queen-mother a pretext to write to her son that
his wife had died in giving birth to a child. She took her
and put her in the wall she had had built, where there was
neither light nor air, and where the wicked woman hoped
that she would die. But it was not so. The scullion went
every day to wash the dishes at the sink near where poor
Diana was buried alive. While attending to his business,
he heard a lamentation, and listened to see where it could
come from. He listened and listened, until at last he per-
ceived that the voice came from the wall that had been
newly built. What did he do then ? He made a hole in
the wall, and saw that the queen was there. The scullion
asked how she came there ; but she only made signs that
she was about to give birth to a child. The poor scullion
had his wife make a fine cushion, on which Diana reposed
as well as she could, and gave birth to the most beautiful
boy that could be seen. The scullion's wife went to see
her every moment, and carried her broth, and cared for the
child ; in short, this poor woman, as well as her husband,
did everything she could to alleviate the poor queen, who
tried to make them understand by signs what she needed.
One day it came into Diana's head to look into her memo-
randum book and see how long she still had to keep silent,
and she saw that only two minutes yet remained. As soon
as they had passed, she told the scullion all that had hap-
pened. At that moment the king arrived, and the scullion
drew the queen from out the hole, and showed her to the
king. You can imagine how delighted he was to see again
FAIRY TALES. 57
his Diana, whom he believed to be dead. He embraced
her, and kissed her and the child ; in short, such was his
joy that it seemed as if he would go mad. Diana related
everything to him : why she had left her home, and why
she had played dumb so long, and finally how she had been
treated by the queen-mother, and what she had suffered, and
how kind those poor people had been to her. When he had
heard all this, he said : " Leave the matter to me ; I will
arrange it."
The next day the king invited all the nobles and princes
of his realm to a great banquet. Now it happened that in
setting the tables the servants laid six plates besides the
others ; and when the guests sat down, six handsome youths
entered, who advanced and asked what should be given to a
sister who had done so and so for her brothers. Then the
king sprang up and said: "And I ask what shall be done to
a mother who did so and so to her son's wife ? " and he ex-
plained everything. One said: "Burn her alive." An-
other: "Put. her in the pillory." Another: "Fry her in
oil in the public square." This was agreed to. The youths
had been informed by that same old man whom Diana had
met, and who was a magician, where their sister was and
what she had done for them. Then they made themselves
known, and embraced Diana and their brother-in-law the
king, and after the greatest joy, they all started off to see
their parents. Imagine the satisfaction of the king and
queen at seeing again all their seven children. They gave
the warmest reception to the king, Diana's husband, and
after they had spent some days together, Diana returned
with her husband to their city. And all lived there after-
ward in peace and contentment.20
We shall now turn our attention to another wide-spread
story, which may be termed " The True Bride," although
the Grimm story of that name is not a representative of it.
One of the simplest versions is Grimm's " The Goose-Girl,"
in which a queen's daughter is betrothed to a king's son
who lives far away. When the daughter grew up she was
trf
58 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
sent to the bridegroom, with a maid to wait upon her. On
the journey the maid takes the place of the princess, who
becomes a poor goose-girl. The true bride is of course dis-
covered at last, and the false one duly punished. " The
White and the Black Bride," of the same collection, is a
more complicated version of the same theme. The first
part is the story of two sisters (step-sisters) who receive
different gifts from fairies, etc. ; the second part, that of the
brother who paints his sister's portrait, which the king sees
and desires to marry the original. The sister is sent for,
but on the journey the ugly step-sister pushes the bride
into a river or the sea, and takes her place. The true bride is
changed into a swan (or otherwise miraculously preserved),
and at last resumes her lawful place. In the above stories the
substitution of the false bride is the main incident in the
story ; but there are many other tales in which the same
incident occurs, but it is subordinate to the others. Ex-
amples of this latter class will be given as soon as we reach
the story of " The Forgotten Bride."
The first class mentioned is represented in Italy by two
versions also. The first is composed of the two traits :
" Two Sisters " and " True Bride " ; the second, of " Brother
who shows beautiful sister's portrait to king." This second
version sometimes shows traces of the first. It is with this
second version that we now have to do, as in it only is
the substitution of the false bride the main incident. Ex-
amples of the first version will be found in the notes.21
The story we have selected to illustrate the second version
of this story is from Florence (Nov. fior. p. 314), and is en-
titled :
XII. ORAGGIO AND BIANCHINETTA.
There was once a lady who had two children : the boy
was called Oraggio, the girl, Bianchinetta. By misfortunes
they were reduced from great wealth to poverty. It was
decided that Oraggio should go out to service, and indeed
he found a situation as valet de chambre to a prince. After
a time the prince, satisfied with his service, changed it, and
FAIRY TALES. 59
set him to work cleaning the pictures in his gallery. Among
the various paintings was one of a very beautiful lady, which
was constantly Oraggio's admiration. The prince often
surprised him admiring the portrait. One day he asked him
why he spent so much time before that picture. Oraggio
replied that it was the very image of his sister, and having
been away from her some time, he felt the need of seeing
her again. The prince answered that he did not believe that
picture resembled his sister, because he had a search made,
and it had not been possible to find any lady like the por-
trait. He added : " Have her come here, and if she is as
beautiful as you say, I will make her my wife."
Oraggio wrote at once to Bianchinetta, who immediately
set out on her journey. Oraggio went to the harbor to
await her, and when he perceived the ship at a distance, he
called out at intervals : " Mariners of the high sea, guard
my sister Bianchina, so that the sun shall not brown her."
Now, on the ship where Bianchinetta was, was also another
young girl with her mother, both very homely. When they
were near the harbor, the daughter gave Bianchinetta a
blow, and pushed her into the sea. When they landed,
Oraggio could not recognize his sister ; and that homely
girl presented herself, saying that the sun had made her so
dark that she could no longer be recognized. The prince
was surprised at seeing such a homely woman, and reproved
Oraggio, removing him from his position and setting him
to watch the geese. Every day he led the geese to the sea,
and every day Bianchinetta came forth and adorned them
with tassels of various colors. When the geese returned
home, they said : —
" Cro ! cro !
From the sea we come,
We feed on gold and pearls.
Oraggio's sister is fair,
She is fair as the sun ;
She would suit our master well."
The prince asked Oraggio how the geese came to repeat
those words everyday. He told him that his sister, thrown
r~i
60 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
into the sea, had been seized by a fish, which had taken her
to a beautiful palace under the water, where she was in
chains. But that, attached to a long chain, she was permit-
ted to come to the shore when he drove the geese there.
The prince said : " If what you relate is true, ask her what
is required to liberate her from that prison."
The next day Oraggio asked Bianchinetta how it would
be possible to take her from there and conduct her to the
prince. She replied : " It is impossible to take me from
here. At least, the monster always says to me : ' It would
require a sword that cuts like a hundred, and a horse that
runs like the wind.' It is almost impossible to find these
two things. You see, therefore, it is my fate to remain
here always." Oraggio returned to the palace, and in-
formed the prince of his sister's answer. The latter made
every effort, and succeeded in finding the horse that ran
like the wind, and the sword that cut like a hundred. They
went to the sea, found Bianchinetta, who was awaiting
them. She led them to her palace. With the sword the
chain was cut. She mounted the horse, and thus was able
to escape. When they reached the palace the prince found
her as beautiful as the portrait Oraggio was always gazing
at, and married her. The other homely one was burned in
the public square, with the accustomed pitch-shirt ; and
they lived content and happy.22
We have already encountered the trait of " Thankful An-
imals," who assist the hero in return for kindness he has
shown them. What is merely an incident in the stories
above alluded to constitutes the main feature of a class of
stories which may be termed "Animal Brothers-in-law."
The usual formula in these stories is as follows : Three
princes, transformed into animals, marry the hero's sisters.
The hero visits them in turn ; they assist him in the per-
formance of difficult tasks, and are by him freed from their
enchantment. This formula varies, of course. Sometimes
there are but two sisters, and the brothers-in-law are freed
from their enchantment in some other way than by the
FAIRY TALES. 6 1
hero. A good specimen of this class is from the south of
Italy, Basilicata (Comparetti, No. 20), and is called :
XIII. THE FAIR FIORITA.
There was once a king who had four children : three
daughters and a son, who was the heir to the throne. One'
day the king said to the prince : " My son, I have decided
to marry your three sisters to the first persons who pass our
palace at noon." At that time there first passed a swine-
herd, then a huntsman, and finally a grave-digger. The king
had them all three summoned to his presence, and told the
swine-herd that he wished to give him his oldest daughter
for a wife, the second to the huntsman, and the third to the
grave-digger. Those poor creatures thought they were
dreaming. But they saw that the king spoke seriously, or
rather commanded. Then, all confused, but well pleased,
they said : " Let your Majesty's will be done." The prince,
who loved his youngest sister dearly, was deeply grieved
that she should become a grave-digger's wife. He begged
the king not to make this match, but the king would not
listen to him.
The prince, grieved at his father's caprice, would not be
present at his sisters' wedding, but took a walk in the gar-
den at the foot of the palace. Now, while the priest in the
marriage hall was blessing the three brides, the garden sud-
denly bloomed with the fairest flowers, and there came
forth from a white cloud a voice which said : " Happy he
who shall have a kiss from the lips of the fair Fiorita ! "
The prince trembled so that he could hardly stand ; and
afterward, leaning against an olive-tree, he began to weep
for the sisters he had lost, and remained buried in thought
many hours. Then he started, as if awakening from a
dream, and said to himself : " I must flee from my father's
house. I will wander about the world, and will not rest
until I have a kiss from the lips of the fair Fiorita."
He travelled over land and sea, over mountains and
plains, and found no living soul that could give him word of
62 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the fair Fiorita. Three years had elapsed, when one day,
leaving a wood and journeying through a beautiful plain, he
arrived at a palace before which was a fountain, and drew
near to drink. A child two years old, who was playing by
the fountain, seeing him approach, began to cry and call its
mother. The mother, when she saw the prince, ran to
meet him, embraced him, and kissed him, crying : " Wel-
come, welcome, my brother ! " The prince at first did not
recognize her ; but looking at her closely in the face, he
saw that it was his oldest sister, and embracing her in turn,
exclaimed : " How glad I am to see you, my sister ! " and
they rejoiced greatly. The sister invited him to enter the
palace, which was hers, and led him to her husband, who
was much pleased to see him, and all three overwhelmed
with caresses the child who, by calling his mother, had been
the cause of all that joy.
The prince then asked about his other two sisters, and
his brother-in-law replied that they were well, and lived in a
lordly way with their husbands. The prince was surprised,
and his brother-in-law added that the fortunes of the three
husbands of his sisters had changed since they had been
enchanted by a magician. "And cannot I see my other
two sisters ? " asked the prince. The brother-in-law re-
plied : " Direct your journey towards sunrise. After a day
you will find your second sister ; after two days, the third."
" But I must seek the way to the fair Fiorita, and I do not
know whether it is towards sunrise or sunset." " It is pre-
cisely towards sunrise ; and you are doubly fortunate : first,
because you will see your two sisters again ; secondly, be-
cause from the last you can receive information about the
fair Fiorita. But before departing I wish to give you a re-
membrance. Take these hog's bristles. The first time
you encounter any danger from which you cannot extricate
yourself, throw them on the ground, and I will free you
from the danger." The prince took the bristles, and after
he had thanked his brother-in-law, resumed his journey.
The next day he arrived at the palace of his second sis-
ter ; was received there also with great joy, and this
FAIRY TALES. 63
brother-in-law, too, wished to give him a memento before
he departed ; and because he had been a huntsman, pre-
sented him with a bunch of birds' feathers, telling him the
same thing that the other brother-in-law had. He thanked
him and departed. The third day he came to his young-
est sister's, who, seeing the brother who had always loved
her more dearly than his other sisters, welcomed him more
warmly, as did also her husband. The latter gave him a
little human bone, giving him the same advice as the other
brothers-in-law had. His sister then told him that the
fair Fiorita lived a day's journey from there, and that he
could learn more about her from an old woman who was in-
debted to her, and to whom she sent him.
As soon as the prince arrived at the fair Fiorita's coun-
try (she was the king's daughter), he went to the old
woman. When she heard that he was the brother of the
one who had been so kind to her, she received him like a
son. Fortunately, the old woman's house was exactly op-
posite that side of the king's palace where there was a
window to which the fair Fiorita came every day at dawn.
Now one morning at that hour she appeared at the window,
scarcely covered by a white veil. When the prince saw
that flower of beauty, he was so agitated that he would have
fallen had not the old woman supported him. The old
woman attempted to dissuade him from the idea of marry-
ing the fair Fiorita, saying that the king would give his
daughter only to him who should discover a hidden place,
and that he killed him who could not find it, and that al-
ready many princes had lost their lives for her. But, not-
withstanding, he answered that he should die if he could
not obtain possession of the fair Fiorita. Having learned
afterward frdm the ^old woman that the king bought for his
daughter the rarest musical instruments, hear what he de-
vised ! He went to a cymbal-maker and said : " I want a
cymbal that will play three tunes, and each tune to last a
day, and to be made in such a way that a man can be hidden
inside of it ; and I will pay you a thousand ducats for it.
When it is finished I will get in it ; and you must go and
64 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
play it in front of the king's palace ; and if the king wishes
to buy it you will sell it to him on condition that you shall
take it every three days to fix it." The cymbal-maker
consented, and did all that the prince commanded him.
The king purchased the cymbal with the maker's condition,
had it carried to his daughter's bed-chamber, and said to
her : " See, my daughter, I do not wish you to lack any
diversion, even when you are in bed and cannot sleep."
Next to the fair Fiorita's chamber slept her maids of
honor. In the night when all were asleep, the prince, who
was hidden in the cymbal, came out and called : " Fair
Fiorita ! fair Fiorita! " She awoke in a fright and cried :
" Come, my maids of honor, I hear some one calling me."
The maids of honor came quickly, but found no one, for
the prince hid himself suddenly in the instrument. The
same thing happened twice, and the maids coming and find-
ing no one, the fair Fiorita said : " Well, it must be my
fancy. If I call you again, do not come, I command you."
The prince, within the cymbal, heard this. Scarcely had
the maids of honor fallen asleep again, when the prince
approached the fair one's bed and said : " Fair Fiorita, give
me, I beg you, a kiss from your lips ; if you do not, I shall
die." She, all trembling, called her maids ; but obeying her
command, they did not come. Then she said to the
prince : " You are fortunate and have won. Draw near."
And she gave him the kiss, and on the prince's lips there re-
mained a beautiful rose. "Take this rose," she said, "and
keep it on your heart, for it will bring you good luck."
The prince placed it on his heart, and then told his fair one
all his history from the time he had left his father's palace
until he had introduced himself into her chamber by the
trick with the cymbal. The fair Fiorita was well pleased,
and said that she would willingly marry him ; but to suc-
ceed, he must perform many difficult tasks which the king
would lay upon him. First he must discover the way to
a hiding-place where the king had concealed her with a
hundred damsels ; then he must recognize her among the
hundred damsels, all dressed alike and veiled. " But," she
•
FAIRY TALES. 65
said, " you need not trouble yourself about these difficulties,
for the rose you have taken from my lips, and which you
will always wear over your heart, will draw you like the
loadstone, first to the hiding-place, and afterward to my
arms. But the king will set you other tasks, and perhaps
terrible ones. These you must think of yourself. Let us
leave it to God and fortune."
The prince went at once to the king, and asked for the
fair Fiorita's hand. The king did not refuse it, but made
the same conditions that the princess had told him of.
He consented, and by the help of the rose quickly per-
formed the first tasks. " Bravo ! " exclaimed the king, when
the prince recognized the fair Fiorita among the other
damsels ; "but this is not enough." Then he shut him up
in a large room all full of fruit, and commanded him, under
pain of death, to eat it all up in a day. The prince was in
despair, but fortunately he remembered the hog's bristles
and the advice which his first brother-in-law had given him.
He threw the bristles on the ground, and there suddenly
came forth a great herd of swine which ate up all the
fruit and then disappeared. This task was accomplished.
But the king proposed another. He wished the prince to
retire with his bride, and cause her to fall asleep at the
singing of the birds which are the sweetest to hear and the
most beautiful to see. The prince remembered the bunch
of feathers given him by his brother-in-law the huntsman,
and threw them on the ground. Suddenly there appeared
the most beautiful birds in the world, and sang so sweetly
that the king himself fell asleep. But a servant awakened
him at once, because he had commanded it, and he said to
the prince and his daughter : " Now you can enjoy your
love at liberty. But to-morrow, on arising, you must pre-
sent me with a child two years old, who can speak and call
you by name. If not, you will both be killed." " Now let
us retire, my dear wife," said the prince to the fair Fiorita.
" Between now and to-morrow some saint will aid us." The
next morning the prince remembered the bone which his
brother-in-law the grave-digger had given him. He rose
S
66 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES,
and threw it to the ground, and lo ! a beautiful child, with a
golden apple in his right hand, who cried papa and mamma.
The king entered the room, and the child ran to meet him,
and wished to put the golden apple on the crown which
the king wore. The king then kissed the child, blessed the
pair, and taking the crown from his head, put it on his son-
in-law's, saying : " This is now yours." Then they gave a
great feast at the court for the wedding, and they invited
the prince's three sisters, with their husbands. And the
prince's father, receiving such good news of the son whom
he believed lost, hastened to embrace him, and gave him
his crown too. So the prince and the fair Fiorita became
king and queen of two realms, and from that time on were
always happy.23
In the above story the wife is won by the performance of
difficult tasks by the suitor. A somewhat similar class of
stories is the one in which the bride is won by the solution
of a riddle. The riddle, or difficult question, is either pro-
posed by the bride herself, and the suitor who fails to an-
swer it is killed, or the suitor is obliged to propose one him-
self, and if the bride fails to solve it, she marries him ; if
she succeeds, the suitor is killed. The first of the above two
forms is found in three Italian stories, two of which resem-
ble each other quite closely.
In the Pentamerone (I. 5, "The Flea"), the King of High-
Hill, " being bitten by a flea, caught him by a wonderful
feat of dexterity ; and seeing how handsome and stately he
was,, he could not in conscience pass sentence on him upon
the bed of his nail. So he put him into a bottle, and feed-
ing him every day with the blood of his own arm, the little
beast grew at such a rate that at the end of seven months
it was necessary to shift his quarters, for he was grown big-
ger than a sheep. When the king saw this, he had him
flayed, and the skin dressed. Then he issued a proclama-
tion, that whoever could tell to what animal this skin had
belonged should have his daughter to wife." The question
is answered by an ogre, to whom the king gives his daugh-
FAIRY TALES. 6j
ter rather than break his promise. The hapless wife is
afterward rescued by an old woman's seven sons, who pos-
sess remarkable gifts. In Gonz. (No. 22, "The Robber who
had a Witch's Head "), a king with three daughters fattens a
louse and nails its skin over the door as in the Pentamerone.
A robber, who had a witch's head that told him everything
he wanted to know, answers the question, and receives in
marriage the king's eldest daughter. He takes her home
and leaves her alone for a time, and on his return learns
from the witch's head that his wife has reviled him. He
kills her and marries the second sister, whom he kills for
the same reason, and marries the youngest. She is more
discreet, and the witch's head can only praise her. One
day she finds the head and throws it in the oven ; and the
robber, whose life was in some way connected with it, died.
The wife then anointed her sisters with a life-giving salve,
and all three returned to their father's house, and afterward
married three handsome princes. The third story, from
the Tyrol (Schneller, No. 31, " The Devil's Wife"), is con-
nected with the Bluebeard story which will be mentioned
later. A king and queen had an only daughter, who was
very pretty and fond of dress. One day she found a louse ;
and as she did not know what kind of an animal it was, she
ran to her mother and asked her. Her mother told her
and said : " Shut the louse up in a box and feed it. As
soon as it is very large, we will have a pair of gloves made
of its skin ; these we will exhibit, and whoever of your
suitors guesses from the skin of what animal they are made,
shall be your husband." The successful suitor is no other
than the Devil, who takes his wife home and forbids her to
open a certain room. One day, while he is absent, she
opens the door of the forbidden chamber, and sees from the
flames and condemned souls who her husband is. She is
so frightened that she becomes ill, but manages to send
word to her father by means of a carrier-pigeon. The king
sets out with many brave men to deliver her ; on the way
he meets three men who possess wonderful gifts (far see-
ing, sharp ear, great strength), and with their aid rescues
his daughter.
68 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
More frequently, however, this class of stories turns on a
riddle proposed by the suitor himself, and which the bride
is unable to solve.
The following story, which illustrates the latter version,
is from Istria (Ive, 1877, p. 13), and is entitled :
XIV. BIERDE.
Once upon a time there was a mother who had a son,
who went to school. One day he came home and said to
his mother : " Mother, I want to go and seek my fortune."
She replied : " Ah, my son, are you mad ? Where do you
want to seek it ? " " I want to wander about the world until
I find it." Now he had a dog whose name was Bierde.
He said : " To-morrow morning bake me some bread, put
it into a bag, give me a pair of iron shoes, and I and Bierde
will go and seek our fortune." His mother said : " No,
my son, don't go, for I shall not see you again ! " And she
wept him as dead. After she was quieted she said to him :
" Well, if you will go, to-morrow I will bake you some
bread, and I will make you a bread-cake." She made the
bread-cake, and put some poison in it ; she put the bread
and the bread-cake in the bag, and he went away. He
walked and walked and walked until he felt hungry, and
said to the dog : " Ah, poor Bierde, how tired you are, and
how hungry, too ! Wait until we have gone a little farther,
and then we will eat." He went on, tired as he was, and
at last seated himself under a tree, with the dog near him.
He said : " Oh, here we are ; now we will eat. Wait,
Bierde; I will give you a piece of the bread-cake so that
you, too, can eat." He broke off a piece of the cake, and
gave it to him to eat. The dog was so hungry that he ate
it greedily. After he had eaten it he took two or three
turns, and fell dead on the ground, with his tongue stick-
ing out. " Ah, poor Bierde ! " said his master. " You have
been poisoned ! My mother has done it ! The wretch ! She
has put poison in the cake in order to kill me ! " He kept
weeping and saying : " Poor Bierde, you are dead, but you
FAIRY TALES. 6$
have saved my life ! " While he was weeping three crows
passed, alighted, and pecked at the tongue of the dog, and
all three died. Then he said : " Well, well ! Bierde dead
has killed three crows ! I will take them with me." So he
took them and continued his journey. He saw at a dis-
tance a large fire ; he approached and heard talking and
singing, and beheld seven highwaymen, who had eaten a
great many birds, arid who had a great deal of meat still
left. He said to himself : " Poor me ! Now I shall have
to die ; there is no escape ; they will certainly take me and
kill me ! " Then he said : " Enough ; I will go ahead." As
soon as they saw him they cried : " Stop ! Your money or
your life ! " The poor fellow said : " Brothers, what would
you have me give you ? Money I have not. I am very
hungry. I have nothing but these three birds. If you want
them I will give them to you." "Very well," they said;
"eat and drink ; we will eat the birds." They took the birds,
picked them, skinned them, roasted them over the coals,
and said to the youth : " We will not give you any of these ;
you can eat the others." They ate them, and all seven fell
down dead. When the youth saw that they did not stir,
but were dead, he said : " Well, well ! Bierde dead has killed
three, and these three have killed seven ! " He rose and
went away after he had made a good meal. On the way
he felt hungry again, and sat down under a tree, and began
to eat. When he got up he saw a beautiful canary-bird on
the top of another tree. He took up a stone and threw at
it. The bird flew away. Now, behind this tree was a hare,
big with young, and it happened that the stone fell on it
and killed it. The youth went to see where the stone fell,
and when he saw the dead hare he said : " Well, well ! I
threw it at the canary-bird and the stone killed the hare ! I
will take it with me. If I had the fire that those robbers
left I would cook it." He went on until he came to a
church, in which he found a lighted lamp and a missal. So
he skinned the bare, and made a fire with the missal, and
roasted and ate the hare. Then he continued his journey
until he came to the foot of a mountain, where the sea was.
y
r
70 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
On the shore he saw two persons with a boat, who ferried
over those who wished to reach the other shore, because
one could not go on foot on account of the great dust,
which was suffocating. The price for crossing was three
soldi. The youth said to the owners of the bark : " How
much do you want to set me down on the other bank ? "
"Three soldi." "Take me across, brothers; I will give
you two, for I have no more." They replied : " Two do not
enter if there are not three!' He repeated his offer and they
made the same answer. Then he said : " Very well. I will
stay here." And he remained there. In a moment, how-
ever, there came up a shower, and laid the dust, and he
went on. He reached a city, and found it in great confu-
sion. He asked : " What is the matter here, that there are
so many people ? " They answered : " It is the governor's
daughter, who guesses everything. He whose riddle she
cannot guess is to marry her; but he whose riddle she
guesses is put to death." He asked : " Could I, too, go
there ? " " What, you go, who are a foolish boy ! So many
students have abstained, and you, so ignorant, wish to go !
You will certainly go to your death ! " " Well," he said,
" my mother told me that she would never see me again, so
I will go." He presented himself to the governor and said :
"Sir governor, I wish to go to your daughter and see
whether she can guess what I have to tell her." "Do you
wish," he replied, " to go to your death ? So many have
lost their lives, do you, also, wish to lose yours?" He an-
swered: "Let me go and try." He wished to go and see
for himself. He entered the hall where the daughter was.
The governor summoned many gentlemen to hear. When
they were all there the governor again said that the youth
should reflect that if she guessed what he had to say that
he would lose his life. He replied that he had thought of
that. The room was full of persons of talent, and the
youth presented himself and said : —
" Bierde dead has killed three."
She said to herself : "How can it be that one dead
should kill three ? "
FAIRY TALES. J I
" And three have killed seven."
She said : " Here is nothing but dead and killed ; what
shall I do ? " She was puzzled at once, and felt herself per-
plexed. He continued : —
" I threw where I saw, and reached where I did not expect to.
I have eaten that which was born, and that which was not born.
It was cooked with words.
Two do not enter if there are not three;
But the hard passes over the soft."
When she heard this the governor's daughter could not
answer. All the others were astonished likewise, and said
that she must marry him. Then he told them all that had
happened, and the marriage took place.24
We shall now direct our attention to a class of stories
found in all lands, and which may, from one of its most im-
portant episodes, be called " The Forgotten Bride." In the
ordinary version, the hero, in consequence of some impre-
cation, sets out in search of the heroine, who is either the
daughter or in the custody of ogre or ogress. The hero,
by the help of the heroine, performs difficult tasks imposed
upon him by her father or mother, etc., and finally elopes
with her. The pursuit of father or mother, etc., is avoided
by magic obstacles raised in their way, or by transformations
of the fugitives. The hero leaves his bride, to prepare his
parents to receive her; but at a kiss, usually from his
mother, he entirely forgets his bride until she recalls her-
self to his memory, and they are both united. The trait of
difficult tasks performed by the hero is sometimes omitted,
as well as flight with magic obstacles or transformations.
All the episodes of the above story, down to the forgetting
bride at mother's kiss, are found in many stories ; notably
in the class "True Bride," already mentioned.
A Sicilian story (Pitre, No. 13) will best illustrate this
class. It is entitled :
72 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
XV. SNOW-WHITE-FIRE-RED.
There was once a king and queen who had no son, and
they were always making vows to obtain one ; and they
promised that if they had a son, or even a daughter, they
would maintain two fountains for seven years : one running
wine, the other oil. After this vow the queen gave birth to
a handsome boy.
As soon as the child was born, the two fountains were
erected, and everybody went and took oil and wine. At
the end of seven years the fountains began to dry up. An
ogress, wishing to collect the drops that still fell from the
fountain, went there with a sponge and pitcher. She sopped
up the drops with the sponge and then squeezed it in the
pitcher. After she had worked so hard to fill this pitcher,
the little son of the king, who was playing ball, from caprice
threw a ball and broke the pitcher. When the old woman
saw this, she said : " Listen. I can do nothing to you, for
you are the king's son ; but I can bestow upon you an im-
precation : May you be unable to marry until you find
Snow-white-fire-red ! " The cunning child took a piece of
paper and wrote down the old woman's words, put it away
in a drawer, and said nothing about it. When he was
eighteen the king and queen wished him to marry. Then
he remembered the old woman's imprecation, took the piece
of paper, and said : " Ah ! if I do not find Snow-white-fire-
red I cannot marry ! " When it seemed fit, he took leave
of his father and mother, and began his journey entirely
alone. Months passed without , meeting any one. One
evening, night overtook him, tired and discouraged, in a
plain in the midst of which was a large house.
At daybreak he saw an ogress coming, frightfully tall and
stout, who cried : " Snow-white-fire-red, lower your tresses
for me to climb up ! " When the prince heard this he took
heart, and said : " There she is ! " Snow-white-fire-red low-
ered her tresses, which seemed never to end, and the ogress
climbed up by them. The next day the ogress descended,
and when the prince saw her depart, he came from under the
FAIRY TALES. 73
tree where he had concealed himself, and cried : " Snow-
white-fire-red, lower your tresses for me to climb up ! " She,
believing it was her mother (for she called the ogress
mother), lowered her tresses, and the prince climbed boldly
up. When he was up, he said : " Ah ! my dear little sister,
how I have labored to find you ! " And he told her of the
old woman's imprecation when he was seven years old.
She gave him some refreshments, and then said : "You
see, if the ogress returns and finds you here, she will de-
vour you. Hide yourself." The ogress returned, and the
prince concealed himself.
After the ogress had eaten, her daughter gave her wine
to drink, and made her drunk. Then she said : " My
mother, what must I do to get away from here ? Not that
I want to go, for I wish to stay with you ; but I want to
know just out of curiosity. Tell me ! " " What you must
do to get away from here ! " said the ogress. " You must
enchant everything that there is here, so that I shall lose
time. I shall call, and instead of you, the chair, the cup-
board, the chest of drawers, will answer for you. When
you do not appear, I will ascend. You must take the seven
balls of yarn that I have laid away. When I come and do
not find you, I shall pursue you ; when you see yourself
pursued, throw down the first ball, and then the others. I
shall always overtake you until you throw down the last
ball."
Her daughter heard all that she said, and remembered it.
The next day the ogress went out, and Snow-white-fire-red
and the prince did what they had to do. They went about
the whole house, saying : " Table, you answer if my mother
comes ; chairs, answer if my mother comes ; chest of draw-
ers, answer if my mother comes ; " and so she enchanted
the whole house. Then she and the prince departed in
such a hurry that they seemed to fly. When the ogress re-
turned, she called : " Snow-white-fire-red, let down your
tresses that I may climb up ! " The table answered :
" Come, come, mother ! " She waited a while, and when no
one appeared to draw her up, she called again : " Snow-
74 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
white-fire-red, lower your tresses for me to climb up ! "
The chair answered : " Come, come, mother ! " She waited
a while, but no one appeared ; then she called again, and the
chest of drawers replied : " Come, come, mother ! " Mean-
while the lovers were fleeing. When there was nothing
left to answer, the ogress cried out : " Treason ! treason ! "
Then she got a ladder and climbed up. When she saw that
her daughter and the balls of yarn were gone, she cried ;
"Ah, wretch! I will drink your blood!" Then she has-
tened after the fugitives, following their scent. They saw
her afar off, and when she saw them, she cried : " Snow-
white-fire-red, turn around so that I can see you." (If she
had turned around she would have been enchanted.)
When the ogress had nearly overtaken them, Snow- white-
fire-red threw down the first ball, and suddenly there arose
a lofty mountain. The ogress was not disturbed ; she
climbed and climbed until she almost overtook the two
again. Then Snow-white-fire-red, seeing her near at hand,
threw down the second ball, and there suddenly appeared a
plain covered with razors and knives. The ogress, all cut
and torn, followed after the lovers, dripping with blood.
When Snow-white-fire-red saw her near again, she threw
down the third ball, and there arose a terrible river. The
ogress threw herself into the river and continued her pur-
suit, although she was half dead. Then another ball, and
there appeared a fountain of vipers, and many other things.
At last, dying and worn out, the ogress stopped and cursed
Snow-white-fire-red, saying: "The first kiss that the queen
gives her son, may the prince forget you ! " Then the
ogress could stand it no longer, and died in great anguish.
The lovers continued their journey, and came to a town
near where the prince lived. He said to Snow- white-fire-
red : " You remain here, for you are not provided with
proper clothes, and I will go and get what you need, and
then you can appear before my father and mother." She
consented, and remained.
When the queen beheld her son, she threw herself on
him to kiss him. " Mother," said he, " I have made a vow
FAIRY TALES. J$
not to allow myself to be kissed." The poor mother was
petrified. At night, while he was asleep, his mother, who
was dying to kiss him, went and did so. From that mo-
ment he forgot all about Snow-white-fire-red.
Let us leave the prince with his mother, and return to
the poor girl, who was left in the street without knowing
where she was. An old woman met her, and saw the poor
girl, as beautiful as the sun, weeping. " What is the mat-
ter, my daughter ? " " I do not know how I came here ! "
" My daughter, do not despair ; come with me." And she
took her to her house. The young girl was deft with her
hands, and could work enchantment. She made things,
and the old woman sold them, and so they both lived. One
day the maiden said to the old woman that she wanted two
bits of old cloth from the palace for some work she had to
do. The old woman went to the palace, and began to ask
for the bits, and said so much that at last she obtained
them. Now the old woman had two doves, a male and a
female, and with these bits of cloth Snow-white-fire-red
dressed the doves so prettily that all who saw them mar-
velled. The young girl took these doves, and whispered in
their ears : " You are the prince, and you are Snow-white-
fire-red. The king is at the table, eating ; fly and relate
all that you have undergone."
While the king, queen, prince, and many others were at
the table, the beautiful doves flew in and alighted on the
table. " How beautiful you are ! " And all were greatly
pleased. Then the dove which represented Snow-white-
fire-red began : " Do you remember when you were young
how your father promised a fountain of oil and one of wine
for your birth ? " The other dove answered : " Yes, I re-
member." "Do you remember the old woman whose
pitcher of oil you broke ? do you remember ? " " Yes, I
remember." " Do you remember the imprecation she pro-
nounced on you, — that you could not marry until you
found Snow-white-fire-red ? " " I remember," replied the
other dove. In short, the first dove recalled all that had
passed, and finally said : " Do you remember how you had
?6 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the ogress at your heels, and how she cursed you, saying that
at your mother's .first kiss you must forget Snow-white-
fire-red ? " When the dove came to the kiss, the prince
remembered everything, and the king and queen were as-
tounded at hearing the doves speak.
When they had ended their discourse, the doves made
a low bow and flew away. The prince cried : " Ho, there !
ho, there ! see where those doves go ! see where they go ! "
The servants looked and saw the doves alight on a country
house. The prince hastened and entered it, and found
Snow-white-fire-red. When he saw her he threw his arms
about her neck, exclaiming : " Ah ! my sister, how much
you have suffered for me ! " Straightway they dressed her
beautifully and conducted her to the palace. When the
queen saw her there, she said : " What a beauty ! " Things
were soon settled and the lovers were married.25
As we have remarked above, this story is often found
incomplete, the ending — "forgetfulness of bride " — being
wanting.
Several of these versions are from Milan {Nov. fior. pp.
411, 415, 417). In the first, " The King of the Sun," a trait
occurs that is of some interest. The hero plays billiards
with the King of the Sun and wins his daughter. He goes
in search of his bride, and at last finds an old man who tells
him where the King of the Sun lives, and adds :"Ina wood
near by is a pond where, in the afternoon, the king's three
daughters bathe. Go and carry away their clothes ; and
when they come and ask for them give them back on condi-
tion that they will take you to their father." The hero does
as he is told, is taken to the king, and obliged to choose his
bride from among the three, with his eyes blindfolded.
The remainder of the story consists of the usual flight,
with the transformations of the lovers. The incident of
the maidens who bathe, and whose clothes the hero steals,
is clearly an example of the Swan-maiden myth, and occurs
in a few other Italian tales. In a story from the North of
Italy (Monferrato, Comparetti, No. 50), " The Isle of Hap-
FAIRY TALES. J1/
piness," a poor boy goes to seek his fortune. He encoun-
ters an old man who tells him that fortune appears but once
in a hundred years, and if not taken then, never is. He
adds that this is the very time for fortune to appear — that
day or the next — and advises the youth to hide himself in a
wood near the bank of a stream, and when three beautiful
girls come and bathe, to carry away the clothes of the mid-
dle one. He does -so, and compels the owner (who is none
other than Fortune) to marry him. By his mother's fault
he loses his bride, as in the Cupid and Psyche stories, and
is obliged to go in search of her to the Isle of Happiness.
The same incident occurs in several Sicilian stories. In
one (Pitre, No. 50, " Give me the Veil ! ") the hero, a poor
youth, goes in search of his fortune as in the last story, and
meets an old woman who tells him to go to a certain fountain,
where twelve doves will come to drink and become twelve
maidens " as beautiful as the sun, with veils over their faces,"
and advises the youth to seize the veil of the most beautiful
girl and keep it ; for if she obtains it she will become a dove
again. The youth does as he is commanded, and takes his
wife home, giving the veil to his mother to keep for him.
She gives it to the wife, who becomes a dove again, and dis-
appears. The same thing happens twice ; the third time
the veil is burned, and the wife, who turns out to be the en-
chanted daughter of the king of Spain, remains with her
husband.26
There yet remains a large and interesting class of stories
to be examined. The class may conveniently be termed
" Bluebeard," although, as we shall see, there are three ver-
sions of this story, to only one of which the above name
properly belongs. These three versions are well repre-
sented by the three Grimm stories of " The Feather Bird "
(No. 46), " The Robber Bridegroom " (No. 40), and " The
Wood-cutter's Child (No. 3). In the first version, which is,
properly speaking, the Bluebeard story, two sisters are mar-
ried in turn and killed by their husband, because they open
the forbidden chamber. The youngest sister, although
she opens the forbidden door, manages to escape and de-
?8 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
liver her sisters, whom she restores to life. In the second
version a robber marries several sisters, whom he kills for
disobeying his commands (the trait of forbidden chamber is
usually wanting) ; the youngest sister again manages to
escape and restores her dead sisters to life. Generally in
this version the husband makes a desperate effort to be re-
venged on the sister who has escaped from him, but fails in
this also. In the third version a young girl is under the
guardianship of some supernatural being, who forbids her
to open a certain door. The child disobeys, denies her fault,
and is sent away in disgrace ; she afterward marries and
her children are taken from her one by one until she con-
fesses her fault, or, as is the case in an Italian version, per-
sists in her denial to the very end. We shall examine these
three versions separately, and first give an example of the
first, or Bluebeard, class. It is from Venice (Widter-Wolf,
No. 1 1, jfakrb. VII. 148), and is entitled :
XVI. HOW THE DEVIL MARRIED THREE SISTERS.
Once upon a time the Devil was seized with a desire to
marry. He therefore left hell, took the form of a hand-
some young man, and built a fine large house. When it
was completed and furnished in the most fashionable style,
he introduced himself to a family where there were three
pretty daughters, and paid his addresses to the eldest of
them. The handsome man pleased the maiden, her parents
were glad to see a daughter so well provided for, and it was
not long before the wedding was celebrated.
When he had taken his bride home, he presented her with
a very tastefully arranged bouquet, led her through all the
rooms of the house, and finally to a closed door. "The
whole house is at your disposal," said he, " only I must re-
quest one thing of you ; that is, that you do not on any ac-
count open this door."
Of course the young wife promised faithfully ; but equally,
of course, she could scarcely wait for the moment to come
when she might break her promise. When the Devil had
FAIRY TALES. ?g
left the house the next morning, under pretence of going
hunting, she ran hastily to the forbidden door, opened it,
and saw a terrible abyss full of fire that shot up towards
her, and singed the flowers on her bosom. When her hus-
band came home and asked her whether she had kept her
promise, she unhesitatingly said "Yes ;" but he saw by the
flowers that she was telling a lie, and said : " Now I will
not put your curiosity to the test any longer. Come with
me. I will show you myself what is behind the door."
Thereupon he led her to the door, opened it, gave her such
a push that she fell down into hell, and shut the door
again.
A few months after he wooed the next sister for his wife,
and won her ; but with her everything that had happened
with the first wife was exactly repeated.
Finally he courted the third sister. She was a prudent
maiden, and said to herself : " He has certainly murdered
my two sisters ; but then it is a splendid match for me, so I
will try and see whether I cannot be more fortunate than
they." And accordingly she consented. After the wedding
the bridegroom gave her a beautiful bouquet, but forbade
her, also, to open the door which he pointed out.
Not a whit less curious than her sisters, she, too, opened
the forbidden door when the Devil had gone hunting, but
she had previously put her flowers in water. Then she
saw behind the door the fatal abyss and her sisters therein.
"Ah ! " she exclaimed, "poor creature that I am ; I thought
I had married an ordinary man, and instead of that he is
the Devil ! How can I get away from him ? " She carefully
pulled her two sisters out of hell and hid them. When
the Devil came home he immediately looked at the bou-
quet, which she again wore on her bosom, and when he
found the flowers so fresh he asked no questions ; but reas-
sured as to his secret, he now, for the first time, really loved
her.
After a few days she asked him if he would carry three
chests for her to her parents' house, without putting them
down or resting on the way. "But," she added, "you must
80 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
keep your word, for I shall be watching you." The Devil
promised to do exactly as she wished. So the next morn-
ing she put one of her sisters in a chest, and laid it on her
husband's shoulders. The Devil, who is very strong, but
also very lazy and unaccustomed to work, soon got tired
of carrying the heavy chest, and wanted to rest before he
was out of the street on which he lived ; but his wife called
out to him : " Don't put it down ; I see you ! " The Devil
went reluctantly on with the chest until he had turned the
corner, and then said to himself : " She cannot see me
here ; I will rest a little." But scarcely had he begun to
put the chest down when the sister inside cried out :
" Don't put it down ; I see you still ! " Cursing, he dragged
the chest on into another street, and was going to lay it
down on a doorstep, but he again heard the voice : " Don't
lay it down, you rascal ; I see you still ! " " What kind of
eyes must my wife have," he thought, " to see around cor-
ners as well as straight ahead, and through walls as if they
were made of glass ! " and thus thinking he arrived, all in
a perspiration and quite tired out, at the house of his
mother-in-law, to whom he hastily delivered the chest, and
then hurried home to strengthen himself with a good break-
fast.
The same thing was repeated the next day with the sec-
ond chest. On the third day she herself was to be taken
home in the chest. She therefore prepared a figure which
she dressed in her own clothes, and placed on the balcony,
under the pretext of being able to watch him better ; slipped
quickly into the chest, and had the maid put it on the
Devil's back. "The deuce!" said he; "this chest is a
great deal heavier than the others ; and to-day, when she is
sitting on the balcony, I shall have so much the less chance
to rest." So by dint of the greatest exertions he carried it,
without stopping, to his mother-in-law, and then hastened
home to breakfast, scolding, and with his back almost
broken. But quite contrary to custom, his wife did not
come out to meet him, and there was no breakfast ready.
" Margerita, where are you ? " he cried ; but received no
FAIRY TALES. 8 1
answer. As he was running through the corridors he at
length looked out of a window, and saw the figure on the
balcony. " Margerita, have you gone to sleep ? Come
down. I am as tired as a dog, and as hungry as a wolf."
But there was no reply. " If you do not come down in-
stantly I will go up and bring you down," he cried, angrily ;
but Margerita did not stir. Enraged, he hastened up to
the balcony, and gave her such a box on the ear that her
head flew off, and he saw that the head was nothing but a
milliner's form, and the body, a bundle of rags. Raging, he
rushed down and rummaged through the whole house, but
in vain ; he found only his wife's empty jewel-box. " Ha ! "
he cried ; " she has been stolen from me, and her jewels,
too ! " and he immediately ran to inform her parents of the
misfortune. But when he came near the house, to his
great surprise he saw on the balcony above the door all
three sisters, his wives, who were looking down on him
with scornful laughter.
Three wives at once terrified the Devil so much that he
took his flight with all possible speed.
Since that time he has lost his taste for marrying.27
We have already mentioned, in the class of " Bride Won
by Solving Riddle," the story in Gonzenbach of "The Rob-
ber who had a Witch's Head." In this story, after the
robber has married the first princess, he takes her home,
and learns from the witch's head, which hangs over the
window in a basket, what his wife says of him in his ab-
sence. The counterpart of the witch's head is found in
several very curious Italian stories. In these a magician is
substituted for the robber, and marries, in the same way,
several sisters. In the version in Gonzenbach, No. 23 (" The
Story of Ohime"), Ohime, the magician, leaves his wife for
a few days, and before he goes gives her a human bone,
telling her she must eat it before his return. The wife
throws the bone away ; but when the magician returns he
calls out: "Bone, where are you ?" "Here I am." "Come
here, then." Then the bone came, and the magician mur-
6
82 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
dered his wife because she had not done her duty. The
second sister is married and killed in the same way. Then
the youngest becomes the magician's bride. In her per-
plexity and grief at her husband's command to eat a human
arm during his absence, she invokes her mother's spirit,
which tells her to burn the arm to a coal, powder it, and
bind it about her body. When the magician returns and
asks the arm where it is, it replies: "In Maruzza's body."
Then her husband trusted her, and treated her kindly,
showing her, among other things, a closet containing flasks
of salve which restored the dead to life. He forbade her,
however, to open a certain door. Maruzza could not re-
strain her curiosity, and the first opportunity she had she
opened the door, and found in the room a handsome young
prince murdered. She restored him to life, heard his story,
and then killed him again, so that her husband would not
notice it. Then she extracted from her husband the secret
of his life: "I cannot be killed, but if any one sticks a
branch of this herb in my ears I shall fall asleep, and not
wake up again." Maruzza, of course, throws her husband,
as soon as possible, into this magic sleep, restores the
prince, flies with him, and marries him.
Some years after, the branch in the magician's ears with-
ered and fell out, and he awakened. Then he desired to be
revenged, and travelled about until he found where his wife
lived. Then he had a silver statue made in which he could
conceal himself, and in which he placed some musical in-
struments. He shut himself up in it, and had himself and
the statue taken to the palace where Maruzza and her hus-
band lived. In the night, when all were asleep, the magi-
cian came out of the statue, carried Maruzza to the kitchen,
kindled a fire, and put on some oil to boil, into which he
intended to throw poor Maruzza. But just as he was about
to do it, the flask which he had laid on the king's bed, and
which had thrown him into a magic sleep, rolled off, and
the king awoke, heard Maruzza's cries, saved her, and
threw the magician into the boiling oil. In spite of his
assurances he seems to have been very thoroughly killed.28
FAIRY TALES. 83
A Florentine story {Nov. fior. p. 290), called "The Ba-
ker's Three Daughters," is a combination of the Bluebeard
and Robber Bridegroom stories. The husband forbids his
wife to open a certain door with a gold key, saying : "You
cannot deceive me ; the little dog will tell me ; and, besides,
I will leave you a bouquet of flowers, which you must give
me on my return, and which will wither if you enter that
room." The two sisters yield to their curiosity, and are
killed. The third sister kills the treacherous little dog, de-
livers the prince, as in the last story, flies with him, and
the story ends much as the last does. In a Milanese ver-
sion of this story, with the same title (Nov. fior. p. 298),
the robber bridegroom takes his wife home, and informs
her that it is her duty to watch at night, and open the
door to the robbers when they return. The poor wife falls
asleep, and is murdered. So with the second sister. The
third remains awake, rescues the prince, and flies with him.
The rest of the story is as above.
Of the third version of the Bluebeard story there are but
two Italian examples : one from Sicily (Gonz. No. 20), and
one from Pisa (Comparetti, No. 38). The former is entitled
"The Godchild of St. Francis of Paula," and is, briefly, as
follows : A queen, through the intercession of St. Francis
of Paula, has a girl, whom she names Pauline, from the
saint. The saint is in the habit of meeting the child on
her way to school, and giving her candy. One day the
saint tells her to ask her mother whether it is best to suffer
in youth or old age. The mother replies that it is better
to suffer in youth. Thereupon the saint carries away Paul-
ine, and shuts her up in a tower, climbing up and down by
her tresses, as in other stories we have already mentioned.
In the tower the saint instructed Pauline in all that be-
longed to her rank. One day a king climbs up by the hair,
and persuades Pauline to fly with him. She consents and
becomes his bride. When her first child was born St. Fran-
cis came and took it away, rubbed the mother's mouth
with blood, and deprived her of speech. Three times this
happened, and then the queen was repudiated and confined
84 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
in a remote room, where she spent her time in praying to
St. Francis.
Meanwhile the queen-mother arranged another marriage
for her son ; but during the banquet the saint brought Paul-
ine royal robes, and restored her three children to her.
Then he led all four to the banquet-hall, and the happy
family lived thereafter in peace and happpines.
The "forbidden chamber "is omitted in the above ver-
sion, but is found in the Pisan story, " The Woodman."
The main idea of the story, however, is curiously distorted.
A woodman had three daughters whom he cannot support.
One day a lady met him in the wood, and offered to take
one of his daughters for a companion, giving him a purse
of money, and assuring him that he would always find
enough wood. The lady took her home, and told her she
must not open a certain door during her absence. The girl
did so, however, and saw her mistress in a bath, with two
damsels reading a book. She closed the door at once ; but
when the mistress returned and asked her whether she had
disobeyed, and what she had seen, she confessed her fault,
and told what she saw. Then the lady cut her head off,
hung it by the hair to a beam, and buried the body.
The same thing happened to the second sister, who
opened the door, and saw the lady sitting at a table with
gentlemen. The lady killed her, too, and then took the
third sister, who, in spite of having seen her two sisters'
heads, could not control her curiosity, and opened the door.
She saw her mistress reclining in a beautiful bed. In the
evening the lady returned and asked her what she had
seen; but she answered : "I have seen nothing." The lady
could extort no other answer from her, and finally clothed
her in her peasant's dress, and took her back to the wood
and left her.
The king of the neighboring city happened to pass by,
and fell in love with her, and married her. When her first
child was born the lady appeared at her bedside, and said :
" Now it is time to tell me what you saw." " I saw noth-
ing," replied the young queen. Then the lady carried away
FAIRY TALES. 85
the child, having first rubbed the mother's mouth with
blood. This happened a second time, and then the king
put her away, and prepared to marry again. The first wife
was invited to the wedding feast. While at the table the
lady appeared under it, and pulled the first wife's dress, and
said : " Will you tell what you saw ? " The reply was twice :
"Nothing." Then the queen fainted. At that momenta
carriage drove up to the palace with a great lady in it, who
asked to see the king. She told him that it was she who
had carried away his children, and added that from her
childhood she had been subjected to an enchantment that
was to end when she found a person who should say that
she had seen nothing in that room. She then brought
back the children, and all lived together in peace and joy.29
One of the most beautiful and touching of all fairy tales
is the one known to the readers of Grimm's collection by
the title of " Faithful John," and which has such a charm-
ing parallel in the story of " Rama and Luxman," in Miss
Frere's " Old Deccan Days." There are seven Italian ver-
sions of this interesting story, which we shall mention
briefly, giving first the shortest entire, as a point of depart-
ure. It is from the North of Italy (Comparetti, Monfer-
rato, No. 29), and is called :
XVII. IN LOVE WITH A STATUE.
There was once a king who had two sons. The eldest
did not wish to marry, and the youngest, although he went
about everywhere, found no lady to his taste. Now it hap-
pened that he once went to a certain city, and there saw a
statue with which he fell in love. He bought it, had it car-
ried to his room, and every day embraced and kissed it.
One day his father became aware of this, and said to him :
" What are you doing ? If you want a wife, take one of
flesh and bones, and not one of marble." He answered that
he would take one exactly like the statue, or none at all.
His older brother, who at this time had nothing to do, went
out into the world to seek her. On his way he saw in a
86 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
city a man who had a mouse which danced so that it seemed
like a human being. He said to himself : " I will take it
home to my brother to amuse himself with." He continued
his journey, and, arrived in a more distant town, where he
found a bird that sang like an angel, and bought that, too,
for his brother. He was on the point of returning home,
and was passing through a street, when he saw a beggar
knocking at a door. A very beautiful girl appeared at the
window, who resembled in every respect the prince's statue,
and suddenly withdrew. Then he told the beggar to ask
alms again ; but the beggar refused, because he feared
that the magician, who was then absent, would return home
and eat him up. But the prince gave him so much money
and other things that he knocked again, and the young girl
appeared again, and suddenly withdrew. Then the prince
went through the streets, saying that he mended and sold
looking-glasses. The servant of the young girl, who heard
him, told her mistress to go and see the mirrors. She
went, but he told her that if she wanted to select the mir-
rors she would have to go on board his ship. When she
was there, he carried her away, and she wept bitterly and
sighed, so that he would let her return home, but it was
like speaking to the wall.
When they were out at sea, there was heard the voice of
a large black bird, saying : " Ciriu, ciriu! what a handsome
mouse you have ! You will take it to your brother ; you will
turn his head ; and if you tell him of it, you will become
marble. Ciriu, ciriu ! a fine bird you have ; you will take it
to your brother ; you will turn his head ; and if you tell him,
you will become marble. Ciriu, ciriu ! a fine lady you have ;
you will take her to your brother ; you will turn his head ;
and if you tell him of it, you will become marble." He did
not know how he could tell his brother, because he was afraid
of becoming marble. He landed, and took the mouse to his
brother ; and when he had seen it and wanted it, the elder
brother cut off its head. Then he showed him the bird that
sang like an angel, and his brother wanted it ; but the elder
brother again cut off its head. Then he said : " I have some-
FAIRY TALES. %J
thing handsomer," and he produced the beautiful girl who
looked like the statue. And as the brother who had brought
her said nothing, the other feared that he would take her
away from him, and had him thrown into prison, where he was
a long time ; and because he continued to keep silence, he
was condemned to death. Three days before he was to die
he asked his brother to come and see him, and he consented,
although unwillingly. Then the condemned brother said :
" A large black bird told me that if I brought you back the
dancing mouse, and spoke, I should become a statue." And
saying this, he became a statue to the waist. " And if,
bringing you the singing bird, I spoke, it would be the
same." Then he became a statue to his breast. "And if,
bringing you the lady, I spoke, I should become a statue."
Then he became a statue all over, and his brother began
to lament in despair, and tried to restore him to life. All
kinds of physicians came, but none succeeded. Finally
there came one who said that he was capable of turning the
statue into a man provided they gave him what he needed.
The king said he would do so, and the physician demanded
the blood of the king's two children ; but the mother would
on no account consent. Then the king gave a ball, and
while his wife was dancing he had the two children killed,
and bathed with their blood the statue of his brother, and
the statue straightway became a man and went to the ball.
The mother, when she beheld him, suddenly thought of her
children. She ran to them and found them half dead, and
fainted away. All around sought to console and encourage
her ; but when she opened her eyes and saw the physician,
she cried : " Out of my sight, ugly wretch ! It is you who
have caused my children to be killed." He answered :
" Pardon me, my lady, I have done no harm. Go and see
whether your children are there ! " She ran to see, and
found them alive and making a great noise. Then the
physician said : " I am the magician, your father, whom you
forsook, and I have wished to show you what it is to love
one's children." Then they made peace, and remained
happy and contented.
88 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
In the Venetian version (Teza, La Trad, dei Sette Sari,
p. 26), called " Mela and Buccia," from the names of the
prince and his friend, while the two friends are spending
the night in a deserted castle, Buccia hears a voice fore-
telling the dangers to which Mela will be exposed. His
horse will throw him if Buccia does not kill it ; a dragon will
devour him on his wedding night if Buccia does not kill it ;
and finally, the queen's pet dog will mortally wound him if
Buccia does not kill it. If, however, Buccia reveals what he
has heard, he will turn to stone. Buccia acts accordingly,
and the king forgives him everything but killing the queen's
pet dog ; for that Buccia is condemned to be hung. Then
he relates all, and gradually turns to stone from his feet up.
The king, queen, and Buccia's mother are inconsolable until
they are informed by an old woman that the blood of the
little prince will bring the statue back to life. The faithful
friend is by that means restored, and the child also saved.
In this version the abduction is wanting, and the last dan-
ger is not the one usually threatened.
In a version from Siena (Gradi, Vigilia, p. 64), one of
two brothers goes in search of the " Princess with Blonde
Tresses." He also buys a parrot and a horse, and the dan-
gers are : he who touches the parrot will have his eyes put
out ; he who mounts the horse will be thrown ; he who mar-
ries the fair one will be devoured by a dragon ; and he who
reveals these dangers will become stone. The remainder
of the story is like the last version.
The Florentine version (Nov. fior. p. 421) is mixed up
with a number of other incidents. The dangers from which
the prince is saved by his faithful servant are : poisoned
apples, poisoned pastry, and a lion in the royal chamber.
The servant is turned to stone and restored, as in the other
versions.
In a Mantuan story (Fiabe mant, No. 9), the dangers are :
parrot, horse, and bride ; whoever touches these will be de-
voured by a dragon ; whoever reveals these dangers will
become stone. The conclusion is the same as above.
The last version we shall mention here is in the Pentam-
FAIRY TALES. 89
erone (IV. 9), and resembles the one from Monferrato.
The elder brother, who goes in search of a bride for his
younger brother, buys a falcon and a horse. The first will
pick out the younger brother's eyes ; the horse will throw
him, and finally a dragon will devour him on his wedding
night. The remainder of the story is as usual.30
We shall conclude this chapter with the class of stories
in which giants are outwitted by men. The simplest form
is found in two stories which are interesting examples of
the survival of classic myths. Both stories are from Sicily,
and one was told to Pitre by a girl eight years old (Pitre,
No. 51). It is entitled "The Little Monk," and is, in sub-
stance, as follows : There were once two monks who went
begging for the church every year. One was large and the
other small. They lost their way once and came to a large
cave, in which was a monster (lit. animal, armahi), who
was building a fire. The two monks, however, did not be-
lieve it was a monster, but said : " Let us go and rest
there." They entered, and saw the monster killing a sheep
and roasting it. He had already killed and cooked twenty.
"Eat ! " said the monster to them. " We don't want to
eat ; we are not hungry." " Eat, I tell you ! " After they
had eaten the sheep, they lay down, and the monster closed
the entrance to the cave with a great stone. Then he took
a sharp iron, heated it in the fire, and stuck it in the throat
of the larger of the two monks, roasted the body, and wanted
the other monk to help eat it. " I don't want to eat,"
said he ; "I am full." " Get up ! " said the monster. " If
you don't I will kill you."
The wretched monk arose in fright, seated himself at the
table, and pretended to eat, but threw the flesh away. In
the night the good man took the iron, heated it, and plunged
it in the monster's eyes. Then the monk in his terror
slipped into the skin of a sheep. The monster felt his way
to the entrance of the cave, removed the stone, and let the
sheep out one by one ; and so the good man escaped and
returned to Trapani, and told his story to some fishermen.
The monster went fishing, and being blind, stumbled against
90 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
a rock and broke his head. The other version is from the
Albanian colony of Piana de' Greci (Comparetti, No. 70),
in Sicily, and is substantially the same as the story just
given.31
Generally, however, the stories in which giants are out-
witted by men are more complicated, and may be divided
into two classes : one where the giant is outwitted by supe-
rior cunning, the other where the giant's stupidity is de-
ceived by the man's braggadocio. The first class may be
represented by a Sicilian story (Pitre, No. 33), entitled :
XVIII. THIRTEENTH.
There was once a father who had thirteen sons, the
youngest of whom was named Thirteenth. The father had
hard work to support his children, but made what he could
gathering herbs. The mother, to make the children quick,
said to them : " The one who comes home first shall have
herb soup." Thirteenth always returned the first, and the
soup always fell to his share, on which account his brothers
hated him and sought to get rid of him.
The king issued a proclamation in the city that he who
was bold enough to go and steal the ogre's coverlet should
receive a measure of gold. Thirteenth's brothers went to
the king and said: "Majesty, we have a brother, named
Thirteenth, who is confident that he can do that and other
things too." The king said: "Bring him to me at once."
They brought Thirteenth, who said : " Majesty, how is it
possible to steal the ogre's coverlet ? If he sees me he will
eat me ! " " No matter, you must go," said the king. " I
know that you are bold, and this act of bravery you must
perform." Thirteenth departed and went to the house of
the ogre, who was away. The ogress was in the kitchen.
Thirteenth entered quietly and hid himself under the bed.
At night the ogre returned. He ate his supper and went
to bed, saying as he did so :
" I smell the smell of human flesh ;
Where I see it I will swallow it ! "
FAIRY TALES. 9 1
The ogress replied : " Be still ; no one has entered here."
The ogre began to snore, and Thirteenth pulled the cover-
let a little. The ogre awoke and cried : " What is that ? "
Thirteenth began to mew like a cat. The ogress said :
" Scat ! scat ! " and clapped her hands, and then fell asleep
again with the ogre. Then Thirteenth gave a hard pull,
seized the coverlet, and ran away. The ogre heard him
running, recognized him in the dark, and said : " I know
you ! You are Thirteenth, without doubt ! "
After a time the king issued another proclamation, that
whoever would steal the ogre's horse and bring it to the
king should receive a measure of gold. Thirteenth again
presented himself, and asked for a silk ladder and a bag of
cakes. With these things he departed, and went at night
to the ogre's, climbed up without being heard, and de-
scended to the stable. The horse neighed on seeing him,
but he offered it a cake, saying : " Do you see how sweet it
is ? If you will come with me, my master will give you
these always." Then he gave it another, saying : "Let me
mount you and see how we go." So he mounted it, kept
feeding it with cakes, and brought it to the king's stable.
The king issued another proclamation, that he would give
a measure of gold to whoever would bring him the ogre's
bolster. Thirteenth said : " Majesty, how is that possible ?
The bolster is full of little bells, and you must know that
the ogre awakens at a breath." " I know nothing about
it," said the king. "I wish it at any cost." Thirteenth de-
parted, and went and crept under the ogre's bed. At mid-
night he stretched out his hand very softly, but the little
bells all sounded. " What is that ? " said the ogre. " Noth-
ing," replied the ogress ; " perhaps it is the wind that makes
them ring." But the ogre, who was suspicious, pretended
to sleep, but kept his ears open. Thirteenth stretched out
his hand again. Alack ! the ogre put out his arm and seized
him. " Now you are caught ! Just wait ; I will make you
cry for your first trick, for your second, and for your third."
After this he put Thirteenth in a barrel, and began to feed
him on raisins and figs. After a time he said : " Stick out
92 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
your finger, little Thirteenth, so that I can see whether you
are fat." Thirteenth saw there a mouse's tail, and stuck
that out. " Ah, how thin you are ! " said the ogre ; " and
besides, you don't smell good ! Eat, my son ; take the rai-
sins and figs, and get fat soon ! " After some days the
ogre told him again to put out his finger, and Thirteenth
stuck out a spindle. " Eh, wretch ! are you still lean ? Eat,
eat, and get fat soon."
At the end of a month Thirteenth had nothing more to
stick out, and was obliged to show his finger. The ogre
cried out in joy : " He is fat, he is fat ! " The ogress has-
tened to the spot : " Quick, my ogress, heat the oven three
nights and three days, for I am going to invite our rela-
tives, and we will make a fine banquet of Thirteenth."
The ogress heated the oven three days and three nights,
and then released Thirteenth from the barrel, and said to
him : " Come here, Thirteenth ; we have got to put the
lamb in the oven." But Thirteenth caught her meaning ;
and when he approached the oven, he said: "Ah, mother
ogress, what is that black thing in the corner of the oven ? "
The ogress stooped down a little, but saw nothing. " Stoop
down again," said Thirteenth, " so that you can see it."
When she stooped down again, Thirteenth seized her by
the feet and threw her into the oven, and then closed the
oven door. When she was cooked, he took her out care-
fully, cut her in two, divided her legs into pieces, and put
them on the table, and placed her trunk, with her head and
arms, in the bed, under the sheet, and tied a string to the
chin and another to the back of her head.
When the ogre arrived with his guests he found the
dishes on the table. Then he went to his wife's bed and
asked : " Mother ogress, do you want to dine ? " Thirteenth
pulled the string, and the ogress shook her head. " How
are you, tired ? " And Thirteenth, who was hidden under
the bed, pulled the other string and made her nod. Now
it happened that one of her relatives moved something and
saw that the ogress was dead, and only half of her was
there. She cried in a loud voice: "Treason! treason!"
FAIRY TALES. 93
and all hastened to the bed. In the midst of the confusion
Thirteenth escaped from under the bed and ran away to
the king with the bolster and the ogre's most valuable
things.
After this, the king said to Thirteenth : " Listen, Thir-
teenth. To complete your valiant exploits, I wish you to'
bring me the ogre himself, in person, alive and well."
" How can I, your Majesty ? " said Thirteenth. Then he
roused himself, and added : " I see how, now ! " Then he
had a very strong chest made, and disguised himself as a
monk, with a long, false beard, and went to the ogre's
house, and called out to him : " Do you know Thirteenth ?
The wretch ! he has killed our superior ; but if I catch
him ! If I catch him, I will shut him up in this chest ! "
At these words the ogre drew near and said : " I, too, would
like to help you, against that wretch of an assassin, for you
don't know what he has done to me." And he began to
tell his story. " But what shall we do ? " said the pretended
monk. " I do not know Thirteenth. Do you know him ? "
" Yes, sir." "Then tell me, father ogre, how tall is he ?"
" As tall as I am." "If that is so," said Thirteenth, "let
us see whether this chest will hold you ; if it will hold you,
it will hold him." " Oh, good ! " said the ogre ; and got
into the chest. Then Thirteenth shut the chest and said :
" Look carefully, father ogre, and see whether there is any
hole in the chest." "There is none." "Just wait ; let us
see whether it shuts well, and is heavy to carry."
Meanwhile Thirteenth shut and nailed up the chest, took
it on his back, and hastened to the city. When the ogre
cried : " Enough, now ! " Thirteenth ran all the faster, and,
laughing, sang this song to taunt the ogre :
" I am Thirteenth,
Who carry you on my back ;
I have tricked you and am going to trick you.
I must deliver you to the king."
When he reached the king, the king had an iron chain at-
tached to the ogre's hands and feet, and made him gnaw
bones the rest of his miserable life. The king gave Thir-
94 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
teenth all the riches and treasures he could bestow on him,
and always wished him at his side, as a man of the highest
valor.32
The second version of the above story, in which the
giant is deceived by the hero's braggadocio, is represented
by several Italian stories ; the simplest are some Milanese
versions (Nov.fior. pp. 575-580), one of which {Ibid. p. 575)
is as follows :
XIX. THE COBBLER.
There was once a cobbler who one day was so tired of cob-
bling that he said : " Now I will go and seek my fortune."
He bought a little cheese and put it on the table. It got
full of flies, and he took an old shoe, and hit the cheese and
killed all the flies. He afterward counted them, and five
hundred were killed, and four hundred wounded. He then
girded on a sword, and put on a cocked hat, and went to
the court, and said to the king : " I am the chief warrior of
the flies. Four hundred I have killed, and five hundred I
have wounded." The king answered : " Since you are a
warrior, you will be brave enough to climb that mountain
there, where there are two magicians, and kill them. If you
kill them, you shall marry my daughter." Then he gave
him a white flag to wave when he had killed them. " And
sound the trumpet, you will put his head in a bag, both the
heads, to show me." The cobbler then departed, and found
a house, which was an inn, and the inn-keeper and his wife
were none other than the magician and his wife. He asked
for lodging and food, and all he needed. Afterward he
went to his room ; but before going to bed, he looked up at
the ceiling. There he saw a great stone over the bed.
Instead of getting into bed, he got into a corner. When a
certain hour struck, the magicians let the stone drop and it
crushed the whole bed. The next morning the cobbler
went down and said that he could not sleep for the noise.
They told him they would change his room. The same
thing happened the next night, and in the morning they
FAIRY TALES. 95
told him they would give him another room. When it was
a certain hour, the husband and wife went to the forest to
cut a bundle of fagots. Then the magician went home ;
and the cobbler, who had made ready a sickle, said : " Wait
until I help you to take the bundle off your back." Then
he gave the magician a blow with the sickle and cut off his
head. He did the same thing when the magician's wife
returned. Then he unfurled his flag, and sounded his
trumpet, and the band went out to meet him. After he
had arrived at the court, the king said to him : " Now that
you have killed the two magicians, you shall marry my
daughter." But the cobbler had got so used to drawing
the thread that he did so in his sleep, and kept hitting his
wife, so that she could not rest. Then the king gave him
a great deal of money and sent him home.33
, A more detailed version is found in a Sicilian story in
Gonzenbach, "The Brave Shoemaker" (No. 41), the first
part of which is like the Milanese version. On his way to
the giant's, the cobbler makes some balls of plaster of Paris
and cream-cheese, and puts them in his pocket. When he
heard the giant coming through the woods, he climbed a
tree ; but the giant scented him, and told him to come down.
The cobbler answered that if he did not leave him alone he
would twist his neck ; and to show him how strong he was,
he crushed the balls of plaster of Paris in his hands, telling
the giant they were marble. The giant was frightened, and
invited the cobbler to remain with him, and took him home.
After a while, the giant asked him to bring some water in
a pitcher from the well. The cobbler said that if the giant
would give him a strong rope he would bring the well it-
self. The giant in terror took the pitcher, and drew the
water himself. Then the giant asked the cobbler to cut
some wood, but the latter asked for a strong rope to drag
a whole tree to the house with. Then the giant proposed
a trial of strength, to see which could carry a heavy stick
the longer. The cobbler said that the giant had better
wind something about the thick end, for when he, the cob-
g6 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
bier, turned a somersault with it, he might hit the giant.
When they went to bed, the giant made the cobbler sleep
with him ; but the latter crept under the bed, leaving a
pumpkin in his place. The giant, who was anxious to get
rid of the cobbler, took an iron bar and struck at the pump-
kin all night, believing it the cobbler's head. After he had
beaten the pumpkin to pieces, the cobbler, under the bed,
gave a sigh. " What is the matter with you ? " asked the
terrified giant. " A flea has just bitten my ear," answered
the cobbler. The next day the cobbler proposed to the
giant to cook a great kettle of macaroni, and after they had
eaten it, he would cut open his stomach to show the giant
that he had eaten it without chewing it ; the giant was to
do the same afterward. The cobbler, of course, secretly
tied a sack about his neck, and put his macaroni in it ; then
he took a knife and ripped open the bag, and the macaroni
fell out. The giant, in attempting to follow the cobbler's
example, killed himself. Then the cobbler cut his head off,
carried it to the king, and claimed his daughter's hand.34
The stories given in this chapter constitute, as we have
already said in the Introduction, but a small part of Italian
fairy tales. They represent, however, as well as our space
will allow, the great fairy cycles, so to speak. As our pur-
pose has been to give only those stories which have been
taken down from the mouths of the people, we have not
drawn, except for purposes of reference, upon the Pentame-
rone, one of the most original and charming collections of
fairy tales in any language. Enough has been given, we
trust, to show how the Italians have treated the themes
familiar to us from childhood, and to furnish the scholar
with additional material for comparison.
CHAPTER II.
FAIRY TALES CONTINUED.
The fairy tales given in the last chapter belong to what
may be called the great fairy tale cycles ; that is, to exten-
sive classes that are typical forms. It remains to notice in
this chapter those stories which do not belong to any of
these typical classes, but constitute, so to speak, independ-
ent forms.
The reader has perhaps noticed in the fairy tales of the
first chapter the conspicuous absence of the fairies to which
we are accustomed in German or Celtic stories. We have
met ogres and magicians with magic powers, old men and
women, and hermits who have aided the hero and heroine,
and played the role of the " good fairy," but the fairy in the
bright shape in which we see her in French and Irish sto-
ries, for example, has been wanting. It will not be amiss,
then, to give a few stories in which the fairies play a more
important part. We shall first mention a curious story in
which the fairies are represented in one of their most usual
roles — that of bestowing good gifts. The story is from
Sicily (Gonz. No. 73), and is entitled :
XXV. THE KING WHO WANTED A BEAUTIFUL WIFE.
There was once a king who wanted to marry. But his
wife must be more beautiful than the sun, and no matter
how many maidens he saw, none was beautiful enough to
suit him. Then he called his trusty servant, and com-
manded him to seek everywhere and see whether he could
find a beautiful girl. The servant set out, and wandered
through the whole land, but found none who seemed hand-
some enough to him. One day, however, after he had run
7
98 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
about a great deal and was very thirsty, he came to a little
house. He knocked and asked for a drink of water. Now
there dwelt in the house two very old women, — one eighty
and the other ninety years old, — who supported themselves
by spinning. When the servant asked for water, the one
eighty years old rose, opened a little wicket in the shutter,
and handed him out the water. From spinning so much,
her hands were very white and delicate ; and when the ser-
vant saw them he thought, u It must be a handsome maiden,
for she has such a delicate white hand." So he hastened to
the king, and said: "Your royal Majesty, I have found
what you seek ; so and so has happened to me." " Very
well," answered the king, " go once more and try to see
her."
The servant returned to the little house, knocked, and
asked again for some water. The old woman did not open
the window, but handed him the pitcher through the little
opening in the shutter. " Do you live here all alone ? "
asked the servant. " No," she answered. " I live here with
my sister ; we are poor girls and support ourselves by the
work of our hands." " How old are you, then ? " " I am
fifteen and my sister twenty." The servant went back to
the king and told him all, and the king said : " I will take
the one who is fifteen. Go and bring her to me." When
the servant returned to the two old women, and told them
that the king wished to elevate the younger to the position
of his wife, she answered : " Tell the king I am ready to do
his will. Since my birth no ray of the sun has ever struck
me, and if a ray of the sun or a beam of light should strike
me now, I would become perfectly black. Ask the king,
therefore, to send a closed carriage for me at night, and I
will come to his palace."
When the king heard this he sent royal apparel and a
closed carriage, and at night the old woman covered her
face with a thick veil and rode to the palace. The king re-
ceived her joyfully, and begged her to lay aside the veil.
She replied : " There are too many lighted candles here ;
their light would make me black." So the king married
FAIRY TALES. 99
her without having seen her face. When they came into
the king's chamber, however, and she removed her veil, the
king saw for the first time what an ugly old woman he had
married, and in his rage he opened the window and threw
her out. Fortunately there was a nail in the wall, on which
she caught by her clothes, and remained hanging between
heaven and earth. Four fairies chanced to pass by, and
when they saw the old woman hanging there, one of them
cried : " See, sisters, there is the old woman who cheated
the king ; shall we wish her dress to tear and let her fall ? "
" Oh, no ! let us not do that," cried the youngest and most
beautiful of the fairies. " Let us rather wish her something
good. I wish her youth." "And I, beauty." "And I,
prudence." "And I, a good heart." Thus the fairies cried,
and while they were yet speaking the old woman became a
wondrous fair maiden.
The next morning, when the king looked out of the win-
dow and saw the beautiful girl hanging there, he was terri-
fied, and thought : " Unhappy man ! What have I done !
Had I no eyes last night ? " Then he had her carefully
taken down with long ladders, and begged her pardon, say-
ing : " Now we will have a great festival and be right
happy." So they celebrated a splendid feast, and the young
queen was the fairest in the whole city.
But one day the sister ninety years old came to the pal-
ace to visit the queen, her sister. " Who is this ugly crea-
ture?" asked the king. "An old neighbor of mine who is
half-witted," replied the queen, quickly. The old woman
kept looking at her rejuvenated sister, and asked : " What
did you do to become so young and lovely ? I, too, would
like to be young and pretty again." She kept asking this
the whole day, until the queen finally lost her patience, and
said : " I had my old skin taken off, and this new, smooth
skin came to light." The old woman went to a barber and
said : " I will give you what you will to remove my old skin,
so that I may become young and handsome again." " But
good old woman, you will surely die if I skin you." The
old woman would not listen to him, and at last he had to do
100 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
her will. He took his knife and made a cut in her fore-
head. " Oh ! " cried the old woman.
" Who will look fair
Must grief and pain bear,"
answered the barber. " Then skin away, master," said the
old woman. The barber kept cutting on, until all at once
the old woman fell down dead.1
This story leads quite naturally to the class in which gifts,
good and bad, are bestowed by the fairies on two persons,
one of whom is deserving of good fortune ; the other, of
punishment or reproof. The simplest form of this story is
found in a Milanese tale (Nov. fior. p. 190).
XXVI. THE BUCKET.
There was once a mother who had two daughters : one
was bad and the other was very good. But the mother
loved the bad one more than the good one. She said one
day to the bad one : " Go and draw a bucket of water."
The bad one did not want to go, and so she would not obey
her mother. The good daughter, however, said : " I will go
and draw it." She went to draw the water, and the bucket
fell down the well. She said : "If I go home now without
the bucket, who knows what my mother will do to me ? "
So she climbed down the well, and at the bottom found a
narrow passage, with a door. She knocked at the door.
" Have you not found a cord and bucket ? " There was a
saint there, who answered: "No, my child." She contin-
ued her way and found another door. " Have you not
found a cord and bucket ? " " No ! " That was the devil
there. He answered her angrily because she was a good
girl ; he did not say : " My child." She knocked at another
door. " Have you not found a cord and bucket?" It was
the Madonna who replied : " Yes, my child. Listen. You
could do me a pleasure to stay here while I am away. I
have my little son here, to whom you will give his soup ;
you will sweep and put the house in order. When I come
FAIRY TALES. 10 1
home I will give you your bucket." The Madonna went
away, and the good girl put the house in order, gave the
child his broth, swept the house ; and while she was sweep-
ing, instead of finding dirt, she found coral and other beau-
tiful things. She saw that it was not dirt, and put it aside
to give the Madonna when she returned. When the Ma-
donna came back, she asked : " Have you done all I told
you to do ? " The good girl answered : " Yes, but I have
kept these things here ; I found them on the ground ; it is
not dirt." "Very well ; keep them for yourself. Would you
like a dress of calico, or one of silk? " The girl answered :
" No, no ! a calico dress." Instead of that, the Madonna
gave her the silk one. " Do you wish a brass thimble, or a
silver one ? " " Give me the brass one." " No, take the
silver thimble. Here is the bucket and your cord. When
you reach the end of this passage, look up in the air." The
girl did so, and a beautiful star fell on her brow.
She went home, and her mother ran to meet her to scold
her for being away so long ; and was about to strike her,
when she saw the star on her brow, which shone so that it
was beautiful to see, and said :. " Where have you been
until now ? Who put that thing on your forehead ? " The
girl answered : " I don't know what there is there." Her
mother tried to wash it away, but instead of disappearing,
it shone more beautiful than ever. Then the girl told what
had happened to her, and the other sister wished to go
there, too. She went, and did the same as her sister. She
let the bucket fall, climbed down, and knocked at the saint's
door. " Have you not found a cord and bucket ? " " No,
my child." She knocked at the next door. " Have you
not found a cord and bucket ? " The devil answered : " No,
I have not found them ; but come here, my child, come
here." But when she heard that he had not found her
bucket, she said : " No, I will go on." She knocked at
the Madonna's door. " Have you not found a cord and
bucket ? " The Madonna said that she had. " I am going
away : you will give my son his broth, and then you will
sweep. When I return I will give you your bucket." In-
102 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
stead of giving the broth to the child, the bad girl ate it
herself. " Oh ! " she said, "how good it was ! " She swept
and found a great deal of dirt. " Oh, poor me ! My sister
found so many pretty things ! " The Madonna returned.
"Have you done what I told you?" "Yes." "Do you
wish the brass or silver thimble ? " " Oh ! I want the sil-
ver one ! " She gave her the brass one. " Do you want
the calico dress or the silk one ? " " Give me the silk
dress." She gave her the calico dress. "Here is your
bucket and cord. When you are out of here, look up into
the air." When she was out she looked up into the air and
there fell on her forehead a lump of dirt that soiled her
whole face. She went home in a rage to weep and scold
her sister because she had had the star, while she had that
dirt on her face. Her mother began to wash her face and
rub it ; and the -more she did so the less the dirt went
away. Then the mother said : " I understand ; the Ma-
donna has done this to show me that I loved the bad girl
and neglected the good one." 2
In other versions (mentioned in the note to the above
story) the two sisters receive different gifts from the fairies.
In a Sicilian tale (Pitre, No. 62) it is the children of un-
like sisters who receive the gifts : the one, beauty. When
she combs her hair jewels fall from it; when she washes
the water becomes full of fishes ; when she opens her
mouth flowers fall out ; her cheeks are like apples ; and
finally she can finish her work in a short time. The cousin
receives, of course, gifts the very reverse of the above.
The story ends with the trait of " True Bride," mentioned
at length in Chapter I.
There is still a third version of the above story, which is
popular in many lands. The following example is from
Florence (Nov.fiov. p. 559), and is entitled :
FAIRY TALES. 103
XXVII. THE TWO HUMPBACKS.
There were once two companions who were humpbacks,
but one more so than the other. They were both so poor
that they had not a penny to their names. One of them
said : " I will go out into the world, for here there is noth-
ing to eat ; we are dying of hunger. I want to see whether
I can make my fortune." " Go," said the other. " If you
make your fortune, return, and I will go and see if I can
make mine." So the humpback set off on his journey.
Now these two humpbacks were from Parma. When the
humpback had gone a long way, he came to a square
where there was a fair, at which everything was sold.
There was a person selling cheese, who cried out : " Eat
the little Parmesan ! " The poor humpback thought he
meant him, so he ran away and hid himself in a court-
yard. When it was one o'clock, he heard a clanking of
chains and the words " Saturday and Sunday " repeated
several times. Then he answered : " And Monday." " Oh,
heavens ! " said they who were singing. "Who is this who
has harmonized with our choir ? " They searched and
found the poor humpback hidden. " O gentlemen ! " he
said, " I have not come here to do any harm, you know ! "
" Well ! we have come to reward you ; you have harmonized
our choir ; come with us ! " They put him on a table and
removed his hump, healed him, and gave him two bags of
money. " Now," they said, " you can go." He thanked
them and went away without his hump. He liked it bet-
ter, you can believe ! He returned to his place at Parma,
and when the other humpback saw him he exclaimed :
"Does not that look just like my friend ? But he had a
hump ! It is not he ! Listen ! You are not my friend so
and so, are you ? " " Yes, I am," he replied. " Listen !
Were you not a humpback ? " " Yes. They have removed
my hump and given me two bags of money. I will tell you
why. I reached," he continued, " such and such a place,
and I heard them beginning to say, ' Eat the little Parme-
san ! eat the little Parmesan ! ' I was so frightened that I
104 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
hid myself." (He mentioned the place — in a court-yard.)
" At a certain hour, I heard a noise of chains and a chorus
singing : ' Sattcrday and Sunday' After two or three
times, I said: 'And Monday.' They came and found me,
saying that I had harmonized their chorus, and they wanted
to reward me. They took me, removed my hump, and gave
me two bags of money." " Oh, heavens ! " said the other
humpback. " I want to go there, too ! " " Go, poor fellow,
go ! farewell ! " The humpback reached the place, and hid
himself precisely where his companion had. After a while
he heard a noise of chains, and the chorus : " Saturday and
Sunday ! " Then another chorus : "And Monday ! " After
the humpback had heard them repeat : " Saturday and
Sunday, and Monday ! " several times, he added : " And
Tuesday ! " " Where," they exclaimed, " is he who has
spoiled our chorus ? If we find him, we will tear him in
pieces." Just think ! they struck and beat this poor hump-
back until they were tired ; then they put him on the same
table on which they had placed his companion, and said :
" Take that hump and put it on him in front." So they
took the other's hump and fastened it to his breast, and
then drove him away with blows. He went home and
found his friend, who cried : " Mercy ! is not that my
friend ? but it cannot be, for this one is humpbacked in
front. Listen," he said, "are you not my friend ? " "The
same," he answered, weeping. "I did not want to bear my
own hump, and now I have to carry mine and yours ! and
so beaten and reduced, you see ! " " Come," said his friend,
" come home with me, and we will eat a mouthful together ;
and don't be disheartened." And so, every day, he dined
with his friend, and afterward they died, I imagine.3
There are a number of Sicilian stories in which one's fate
is personified and appears in the role of a guardian angel,
or good and bad fairy. In the same way fortune is personi-
fied in several stories. The best example of the former class,
which has also a point of contact with the latter, is found in
Gonzenbach, No. 21, and is entitled:
FAIRY TALES. IO5
XXVIII. THE STORY OF CATHERINE AND HER FATE.
There was once a merchant who was very rich and had
greater treasures than the king. In his reception room
stood three wonderfully beautiful seats. One was of silver,
the second of gold, and the third of diamonds. This mer-
chant had an only daughter, whose name was Catherine, and
who was fairer than the sun.
One day as Catherine was sitting in her chamber, the
door suddenly opened of itself, and there entered a tall,
beautiful lady, who held in her hand a wheel. " Catherine,"
said she, " when would you rather enjoy your life, in youth
or in old age ? " Catherine gazed at her in amazement, and
could make no answer. The beautiful lady again asked :
" Catherine, when would you rather enjoy your life, in youth
or in old age ? " Then thought Catherine : " If I say in
youth, I must suffer for it in old age ; wherefore I will
rather enjoy my life in old age, and in youth God's will be
done." So she answered : "In old age." "Be it as you
have wished," said the beautiful woman, turned her wheel
once, and disappeared. Now this beautiful tall lady was
poor Catherine's Fate.
A few days later, her father suddenly received news that
some of his ships had been wrecked in a storm ; a few days
after, he learned that several more of his ships had foun-
dered ; and to cut the matter short, scarcely a month had
passed when he was himself deprived of all his riches. He
had to sell all that he had, and this, too, he lost, until at
last he remained poor and wretched. From grief he fell ill
and died.
So poor Catherine remained all alone in the world, with-
out a penny, and with no one to give her shelter. She
thought : " I will go to another city and seek me a place
there." So she set out and walked until she came to an-
other city. As she was going through the streets a noble
lady happened to be standing by the window, and asked
her : " Where are you going, all alone, pretty maiden ? "
" Ah ! noble lady, I am a poor girl, and would like to find a
106 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
place to earn my bread. Can you not find use for me ? "
So the noble lady received her, and Catherine served her
faithfully.
Some days later the lady said one evening : " Catherine,
I must go out for a time, and will lock the house door."
"Very well," said Catherine, and after her mistress had
gone she took her work and sat down and sewed. Suddenly
the door opened, and her Fate entered. " So ? " she cried,
"are you here, Catherine? and do you think now that I
am going to leave you in peace ? " With these words, her
Fate ran to all the cupboards, dragged out the linen and
clothes of Catherine's mistress, and tore everything into a
thousand pieces. Catherine thought : " Woe is me if my
mistress returns and finds everything in this condition ; she
will certainly kill me ! " And in her anguish she opened
the door and fled. Her Fate, however, gathered up all the
torn and ruined things, made them whole, and laid them
away in their places. When the mistress returned she called
Catherine, but Catherine was nowhere to be seen. " Can
she have robbed me ? " she thought ; but when she looked
about, nothing was gone. She was very much astonished,
but Catherine did not return, but hastened on until she
came to another city. As she was passing through the
streets, another lady, standing by the window, asked her :
" Where are you going, all alone, pretty maiden ? " " Ah !
noble lady, I am a poor girl, and would like a place to earn
my bread. Can you not make use of me ? " Then the lady
took her in, and Catherine served her and thought now she
could rest in peace. It lasted, however, but a few days.
One evening, when her mistress was out, her Fate appeared
again and addressed her harshly : " So, here you are now ?
Do you think you can escape me ? " Then the Fate tore
and destroyed everything that it found, so that poor Cath-
erine again fled, in her anguish of heart. To cut the matter
short, poor Catherine led this frightful life seven years, fly-
ing from one city to another, and everywhere attempting to
find a place. Her Fate always appeared after a few days,
and tore and destroyed her employers' things, so that the
FAIRY TALES. 107
poor girl had to flee. As soon as she had left the house the
Fate restored everything and put it in its place.
Finally, after seven years, her Fate seemed weary of al-
ways persecuting the unfortunate Catherine. One day
Catherine came again to a city and saw a lady standing at
a window, who asked her : " Where are you going, all alone,
pretty girl ? " " Ah ! noble lady, I am a poor girl, and
would like to find a place to earn my bread. Can you not
find use for me ? " The lady answered : " I will give you a
place willingly, but you must perform daily a service, and I
do not know whether you have strength for it." "Tell me
what it is," said Catherine, " and if I can, I will do it."
" Do you see yonder high mountain ? " asked the lady.
" Every morning you must carry up there a large board
covered with fresh bread, and cry with a loud voice : ' O
my mistress' Fate ! O my mistress' Fate ! O my mistress'
Fate ! ' thrice. Then my Fate will appear and receive the
bread." "I will do that willingly," said Catherine, and the
lady took her into her service.
Now Catherine remained years with this lady, and every
morning she took a board with fresh bread and carried it
up the mountain, and when she had called three times :
" O my mistress' Fate ! " there appeared a beautiful tall
lady, who received the bread. Catherine often wept when
she thought that she, who had once been so rich, must now
serve like a poor maid. One day her mistress said to her :
"Catherine, why do you weep so much ? " Then Catherine
told her how ill it had fared with her, and her mistress said :
" I will tell you what, Catherine, when you take the bread
to the mountain to-morrow, ask my Fate to try and per-
suade your Fate to leave you now in peace. Perhaps that
will do some good." This advice pleased poor Catherine,
and the next morning, after she had taken the bread to her
mistress' Fate, she disclosed her trouble to her, and said :
" O my mistress' Fate, beg my Fate to persecute me no
longer." Then the Fate answered: "Ah, poor girl, your
Fate is just now covered with seven coverlets, so that she
cannot hear you ; but when you come to-morrow I will take
108 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
you to her." After Catherine had returned home, her mis-
tress' Fate went to the young girl's Fate and said : " Dear
sister, why are you never weary of making poor Catherine
suffer ? Permit her again to see some happy days." The
Fate answered : " Bring her to me to-morrow and I will
give her something that will help her out of all her trouble."
When Catherine brought the bread the next morning, her
mistress' Fate conducted her to her own Fate, who was
covered with seven coverlets. Her Fate gave her a small
skein of silk, and said : " Preserve it carefully ; it will be of
use to you." Then Catherine went home and said to her
mistress : " My Fate has given me a little skein of silk ; what
shall I do with it ? It is not worth three grant." "Well,"
said her mistress, " preserve it ; who knows of what use it
may be ? "
Now it happened, some time after this, that the young
king was to marry, and on that account had royal garments
made for himself. As the tailor was about to sew a beauti-
ful dress, there was no silk of the same color to be found.
So the king proclaimed throughout the whole land that
whoever had such silk should bring it to the court and
would be well rewarded. " Catherine," said her mistress,
" your skein is of that color ; take it to the king so that he
may make you a handsome present." Then Catherine put
on her best clothes, and went to the Court ; and when she
appeared before the king, she was so beautiful that he could
not keep his eyes from her. " Royal Majesty," said she,
" I have brought you a little skein of silk, of the color that
could not be found." "I will tell you what, royal Majesty,"
cried one of his ministers, " we will pay the maiden for the
silk with its weight in gold." The king was satisfied and
they brought a balance ; in one scale the king laid the silk,
in the other, a gold coin. Now just imagine what happened :
no matter how many gold coins the king laid in the scale,
the silk was always heavier. Then the king had a larger
balance brought, and threw all his treasures into the scale,
but the silk still weighed the more. Then the king at last
took his crown from his head and placed it with all the
FAIRY TALES. IO9
other treasures, and behold ! the scale with gold sank and
weighed exactly as much as the silk. " Where did you get
this silk?" asked the king. "Royal Majesty, it was a
present from my mistress," answered Catherine. " No,
that is impossible," cried the king. " If you do not tell me
the truth, I will have your head cut off." Then Catherine
related all that had happened to her since she was a rich
maiden.
Now there lived at the court a wise lady, who said :
" Catherine, you have suffered much, but you will now see
happy days ; and that it was not until the golden crown was
put in the scale that the balance was even, is a sign that
you will be a queen." " If she is to be a queen," cried the
king, " I will make her one, for Catherine and none other
shall be my wife." And so it was ; the king informed his
betrothed that he no longer wished her, and married the
fair Catherine. And after Catherine in her youth had suf-
fered so much, she enjoyed nothing but happiness in her
old age, and was happy and contented.4
In the class of stories of which " The Bucket " is an ex-
ample, we have seen the good sister rewarded, and the
naughty one punished. Another well-known moral story
is the one in which a king's daughter is punished for her
pride, in refusing to marry a suitable lover, by being made
to marry the first one who asks her hand. This is the case
in the Grimm story " King Thrush-Beard," or rather the
king gives his proud daughter to the first beggar who comes
to the palace gate. The same occurs in one of the Italian
versions of this story, but usually the haughty princess,
after refusing a noble suitor, either falls in love with the
same suitor, who has disguised himself as a person of igno-
ble rank, or she sells herself to the disguised lover for some
finery with which he tempts her. At all events, her pride
is thoroughly humbled. An example of the more common
version is found in Coronedi-Berti's Bolognese tales (No.
1 5), and is as follows :
1 10 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
XXIX. THE CRUMB IN THE BEARD.
There was once a king who had a daughter whose name
was Stella. She was indescribably beautiful, but was so
whimsical and hard to please that she drove her father
to despair. There had been princes and kings who had
sought her in marriage, but she had found defects in them
all and would have none of them. She kept advancing in
years, and her father began to despair of knowing to whom
he should leave his crown. So he summoned his council,
and discussed the matter, and was advised to give a great
banquet, to which he should invite all the princes and
kings of the surrounding countries, for, as they said, there
cannot fail to be among so many, some one who should
please the princess, who was to hide behind a door, so that
she could examine them all as she pleased. When the
king heard this advice, he gave the orders necessary for
the banquet, and then called his daughter, and said : " Lis-
ten, my little Stella, I have thought to do so and so, to see
if I can find any one to please you ; behold, my daughter,
my hair is white, and I must have some one to leave my
crown to." Stella bowed her head, saying that she would
take care to please him. Princes and kings then began to
arrive at the court, and when it was time for the banquet,
they all seated themselves at the table. You can imagine
what sort of a banquet that was, and how the hall was
adorned : gold and silver shone from all their necks ; in
the four corners of the room were four fountains, which
continually sent forth wine and the most exquisite per-
fumes. While the gentlemen were eating, Stella was be-
hind a door, as has been said, and one of her maids, who
was near by, pointed out to her now this one, now that one.
"See, your Majesty, what a handsome youth that is there."
"Yes, but he has too large a nose." "And the one near
your father ? " " He has eyes that look like saucers."
" And that other at the head of the table ? " " He has too
large a mouth ; he looks as if he liked to eat." In short, she
found fault with all but one, who, she said, pleased her, but
FAIRY TALES. Ill
that he must be a very dirty fellow, for he had a crumb on
his beard after eating. The youth heard her say this, and
swore vengeance. You must know that he was the son of
the king of Green Hill, and the handsomest youth that
could be seen. When the banquet was finished and the
guests had departed, the king called Stella and asked :
" What news have you, my child ? " She replied, that the
only one who pleased her was the one with the crumb in
his beard, but that she believed him to be a dirty fellow and
did not want him. " Take care, my daughter, you will re-
pent it," answered her father, and turned away.
You must know that Stella's chamber looked into a
court-yard into which opened the shop of a baker. One
night, while she was preparing to retire, she heard, in the
room where they sifted the meal, some one singing so well
and with so much grace that it went to her heart. She ran
to the window and listened until he finished. Then she
began to ask her maid who the person with the beautiful
voice could be, saying she would like to know. " Leave it
to me, your Majesty," said the maid; "I will inform you
to-morrow." Stella could not wait for the next day ; and,
indeed, early the next day she learned that the one who
sang was the sifter. That evening she heard him sing
again, and stood by the window until everything became
quiet. But that voice had so touched her heart that she
told her maid that the next day she would try and see who
had that fine voice. In the morning she placed herself by
the window, and soon saw the youth come forth. She was
enchanted by his beauty as soon as she saw him, and fell
desperately in love with him.
Now you must know that this was none other than the
prince who was at the banquet, and whom Stella had called
" dirty." So he had disguised himself in such a way that
she could not recognize him, and was meanwhile preparing
his revenge. After he had seen her once or twice he began
to take off his hat and salute her. She smiled at him, and
appeared at the window every moment. Then they began
to exchange words, and in the evening he sang under her
112 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
window. In short, they began to make love in good earnest,
and when he learned that she was free, he began to talk
about marrying her. She consented at once, but asked him
what he had to live on. " I have n't a penny," said he ; "the
little I earn is hardly enough to feed me." Stella encour-
aged him, saying that she would give him all the money and
things he wanted. To punish Stella for her pride, her fa-
ther and the prince's father had an understanding, and pre-
tended not to know about this love affair, and let her carry
away from the palace all she owned. During the day Stella
did nothing but make a great bundle of clothes, of silver,
and of money, and at night the disguised prince came under
the balcony, and she threw it down to him. Things went
on in this manner some time, and finally one evening he
said to her: "Listen. The time has come to elope." Stella
could not wait for the hour, and the next night she quietly
tied a cord about her and let herself down from the window.
The prince aided her to the ground, and then took her arm
and hastened away. He led her a long ways to another
city, where he turned down a street and opened the first
door he met. They went down a long passage ; finally
they reached a little door, which he opened, and they found
themselves in a hole of a place which had only one window,
high up. The furniture consisted of a straw bed, a bench,
and a dirty table. You can imagine that when Stella saw
herself in this place she thought she should die. When
the prince saw her so amazed, he said : " What is the mat-
ter ? Does the house not please you ? Do you not know
that I am a poor man ? Have you been deceived ? " " What
have you done with all the things I gave you ? " " Oh, I
had many debts, and I have paid them, and then I have done
with the rest what seemed good to me. You must make
up your mind to work and gain your bread as I have done.
You must know that I am a porter of the king of this city,
and I often go and work at the palace. To-morrow, they
have told me, the washing is to be done, so you must rise
early and go with me there. I will set you to work with
the other women, and when it is time for them to go home
FAIRY TALES. 113
to dinner, you will say that you are not hungry, and while
you are alone, steal two shirts, conceal them under your
skirt, and carry them home to me." Poor Stella wept bit-
terly, saying it was impossible for her to do that ; but her
husband replied : " Do what I say, or I shall beat you."
The next morning her husband rose with the dawn, and
made her get up, too. He had bought her a striped skirt
and a pair of coarse shoes, which he made her put on,
and then took her to the palace with him, conducted her
to the laundry and left her, after he had introduced her
as his wife, saying that she should remember what awaited
her at home. Then the prince ran and dressed himself
like a king, and waited at the gate of the palace until it was
time for his wife to come. Meanwhile poor Stella did as
her husband had commanded, and stole the shirts. As she
was leaving the palace, she met the king, who said : " Pretty
girl, you are our porter's wife, are you not ? " Then he
asked her what she had under her skirt, and shook her until
the shirts dropped out, and the king cried : " See there !
the porter's wife is a thief ; she has stolen some shirts."
Poor Stella ran home in tears, and her husband followed her
when he had put on his disguise again. When he reached
home Stella told him all that had happened and begged
him not to send her to the palace again ; but he told her
that the next day they were to bake, and she must go into
the kitchen and help, and steal a piece of dough. Every-
thing happened as on the previous day. Stella's theft was
discovered, and when her husband returned he found her
crying like a condemned soul, and swearing that she had
rather be killed than go to the palace again. He told her,
however, that the king's son was to be married the next
day, and that there was to be a great banquet, and she must
go into the kitchen and wash the dishes. He added that
when she had the chance she must steal a pot of broth and
hide it about her so that no one should see it. She had to
do as she was told, and had scarcely concealed the pot when
the king's son .came into the kitchen and told his wife she
must come to the ball that had followed the banquet. She
1 14 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
did not wish to go, but he took her by the arm and led her
into the midst of the festival. Imagine how the poor woman
felt at that ball, dressed as she was, and with the pot of
broth! The king began to poke his sword at her in jest,
until he hit the pot, and all the broth ran on the floor.
Then all began to jeer her and laugh, until poor Stella
fainted away from shame, and they had to go and get some
vinegar to revive her. At last the king's mother came for-
ward and said : " Enough ; you have revenged yourself suf-
ficiently." Then turning to Stella : " Know that this is
your mother, and that he has done this to correct your
pride and to be avenged on you for calling him dirty."
Then she took her by the arm and led her to another room,
where her maids dressed her as a queen. Her father and
mother then appeared and kissed and embraced her. Her
husband begged her pardon for what he had done, and they
made peace and always lived in harmony. From that day
on she was never haughty, and had learned to her cost
that pride is the greatest fault.5
A curious feature in Italian stories is the part played by
dolls or puppets. They sometimes serve to represent an
absent mistress, or to take her place and receive the brunt
of the husband's anger. The most peculiar of these doll-
stories are found in the south of Italy ; the one that fol-
lows is from Naples {Nov. fior. p. 333) and is entitled :
XXX. THE FAIRY ORLANDA.
There was once a merchant who had no children. He
was obliged to go away for merchandise. His wife said to
him : " Here is a ring ; put it on your finger. You must
bring me a doll as large as I am ; one that can move, sew,
and dress herself. If you forget, this ring will turn red,
and your steamer will go neither forward nor backward."
And so it happened. He forgot the doll, embarked on the
steamer, and it would not move. The pilot said : " Sir,
have you forgotten anything ? " to all the gentlemen who
FAIRY TALES. 115
were there. "No, sir; nothing." At the end of the
steamer was this merchant. "Sir, have you forgotten any-
thing ; for the steamer cannot move ? " He looked at his
hand and replied : " Yes, I have forgotten something — my
wife's doll." He landed, got the doll, reembarked, and the
steamer continued its way. On his arrival at Naples, he
carried the doll to his wife, well dressed and elegant ; it
seemed like a very handsome young girl. His wife, well
pleased, talked to the doll, and they both worked near the
balcony. Opposite lived a king's son, who fell in love with
the doll, and became ill from his passion. The queen, who
saw that her son was ill, asked : " My son, what is the mat-
ter with you ? Tell your mamma. To-day or to-morrow we
die, and you reign ; and if you take an illness and die, who
will reign ? " He answered : " Mamma, I have taken this ill-
ness because there is a young girl, the daughter of the mer-
chant who lives opposite, who is so beautiful that she has
enamored me." The queen said : " Yes, my son, I shall
marry you to her. Were she the daughter of a scavenger,
you shall marry her." " You would do a good thing. Now
let us send for the merchant." They sent a servant to the
merchant's house. " Her Majesty wishes you at the pal-
ace ! " " What does she want ? " " She must speak with
you." The merchant went to the palace, and asked :
" Majesty, what do you wish ? " " Have you a daughter ? "
" No, Majesty." " What do you mean ? My son has
fallen ill from the love he has conceived for your daugh-
ter." "Your Majesty, I tell you it is a doll, and not a
human being." " I don't want to hear nonsense ! If you
don't present your daughter to me in a fortnight, your
head will fall under the guillotine." (Do you not know
what the guillotine is ? It is the gallows. He was to be
hung if he did not take her his daughter within a fort-
night.) The merchant went home, weeping. His wife
said : " What is the matter ; what has the king said to you
at the palace, to make you weep ? " " Can you not guess
what has happened to me ? The king's son has fallen ill
for the sake of the doll you have ! " " He has fallen ill ?
Il6 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
did he not see that it was a doll ? " " He would not believe
it, and says it is my daughter, and that if I do not bring
her to him within a fortnight, my head will fall under the
guillotine." "Well," said his wife, "take the doll, and
carry her out into the country, and see what will happen."
He did so, and while he was going along, all confused, he
met an old man who asked him : " Merchant, what are you
doing ? " " Ah, my old man, why should I tell you ? " " I
know all." Then said the merchant: "Since you know
all, find some remedy for my life." The old man said :
" Exactly. Go to such and such a place, where there is a
fairy, who is called the fairy Orlanda. She has a palace
with no doorkeeper, and no stairway. Here is a violin and
a silk ladder. When you reach this palace, begin to play.
The fairy and all her twelve maidens will appear at the win-
dow. This fairy Orlanda can give you help."
The merchant continued his journey, and found the pal-
ace without a doorkeeper, and with no stairway. He be-
gan to play the violin, and the fairy and all her twelve dam-
sels appeared and said : " What do you want that you call
us ? " " Ah ! fairy Orlanda, help me ! " " What help do
you want ? " "I have this doll, and the king's son has
fallen in love with it, and is ill. What shall I do ? If I do
not present her to him in a fortnight my head will be cut
off." The fairy Orlanda said: "Put this ladder to the
wall. Give me the doll. Wait two hours and I will give
her back to you again." He waited two hours and then
the fairy appeared : " Here is your daughter. She will
speak to all, to the king, to the queen, but not to the
prince. Farewell." The fairy Orlanda disappeared within,
and the merchant departed with his daughter. He took
her home to his wife. The doll said : "Mamma, how do
you do?" "I am very well, my daughter. Where have
you been ? " "I have been into the country with papa,
and now I have returned." In a fortnight the merchant
dressed her elegantly and carried her to the palace. As
soon as the king saw her he said to the queen : " My son
was right ; she is a beautiful girl ! " She went into the
FAIRY TALES. 117
gallery and spoke with the king and queen, but did not
speak to the prince. The mortified prince thought : " She
speaks to papa, she speaks to mamma, but not to me !
What does it mean ? Perhaps she does not speak to me
from embarrassment." They were married, but even then
she did not speak to him. So the prince was obliged to
separate from her, and they lived in two rooms apart. The
prince, meanwhile, courted another princess. One morn-
ing, while he was breakfasting with his sweetheart, his wife
called a servant : " Come here ; is the prince at table ? "
" Yes, Highness." "Wait!" She cutoff her two hands
and put them in the oven, and there came out a roast, with
ten sausages. " Carry these to the prince." " Prince, the
princess sends you this." He asked : " How was it made ? "
The servant replied : " Prince, she cut off her two hands
and put them in the oven. She amazed me." "Enough,"
said the prince, " let us eat them." His sweetheart said :
" I can do it, too." So she cut off her hands and put them
in the oven ; but they were burned and she died. " Oh,
what have you done to me ! you have killed one for me ! "
said the prince. After a time he made love to another.
The first time he sat at table with her, the princess called
another servant : " Servant, where are you going ? " "I am
going, Majesty, to the prince's table." "Wait ! " She cut
off her arms, and put them in the oven, and there came out
a roast, with two blood-puddings. She said: "Carry it to
the prince, at table." " Prince ! " " Go away, I don't want
to hear any nonsense." " But listen ; let me tell you ! "
" Well, tell away." So the servant told how the princess had
cut off her arms (which had grown out again) and put them
in the oven, and the roast and puddings had come out. The
second sweetheart tried to do the same and died. After a
while the prince fell in love with another, and the same
thing was repeated. The princess cut off her legs and put
them in the oven, and a large roast came out, with two
larded hams. The third sweetheart tried to do the same,
and died like the others. Then the prince said : " Ah ! she
has done it to three for me ! Unhappy me ! I will not
make love to any more."
Il8 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
During the night when the princess had gone to bed, the
lamp said : " Lady, I want to drink." " Oil-cruet, give the
lamp a drink." "Lady, it has hurt me." " Oil-cruet, why
did you hurt the lamp ? How beautiful is the fairy Or-
landa ! How beautiful is the fairy Orlanda ! How beauti-
ful is the fairy Orlanda ! " So she did all night until day.
All these things were enchanted : the lamp and the oil-
cruet. The prince, who heard it, said one day to a servant :
"This evening you must enter the princess' room. You
must spend the night under her bed. You must see what
she does in the night." The servant did so, and the same
thing was repeated with the lamp and the oil-cruet. The
servant told the prince, who said: "To-night, I will go."
At night he crept under his wife's bed. The same thing
was repeated. The lamp said : " Lady, I want to drink! "
"Oil-cruet, give the lamp a drink." "Lady, it has hurt
me." " Oil-cruet, why have you hurt the lamp ? How beau-
tiful is the fairy Orlanda ! " The whole night she repeated :
" How beautiful is the fairy Orlanda ! " The prince re-
sponded : "Blessed be the fairy Orlanda!" "Ah!" said
the princess, " did it need so much to say a word ? " Then
they embraced and kissed each other, and remained con-
tented and happy.6
We now pass to an amusing class of stories, in which the
hero comes in possession of enchanted objects and loses
them, finally regaining them in various ways. There are
three versions of this class. In the first, the hero loses
the objects by the cunning of a woman, and regains them
by means of two kinds of fruits, one of which produces
some bodily defect and the other cures it. In the second,
the episode of the fruits is wanting, and the owner regains
his property either by preventing the princess from cheat-
ing him at play or by making her fall in love with him. In
the third, a person (usually a landlord) substitutes worthless
objects for two enchanted ones, which are recovered by
means of a third magic object (usually a stick), which beats
until the stolen property is restored.7
FAIRY TALES. H9
To illustrate the first version, we will give a Sicilian story
from Gonzenbach (No. 31), which is entitled :
XXXI. THE SHEPHERD WHO MADE THE KING'S
DAUGHTER LAUGH.
There was once a king and a queen who had an only
daughter, whom they loved very dearly. When she was fif-
teen years old she became suddenly very sad and would not
laugh any more. So the king issued a proclamation that
whoever made his daughter laugh, whether he were a prince,
peasant, or beggar, should become her husband. Many made
the attempt, but none succeeded. Now there was a poor
woman who had an only son, who was idle and would not
learn any trade ; so finally his mother sent him to a farmer
to keep his sheep. One day, as he was driving the sheep
over the fields, he came to a well, and bent over it to drink.
As he did so he saw a handsome ring on the wheel, and as
it pleased him, he put it on the ring finger of his right
hand. He had scarcely put it on, however, when he began
to sneeze violently, and could not stop until he had acci-
dentally removed the ring. Then his sneezing ceased as
suddenly as it had begun. " Oh ! " thought he, " if the ring
has this virtue, I had better try my fortune with it, and
see whether it will not make the king's daughter laugh."
So he put the ring on his left hand, and no longer had to
sneeze. Then he drove the sheep home, took leave of his
master, and set out toward the city where the king lived.
He was obliged, however, to pass through a dense forest
which was so extensive that it grew dark before he left it.
He thought: "If the robbers find me here they will take
away my ring, and then I should be a ruined man. I would
rather climb a tree and spend the night there." So he
climbed a tree, tied himself fast with his belt, and soon fell
asleep. Before long, thirteen robbers came and sat down
under the tree, and talked so loud that the shepherd awoke.
The captain of the robbers said : " Let each relate what he
has accomplished to-day ; " and each exhibited what he had
120 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
taken. The thirteenth, however, pulled out a tablecloth, a
purse, and a whistle, and said : " I have gained to-day the
greatest treasures, for these three things I have taken from
a monk, and each of them has a particular virtue. If any-
one spreads out the tablecloth and says : ' My little table-
cloth, give me macaroni, or roast meat,' or whatever one
will, he will find everything there immediately. Likewise
the purse will give all the money one wants ; and whoever
hears the whistle must dance whether he will or no." The
robbers at once put the power of the tablecloth to the test,
and then went to sleep, the captain laying the precious arti-
cles near himself. When they were all snoring hard the shep-
herd descended, took the three articles, and crept away.
The next day he came to the city where the king lived,
and went straight to the palace. " Announce me to the
king," said he to the servants ; " I will try to make the
king's daughter laugh." The servants tried to dissuade
him, but he insisted on being led before the king, who took
him into a large room, in which was the king's daughter,
sitting on a splendid throne and surrounded by the whole
court. " If I am to make the princess laugh," said the
shepherd to the king, " you must first do me the kindness to
put this ring on the ring-finger of your right hand." The
king had scarcely done so when he began to sneeze vio-
lently, and could not stop, but ran up and down the room,
sneezing all the time. The entire court began to laugh,
and the king's daughter could not stay sober, but had to
run away laughing. Then the shepherd went up to the
king, took off the ring, and said : " Your Majesty, I have
made the princess laugh ; to me belongs the reward."
" What ! you worthless shepherd ! " cried the king. " You
have not only made me the laughing-stock of the whole
court, but now you want my daughter for your wife !
Quick ! take the ring from him, and throw him into
prison."
While there the wonderful tablecloth provides him and
his companions with plenty to eat, and when it is discov-
ered and taken from him by the king's orders, the purse
FAIRY TALES. 121
enables them all to live in comfort. That is also discov-
ered, and nothing is left but the whistle. " Well ! " thought
the shepherd, " if we can't eat any more, we will at least
dance ; " and he pulled out his pipe and began to play on
it, and all the prisoners began to dance, and the guards
with them, and between them all they made a great noise.
When the king heard it he came running there with his
servants, and had to dance like all the rest, but found
breath enough to order the pipe to be taken away from the
shepherd, and all became quiet again.
So now the shepherd had nothing left, and remained in
prison some time, until he found an old file, and one night
filed through the iron bars and escaped. He wandered
about all day, and at last came to the same forest where he
had formerly been. All at once he saw a large fig-tree
bearing the most beautiful fruit, — on one side black figs,
on the other, white ones. " That is something I have never
seen," thought the shepherd, — "a fig-tree that bears black
and white figs at the same time. I must try them."
Scarcely had he tasted them when he felt something move
on the top of his head, and putting his hand up, found he
had two long horns. " Unhappy man ! " he cried ; " what
shall I do?" However, as he was very hungry, he picked
some of the white figs and ate them, and immediately one
of the horns disappeared, and also the other after he had
eaten a few more white figs. " My fortune is made ! " he
thought. " The king will have to give me all my things
back, and his daughter in the bargain."
The shepherd disguised himself and went to the city with
two baskets of figs, — one of the black and one of the white
kind, the former of which he sold to the king's cook, whom
he met in the market place. While the king was at the
table the servant put the figs before him, and he was much
pleased with them, and gave some to his wife and daugh-
ter ; the rest he ate himself. Scarcely had they eaten them
when they saw with terror the long horns that had grown
from their heads. The queen and her daughter began to
weep, and the king, in a rage, called the cook and asked
122 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
him who had sold him the figs. " A peasant in the mar-
ket," answered the cook. " Go at once and bring him here,"
cried the king.
The shepherd had remained near the palace, and as the
cook came out, he went up to him with the basket of white
figs in his hand. " What miserable figs did you sell me this
morning ! " cried out the cook to him. " As soon as the
king, queen, and princess had eaten your figs, great horns
grew on their heads." " Be quiet," said the shepherd ; " I
have a remedy here, and can soon remove the horns. Take
me to the king." He was led before the king, who asked
him what kind of figs he had sold. "Be quiet, your Maj-
esty," said the shepherd, " and eat these figs," at the same
time giving him a white one ; and as soon as the king had
eaten it one of the horns disappeared. " Now," said the
shepherd, " before I give you any more of my figs you must
give me back my whistle ; if not, you may keep your horn."
The king in his terror gave up the whistle, and the shep-
herd handed the queen a fig. When one of the queen's
horns had disappeared, he said : " Now give me my purse
back, or else I will take my figs away." So the king gave
him his purse, and the shepherd removed one of the
princess' horns. Then he demanded his tablecloth ; and
when he had received it he gave the king another fig, so
that the second horn disappeared. " Now give me my
ring," he said ; and the king had to give him his ring be-
fore he would remove the queen's horn. The only one left
now was the princess, and the shepherd said : " Now fulfil
your promise and marry me to the princess ; otherwise she
may keep her horn as long as she lives." So the princess
had to marry him, and after the wedding he gave her an-
other fig to eat, so that her last horn also disappeared.
They had a merry wedding, and when the old king died the
shepherd became kins£ and so they remained contented and
happy, and we like a bundle of roots.8
The second version of this story is represented by but
three examples, none of them worth giving at length. In
FAIRY TALES. 1 23
one (Pomiglianesi, p. no) the princess wins the magic ob-
jects (purse, cloak that renders invisible, and horn that
blows out soldiers) at play. The loser disguises himself as
a priest and confesses the princess when she is ill, and
makes her give back the objects she has won or stolen.
In a Florentine version {Nov. fior. p. 349), the owner of
the objects, a poor shepherd's son, pretends to be the son
of the king of Portugal. He plays with the princess and
wins, but his true origin is discovered and he is thrown
into prison. There he makes use of the magic tablecloth,
which he sells to the king for the privilege of passing a
night in the princess' room. The same payment is asked
for the box that fills itself with money, and the little or-
gan that makes every one dance. The shepherd, of course,
becomes the princess' husband and inherits the kingdom
when the king dies. In the Sicilian story (Pitre, No. 26)
the fairies give Peter the purse, tablecloth, and violin,
and he goes to play chess with the daughter of the king of
Spain, who is to marry whoever beats her at the game.
She cheats and wins, and Peter is thrown into prison.
There he uses the tablecloth, and when the princess hears
of it, she proposes to play for it. Again she cheats by
changing a- chessman while Peter is looking away, and the
loser is thrown into prison again. They play again for the
magic violin, and Peter, who has been warned in prison by
other losers of the princess' tricks, keeps a sharp lookout,
detects, and defeats her. They are married, and Peter re-
leases all the defeated players from jail, and afterward gets
rid of them by means of the violin.9
The third version is the most popular one ; the following
example of it is from Nerucci's collection of Montalese
tales (No. 43).
XXXII. THE ASS THAT LAYS MONEY.
There was once a poor widow with an only son, and whose
brother-in-law was a steward. One day she said to her
child : " Go to your uncle and ask him to give you some-
124 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
thing to keep you from starving." The boy went to the
farm and asked his uncle to help him a little. " We are
dying of hunger, uncle. My mother earns a little by weav-
ing, and I am too small to find anything. Be charitable to
us, for we are your relatives." The steward answered :
" Why not ? You should have come sooner and I would
have helped you the sooner. But now I will give you some-
thing to support you always, without need of anything more.
I will give you this little ass that lays money. You have
only to put a cloth under him, and he will fill it for you with
handsome coins. But take care ! Don't tell it, and don't
leave this animal with any one." The youth departed in
joy, and after he had travelled a long way, he stopped at an
inn to sleep, for his house was distant. He said to the
landlord : " Give me a lodging, but look ! my ass spends the
night with me." "What!" said the landlord, "what are
you thinking about ! It cannot be." The youth replied :
" Yes, it can be, because my ass does not leave my side."
They disputed a while, but the landlord finally consented ;
but he had some suspicions ; and when the boy and his
beast were shut in the room, he looked through the key-
hole, and saw that wonder of an ass that laid money in
abundance. " Bless me ! " cried the host. " I should be a
fool, indeed, if I let this piece of good fortune escape my
hands ! " He at once looked for another ass of the same
color and size, and while the lad was asleep, exchanged
them. In the morning the boy paid his bill and de-
parted, but on the way, the ass no longer laid any money.
The. stupefied child did not know what to think at first, but
afterward examining it more closely, it appeared to him
that the ass was not his, and straightway he returned to the
innkeeper, to complain of his deception. The landlord cried
out : " I wonder at your saying such a thing ! We are all
honest people here, and don't steal anything from anybody.
Go away, blockhead, or you will find something to remem-
ber a while."
The child, weeping, had to depart with his ass, and he
went back to his uncle's farm, and told him what had hap-
FAIRY TALES. 1 25
pened. The uncle said : " If you had not stopped at the
innkeeper's, you could not have met with this misfortune.
However, I have another present to help you and your
mother. But take care! Do not mention it to any one, and
take good care of it. Here it is. I give you a tablecloth,
and whenever you say : ' Tablecloth, make ready] after hav-
ing spread it out, you will see a fine repast at your pleas-
ure." The youth took the tablecloth in- delight, thanked
his uncle, and departed ; but like the fool he was, he
stopped again at the same inn. He said to the landlord :
" Give me a room and you need not prepare anything to
eat. I have all I want with me." The crafty innkeeper
suspected that there was something beneath this, and when
the lad was in his room, he looked through the key-hole,
and saw the tablecloth preparing the supper. The host
exclaimed : " What good luck for my inn ! I will not let
it escape me." He quickly looked for another tablecloth
like this one, with the same embroidery and fringe, and
while the child was sleeping, he exchanged it for the magic
one, so that in the morning the lad did not perceive the
knavery. Not until he had reached a forest where he was
hungry, did he want to make use of the tablecloth. But
it was in vain that he spread it out and cried : " Tablecloth,
make ready." The tablecloth was not the same one, and
made nothing ready for him. In despair the boy went
back to the innkeeper to complain, and the landlord would
have thrashed him if he had not run away, and he ran un-
til he reached his uncle's. His uncle, when he saw him in
such a plight, said : " Oh ! what is the matter ? " " Uncle !"
said the boy, " the same innkeeper has changed the table-
cloth, too, for me." The uncle was on the point of giving
the dunce a good thrashing ; but afterward, seeing that it
was a child, he calmed his anger, and said : " I understand ;
but I will give you a remedy by which you can get back
everything from that thief of a landlord. Here it is ! It is
a stick. Hide it under your bolster ; and if any one comes
to rob you of it, say to it, in a low voice : ' Beat, beat ! ' and
it will continue to do so until you say to it, ' Stop.' "
126 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
Imagine how joyfully the boy took the stick ! It was a
handsome polished stick, with a gold handle, and delighted
one only to see it. So the boy thanked his uncle for his
kindness, and after he had journeyed a while, he came to
the same inn. He said : " Landlord, I wish to lodge here
to-night." The landlord at once drew his conclusions
about the stick, which the boy carried openly in his hands,
and at night when the lad appeared to be sound asleep, but
really was on the watch, the landlord felt softly under the
bolster and drew out the stick. The boy, although it was
dark, perceived the theft and said in a low voice : " Beat,
beat, beat ! " Suddenly blows were rained down without
mercy ; everything broken to pieces, the chest of drawers, the
looking-glass, all the chairs, the glass in the windows ; and
the landlord, and those that came at the noise, beaten nearly
to death. The landlord screamed to split his throat : " Save
me, boy, I am dead ! " The boy answered : " What ! I
will not deliver you, if you do not give me back my prop-
erty, — the ass that lays gold, and the tablecloth that pre-
pares dinner." And if the landlord did not want to die of
the blows, he had to consent to the boy's wishes.
When he had his things back, the boy went home to his
mother and told her what had happened to him, and then
said : " Now, we do not need anything more. I have an
ass that lays money, a tablecloth that prepares food at my
will, and a stick to defend me from whoever annoys me."
So that woman and her son, who, from want had become
rich enough to cause every one envy, wished from pride
to invite their relatives to a banquet, to make them ac-
quainted with their wealth. On the appointed day the rela-
tives came to the woman's new house ; but noon strikes,
one o'clock strikes, it is almost two, and in the kitchen the
fire is seen extinguished, and there were no provisions any-
where. "Are they playing a joke on us?" said the rela-
tives. " We shall have to depart with dry teeth." At that
moment, however, the clock struck two, and the lad, after
spreading the cloth on the table, commanded : " Tablecloth,
prepare a grand banquet." In short, those people had a
FAIRY TALES. \2J
fine dinner and many presents in money, and the boy and
his mother remained in triumph and joy.10
The next story to which we shall direct our attention is
" Puss in Boots," which, in the form known to our children,
is of French origin, being one of the tales which Perrault
made so popular by his versions. Before Perrault, how-
ever, two literary versions of this story existed : one in
Straparola and one in the Pentamerone. There are, be-
sides, several popular versions of this story, which are
somewhat peculiar. The one that follows is from Sicily
(Pitre, No. 88).
XXXIII. DON JOSEPH PEAR.
There were once three brothers who owned a pear-tree
and lived on the pears. One day one of the brothers went
to pick these pears, and found that they had been gath-
ered. " Oh ! my brothers ! what shall we do, for our pears
have been picked ? " So the eldest went and remained
in the garden to guard the pear-tree during the night.
He fell asleep, however, and the next morning the second
brother came and said : " What have you done, my brother ?
Have you been sleeping ? Do you not see that the pears
have been picked ? To-night I will stay." That night
the second brother remained. The next morning the
youngest went there and saw more of the pears picked,
and said : " Were you the one that was going to keep a
good watch ? Go, I will stay here to-night ; we shall see
whether they can cheat me to my face." At night the
youngest brother began to play and dance under the pear-
tree ; while he was not playing, a fox, believing that the
youth had gone to sleep, came out and climbed the tree and
picked the rest of the pears. When it was coming down
the tree, the youth quickly aimed his gun at it and was
about to shoot. The fox said : " Don't shoot me, Don
Joseph ; for I will have you called Don Joseph Pear, and
will make you marry the king's daughter." Don Joseph
answered : " And where shall I see you again ? What has
128 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the king to do with you ? With one kick that he would give
you, you would never appear before him again." Howeverr
Don Joseph Pear from pity let her escape. The fox went
away to a forest and caught all sorts of game, squirrels,
hares, and quails, and carried them to the king ; so that it
was a sight. "Sir Majesty, Don Joseph Pear sends me;
you must accept this game." The king said : " Listen,
little fox, I accept this game ; but I have never heard this
Don Joseph Pear mentioned." The fox left the game there,
and ran away to Don Joseph. " Softly, Don Joseph, I have
taken the first step ; I have been to the king, and carried
him the first game ; and he accepted it."
A week later the fox went to the forest, caught the best
animals, squirrels, hares, birds, and took them to the king.
" Sir Majesty, Don Joseph Pear sends me to you with this
game." The king said to the fox : "My daughter, I don't
know who this Don Joseph Pear is ; I am afraid you have
been sent somewhere else ! I will tell you what : have this
Don Joseph Pear come here, so that I can make his ac-
quaintance." The fox wished to leave the game, and said :
" I am not mistaken ; my master sent me here ; and for a
token, he said that he wished the princess for his wife."
The fox returned to Don Joseph Pear, and said to him :
" Softly, things are going well ; after I have been to the
king again, the matter is settled." Don Joseph said : " I
will not believe you until I have my wife."
The fox now went to an ogress and said : " Friend,
friend, have we not to divide the gold and silver ? " " Cer-
tainly," said the ogress to the fox ; " go -and get the meas-
ure and we will divide the gold from the silver." The fox
went to the king and did not say : " The ogress wants to
borrow your measure ; " but she said : " Don Joseph Pear
wants to borrow, for a short time, your measure to separate
the gold from the silver." " What ! " said the king, " has
this Don Joseph Pear such great riches ? Is he then
richer than I ? " And he gave the fox the measure.
When he was alone with his daughter he said to her, in the
course of his conversation : " It must be that this Don
FAIRY TALES. 1 29
Joseph Pear is very rich, for he divides the gold and silver."
The fox carried the measure to. the ogress, who began to
measure and heap up gold and silver. When she had
finished, the fox went to Don Joseph Pear and dressed him
in new clothes, a watch with diamonds, rings, a ring for his
betrothed, and everything that was needed for the marriage.
" Behold, Don Joseph," said the fox, " I am going before
you now ; you go to the king and get your bride and then
go to the church." Don Joseph went to the king ; got his
bride, and they went to the church. After they were mar-
ried, the princess got into the carriage and the bridegroom
mounted his horse. The fox made a sign to Don Joseph
and said : " I will go before you ; you follow me and let the
carriages and horses come after."
They started on their way, and came to a sheep-farm
which belonged to the ogress. The boy who was tending
^the sheep, when he saw the fox approach, threw a stone
at her, and she began to weep. " Ah ! " she said to the
boy ; " now I will have you killed. Do you see those horse-
men ? Now I will have you killed ! " The youth, terrified,
said : " If you will not do anything to me I will not
throw any more stones at you." The fox replied : " If you
don't want to be killed, when the king passes and asks you
whose is this sheep-farm, you must tell him : ' Don Joseph
Pear's,' for Don Joseph Pear is his son-in-law, and he will
reward you." The cavalcade passed by, and the king asked
the boy : " Whose is this sheep-farm ? " The boy replied
at once : " Don Joseph Pear's." The king gave him some
money.
The fox kept about ten paces before Don Joseph, and the
latter did nothing but say in a low tone : " Where are you
taking me, fox ? What lands do I possess that you can
make me believed to be rich ? Where are we going ? "
The fox replied : "Softly, Don Joseph, and leave it to me."
They went on and on, and the fox saw another farm of cat-
tle, with the herdsman. The same thing happened there
as with the shepherd : the stone thrown and the fox's
threat. The king passed. " Herdsman, whose is this farm
9
.130 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
of cattle?" " Don Joseph Pear's." And the king, aston-
ished at his son-in-law's wealth, gave the herdsman a piece
of gold.
Don Joseph was pleased on the one hand, but on the
other was perplexed and did not know how it was to turn
out. When the fox turned around, Joseph said : "Where
are you taking me, fox ? You are ruining me." The fox
kept on as if she had nothing to do with the matter. Then
she came to another farm of horses and mares. The boy
who was tending them threw a stone at the fox. She fright-
ened him, and he told the king, when the king asked him,
that the farm was Don Joseph Pear's.
They kept on and came to a well, and near it the ogress
was sitting. The fox began to run and pretended to be in
great terror. " Friend, friend, see, they are coming ! These
horsemen will kill us ! Let us hide in the well, shall we not ? "
" Yes, friend," said the ogress in alarm. " Shall I throw you
down first ? " said the fox. " Certainly, friend." Then the
fox threw the ogress down the well, and then entered the
ogress' palace. Don Joseph Pear followed the fox, with his
wife, his father-in-law, and all the riders. The fox showed
them through all the apartments, displaying the riches, Don
Joseph Pear contented at having found his fortune, and the
king still more contented because his daughter was so
richly settled. There was a festival for a few days, and
then the king, well satisfied, returned to his own country
and his daughter remained with her husband. One day the
fox was looking out of the window, and Don Joseph Pear
and his wife were going up to the terrace. Don Joseph
Pear took up a little dust from the terrace and threw it at
the fox's head. The fox raised her eyes. " What is the
meaning of this, after the good I have done you, miserable
fellow ? " said she to Don Joseph. " Take care or I will
speak ! " The wife said to her husband : " What is the
matter with the fox, to speak thus ? " " Nothing," answered
her husband. " I threw a little dust at her and she got
angry." Don Joseph took up a little more dust and threw
it at the fox's head. The fox, in a rage, cried : " Joe, you
FAIRY TALES. 131
see I will speak ! and I declare that you were the owner of
a pear-tree ! " Don Joseph was frightened, for the fox told
his wife everything ; so he took an earthen jar and threw it
at the fox's head, and so got rid of her. Thus — the un-
grateful fellow that he was — he killed the one who had
done him so much kindness ; but nevertheless he enjoyed
all his wealth with his wife.11
The story we shall next consider is, in some of its ver-
sions, legendary in its nature, and might more properly,
perhaps, have been treated in chapter IV. Its legendary
character, however, is only accidental, and it really belongs
to the class of stories discussed in the present chapter.
The story in general maybe termed "The Thankful Dead,"
from the most important episode in it. The hero shows
some respect to a corpse (paying the debts it incurred when
alive, and so obtaining the right of burial for it), the soul of
which becomes the hero's good fairy, and assists him when
in danger, and finally brings about his good fortune. Around
this nucleus have gathered various episodes, which will be
mentioned in the notes. As an example of this story, we
give, on account of its rarity, the Istrian version (Ive, Nozze
Ive-Lorenzetto, III. p. 19).
XXXV. FAIR BROW.
There was once a father who had a son. After this son
had passed through school, his father said to him : " Son,
now that you have finished your studies, you are of an age
to travel. I will give you a vessel, in order that you may
load it and unload it, buy and sell. Be careful what you
do ; take care to make gains ! " He gave him six thousand
scudi to buy merchandise, and the son started on his voy-
age. On his journey, without having yet purchased any-
thing; he arrived at a town, and on the sea-shore he saw a
bier, and noticed that those who passed by left there some
a penny, some two ; they bestowed alms on the corpse.
The traveller went there and asked : " Why do you keep
132 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
this dead man here ? for the dead desires the grave? They
replied : " Because he owed a world of debts, and it is the
custom here to bmy no one tmtil his debts are paid. Until
this man's debts are paid by charity we cannot bury him."
" What is the use of keeping him here ? " he said. " Pro-
claim that all those whom he owed shall come to me and be
paid." Then they issued the proclamation and he paid the
debts ; and, poor fellow ! he did not have a farthing left —
not a penny of his capital. So he returned to his father's
house. " What news, son ? What means your return so
soon ? " He replied : " On crossing the sea, we encoun-
tered pirates ; they have robbed me of all my capital ! "
His father said : " No matter, son ; it is enough that they
have left you your life. Behold, I will give you more money ;
but you must not go again in that direction." He gave him
another six thousand scudi. The son replied : " Yes, father,
don't worry ; I will change my course." He departed and
began his journey. When he was well out at sea he saw a
Turkish vessel. He said to himself: "Now it is better for
me to summon them on board than for them to summon
us." They came on board. He said to them: "Whence
do you come ? " They answered : " We come from the Le-
vant." "What is your cargo ? " " Nothing but a beauti-
ful girl." " How do you come to have this girl ? " " For
her beauty ; to sell her again. We have stolen her from
the Sultan, she is so beautiful ! " " Let me see this girl."
When he saw her he said : " How much do you want
for her ? " " We want six thousand scndi ! " The money
which his father gave him he gave to those corsairs, and
took the girl and carried her away to his ship. But he at
once had her become a Christian and married her.
He returned to his father's house ; he went up, and his
father said to him :
" Welcome ! O my handsome son.
What merchandise of women have you made ? "
" My father, I bring you a handsome ring,
I bring it for your reward ;
It cost me neither city nor castle,
FAIRY TALES. 1 33
But the most beautiful woman you have ever seen :
The daughter of the Sultan, who is in Turkey,
Her I bring for my first cargo ! "
" Ah, you miserable knave ! " cried his father. " Is this the
cargo you have brought ? " He ill-treated them both, and
drove them from the house. Those poor unfortunate ones
did not know where .to find shelter. They went away, and
at a short distance from their town there were some rooms
at a villa. They went to live in one of those. He said :
" What shall we do here ? I do not know how to do any-
thing; I have no profession or business ! " She said : "Now
I can paint beautiful pictures ; I will paint them, and you
shall go and sell them ! " He said : "Very well ! " " But,
remember, you must tell no one that I paint them ! " " No,
no ! " he said.
Now let us go to Turkey. The Sultan, meanwhile, had
sent out many vessels in search of his daughter. These
ships went here and there in quest of her. Now it hap-
pened that one of these vessels arrived in the town near
where she lived, and many of the sailors went on land.
Now one day the husband said to his wife : " Make many
pictures, for to-day we shall sell them ! " She made them,
and said to him that he should not sell them for less than
twenty sctidi apiece. She made a great many, and he
carried them to the public square. Some of the Turks
came there ; they gave a glance at the paintings, and said
to themselves : " Surely, it must be the Sultan's daughter
who has painted these." They came nearer, and asked the
young man how he sold them. He said they were dear ;
that he could not let them go for less than twenty scudi.
They said : " Very well ! we will buy them ; but we want
some more." He answered : " Come to the house of my
wife who makes them ! " They went there, and when they
saw the Sultan's daughter, they seized her, bound her, and
carried her far away to Turkey. This husband, then, un-
happy, without wife, without a trade, alone in that house,
what could he do ?
Every day he walked along the beach, to see if he could
1 34 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
find a ship that would take him on board ; but he never
saw any. One day he saw an old man fishing in a little
boat ; he cried : " Good old man, how much better off you
are than I ! " The old man asked : "Why, my dear son ?"
He said : " Good old man, will you take me to fish with
you ? " " Yes, my son," said he ; " if you wish to come with
me in this boat, I will take you ! " " Thank heaven ! " said
he. " Good ! " said the old man :
" You with the rod, and I with the boat,
Perhaps we shall catch some fish.
I will go and sell the fish, for I am not ashamed, and we
will live together ! " They ate, and afterward went to sleep ;
without knowing it, there arose in the night a severe
storm, and the wind carried them to Turkey. The Turks,
seeing this boat arrive, went on board, seized them, made
slaves of them, and took them before the Sultan. He said :
" Let one of them make bouquets ; let the other plant flow-
ers ; put them in the garden ! " They placed the old man
there as gardener, and the young man to carry flowers to
the Sultan's daughter, who with her maids was shut up in a
very high tower for punishment. They were very comfort-
able there. Every day they went into the garden and
made friends with the other gardeners. As time went on,
the old man made some fine guitars, violins, flutes, clari-
onets, piccolos — all sorts of instruments he made. The
young man played them beautifully when he had time.
One day his wife, who was in the tower, hearing his fine
songs, — Fair Brow had a voice which surpassed all instru-
ments,— said : " Who is playing, who is singing so beauti-
fully ? " They went out on the balcony, and when she saw
Fair Brow, she thought at once of having him come up.
The Sultan's daughter said to one of those who filled the
basket with flowers: "Put that young man in the basket
and cover him with flowers ! " He put him in, and the
maids drew him up. When he was up, he came out of the
basket, and beheld his wife. He embraced and kissed her
and thought about escaping from there. Then she told her
damsels that she wished to depart without any one knowing
FAIRY TALES. 1 35
it. So they loaded a large ship with pearls and precious
stones, with rods of gold and jewels ; then they let down
Fair Brow first, then his wife ; finally the damsels. They
embarked and departed. When they were out at sea the
husband remembered that he had forgotten the old man
and left him on shore. Fair Brow said : " My sister, even
if I thought I should lose my life, I would turn back, for
the word which I have given him is the mother of faith ! "
So they turned back, and saw the old man, who was still
awaiting them in a cave ; they took him with them, and put
to sea again. When they were near home, the old man
said : " Now, my son, it is fitting for us to settle our ac-
counts and divide things ! " " Know, good old man," said
Fair Brow to him, " that all the wealth that I have belongs
half to you and half to me ! " " Your wife, too, belongs
half to me ! " He said : " Good old man, I will leave you
three quarters, and I will take one only, but leave me my
wife. Do you want me to divide her in two ? " Then the
old man said : " You must know that I am the soul of him
whom you had buried ; and you have had all this good for-
tune because you did that good action, and converted and
baptized your wife ! " Then he gave him his blessing and
disappeared. Fair Brow, when he heard this, as you can
imagine, came near dying of joy. When they reached his
city, they fired a salute, for Fair Brow had arrived with his
wife, the wealthiest gentleman in the world. He sent for
his father and told him all that had happened to him. He
went to live with them, and as he was old, he died soon,
and all his riches went to Fair Brow.12
We have already stated in the preface that it was not our
design to admit into this work (except for occasional refer-
ence) any stories that were literary in their character. For
this reason we have not drawn on the treasures of Straparola
or Basile, or even on the more popular chap-books, of which
there are in Italy, as elsewhere, a great profusion. Of some
of the stories contained in the last named class of works
there are purely popular versions. As an example of the
I36 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
class, and for purposes of comparison, we give the story of
Leombruno, or Lionbruno, one of the oldest and most pop-
ular of its kind. The most complete version is the one
from the Basilicata, given by Comparetti, No. 41, which is
as follows :
XXXVI. LIONBRUNO.
There was once a mariner who had a wife and three or
four children. He followed the business of a fisherman, and
he and his family lived on his fishing. For three or four
years there had been a dearth of fish, so that he had not
been able to catch even a sardine. Poor mariner ! From
this misfortune he had been obliged to sell, little by little, all
he possessed, to live, and was reduced almost to beggary.
One day he was fishing, and as you can imagine, poor fel-
low ! he did not haul in even a shell. He cursed madonnas
and saints. All at once a certain person (it was the En-
emy) rose in the midst of the sea before his bark. " What
is the matter, mariner, that you are so angry ? " " What
should the matter be ? My bad luck. For three or four
years I have been ruining myself, body and soul, in this sea
with these nets, and I cannot catch even a string to hang
myself with." " Listen," said the Enemy. " If you will
agree to give me your wife's next child in thirteen years,
from now until you deliver it to me I will cause you to
catch so much fish that you shall become the richest of men
by selling it." Then the mariner understood that this was
the Enemy, and said to himself : " My wife has had no
children for some years. Will she take it into her head to
have another just now when I make this agreement with
the Enemy ? Oh, come ! she is old now ; she will have no
more." Then turning to the Enemy, he said : "Well, since
you wish to make this contract, let us make it. But, re-
member, you must make me rich." "Don't fear," said the
Enemy ; " let us make the agreement and then leave the
matter to me." " Softly, we must settle another matter first ;
then we will make the contract." " What is it ? " " Lis-
ten. Suppose my wife should have no children during these
FAIRY TALES. 1 37
thirteen years ? " " Then you will remain rich and give
me nothing." " That is what I wanted to know. Now we
can make the contract." And they settled everything at
once. Then the Enemy disappeared. The mariner began
to draw in his nets, and they were full to overflowing of all
kinds of fish, and he became richer from day to day. In
great joy he said : "I have played a trick on the devil ! " —
and, poor man ! he did not know that it was the devil who
had played a trick on him. Now you must know that just
when they were making the contract, the mariner's wife,
old as she was, expected to become a mother again, and the
Enemy knew it. In due time the wife gave birth to a boy
so handsome that he seemed a flower. His parents named
him Lionbruno. The Enemy suddenly appeared : " Mari-
ner ! mariner ! " " How can I serve you ? " replied the poor
man, all trembling. " The promise is due. Lionbruno is
mine." " Yes, you are right. But you must obey the con-
tract. Remember that it is in thirteen years. Now only a
few months have passed." " That is true," replied the En-
emy ; "farewell, then, until the end of the thirteen years."
Then he vanished. Meanwhile Lionbruno grew every day,
and became constantly handsomer, and his parents sent him
to school. But time passes, and behold the end of the thir-
teen years draws near. One day, before the time agreed
upon, the Enemy appeared. "Mariner! mariner!" "Oh,
poor me ! " said the wretched man, who recognized him by
his horrid voice. But he had to answer. And what could
he do ? The contract was clear and the time come. The
poor mariner, willingly or unwillingly, was obliged to prom-
ise to send the boy the next day alone to the sea. The
next day the mother sent her son, when he returned from
school, to carry something to eat to his father. The un-
happy father had, however, gone far out to sea, so that his
son could not find him. The poor boy sat down on the
beach, and to pass the time, took pieces of wood and made
little crosses of them, and stuck them in the sand around
him, so that he was surrounded by them, and held one also
in his hand, singing all the time.
138 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
Behold, the Enemy comes to take him, and says to him :
" What are you doing, boy ? " " I am waiting for my
father," he replied. The Enemy looked and saw that he
could not take him, because he was seated in the midst of
all those little crosses, and moreover had one in his hand-
He regarded the boy with an ugly look, and cried : " De-
stroy those crosses, miserable boy ! " " No, I will not de-
stroy them." " Destroy them at once, or — or" — and he
threatened him and frightened him with his ugly face. Then
the poor child destroyed the little crosses around him, but
still held one in his hand. " Destroy the other, quick ! "
cried the Enemy, more enraged than ever. " No, no ! "
the poor child replied, all in tears ; " I will not destroy this
little cross." The Enemy threatened him again and terri-
fied him with his rolling eyes, but the child was firm, and
then a bright light appeared in the air. The fairy Colina,
queen of the fairies, came down, took the good boy by the
hair, and delivered him from the Enemy. Then if you had
seen what lightnings and thunder ! what darts ! The Enemy
shot fire from his eyes, mouth, nose, ears, everywhere ! But
with all his flames he remained duped, and the fairy carried
the good boy away to her splendid palace. There Lion-
bruno grew up in the midst of the fairies. Imagine how
well off he was there ! He lacked nothing. Increasing
always in beauty, he became a youth whom you should
have seen ! Some years passed. One day Lionbruno said to
the fairy Colina : " Listen. I want to go and see my mother
and father a little. You will not refuse me your permission,
will you ?" "No, I will not refuse you it," said the fairy.
" I will give you twenty days to go and see your family.
But do not stay any longer. Remember that I have saved
you from the Enemy and have brought you up in the midst
of great wealth. Now this wealth we are to enjoy together,
for you, Lionbruno, are to be my husband." You can im-
agine whether the youth wished to say no. He replied at
once : " I will do your will in all things." Then the fairy
said : " My Lionbruno, take this ruby ; all that you ask of
it you shall have." He took the ruby. Then all the fairies
FAIRY TALES. 1 39
gave him in turn some token. He took them, and thanked
them all. Then he embraced his bride and departed. Lion-
bruno travelled better than a prince, magnificently dressed,
on a superb horse, with guards before him. He arrived at
his town, went to the square, and a crowd of people sur-
rounded him out of curiosity. He asked his way to the
house of the mariner who was his father. He did not re-
veal himself to his parents, but asked them for a lodging
that night. At midnight Lionbruno changed, by virtue of
the ruby, the wretched hovel into a magnificent palace, and
the next day he changed himself into the thirteen-year-old
Lionbruno and revealed himself to his parents, telling them
how the fairy Colina had liberated him from the Enemy,
brought him up, and made him her husband. "For this
reason, dear father and mother," said he, " I cannot remain
with you. I have come to see you, to embrace you, to
make you rich ; but I can stay with you a few days only,
and then I must leave you." His father and mother saw
that they could do nothing, and had to be contented. One
fine morning Lionbruno, by an order to the ruby, which he
wore on his finger, brought together a great mass of riches,
and then called his parents and said : " I leave you masters
of all this wealth and of this palace. You will no longer
need anything. Now give me your blessing, for I wish to
go." The poor people began to weep, and said : " Bless
you, my son ! " They embraced each other in tears, and
he departed.
He arrived at a great city, — like Naples, for example, —
and went to lodge at the finest inn. Then he went out to
walk and heard a proclamation which declared : " What-
ever prince or knight, on horse, with spear in hand, shall
pierce and carry away a gold star, shall marry the king's
daughter." Imagine how many princes and knights en-
tered the lists ! Lionbruno, more for braggadocio than for
anything else, said to himself : " I wish to go and carry
away the star;" and he commanded the ruby: " My ruby,
to-morrow, I wish to carry away the golden star." The
princes and knights began to assemble and try their skill.
140 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
Every one reached the star and touched it with his spear,
but there was no talk of their carrying it away. Lionbruno
came, and with a master-stroke carried off the star. Then
he quickly escaped with his horse to the inn, so that no one
should see him. "Who is he ? " " Where is the winner ?"
No one can give any news of him. The king was ill-
humored about it, and issued the proclamation again for
the next day. But, to cut the matter short, the same thing
occurred the next day. Lionbruno duped them a second
time. Imagine how angry the king was ! He issued a
third proclamation. But this time what does the crafty
king do ? He posts a large number of soldiers at all the
places by which one could escape. The princes and knights
begin their courses. As usual, no one carries away the
star, and Lionbruno carries it off and rides away. But the
soldiers, quicker than he, seize him, arrest him, and carry
him to the king. " What do you take me for, that, not sat-
isfied with duping me twice, you wish to dupe me a third
time ? " Thus spoke the king, who was seated on the
throne. "Pardon, Majesty. I did not dare to enter your
presence." " Then you ought not to have undertaken to
carry away the star. Now you have done so, and must
become my daughter's husband." Lionbruno, nolens volens,
was obliged to marry the princess. The king prepared a
magnificent feast for the wedding, and invited all the princes,
counts, and barons, — all sorts of persons. When the
hall was filled with these gentlemen, Lionbruno, before
marrying the princess, said to the king: "Majesty, it is
true that your daughter is a very beautiful girl, but I had
a bride by whose side your daughter could not stand for
beauty, grace, everything." Imagine how the king felt
when he heard these words. The poor princess, at this
affront in the presence of so many noblemen, became as red
as fire. The king, greatly disturbed, said : " Well, if it is
so, we wish to see your wife, if she is as beautiful as you
say." "Yes, yes ! " cried all the noblemen ; " we, too, wish
to see her ; we wish to see her ! " Poor Lionbruno was in
a tight place. What could he do ? He had recourse to
FAIRY TALES. 141
the ruby. " Ruby mine, make fairy Colina come here."
But this time he was mistaken. The ruby could do every-
thing, but it could not compel the fairy to come, for it was
she who had given it its magic power. The summons, how-
ever, reached the fairy Colina ; but she did not go. " My
friend has done a pretty thing ! " said she. " Bravo ! good !
Now I will fix him as he deserves ! " She called the lowest
of her servants, and made her suddenly appear in the great
hall of the king, where all were assembled for the wedding.
" How beautiful she is ! how beautiful she is ! " all said as
soon as they saw her. " Is this, then, your first bride ? "
" What ! " answered Lionbruno, " my first bride ! This is
the lowest of the servants of my first bride." " Gracious ! "
exclaimed the noblemen ; " if this is the lowest of the ser-
vants and is so beautiful, imagine what the mistress must
be ! " " Then," said the king, " if this is not your first bride,
I wish you to make her come herself." "Yes, yes, her-
self ! " cried the others, likewise. Poor Lionbruno ! He
was obliged to have recourse again to the ring. But this
time, also, the fairy did not go, but sent instead her next
servant. Scarcely had they seen her when they all said :
•' This one, oh, this one, is really beautiful ! This, now, is
certainly your first bride, is she not, Lionbruno ? " " No,
no ! " replied Lionbruno ; " my first bride is a marvel of
beauty. Different from this one ! This one is only the
second servant." Then the king, in a threatening tone,
said to him : " Lionbruno, let us put an end to this ! I
command you to cause your first wife to come here in-
stantly." The matter was growing serious. Poor Lion-
bruno had recourse for the third time to the ruby, and said
to it : " Ruby mine, if you really wish to help me, now is
the moment. You must cause the fairy Colina herself to
come here." The summons reached her at once, and this
time she went. When all those great lords and the king
and his daughter saw that marvel of beauty, they became as
so many statues. But the fairy Colina approached Lion-
bruno, pretended to take his hand, and drew off his ring,
saying : " Traitor ! you cannot find me until you have worn
142 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
out seven pairs of iron shoes." Then she vanished. The
king, in fury, said to Lionbruno : " I understand. The power
of carrying off the star was not yours, but your ruby's.
Leave my palace ! " He had him seized and well beaten and
sent away.
And so poor Lionbruno was left without the fairy Colina
and the king's daughter, and departed from the city in
great grief. When he had gone a few steps, he heard a
great noise. It was a smithy. He entered, and called the
blacksmith : " Master, I want seven pairs of iron shoes."
" I will make you twelve if you wish, but it seems to me
that you must have some agreement with the Eternal to
live who knows how many hundred years to wear out all
these shoes." " What does that matter to you ? It is
enough if I pay you. Make me the shoes and hold your
tongue." He made them for him at once. Lionbruno paid
him, put on one pair, and stuck three in one side of his
travelling sack and three in the other, and set out. After
walking a long time, he arrived late at night in a forest.
All at once three robbers came there. " Good man," said
they to Lionbruno, " how did you happen here ? " " I am a
poor pilgrim," he replied ; " it grew dark and I stopped here
to rest. And who are you, gentlemen ? " " We are travel-
lers." And they all stopped there to rest. The next day
Lionbruno arose, took leave of the three robbers, and de-
parted. But he had scarcely gone a few steps when he
heard them quarrelling. Now you must know that those
robbers had stolen three objects of great value, and were
now disputing as to how they should divide them. One of
them said : " Fools that we are ! We had here that pilgrim,
who could have acted as judge and made the division, and
we have let him go. Let us call him back." " Yes, yes ! let
us call him," said the others. They called him, and he
came back. " How can I serve you, gentlemen ? " said he.
" Listen, good man ; we have three objects of great value
to divide. You must be the judge, and give to each one
what belongs to him." "Very well; but what objects are
you talking of ? " " Here is a pair of boots, a purse, and a
FAIRY TALES. 1 43
cloak. The boots have this virtue, that he who has them
on runs faster than the wind. If you say to the purse,
'open and shut,' it at once gives you a hundred ducats.
Finally he who puts on the cloak and buttons it up, can see
and yet not be seen." "Very good. But to act the judge
well, I must first examine these three objects carefully."
" Certainly, that is right." Lionbruno put on the boots,
tried to run, and went marvellously. " What do you think
of these boots ? " asked the thieves. " Excellent, indeed,"
replied Lionbruno, and kept them on. Then he said:
" Now let us see the purse." He took it and said : " Purse,
open and shut," and at once there came forth a hundred
silver ducats. " Now let us see what this cloak is," he said,
at last. He put it on and began to button it up. While
he was doing so he asked the robbers : " Do you see me
now?" They answered: "Yes." He kept on buttoning
it and asked again : " Now do you see me ? " " Yes." Fi-
nally he reached the last button. " Now do you see me ? "
" No." " If you don't see me now you never will see me
again." He threw away the iron shoes and cried : " Now
for you, boots ! " And away ! faster than the wind. When
the three robbers saw themselves duped in that way, what
a rage they were in ! They thrashed each other soundly,
and especially the one who had called Lionbruno back ; and
at last they all found themselves with broken bones.
Lionbruno, after having cheated the robbers thus, con-
tinued his way joyfully. After a long journey, he arrived
in the midst of a forest. He saw at a distance a slight
smoke, and among frightful rocks, a little old hovel all
surrounded by dense wild shrubs, with a little door entirely
covered with ivy, so that it could scarcely be seen. Lion-
bruno approached the door and knocked softly. " Who is
knocking ? " asked from within an old woman's voice. " I
am a poor Christian," replied Lionbruno ; "night has over-
taken me here, and I am seeking a lodging, if it can be
had." The door opened and Lionbruno entered. " Oh,
poor youth ! How have you been tempted to come and ruin
yourself in this remote place ? " demanded, in great won-
144 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
der, the old woman, who was within, and who was Borea.13
(Do you know who Borea is? No less a person than the
mother of the winds.) " Oh, dear little old lady, my aunt,"
replied Lionbruno, "I am lost in this great forest, for I
have been travelling a long time to find my dear bride, the
fairy Colina, and I have not yet been able to find any trace
of her." " My son, you have made a great mistake ! What
shall we do now that my sons are coming home ? Perhaps,
God help you ! they will want to eat you." " Oh, wretched
me ! " cried Lionbruno, then, all trembling ; " who, my aunt,
are these sons of yours who so devour Christians ? " " My
son," replied Borea, " you do not know where you are. Do
you not know that this house in the midst of these prec-
ipices is the house of the winds ? And I, you do not rec-
ognize me ; I, my son, am Borea, the mother of all the
winds." " What shall I do now ? Oh, my dear aunt, help
me ; do not let your sons eat me up ! " The old woman
finally concealed him in a chest, telling him not to make
the slightest noise when her sons returned. Soon a loud
noise was heard at a distance : it was the winds returning
home. The nearer they approached the louder the noise
grew, and a sound of branches and trees broken off was
heard. At last the winds arrived, pushed open the door,
and entered. "Good evening, mamma." "Welcome, my
sons ! " replied their mother, all smiling. And so one after
the other all the winds entered, and the last to enter was
Sirocco, for you must know that Sirocco is the youngest
of Borea's sons. Scarcely had they entered when they
began to say : " What smell of human flesh is here ? Here,
Christians, Christians ! " " Oh, bad luck to you ! what fools
you are ! Where is there any smell of human flesh here ?
Who do you think would risk their lives by coming here ? "
But her sons would not be convinced, especially that ob-
stinate Sirocco. Lionbruno commended his soul to God,
for he saw death at his heels. But finally Borea succeeded
in convincing her sons. " Oh, mamma, what is there to
eat to-night ? We have travelled so far, and are so hun-
gry!" "Here, my sons," the mother answered, "come
FAIRY TALES. 1 45
here ; for a nice polenta is cooking for you. I will finish
cooking it soon, and put it at once on the table." The next
day Borea said to her sons : " My sons, when you came
you said you smelled human flesh. Tell me, should you
really see a man now, what would you do to him ?" " Now,
we would not do anything to him. Last night, we should
have torn him in pieces." " But you would not do any-
thing to him, truly ? " "Truly." "Well, if you will give
me your promise by St. John not to harm him, I will show
you a live man." " Oh ! just see ! A man here ! Yes, yes,
mamma, show him to us at once. We swear by St. John !
we will not touch a hair of his head." Then their mother
opened the chest and made Lionbruno come forth. If you
had heard the winds then ! They puffed and blowed around
him and asked him, first of all, how he had come to that
place, where no living soul had ever penetrated. Lion-
bruno said : " Would to heaven that my journey ended
here ! I must go to the palace of the fairy Colina ; perhaps
one of you can tell me where it is ?" Then Borea asked
her sons one by one and each replied that he knew nothing
of it. Finally she questioned her youngest son : " And
you, Sirocco, do you not know anything about it?" "I?
Should I not know something about it ? Am I perchance
like my brothers who never can find a hiding-place ? The
fairy Colina is love-sick. She says that her lover has be-
trayed her, and continually weeps, and is so reduced by her
grief that she can live but little longer. And I deserve
to be hanged, for I have seen her in this condition, and
yet I have annoyed her so that I have driven her to de-
spair. I amused myself by making a noise about her pal-
ace, and more than once I burst open windows and turned
things upside down, even the bed she was resting on."
" Oh, my dear Sirocco ! " said Lionbruno ; " my good Si-
rocco, you must aid me ! Since you have given me news
of her, you must also do me the favor to show me the way
to my bride's palace. I, dear Sirocco, am the betrothed of
the fairy Colina, and it is not true that I have betrayed her ;
on the contrary, if I do not find her, I shall die of grief."
146 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
" My son," said Sirocco, "listen ; for my part I would take
you there with all my heart. But I should have to carry
you about my neck. And the trouble is I cannot do so,
for I am wind, I am air, and you would slip off. Were you
like me the matter would go very well." " Don't worry
about that," said Lionbruno, "show me the way, and I will
not lag behind." " He is crazy," said Sirocco to himself ;
then he said to Lionbruno : " Very well, since you feel so
strong, to-morrow we will make the trial. Meanwhile let
us go to bed, for it is late, and to-morrow, God willing,
we will rise early ! " And all went to sleep. In the morn-
ing early Sirocco arose and cried : " Lionbruno ! Lionbruno !
get up quickly ! " And Lionbruno put on his boots in a
hurry, seized his purse, fixed his cloak carefully, and left
the house with Sirocco. " There," said Sirocco, " is the
way we must take. Be careful ! Don't let me out of your
sight, and leave the rest to me. If a few hours after sun-
set to-night I don't make you find your beauty, you may
call me an ass." They started. They ran like the wind.
Every little while Sirocco called out : " Lionbruno ! " and
he, who was ahead, answered at once : " Oh ! don't think I
am going to lag behind!" and with these questions and
answers they finally reached the palace of the fairy Co-
lina about two hours after sunset. " Here we are," said
Sirocco. " Here is your fair one's balcony ! See how I
am going to blow open the window for you. Attention,
now ! As soon as it is opened you give a jump and spring
in." And so he did. Before the servants could run and
shut the balcony window, Lionbruno was already under
the fairy Colina's bed. Afterwards one of the maids said
to the fairy : " My mistress, how do you feel now ? Do you
not feel a little better ? " " Better ? I am half dead. That
cursed wind has nearly killed me." " But, mistress, will
you not take something this evening ? A little coffee, or
chocolate, or broth ? " " I wish nothing at all." " Take
something, if you don't, you will not rest to-night, you have
eaten nothing for three or four days. Really, you must
take something." And the servant said so much that to
FAIRY TALES. 1 47
get rid of her importunity the fairy said : " Well, bring
something ; if I want it, I will take it." The servant
brought a little coffee, and left it by the side of the bed.
Lionbruno, in his cloak so that no one could see him,
came from under the bed and drank the coffee himself.
The servant, believing her mistress had drunk it, brought
the chocolate too, and Lionbruno drank that as before.
Then the servant brought the fairy some broth and a
pigeon. " Mistress," said she, " since, thank God, you
have taken the coffee and the chocolate, take this broth
and a bit of pigeon, and so you will gain strength and be
better to-morrow." The mistress on hearing all this be-
lieved that the servants were making fun of her. " Oh,
stupid blockheads ! What are you saying ? Are not the
cups still here with the coffee and the chocolate ? I have
touched nothing." The servants thought that their mis-
tress was out of her mind. Then Lionbruno took off his
cloak, came out from under the bed, and said : " My bride,
do you know me ? " " Lionbruno mine, is it you ? " and she
rose from the bed and embraced him. "Then it is not true,
my Lionbruno, that you have forgotten me ? " " If I had
forgotten you I should not have suffered so much to find
you. But do you still love me ? " " My Lionbruno, if I had
not always loved you, you would not have found me at the
point of death. And now you see I am cured only because
I have seen you."
Then they ate and drank together, and summoned the
servants and made a great festival. The next day they ar-
ranged everything for the wedding and were married with
great splendor and joy. In the evening they gave a grand
ball and a fine banquet, which you should have seen ! 14
The above story is extremely popular, and has long cir-
culated among the people as an independent work in the
shape of a chap-book. We have, however, given the form
which is handed down by oral tradition, purposely avoiding
the use of any literary materials. Many similar tales might
be added to this chapter, but the most important and best
148 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
known have been given. To give those tales which cannot
be described as fairy tales and which are usually found in
the shape of chap-books in prose and poetry would fall with-
out the scope of the present volume, and would belong more
appropriately to a work on Italian popular literature.15
CHAPTER III.
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN.
The geographical situation of Italy and its commercial
connections during the Middle Ages would lead us to ex-
pect a large foreign element in its popular tales. This
foreign element, it is hardly necessary to say, is almost
exclusively Oriental, and was introduced either by direct
communication with the East, or indirectly from France,
which received it from Spain, whither it was brought by
the Saracens. Although this Oriental element is now per-
fectly popular, it is, as far as its origin is concerned, purely
literary. That is to say, the stories we are about to exam-
ine are to be found in the great Oriental collections of tales
which were early translated into all the languages of Eu-
rope, and either passed directly from these translations
into circulation among the people, or became familiar to
them from the novelists who made such frequent use of
this element.1 A few stories may have been taken from
the French fabliaux or from the French translations of the
Disciplina Clericalis, as we shall afterwards see.2 The
Pentamerone, and especially Straparola's tales, may finally
be mentioned as the source from which many Oriental sto-
ries have flowed into popular circulation.3 In this chapter
it is proposed to notice briefly only those stories the Orien-
tal origin of which is undoubted, and which may be found
in the great collections above mentioned and in some oth-
ers less known. For convenience, some stories of this class
have been referred to chapter VI.
The first of this class which we shall mention is well
known from the version in Lafontaine (IX. i), Le Depositaire
infidele. The only Italian version we have found is Pitre,
No. 194, which is as follows :
1 50 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
XXXVII. THE PEASANT AND THE MASTER.
A peasant one day, conversing in the farmhouse with his
master and others, happened, while speaking of sheep and
cheese, to say that he had had a present of a little cheese,
but the mice had eaten it all up. Then the master, who
was rich, proud, and fat, called him a fool, and said that it
was not possible that the mice could have eaten the cheese,
and all present said the master was right and the peasant
wrong. What more could the poor man say ? Talk makes
talk. After a while the master said that having taken the
precaution to rub with oil his ploughshares to keep them
from rusting, the mice had eaten off all the points. Then
the friend of the cheese broke forth : " But, master, how
can it be that the mice cannot eat my cheese, if they can
eat the points of your ploughshares ? " But the master and
all the others began to cry out : " Be silent, you fool ! Be
silent, you fool ! the master is right ! " 4
The above story really belongs to the class of fables of
which there are but few of Oriental origin in the Italian
collections.5 The following version of one of the most fa-
mous of the Eastern apologues is from Monferrato (Com-
paretti, No. 67). It is called :
XXXVIII. THE INGRATES.
There was once a man who went into the forest to gather
wood, and saw a snake crushed under a large stone. He
raised the stone a little with the handle of his axe and the
snake crawled out. When it was at liberty it said to the
man: "I am going to eat you." The man answered.:
" Softly ; first let us hear the judgment of some one, and if
I am condemned, then you shall eat me." The first one
they met was a horse as thin as a stick, tied to an oak-tree.
He had eaten the leaves as far as he could reach, for he was
famished. The snake said to him : " Is it right for me to
eat this man who has saved my life ? " The nag answered :
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 151
" More than right. Just look at me ! I was one of the
finest horses. I have carried my master so many years,
and what have I gained ? Now that I am so badly off that
I can no longer work they have tied me to this oak, and
after I have eaten these few leaves I shall die of hunger.
Eat the man, then ; for he who does good is ill rewarded,
and he who does evil must be well rewarded. Eat him, for
you will be doing a good day's work." They afterwards
happened to find a mulberry-tree, all holes, for it was eaten
by old age ; and the snake asked it if it was right to eat the
man who had saved its life. " Yes," the tree answered at
once, "for I have given my master so many leaves that he
has raised from them the finest silk-worms in the world ;
now that I can no longer stand upright, he has said that he
is going to throw me into the fire. Eat him, then, for you
will do well." Afterwards they met the fox. The man
took her aside and begged her to pronounce in his favor.
The fox said : "The better to render judgment I must see
just how the matter has happened." They all returned to
the spot and arranged matters as they were at first ; but
as soon as the man saw the snake under the stone he cried
out : " Where you are, there I will leave you." And there
the snake remained. The fox wished in payment a bag of
hens, and the man promised them to her for the next morn-
ing. The fox went there in the morning, and when the man
saw her he put some dogs in the bag, and told the fox not
to eat the hens close by, for fear the mistress of the house
would hear it. So the fox did not open the bag until she
had reached a distant valley ; then the dogs came out and
ate her ; and so it is in the world ; for who does good is ill
rewarded and who does evil is well rewarded.6
It would be surprising if we did not find the fascinating
stories of the Thousand and One Nights naturalized among
the people. It is, of course, impossible to tell whether they
were communicated to the people directly from a literary
source, or whether the separate stories came to Italy from the
Orient by way of oral transmission.7 These stories have cir-
152 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
culated among the people long enough to be treated as their
own property and changed to suit their taste. Incidents from
other stories have been added and the original story remod-
elled until it is hardly recognizable. The story of " Aladdin
and the Wonderful Lamp," for instance, is found from
Sicily to Lombardy ; but in no one version are all the fea-
tures of the original story preserved. In one of the Sicilian
versions (Messina) Aladdin does not lose his lamp ; in an-
other (Palermo), after Aladdin has lost his lamp he goes in
search of it, and on his journey settles the quarrel of an ant,
an eagle, and a lion, who give him the power to transform
himself into any one of them. He finally discovers the
magician, who has his life elsewhere than in his own body,
and who is killed after the usual complicated process. In
the Roman version the point of the unfinished window in
Aladdin's palace is missed, the magician requires to be
killed, as in the version from Palermo, and there are some
additional incidents not in the Oriental original. In the
Mantuan story, instead of a lamp we have a rusty ring,
which the youngest brother finds inside of a dead cock be-
queathed to three brothers by their father. After the ring
has fallen into the possession of the magician and the pal-
ace has disappeared, the hero goes in search of his wife
and ring. On his way he is assisted by the " King of the
Fishes " and the " King of the Birds." The eagle carries a
letter to the captive princess, who obtains the ring from the
magican, rubs it on a stone, and when it asks what she
wishes, answers : " I wish this palace to return where it
first was and the magician to be drowned in the sea." 8
Of almost equal popularity is the story of the " Forty
Thieves," who are, however, in the Italian versions, reduced
to thirteen, twelve, or six in number. The versions in
Pitre (No. 23 and variants) contain but one incident of the
original story, where the robbers are detected in the oil-jars,
and killed by pouring boiling oil over them. In one of Pitre's
versions the robbers are hidden in sacks of charcoal, and the
cunning daughter pierces the bags with a red-hot spit. In
another, they are hidden in oil-skins, and sold to the abbess
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 53
of a certain convent for oil. One of the nuns has some sus-
picion of the trick, and invites her companions to tap the
skins with red-hot irons. Another Sicilian version (Gonz.
No. 79, "The Story of the Twelve Robbers") contains the
first part of the Arabian tale, the robbers' cave which opens
and closes by the words, " Open, door ! " and " Shut, door ! "
The story ends with the death of one of the brothers, who
entered the cave and was killed by one of the robbers who
had remained. It is only in the version from Mantua
(Visentini, No. 7, " The Cunning Maid ") that we find the
story complete ; boiling water is used instead of oil in kill-
ing the thieves, and the servant girl afterwards kills the
captain, who had escaped before. The story of the " Third
Calendar " is told in detail in Comparetti (No. 65, " The
Son of the King of France ") and the " Two Envious Sis-
ters" furnishes details for a number of distinct stories.9
The story of "The Hunchback" is found in Pitre and
Straparola, and as it is also the subject of an Old-French
fabliau, it may have been borrowed from the French, or,
what is more likely, both French and Italians took it from
a common source.10 The fable of "The Ass, the Ox, and
the Peasant," which the Vizier relates to prevent his daugh-
ter becoming the Sultan's wife, is found in Pitre (No. 282)
under the title of " The Curious Wife," and is also in Stra-
parola.11 The beautiful story of " Prince Ahmed and the
fairy Peribanu " is found in Nerucci, No. 40, " The Three
Presents, or the Story of the Carpets." The three presents
are the magic telescope that sees any distance, the carpet
that carries one through the air, and the magic grapes that
bring to life. The Italian version follows closely the Orien-
tal original. The same may be said of another story in the
same collection, No. 48, " The Traveller from Turin," which
is nothing but Sindbad's " Fourth Voyage." 12 The last story
taken from the Arabian Nights which we shall mention is
that of " The Second Royal Mendicant," found in Compa-
retti (No. 63, " My Happiness ") from the Basilicata, and in
the collection of Mantuan stories. The latter (No. 8) is en-
titled : " There is no longer any Devil." The magician is
154 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the devil, and the story concludes, after the transformations
in which the peasant's son kills the devil in the shape of a
hen, with the words : " And this is the reason why there is
no longer any devil." 13
The first collection of Oriental tales known in Europe as
a collection was the Discipline/, Clericalis, that is, Instruc-
tion or Teaching for Clerks or Clergymen. It was the
work of a converted Spanish Jew, Petrus Alphonsi, and was
composed before 1 106, the date of the baptism of the author,
the time and place of whose death are not known. The
Disciplina Clericalis was early translated into French prose
and poetry, and was the storehouse from which all subse-
quent story-tellers drew abundant material.14 Precisely
how the Disciplina Clericalis became known in Italy we
cannot tell ; but the separate stories must have become
popular and diffused by word of mouth at a very early date.
One of the stories of this collection is found in Italian liter-
ature as early as the Cento Novelle Antiche.lb Four of the
stories in the Discipli?ia Clericalis are found in Pitre and
other collections of popular tales, and although belonging,
with one exception, to the class of jests, they are mentioned
here for the sake of completeness.
In one of the stories of the Disciplina Clericalis, two
citizens of a certain town and a countryman were making
the pilgrimage to Mecca together, and on the way ran so
short of food that they had only flour enough left to make
one small loaf. The two citizens in order to cheat the
countryman out of his share devised the following scheme:
While the bread was baking they proposed that all three
should sleep, and whoever should have the most remarkable
dream should have the whole loaf. While the citizens were
asleep, the countryman, who had divined their plan, stole
the half-cooked bread from the fire, ate it, and then threw
himself down again. One of the other two pretended to
wake up in a fright, and told his companion that he had
dreamed that two angels had led him through the gates of
heaven into the presence of God. The other declared that
he had been led by two angels into the nether-world. The
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 155
countryman heard all this and still pretended to sleep.
When his companions aroused him he asked in amazement :
"■ Who are those calling me ? " They answered : " We are
your companions." " What," said he, " have you got back
already ? " " Where have we been to in order to return ? "
The countryman replied : " It seemed to me that two angels
led one of you to heaven, and afterwards two others con-
ducted the other to hell. From this I imagined that neither
of you would return, so I got up and ate the bread." 16
The same story is told in Pitre (No. 173) of a monk who
was an itinerant preacher, and who was accompanied on his
journey by a very cunning lay brother. One day the monk
received a present of some fish which he wished to eat him-
self alone, and therefore proposed to the brother that the
one of them who dreamed the best dream should have all
the fish. The dreams and the conclusion are the same as
in the original. 17
The next story is well known from the use made of it by
Cervantes in Don Quixote (Part I., chap, xx.) where Sancho
relates it to beguile the hours of the memorable night when
the noise of the fulling-mill so terrified the doughty knight
and his squire. The version in the Disciplina Clericalis is
as follows : " A certain king had a story-teller who told him
five stories every night. It happened once that the king,
oppressed by cares of state, was unable to sleep, and asked
for more than the usual number of stories. The story-
teller related three short ones. The king wished for more
still, and when the story-teller demurred, said : " You have
told me several very short ones. I want something long,
and then you may go to sleep." The story-teller yielded,
and began thus : " Once upon a time there was a certain
countryman who went to market and bought two thousand
sheep. On his way home a great inundation took place, so
that he was unable to cross a certain river by the ford or
bridge. After anxiously seeking some means of getting
across with his flock, he found at length a little boat in
which he could convey two sheep over." After the story-
teller had got thus far he went to sleep. The king roused
156 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
him and ordered him to finish the story he had begun.
The story-teller answered : " The flood is great, the boat
small, and the flock innumerable ; let the aforesaid country-
man get his sheep over, and I will finish the story I have
begun." 18
The version in Pitre (No. 138) lacks all connection and is
poor, but we give it here, as it is very brief.
XXXIX. THE TREASURE.
Once upon a time there was a prince who studied and
racked his brains so much that he learned magic and the
art of rinding hidden treasures. One day he discovered a
treasure in a bank, let us say the bank of Ddisisa : " Oh, he
says, now I am going to get it out." But to get it out it
was necessary that ten million million ants should cross
one by one the river Gianquadara (let us suppose it was that
one) in a bark made of the half shell of a nut. The prince
puts the bark in the river and begins to make the ants pass
over. One, two, three, and he is still doing it.
Here the person who is telling the story pauses and says :
" We will finish this story when the ants have finished pass-
ing over." 19
The version from Milan is still shorter :
XL. THE SHEPHERD.
Once upon a time there was a shepherd who went to feed
his sheep in the fields, and he had to cross a stream, and he
took the sheep up one by one to carry them over. . . .
What then ? Go on !
When the sheep are over, I will finish the story. 20
In chapter V. we shall meet two popular figures in
Sicilian tales, whose jokes are repeated elsewhere as de-
tached stories. One of these persons is Firrazzanu, the
practical joker and knave, who is cunning enough to make
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 57
others bear the penalty of his own boldness. In the story
in Pitre (No. 156, var. 2) Firrazzanu's master wants a tailor
for some work, and Firrazzanu tells him he knows of one
who is good, but subject to fits, which always make their
approach known by a twitching of the mouth, and the only
remedy for them is a sound beating. Of course, when the
unlucky tailor begins to cut his cloth, he twists his mouth,
and receives, to his amazement, a sudden beating.
In this version there is no reason given why Firrazzanu
should play such a joke on the innocent tailor. In the orig-
inal, however, a motive is given for the trick.21
The last story we shall mention from the Disciplina Cler-
icalis is the one known in Pitre (No. 197) as :
XLI. THE THREE ADMONITIONS.
A man once left his country to go to foreign parts, and
there entered the service of an abbot. After he had spent
some time in faithful service, he desired to see his wife and
native land. He said to the abbot : " Sir, I have served
you thus long, but now I wish to return to my country."
" Yes, my son," said the abbot, " but before departing I
must give you the three hundred ounces * that I have put
together for you. Will you be satisfied with three admoni-
tions, or with the three hundred ounces ? " The servant
answered : " I will be satisfied with the three admonitions."
" Then listen : First : When you change the old road for
the new, you will find troubles which you have not looked
for. Second : See much and say little. Third : Think
over a thing before you do it, for a thing deliberated is very
fine.22 Take this loaf of bread and break it when you are
truly happy."
The good man departed, and on his journey met other
travellers. These said to him : " We are going to take the
by-way. Will you come with us ? " But he remembering
the three admonitions of his master answered : " No, my
friends, I will keep on this road." When he had gone half
* The ounce is equivalent to nearly thirteen francs (12.75).
158 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
way, bang ! bang ! he heard some shots. " What was that,
my sons ? " The robbers had killed his companions. " I
have gained the first hundred ounces ! " he said, and con-
tinued his journey. On his way he arrived at an inn as
hungry as a dog and called for something to eat. A large
dish of meat was brought which seemed to say : " Eat me,
eat me !" He stuck his fork in it and turned it over, and
was frightened out of his wits, for it was human flesh ! He
wanted to ask the meaning of such food and give the inn-
keeper a lecture, but just then he thought: "See much
and say little ; " so he remained silent. The innkeeper
came, he settled his bill, and took leave. But the innkeeper
stopped him and said : " Bravo, bravo ! you have saved
your life. All those who have questioned me about my
food have been soundly beaten, killed, and nicely cooked."
" I have gained the second hundred ounces," said the good
man, who did not think his skin was safe until then.
When he reached his own country he remembered his
house, saw the door ajar and slipped in. He looked about
and saw no one, only in the middle of the room was a table,
well set with two glasses, two forks, two seats, service for
two. " How is this ? " he said : " I left my wife alone and
here I find things arranged for two. There is some trouble."
So he hid himself under the bed to see what went on. A
moment after he saw his wife enter, who had gone out a
short time before for a pitcher of water. A little after he
saw a sprucely dressed young priest come in and seat him-
self at the table. " Ah, is that he ? " and he was on the
point of coming forth and giving him a sound beating ; but
there came to his mind the final admonition of the abbot :
"Think over a thing before you do it, for a thing delib-
erated is very fine ; " and he refrained. He saw them both
sit down at the table, but before eating his wife turned to
the young priest and said : " My son, let us say our ac-
customed Paternoster for your father." When he heard
this he came from under the bed crying and laughing for
joy, and embraced and kissed them both so that it was af-
fecting to see him. Then he remembered the loaf his
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 59
master had given him and told him to eat in his happiness ;
he broke the loaf and there fell on the table all the three
hundred ounces, which the master had secretly put in the
loaf.23
We now turn to some stories taken from a collection
more famous in some respects than those previously men-
tioned, The Seven Wise Masters, which enjoyed during
the Middle Ages a popularity second only to that of the
Bible. Of this collection there are several Italian transla-
tions reaching back to the fourteenth century.24 From one
of these, or possibly from oral tradition, the stories about
to be mentioned passed into the popular tales of Italy.
The first story we shall cite is interesting because popular
tradition has connected it with Pier delle Vigne, the famous
chancellor of the Emperor Frederick the Second. The
Venetian version (Bernoni, Trad. pop. venez. Punt. I. p. 11)
is in substance as follows :
XLII. VINEYARD I WAS AND VINEYARD I AM.
A king, averse to marriage, commanded his steward to
remain single. The latter, however, one day saw a beauti-
ful girl named Vigna, and married her secretly. Although
he kept her closely confined in her chamber, the king be-
came suspicious and sent the steward off on an embassy.
After his departure the king entered the apartment oc-
cupied by him, and saw his officer's wife sleeping. He did
not disturb her, but, in leaving the room, dropped one of
his gloves accidentally on the bed. When the husband re-
turned he found it, but kept a discreet silence, ceasing,
however, all demonstrations of affection, believing his wife
had been faithless. The king, anxious to see again the
beautiful woman, made a feast and ordered the steward to
bring his wife. He denied in vain that he had one, but
brought her at last, and while every one else was talking
gayly at the feast she was silent. The king observed it
and asked her the cause of her silence ; and she answered
l60 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
with a pun on her name: "Vineyard I was and Vineyard I
am, I was loved and no longer am : I know not for what
reason the Vineyard has lost its season." Her husband,
who heard this, replied : "Vineyard thou wast and Vineyard
thou art, loved thou wast- and no longer art : the Vineyard
has lost its season for the lion's claw." The king, who un-
derstood what he meant, answered : " I entered the Vine-
yard, I touched the leaves, but I swear by my crown that I
have not tasted the fruit." Then the steward understood
that his wife was innocent, and the two made peace and al-
ways after lived happy and contented.25
This story is found only in the Greek and Hebrew ver-
sions of The Seven Wise Masters, and in the Arabic
Seven Viziers. It did not pass into any of the Occidental
versions, although it was known to Boccaccio, who based on
it the fifth novel of the first day of the Decameron. Either,
then, the story is a late adaptation of the Oriental tale,
which is unlikely, or it comes from some now lost, but once
popular Italian version of the Oriental form of The Seven
Wise Masters.26
The three following stories are found only in the Wes-
tern, or European versions of the collection. The first,
technically called " Vaticinium " or " The Prophecy," relates
that a son who understood the language of birds heard the
prediction that his father and mother should come to such
want that they would not have bread to eat ; but that he,
the son, should rise so high that his father should -offer him
water to wash his hands with. The father, enraged at this
prediction, threw his son into the sea. He was rescued,
and after many adventures, married the daughter of the
king of Sicily. One day, while riding through Messina, he
saw his father and mother, meanly dressed, sitting at the
door of an inn. He alighted from his horse, entered their
house, and asked for food. After his father and mother
had brought him water to wash his hands he revealed him-
self to them and forgave his father for his cruelty.
The only Italian version, and disfigured by some extra-
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. l6l
neous details, is in the Mantuan tales (Visentini, No. 50) :
" Fortune aid me." Here the son does not hear the proph-
ecy from the birds, but an angel tells a king, who has long
desired a son, that he shall have one whom he shall one
day serve. When the child was ten years old the king
was so vexed by the prediction that he exposed his son in
a wood. The child was found by a magician, who brought
him up, and from whom he afterwards escaped. He went
to the court of the king, his father, and won the hand of
the princess (his own sister) by leaping his horse over a
broad ditch. At the marriage banquet the king handed his
son a glass of wine, and the latter recognized him and ex-
claimed: "Behold, the father serves the son." The mar-
riage was of course given up and the previous aversion of
the sister explained.27
Closely connected with the original story in The Seven
Wise Masters is the class of stories where the hero is ac-
quainted with the language of animals, and attains by means
of it some high position (generally becoming pope) after he
has been driven from home by his father. The following ver-
sion is from Monferrato (Comparetti, No. 56) and is entitled :
XLIII. THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS.
A father once had a son who spent ten years in school.
At the end of that time, the teacher wrote the father to
take away his son because he could not teach him any-
thing more. The father took the boy home and gave a
grand banquet in his honor, to which he invited the most
noble gentlemen of the country. After many speeches by
those gentlemen, one of the guests said to the host's son :
"Just tell us some fine thing that you have learned." "I
have learned the language of dogs, of frogs, and of birds."
There was universal laughter on hearing this, and all went
away ridiculing the pride of the father and the foolishness
of the son. The former was so ashamed at his son's an-
swer and so angry at him that he gave him up to two ser-
vants, with orders to take him into a wood and kill him and
1 62 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
to bring back his heart. The two servants did not dare to
obey this command, and instead of the lad they killed a dog,
and carried its heart to their master. The youth fled from
the country and came to a castle a long way off, where lived
the treasurer of the prince, who had immense treasures.
There he asked for and obtained a lodging, but scarcely
had he entered the house when a multitude of dogs collected
about the castle. The treasurer asked the young man why
so many dogs had come, and as the latter understood their
language he answered that it meant that a hundred assas-
sins would attack the castle that very evening, and that the
treasurer should take his precautions. The castellan made
two hundred soldiers place themselves in ambush about
the castle and at night they arrested the assassins. The
treasurer was so grateful to the youth that he wished to
give him his daughter, but he replied that he could not re-
main now, but that he would return within a year and three
days. After he left that castle he arrived at a city where
the king's daughter was very ill because the frogs which
were in a fountain near the palace gave her no rest with
their croaking. The lad perceived that the frogs croaked
because the princess had thrown a cross into the fountain,
and as soon as it was removed the girl recovered. The
king, too, wished the lad to marry her, but he again said
that he would return within a year and three days. After
leaving the king he set out for Rome, and on the way met
three young men, who became his companions. One day it
was very warm and all three lay down to sleep under an
oak. Immediately a great flock of birds flew into the oak
and awakened the pilgrims by their loud singing. One of
them asked : " Why are these birds singing so joyfully ? "
The youth answered : " They are rejoicing with the new
Pope, who is to be one of us."
And suddenly a dove alighted on his head, and in truth
shortly after he was made Pope. Then he sent for his
father, the treasurer, and the king. All presented them-
selves trembling, for they knew that they had committed
some sin. But the Pope made them all relate their deeds,
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 63
and then turned to his father and said : " I am the son
whom you sent to be killed because I said I understood the
language of birds, of dogs, and of frogs. You have treated
me thus, and on the other hand a treasurer and a king have
been very grateful for this knowledge of mine." The father,
repenting his fault, wept bitterly, and his son pardoned him
and kept him with him while he lived.28
The next story is doubly interesting because it is found
not only in the mediaeval collection last mentioned, but also
in Greek literature, being told of Rampsinitus, King of
Egypt, by Herodotus (II. 121), and by Pausanias of the two
architects Agamedes and Trophonius who robbed the treas-
ury of Hyrieus.29 There are four versions in Italian : two
from Sicily (Pitre, Nos. 159, 160), one from Bologna (Coro-
nedi-Berti, No. 2), and one from Monferrato (Comparetti,
No. 13). In one of the Sicilian versions (Pitre, No. 159),
and in the other two from Bologna and Monferrato, the
thieves are two friends. In the other Sicilian version they
are a father and son. We give a translation of the last
named version, which is called :
XLIV. THE MASON AND HIS SON.
There was once a mason who had a wife and son. One
day the king sent for the mason to build a country-house in
which to put his money, for he was very rich and had no
place to keep it. The mason set to work with his son. In
one corner they put in a stone that could be taken out and
put back, large enough for a man to enter. When the
house was finished the king paid them and they went home.
The king then had his money carted to the house and put
guards around it. After a few days he saw that no one
went there and took away the guard. Let us leave the
king, who took away the guard, and return to the mason.
When his money was gone he said to his son : " Shall we
go to the country-house ? " They took a sack and went
there. When they arrived at the house they took out the
/
164 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
stone and the father entered and filled the bag with gold.
When he came out he put the stone back as it was before
and they departed. The next day the king rode out to his
house and saw that his pile of gold had diminished. He
said to his servants : " Who has been taking the money ? "
The servants answered : " It is not possible, your Majesty;
for who comes here ; where could they get in ? It may be
that the house has settled, being newly built." So they
took and repaired it. After a while the mason said again
to his son : " Let us go back there." They took the ac-
customed sack and went there ; arriving as usual they took
out the stone and the father entered, filled the sack, and
they departed. The same night they made another trip, filled
the same sack again, and went away. The next day the
king visited the house with his soldiers and councillors.
When he entered he went to see the money and it was very
greatly diminished ; he turned to his councillors and said :
" Some one comes here and takes the money." The coun-
cillors said: "But, your Majesty, while you are saying so,
one thing can be done ; take a few tubs, fill them with
melted pitch, and place them around the walls on the inside,
whoever enters will fall in them, and the thief is found."
They took the tubs and put them inside, and the king left
sentinels and returned to the city. The sentinels remained
there a week ; but as they saw no one, they, too, left.
Let us leave the sentinels, who have departed, and return
to the mason. He said to his son : " Let us go to the ac-
customed place." They took the sack and went. Arriving
there, they took out the stone, and the father entered. As
he entered he stuck fast in the pitch. He tried to help
himself and get his feet loose, but his hands stuck fast.
Then he said to his son : " Do you hear what I tell you, my
son ? Cut off my head, tear my coat to pieces, put back
the stone as it was, and throw my head in the river, so that
I shall not be known." The son did as he was told, and
returned home. When he told his mother what had become
of his father, she began to tear her hair. After a few days,
the son, who did not know any trade, entered the service of
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 65
a carpenter, and told his mother not to say anything, as if
nothing had happened.
Let us leave these and return to the king, who went the
next day with his councillors to the country-house. They
entered and saw the body, and the king said : " But it has
no head ! How shall we find out who it is ? " The coun-
cillors said : " Take him and carry him through the streets
three days ; where you see weeping you will know who it
is." They took the body, and called Filippu Carruba and
Brasi Vuturu,* and made them carry it about. When they
passed through the street where the mason's widow lived,
she began to weep. The son, whose shop was near by,
heard it, and gave himself a blow in the hand with an axe
and cut off his fingers. The police arrested the mother,
saying : " We have found out who it is." Meanwhile the
son arrived there and said : " She is not weeping for that ;
she is weeping because I have cut off my fingers and can
no longer work and earn my bread." The police saw it
was so, believed him, and departed. At night they carried
the body to the palace and built outside a scaffold to put
the body on, because they had to carry it around three
days. About the scaffold they placed nine sentinels — eight
soldiers and a corporal. Now it was in the winter and was
very cold ; so the son took a mule and loaded it with drugged
wine, and passed up and down. When the soldiers saw
him they cried : " Friend, are you selling that wine ? " He
said : " I am." " Wait until we drink, for we are trembling
with the cold." After they had drunk they threw them-
selves down and went to sleep, and the son took the body,
and, after he had buried it outside of the town, returned
home.
[In the morning the soldiers awoke and told the king
what had happened, and he issued a proclamation that who-
ever found the body should receive a large sum of money.
The body was found and carried about the street again, but
no one wept. That night new sentinels were appointed,
but the same thing happened as the night before. The
* Names of two undertakers in Salaparuta, where the story was collected.
1 66 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
soldiers were drugged and dressed in monks' robes, and
the corporal had a cross stuck between his legs. The next
day another proclamation, the body again found and carried
about, but no one detected weeping. The story then con-
tinues :]
The mason's son (here called for the first time Ninu)
could not rest, and went to Cianedda.* " Will you do me
a favor ? " " If I can," answered Cianedda ; " not one, but
two. What can I do for you ? " " Will you lend me your
goats this evening ? " " I will." Ninu took them, bought
four rotula f of candles and an old earthen pot, knocked out
the bottom and fastened some candles around it. Then he
took the goats and fixed two candles to the horns of each
one and took them where the body was, and followed with
the pot on his head and the candles lighted. The soldiers
ran away in terror, and the son took the body and threw it
in the sea.
[The next day the king commanded that the price of
meat should be set at twelve tari % a rotulu, and ordered
that all the old women of the city should assemble at the
palace. A hundred came, and he told them to go begging
about the city and find out who was cooking meat ; think-
ing that only the thief could afford to buy meat at that
price. Ninu, of course, bought some and gave it to his
mother to cook. While it was cooking, and Ninu absent, one
of the old women came begging, and the widow gave her
a piece of meat. As she was going down-stairs Ninu met
her and asked her what she was doing. She explained that
she was begging for some bread. Ninu, suspecting the trick,
took her and threw her into the well.]
At noon, when the old women were to present themselves
to the king, one was missing. The king then sent for the
butchers, and found that just one rotulu of meat had been
sold. When the king saw this, he issued a proclamation to
find out who had done all these wonders, and said : " If he is
* The name of a goatherd in Salaparuta.
t A rotulu = .793 kilos.
% Frs. 5.10.
^STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 67
unmarried, I will give him my daughter ; if he is married, I
will give him two measures of gold." Ninu presented him-
self to the king and said : " Your Majesty, it was I." The
king burst out laughing, and asked : " Are you married or
single?" He said: "Your Majesty, I am single." And
the king said : " Will you be satisfied with my daughter, or
with two measures of gold ? " "Your Majesty," he said, " I
want to marry ; give me your daughter." So he did, and
they had a grand banquet.30
The story in The Seven Wise Masters, known as " In-
clusa" or "The Elopement," is found only in Pitre (No.
176), where it is told of a tailor who lived next to the king's
palace, with which his house communicated by a secret door
known only to the king and the tailor's wife. The tailor,
while at work in the palace, imagines he sees his wife there,
and pretending that he has forgotten his shears, etc., rushes
home to find his wife there. She finally elopes with the
king, leaving at her window an image that deceives her
husband until she is beyond pursuit.31
Far more curious than any of the stories above given is
the last one we shall mention from The Seven Wise Mas-
ters. The story in this collection known as "Avis," or
"The Talking Bird," is briefly as follows : A jealous hus-
band has a talking bird that is a spy upon his wife's ac-
tions. In order to impair his confidence in the bird, one
night while he is absent the wife orders a servant to
shower water over the bird's cage, to make a heavy sound
like thunder, and to imitate the flashing of lightning with
candles. The bird, on its master's return, tells him of the
terrific storm the night before, and is killed for its supposed
falsehood. This story is found in both the Eastern and
Western versions of The Seven Wise Masters, and prac-
tically constitutes the framework of another famous Orien-
tal collection, the (^ukasaptati (from guka, a parrot, and sap-
tati, seventy, The Seventy Tales of a Parrot), better known
by its Persian and Turkish name, Tuti-Nameh, Tales of a
Parrot.32 The frame, or groundwork, of the various Ori-
1 68 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
ental versions is substantially the same. A husband is
obliged to leave home on business, and while he is absent
his wife engages in a love affair with a stranger. A parrot,
which the husband has left behind, prevents the wife meet-
ing her lover by telling her stories which interest her so
much that she keeps putting off her appointment until her
husband returns. In the Turkish version the parrot rec-
onciles the husband and wife; in the Persian versions the
parrot relates what has happened, and the faithless wife is
killed.
The Italian versions, as will soon be seen, are not derived
from The Seven Wise Masters, but from the £ukasaptati ;
and what is very curious, the framework has been retained
and filled with stories that are not in the original.33 The
most simple version is from Pisa (Comparetti, No. i), and is
called :
XLV. THE PARROT (First Version).
There was once a merchant who had a beautiful daughter,
with whom the king and the viceroy were both in love.
The former knew that the merchant would soon have to de-
part on business, and he would then have a chance to speak
with the girl. The viceroy knew it, too, and pondered on
how he could prevent the king succeeding in his plan. He
was acquainted with a witch, and promised her immunity
and a large sum of money if she would teach him how to
change himself into a parrot. This she did, and of course
the merchant bought him for his daughter, and departed.
When the parrot thought it was about time for the king
to come, he said to the girl : " Now, to amuse you, I will
tell you a story ; but you must attend to me and not see
any one while I am telling it." Then he began his story,
and after he had gone a little way in it a servant entered
and told her mistress that there was a letter for her. " Tell
her to bring it later," said the parrot, " and now listen to
me." " I do not receive letters while my father is away,"
said the mistress, and the parrot continued. After a while
another interruption. A servant announces the visit of an
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 69
aunt. (It was not an aunt, but a woman who came from the
king.) The parrot said : " Do not receive her ; we are in
the finest part of our story," and the young girl sent word
that she did not receive any visits while her father was ab-
sent, and the parrot went on. When his story was ended the
girl was so pleased that she would listen to no one else un-
til her father returned. Then the parrot disappeared, and
the viceroy visited the merchant and asked his daughter's
hand. He consented, and the marriage took place that very
day. The wedding was scarcely over when a gentleman
came to ask the girl's hand for the king ; but it was too
late, and the poor king, who was much in love with her,
died of a broken heart, and the girl remained the wife of
the viceroy, who had been more cunning than the king.
We have omitted the story told by the parrot because we
shall meet it again in the Sicilian version, and substantially
in the following version from Florence, which we give en-
tire on account of the rarity of the work in which it is
found, and for its own merits.34 It is also entitled :
XLVI. THE PARROT. (Second Version.)
Once upon a time there was a merchant who, having to
go on a journey, gave his wife a parrot to amuse her in her
loneliness. The wife, vexed that her husband should leave
her so soon, threw the bird in a corner and thought no
more about it. At evening she went to the window and
saw pass a young man, who fell in love with her as soon as
he saw her. On the first floor there lived a woman who
sold coals, and the young man began to tempt her to help
him in his love affair. She would not promise, because the
merchant's wife had been married but a few days, and was
an honest woman. She added, however, that there was a
way ; her daughter was to be married shortly, she would
invite the young wife to the wedding, and the young man,
being there too, could manage the rest. The wife accepted
the invitation, dressed herself in her finest clothes, and was
170 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
on the point of leaving when the parrot cried from its cor-
ner : " O mistress, where are you going ? I wished to tell
you a story ; but suit yourself." The wife then dismissed
the coal-woman, who, not to spoil matters, promised to put
off the wedding and return for her the next day. Then
the parrot began :
" Once upon a time there was a king's son whose master
was so learned in magic that with certain words he could
change himself into various animals. The prince wanted
to learn these words, too ; but the magician hesitated and
refused, although he had to yield at last. Then the prince
became a crow and flew far away to a distant country and
into the garden of a king, where he saw a beautiful girl with
a mirror in which was set her portrait. The crow in won-
der snatched the glass from her hands, and flew home and
resumed his own form, but he fell so deeply in love with the
unknown girl that he became ill.
" She, meanwhile, who was the daughter of a king, seeing
the glass taken from her, no longer had any peace of mind,
and begged her father until he gave her permission to go
in search of it. She dressed herself like a physician and
departed. She came to a city and heard a proclamation by
the king, that whatever physician should pass that way
should be obliged to visit and try to cure his daughter.
Then the new physician had to go to the palace, but she
could not discover any remedy for the grave disease. At
night, while sitting by the princess' bed, the light went out,
and she left the room to light it, and saw in a little cottage
three old women sitting around a cauldron boiling over a
great fire. ' Good women, are you washing ? ' ' What a
washing ! these are three heads, and when they are cooked
the princess will die.' ' Bravo, my good women ; bring
the wood and I will help, too.' She remained there some
time and promised to return. The brighter the fire burned,
the nearer the princess came to death. The physician con-
soled the king and had a fine supper prepared. The second
night she carried food and a great deal of wine to the old
women, and when they were drunk threw them into the fire
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 71
and lifted off the cauldron with the boiling heads. The prin-
cess recovered and the king wished to give her to the phy-
sician and reward him with gems and gold, but the physi-
cian would take nothing, and departed."
"You know, mistress, it is late and I am tired," inter-
rupted the parrot ; " I will tell you the rest to-morrow."
The next day the woman who sold coals came again, and
the merchant's wife was on the point of accompanying her ;
but the parrot detained her, promising to finish the story.
So the woman went away in anger, and the parrot contin-
ued :
" The princess disguised as a physician journeyed until
she came to another city, and heard a proclamation by the
king, that every physician who passed that way should be
forced to visit and attempt to cure his son. The new phy-
sician, too, had to go to court ; but could find no remedy for
the severe disease. At night, while sitting at the bedside of
the prince, she heard a loud noise in the next room : went
to the door and saw three old women, who were preparing a
banquet. Afterwards they approached the invalid, anointed
him from head to foot, and carried him healed to the table ;
then when they were full of wine and merry, they anointed
him again and replaced him on his bed worse than before.
The physician comforted the king, and the second night
allowed the witches to take the prince to the table, then
appeared and frightening the old women with threats of
the king's anger drove them from the room and restored
the son to his father. The king, well pleased, wished to
recompense the physician, who would take nothing, and de-
parted."
"But you know, mistress, it is late and I am weary. I
will tell you the rest to-morrow."
The next day the woman who sold coals returned, and the
merchant's wife was on the point of following her ; but the
parrot detained her, promising to finish the story. The
woman went away angry, and the parrot continued :
"After a long journey the princess disguised as a physi-
cian came to another city, and heard a proclamation by the
172 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
king, that every physician who passed that way should be
compelled to visit and attempt to cure his son. The new
physician, too, had to go to court ; but she could find no
remedy for the severe disease. The prince would speak to
no one, but the physician at last made the invalid disclose
the secret of his heart, and he told of the mirror and showed
the portrait of the unknown lady whom he loved desper-
ately. The physician consoled the king ; had garments
and ornaments exactly like those of the young girl in the
glass prepared; dressed in them, and as she appeared be-
fore the prince he leaped from his bed, embracing his be-
trothed in the midst of rejoicings."
But here the lady hears her husband arriving. Joy makes
her beside herself; and she throws from the window the
poor parrot, which now seems to her only a tiresome com-
panion. The merchant enters and inquires about the bird ;
sees the parrot hurt upon the neighboring roof and picks it
up kindly. The parrot narrates to him the wiles of the
coal-woman and its own prudence ; assures the husband
that his wife is innocent ; but complains of her being so
ungrateful ; she had promised him a gold vase, and now
treats him thus. The merchant consoles the dying bird,
and afterwards has him embalmed and placed in the gold
vase. As for his wife, he loved her more than ever.
Another version from Piedmont (Comparetti, No. 2 ; De
Gub. Zool. Myth. II. 322) differs materially from the ones
just given. A king is obliged to go to war and leave behind
him his wife, with whom another king is in love. Before
parting he forbids his wife to leave the palace during his
absence, and presents her with a parrot. No sooner has
the king departed than his rival attempts to obtain an inter-
view with the queen by giving a feast and inviting her to it.
The parrot prevents her going by relating the story con-
tained in the first version. They are interrupted in the
same manner by an old woman sent by the lover, but to no
purpose. When the story is finished, the husband returns,
and the parrot becomes a young man, whom the king had
engaged to watch over his wife's fidelity.
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 73
The Sicilian version of our story is the most interesting
as well as the most complete of all ; the single story in the
continental versions has been expanded into three, and the
frame is more artistic. The story is the second in Pitre,
and is as follows :
XLVII. THE PARROT WHICH TELLS THREE STORIES.
(Third Version.)
Once upon a time there was a rich merchant who wanted
to marry, and who happened to find a wife as good as the
day was long, and who loved her husband desperately.
One day she saw him a little annoyed, and said : " What
makes you feel so ? " " What should make me feel so ! I
have important business to attend to, and must go and see
to it on the spot." " And are you annoyed about that ? let
us arrange matters thus : you will leave me provisions and
close up all the doors and windows but one high up ; make
me a wicket, and then depart." " The advice pleases me,"
said her husband, and he laid in at once a large provision
of bread, flour, oil, coals, and everything ; had all the doors
and windows closed up but one, to take the air, had a wicket
made like those in the convents, and departed, and the wife
remained with her maid. The next day a servant called at
the wicket to do what was necessary and then went away.
After ten days the lady began to be oppressed, and had a
great mind to cry. The maid said : " There is a remedy
for everything, my mistress ; let us draw the table up to
the window, and climb up and enjoy the sight of the Corso."
They did so, and the lady looked out. " Ah ! I thank you,
sirs ! " As she uttered the ah ! opposite her was a notary's
office, and there were the notary and a cavalier. They
turned and saw this beautiful young woman. " Oh ! what
a handsome woman! I must speak with her !" said the cav-
alier. " No : I will speak first," said the notary. And " I
first," and " I first." They laid a wager of four hundred
ounces as to who would speak with her first. The lady
perceived them and withdrew from the window.
174 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.,
The notary and the cavalier thought about the bet, and
had no rest running here and there and trying to speak
with the lady. At last the notary in despair went out into
the fields and began to call his demon. The demon ap-
peared and the notary told him everything, saying : " And
this cavalier wishes to have the advantage of speaking with
the lady first." " What will you give me ?" said the demon.
" My soul." " Then see what you have to do ; I will change
you into a parrot and you must fly and alight on the win-
dow of the lady. The maid will take you and have a silver
cage made for you and put you in it. The cavalier will
find an old woman who is able to make the lady leave the
house. But she will not make her leave, you know. You
must say : ' My pretty mamma, sit down while I tell you
a story.' The old woman will come thrice ; you must tear
out your feathers and fly into a passion and say always :
' My pretty mamma, don't go with that old woman, she will
betray you ; sit down while I tell you a story.' And then
tell her any story you wish."
The demon ended with : " Man you are, become a par-
rot ! " and the parrot flew away to the window. The maid
saw it and caught it with her handkerchief. When the lady
saw the parrot she said : " How beautiful you are ! Now
you will be my consolation." " Yes, pretty mamma, I will
love you, too." The lady had a silver cage made, and shut
the parrot up in it.
Let us leave the parrot in the cage, and return to the
cavalier, who was making desperate efforts to see the lady.
An old woman met him, and asked him what the matter
was. " Must I tell you what the matter is ? " and dismissed
her ; but the old woman was persistent. At last to get rid
of her he told her all about the wager. The old woman
said : " I am able to make you speak with the lady. You
must have prepared for me two handsome baskets of early
fruit." The cavalier was so anxious to see the lady that he
had the baskets of early fruit prepared and given to her.
With these things the old woman went to the wicket, pre-
tending that she was the lady's grandmother. The lady
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. I J$
believed her. One word brings on another. " Tell me, my
granddaughter, you are always shut up, but don't you hear
mass Sundays ? " " How could I hear it shut up ? " " Ah,
my daughter, you will be damned. No, this is not well.
You must hear mass Sundays. To-day is a feast day ; let
us go to mass."
While the lady was being persuaded, the parrot began to
lament. When its mistress opened the clothespress, the
parrot said : " My pretty mamma, don't go, for the old
woman will betray you. If you don't go I will tell you a
story." The lady took an idea into her head. " Now, my
grandmother," she said, "go away, for I cannot come."
And the old woman went away. When she had gone, the
lady went to the parrot, which related to her this story :
FIRST STORY OF THE PARROT.
Once upon a time there was a king who had an only
daughter, who was very fond of dolls, and had one that was
her delight. She dressed her and undressed her and put
her to bed, in short did for her what is done for children.
One day the king wished to go into the country, and the
princess wished to take the doll. While they were walking
about, in a moment of forgetfulness, she left her doll on a
hedge. It was meal time, and after they had eaten they got
into the carriage and returned to the royal palace. What
do you suppose the princess forgot ? the doll !
As soon as they arrived at the palace the princess re-
membered the doll. What did she do ? Instead of going
up-stairs, she turned round and went to look for the doll.
When she got outdoors, she became lost and wandered
about like a person bereft of her senses. After a time she
came to a royal palace and asked who was the king of that
palace. " The King of Spain," they said. She asked for a
lodging. She entered ; the king gave her lodging and
treated her like a daughter. She made herself at home in
the palace and began to be the mistress. The king had no
daughters and gave her liberty to do as she pleased in spite
176 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
of twelve royal damsels. Now, as there is envy among
equals, the damsels began to oppose her. Said they : "Just
see ! Who knows who she is ? and is she to be our prin-
cess ? Now this thing must stop ! " The next day they
said to the princess : " Will you come with us ? " " No,
because papa does not wish it. If he is willing, I will
come." " Do you know what you must do to make him let
you come ? tell him : ' By the soul of his daughter he must
let you go.' When he hears that, he will let you go at
once." The princess did so, but when the king heard her
say: "By the soul of his daughter!" "Ah! wretch," ex-
claimed the king ; " quick, throw her down the trap-door !"
When the princess fell down the trap-door she found a
door, then another, and another, always feeling her way
along. At a certain point she felt with her hands like the
blind, and found tinder and matches. She then lighted a
candle which she found there, and saw a beautiful young
girl, with a padlock on her mouth, so that she could not
speak, but she made signs that the key to open it with was
under the pillow of the bed. The princess got it and
opened the padlock ; then the young girl spoke, and said
that she was the daughter of the king whom a magician had
stolen. This magician brought her, every day, something
to eat, and then locked up her mouth, and she had to wait
until the next day to open it again. " But tell me," said
the princess, " what way is there to free you ? " " How do
I know ? I can do nothing but ask the magician when he
opens my mouth ; you hide under the bed and listen, and
afterwards think what has to be done." "Good ! good !"
The princess locked her mouth, put the key under the pil-
low, and crawled under the bed. But at midnight a great
noise was heard ; the earth opened, lightning, smoke, and
smell of sulphur, and the magician appeared in a magician's
robe. With the magician was a giant with a bowl of food,
and two servants with two torches. The magician sent
away the servants, and locked the doors, took the key, and
opened the mouth of the king's daughter. While they
were eating, she said : " Magician, I have a thought : out
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 177
of curiosity I would like to know what it would be neces-
sary for me to do to escape from here." " You want to
know a great deal, my daughter ! " " Never mind, I don't
care to know." " However, I will tell you. It would be
necessary to make a mine all around the palace, and pre-
cisely at midnight, when I am on the point of entering, to
explode the mine : you will find yourself with your father,
and I will fly up in the air." " It 's as if you had not told
any one," said the young girl. The magician dressed him-
self and went away. After a few hours the princess came
out from under the bed, took leave of her little sister, for
she already called her " little sister," and departed.
She went back to the trap-door and, at a certain point,
stopped and called for help. The king heard her, and had
a rope lowered. The princess climbed up and related
everything to the king. He was astounded, and began the
mine, which he had filled with shot, powder, and balls.
When it was full to the brim, the princess descended with
a watch and went to the king's daughter : " Either both
dead, or both alive ! " When she entered the room, she
said : " It is I," took the lock from her mouth, talked with
her, and then concealed herself under the bed. At mid-
night the magician came, and the king was on the lookout,
with his watch in his hand. As the clock struck twelve,
the princess fired the mine : boom ! and a great noise was
heard : the magician vanished, and the two young girls
found themselves free and in each other's arms. When
the king saw them, he exclaimed : " Ah ! my daughters !
your misfortune was your good fortune. My crown be-
longs to you," said he to the princess whom he had adopted.
" No, your Majesty, for I am a king's daughter, and I, too,
have a crown."
This matter spread over the world, and her fame passed
through all the kingdoms, and every one talked of nothing
but the great courage and goodness of this princess who
had delivered the other princess from the magician. And
they remained happy and always enjoyed holy peace.
178 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
" What do you think, pretty mamma, of this story ? "
"It is very fine," said the lady to the parrot.
A week passed after the story ; the old woman again
came with two other baskets of fruit to her granddaughter :
" Pretty idea ! " said the parrot. " Take care, pretty mamma ;
the old woman is coming." The old woman said : " Come,
my daughter, are you going to mass ? " " Yes, my grand-
mother ; " and the lady began dressing herself. When the
parrot saw her dressing herself it began to tear out its
feathers and weep : " No, pretty mamma, don't go to mass ;
that old woman will ruin you. If you will stay with me, I
will tell you another story." "Now go away," said the
lady to the old woman, "for I cannot kill my dear little
parrot, for the sake of the mass." "Ah ! wicked woman!
to lose your soul for an animal ! " The old woman went
away and the parrot told this story :
SECOND STORY OF THE PARROT.
Well then, my lady, there was once upon a time a king
who had an only daughter as beautiful as the sun and moon.
When she was eighteen a Turkish king wished to marry
her. When she heard that it was a Turkish king she said :
" What do I want of Turks ! " and refused him. Shortly
after she became very ill, convulsions, twisting of the body,
rolling of her eyes to the back of her head, and the doctors
did not know what was the matter. The poor father in
confusion called his council together, and said : " Gentle-
men, my daughter is losing ground every day ; what advice
do you give me?" The sages said : "Your Majesty, there
is a young girl who found the daughter of the King of
Spain ; * find her and she will tell you what must be done
for your daughter." " Bravo ! the council has been favor-
able." The king ordered vessels to go for this young girl :
" And if the King of Spain will not let her go, give him
this iron glove and declare war!" The vessels departed
and reached Spain one morning. They fired a salute, the
* The princess of the last story.
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 1 79
ambassador landed, presented himself to the king, and gave
him a sealed letter. The king opened it and after reading
it began to weep and said : " I prefer war, and I will not
give up this girl." Meanwhile the girl entered : "What is
the matter, your Majesty ? (and she saw the letter). What
are you afraid of ? I will go at once to this king." " How,
my daughter, will you then leave me thus ?" "I will return.
I will go and see what is the matter with this young girl
and then come back."
She took leave of her half-sister and departed. When
she arrived the king went to meet her : " My daughter, if
you cure this sick daughter of mine, I will give you my
crown!" "That makes two crowns !" she said to herself.
" I have a crown, your Majesty. Let us see what the mat-
ter is, and never mind the crowns." She went and saw the
princess all wasted away. She turned to the king and said :
"Your Majesty! have some broth and substantial things
made," and they were prepared at once. " I am going to
shut myself up with your daughter, and you must not open
the door, for in three days I will give her to you alive or
dead. And listen to what I say : even if I should knock
you must not open." Everything was arranged and the
door was fastened with chains and padlocks, but they for-
got the tinder to light the candle with at night. In the
evening there was great confusion. The young girl did not
wish to knock, and as she looked out of the window she saw
a light at a distance. So she descended by a ladder of silk,
taking with her a candle. When she drew near the light she
saw a large cauldron placed on some stones and a furnace
under it, and a Turk who was stirring it with a stick.
" What are you doing, Turk ? " " My king wanted the
daughter of the king, she did not want him, he is bewitch-
ing her." "My poor little Turk! You are tired, are you
not ? do you know what you must do ? rest yourself a little
while I stir." " I will, by Mahomet ! " He got down ; she
got up and began to stir with the stick. " Am I doing it
all right thus ? " " Yes, by Mahomet." " Well then, you take
a nap, and I will stir." When he was asleep, she came
l80 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
down, seized him, and threw him into the boiling cauldron,
where he died. When she saw that he was dead, she
lighted her candle and' returned to the palace. She entered
the room and found the invalid had fainted on the floor.
She brought her to with cologne water (acqua d' oduri) and
in three days she had recovered. Then she knocked at the
door and the king entered, beside himself at finding his
daughter cured. " Ah ! my daughter," he said to the young
girl who had healed her, " how much we owe you ! you
must remain here with me." " It is impossible ; you threat-
ened my father with war if he did not allow me to come ;
now my father declares war with you if you do not let me
return to him." She remained there a fortnight, then de-
parted, and the king gave her quantities of riches and jew-
els. She returned to the king of Spain's palace.
And so the story ends.
" What did you think of the story, pretty mamma ? " said
the parrot. " Beautiful, beautiful." " But you must not
go with the old woman, because there is treason."
After a week the old woman came with her baskets.
" My daughter, you must do me this pleasure to-day, come
and hear the holy mass." " I will." When the parrot heard
that, he began to weep and tear out his feathers : " No, my
pretty mamma, don't go with the old woman. If you will
stay, I will tell you another story." " Grandmother mine,"
says she, " I can't come, for I don't wish to lose the parrot
for your sake." She closed the wicket and the old woman
went away grumbling and cursing. The lady then seated
herself near the parrot, which told this story :
THIRD STORY OF THE PARROT.
Once upon a time there was a king and a queen who
had an only son, whose sole diversion was the chase. Once
he wished to go hunting at a distance, and took with him his
attendants. Where do you think he happened to go ? To
the country where the doll was.* When he saw the doll
* The doll of the first story.
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. l8l
he said : " I have finished my hunt, let us return home ! "
He took the doll and placed it before him on the horse,
and exclaimed every few minutes : " How beautiful this
doll is ! think of its mistress ! " When he reached the
palace he had a glass case made in the wall, and put the
doll in it, and kept looking at it continually and saying :
" How beautiful the doll is ! think of the mistress ! "
The young man would not see any one and became so
melancholy that his father summoned the physicians, who
said : " Your Majesty, we know nothing of this illness ; see
what he does with his doll." The king went to see his
son and found him gazing at the doll, and exclaiming :
" Oh ! how beautiful the doll is ! think of the mistress ! "
The physicians departed as wise as when they came. The
prince meanwhile did nothing but sit and look at the doll,
and draw deep breaths, and sigh, and exclaim : " How beau-
tiful the doll is ! think of the mistress ! " The king at
last, in despair, summoned his council, and said : " See
how my son is reduced ! He has no fever, or pain in his
head, but he is wasting away, and some one else will enjoy
my kingdom ! Give me advice." " Majesty, are you per-
plexed ? Is there not that young girl who found the King
of Spain's daughter, and cured the other princess ? Send
for her. If her father will not let her come, declare war
with him."
The king sent his ambassadors with the message that
the young girl should be sent nolens volens. While the
ambassadors were in the king's presence, his daughter en-
tered, the one who had done the wonders, and found her
father perplexed : " What is the matter, your Majesty ? "
" Nothing, my daughter. Another occasion has arrived,
another king wants you. Does he mean that I am no
longer your master?" "Never mind, your Majesty; let
me go ; I will soon return."
So she embarked with all her attendants and began her
journey. When she arrived where the prince was, she saw
him drawing such deep breaths that it seemed as if he
would swallow himself, and always exclaiming : " Oh ! how
1 82 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
beautiful the doll is ! think of the mistress ! " She said :
" You have called me none too soon ! However, give me a
week : bring me ointments, food ; and in a week, alive and
well, or dead."
She shut herself up with him and listened to hear what
the prince said, for she had not yet heard what he was say-
ing, he was so feeble. When she heard him whisper : " Oh !
how be-au-ti-ful is the doll ; con-sid-er," and saw the doll,
she cried : " Ah ! wretch ! it was you who had my doll !
Leave it to me, I will cure you." When he heard these
words he came to himself and said : " Are you the doll's
mistress ? " "I am." Just think ! he returned to life and
she began to give him broth until she had restored him.
When he was restored she said : " Now tell me how you
got the doll," and the prince told her everything. To
make the matter short, in a week the prince was cured, and
they declared that they would marry each other. The king,
beside himself with joy because his son was healed, wrote
several letters : one to the King of Spain to tell him that
his daughter had found her doll, another to the other king,
her father, to tell him that his daughter was found, and an-
other to the king whose daughter she had cured. After-
wards all these monarchs came together and made great
festivals, and the prince married the princess, and they lived
together in great peace.
" Has this story pleased you, pretty mamma?" "Yes,
my son." "But you must not go with the old woman, you
know."
After the story was ended a servant came : " My lady,
my lady, the master is coming ! " " Truly ! " said the lady.
" Now, parrot, listen ; I will have a new cage made for you."
The master arrived, the windows were all opened, and he
embraced his wife. At dinner they placed the parrot in
the middle of the table, and when the joy was at its height
the bird threw some soup in its master's eyes. The master,
when he felt it, put his hands to his eyes, and the parrot
darted at his throat, strangled him, and flew away.
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN.
183
He flew away to the country, and saying, " I am a parrot,
and I become a man," he was changed into a handsome,
cunning, and well-kempt man on the Corso. He met the
cavalier : " Do you know," said this one, " that the poor
lady's husband is dead ? a parrot strangled him ! " " Truly ?
poor woman ! poor woman ! " said the notary, and went his
way without speaking of the wager. The notary learned
that the lady had a mother, and went to her to ask her
daughter in marriage. After hesitating, the lady finally
said yes, and they were married. That evening the notary
said to the lady : " Now tell me, who killed your husband ? "
" A parrot." " And what about this parrot ? " The lady told
him everything to where the parrot dashed the broth in its
master's eyes, and then flew away. " True ! true ! " said
the notary. " Was I not the parrot ? " " It was you ! I am
amazed." "It was I, and I became a parrot for your
sake ! "
The next day the notary went to the cavalier to get the
four hundred ounces of the wager, which he enjoyed with
his wife.
The three stories related by the parrot are, as has been
seen, in reality one story, and they are, in fact found as
such independent of the frame.85 It has also been seen
that the story or stories related by the parrot are, substan-
tially, the same in all the versions. The Florentine version
alone does not contain the episode of the doll. The story,
as a whole, has no parallels, although it bears a slight re-
semblance to the story in the Pentamerone (II. 2), " Green
Meadow." The princess as physician, and the secret malady
of the prince or princess, are traits which abound in all the
popular tales of Europe.36
Many single stories of Oriental origin will be found in
the chapters following. We shall close this one with a
story which was popular in Europe during the Middle Ages,
being found in one of the great collections of that period,
the Gesta Romanorum. Of the various Italian versions we
shall select one from Pomig-liano d'Arco called :
1 84 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
XLVIII. TRUTHFUL JOSEPH.
Once upon a time there was a mother who had a son
named Joseph ; and because he never told a lie she called
him Truthful Joseph. One day when she was calling him,
the king happened to pass by, and hearing her call him
thus, asked her : "Why do you call him Truthful Joseph ? "
" Because he never tells a lie." Then the king said that he
would like to have him in his service, and set him to keep-
ing his cows. Every morning Joseph presented himself to
the king, and said: "Your Majesty's servant." The king
answered : " Good morning, Truthful Joseph. How are the
cows ? " " Well and fat." " How are the calves ? " " Well
and handsome." " How is the bull ? " "The same." So he
did every morning. The king praised him so highly in the
presence of all his courtiers that they became angry at
him ; and one day, to make Joseph a liar, they sent to him
a lady, who was to induce him by her words to kill the bull.
Joseph was urged so strongly that he consented ; but after-
wards he was in great perplexity as to what he should tell
the king. So he put his cloak on a chair and pretended
that it was the king, and said: "Your Majesty's servant.
Good morning, Truthful Joseph. How are the cows ?
Well and fat. How are the calves ? Well and handsome.
How is the bull ? The same. But no ; that will not do !
I am telling a lie ! When the king asks me how the bull
is, I will tell him that it is dead."
He presented himself to the king and said : " Your
Majesty's servant." " Good morning, Truthful Joseph.
How are the cows ? " " Well and fat." " How are the
calves ? " " Well and handsome." " How is the bull ? "
"Your Majesty, a lady came and with her manners made
me kill the bull. Pardon me." The king answered :
" Bravo, Truthful Joseph ! " He summoned his courtiers
and showed them that Joseph had not yet told any lie.
And so Joseph remained always with the king, and the
courtiers were duped, because they gained nothing that
they had expected.37
CHAPTER IV.
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES.
The Italian people possess an inexhaustible store of
legends which they have inherited from the Middle Ages.
With the great mass of these stories — legends of the saints
or local legends — we have at present nothing to do. It is
enough to say that they do not differ materially from the
legends of the other Catholic peoples of Europe. The class
to which we shall devote our attention in this chapter is
that of popular legendary stories which have clustered
around the person of our Lord and his disciples, and around
other favorite characters of mediaeval fancy, such as Pilate,
The Wandering Jew, etc. To these may be added tales
relating to the other world and stories which are of a legen-
dary nature. The first stories which we shall mention are
those referring to mythical journeys of our Lord and his
apostles.
The first, "St. Peter and the Robbers" (Pitre, No. 121),
relates that once while the Master was journeying with the
apostles they found themselves at night out in the fields,
and took shelter in a cabin belonging to some shepherds,
who received them very inhospitably and gave them noth-
ing to eat. Soon after, a band of robbers attacked the
flock and robbed the shepherds, who ran away. The rob-
bers came to the cabin, and when they heard from the apos-
tles how shabbily they had been treated, gave them the
supper that the shepherds had prepared for themselves, and
went their way. " Blessed be the robbers ! " said St. Peter,
" for they treat the hungry poor better than the rich do."
" Blessed be the robbers ! " said the apostles, and ate their
fill.
This story, as can easily be seen, is a tradition of the
1 86 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
robbers who pretend to have been blessed by Christ. St.
Peter is the hero of several stories, in which he plays any-
thing but a dignified role. In one (Pitre, No. 122), he is
sent to buy some wine, and allows himself to be persuaded
by the wine merchant to eat some fennel-seed. After this
he cannot distinguish between good and bad wine, and pur-
chases an inferior kind. When the Master tasted it he
said : " Eh ! Peter ! Peter ! you have let yourself be de-
ceived." * Peter tasted it again and saw that it was sour.
Another apostle was sent to get some good wine, and
" hence it is that when you have to taste wine to see whether
it is good, you must not eat fennel-seed."
L. THE LORD, ST. PETER, AND THE APOSTLES.
Once, while the Master was on a journey with the thir-
teen apostles, they came to a village where there was no
bread. The Master said : " Peter, let each one of you carry
a stone." They each took up a stone — St. Peter a little bit
of a one. The others were all loaded down, but St. Peter
went along very easily. The Master said : " Now let us go
to another village. If there is any bread there, we shall buy
it ; if there is none, I will give you my blessing and the
stones will become bread."
They went to another town, put the stones down, and
rested. The Master gave them his blessing, and the stones
became bread. St. Peter, who had carried a little one, felt
his heart grow faint. "Master," he said, "how am I going
to eat ? " " Eh ! my brother, why aid you carry a little
stone ? The others, who loaded themselves down, have
bread enough."
Then they went on, and the Master made them each
carry another stone. St. Peter was cunning this time and
took a large one and all the others carried small ones. The
Lord said to the others : " Little ones, we will have a laugh
at Peter's expense." They arrived at another village, and
* This story is an attempt to explain the origin of the word 'nfinucchiari
(infinocchiare) to impose on one, by the wordjinocr/izo, fennel-seed.
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 1 87
all the apostles threw away their stones because there was
bread there ; and St. Peter was bent double, for he had car-
ried a paving-stone with him to no purpose.
On their journey they met a man ; and as St. Peter was
in advance of the others, he said : " The Lord is coming
shortly ; ask Him a favor for your soul." The man drew
near and said : " Lord, my father is ill with old age. Cure
him, Master." The Lord said : " Am I a physician ? Do
you know what you must do ? Put him in a hot oven and
your father will become a boy again." They did so, and
his father became a little boy.
The idea pleased St. Peter, and when he found himself
alone he went about seeking to make some old men young.
By chance there met him one who was seeking the Master
because his mother was at the point of death and he wanted
her cured. St. Peter said : " What do you want ? " " I
want the Master, for I have an old mother who is very ill,
and the Master alone can cure her." "Fortunately Peter
is here ! Do you know what you must do ? Heat an oven
and put her in it, and she will be cured." The poor man
believed him, for he knew that the Lord loved St. Peter, so
he went home and immediately put his mother in the hot
oven. What more could you expect ? The old woman was
burned to a coal. "Ah! santu di cca e di dda /"* cried the
son ; "that scurvy fellow has made me kill my mother ! "
He hastened to St. Peter. The Master was present, and
when he heard the story could not control his laughter,
and said : " Ah, Peter ! what have you done ? " St. Peter
tried to excuse himself, but the poor man kept crying for
his mother. What must the Master do ? He had to go to
the house of the dead, and with a blessing which he there
pronounced he brought the old woman to life again, a
beautiful young girl, and relieved St. Peter of his great em-
barrassment.
The last anecdote is quite popular, and is found in a num-
ber of popular stories, as well as in the Cento Novelle An-
* This is the strongest imprecation in Sicily.
1 88 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
tiche} A very amusing version is from Venice (Widter-
Wolf, No. 5), and is entitled :
LI. THE LORD, ST. PETER, AND THE BLACKSMITH.
In a little town about as large as Sehio or Thiene once
lived a master-smith, — a good, industrious, and skilful
man, but so proud of his skill that he would not deign
to reply to anyone who did not address him as "Professor."
This pride in a man otherwise so blameless gave universal
dissatisfaction. One day our Lord appeared in the black-
smith's shop, accompanied by St. Peter, whom He was al-
ways in the habit of taking with Him on such excursions.
" Professor," said the Lord, " will you be so good as to per-
mit me to do a little work at your forge ? " " Why not ? it
is at your service," replied the flattered smith. " What do
you wish to make ? " " That you will soon see," said the
Lord, and took up a pair of tongs, with which he seized
Peter and held him in the forge until he was red-hot. Then
he drew him out and hammered him on all sides, and in
less than ten minutes the old bald-headed apostle was forged
anew into a wonderfully handsome youth with beautiful
hair. The blacksmith stood speechless with astonishment,
while the Lord and St. Peter exchanged the most courteous
thanks and compliments. Finally the master-smith recov-
ered himself and ran straight up to the second story, where
his sick old father lay in bed. " Father," he cried, " come
quickly ! I have just learned how to make a strong young
man of you." " My son, have you lost your senses ? " said
the old man, half terrified. " No ; only believe me. I have
just seen it myself." Finding that the old man protested
against the attempt, his son seized him forcibly, carried him
to the shop, and in spite of his shrieks and entreaties,
thrust him into the forge, but brought nothing out but a
piece of charred leg, which fell to pieces at the first blow of
the hammer. Then he was seized with anguish and re-
morse. He ran quickly in search of the two men, and for-
tunately found them in the market-place. " Sir," he cried,
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 1 89
" what have you done ? You have misled me. I wanted to
imitate your skill, and I have burned my father alive !
Come with me quickly, and help me, if you can ! " Then
the Lord smiled graciously, and said : " Go home com-
forted. You will find your father alive and well, but an old
man again." And so he did find him, to his great joy.
From that time his pride disappeared, and whenever any
one called him " Professor " he would exclaim : " Ah, what
folly that is ! There are gentlemen in Venice and profes-
sors in Padua, but I am a bungler."
The version in Knust is different. It is called " A Jour-
ney of Our Saviour on Earth," and is, in substance, as fol-
lows : A father whose son is a gambler, makes him become
a soldier. The son deserts during a stormy night and
takes refuge in an inn. There he meets a man who seems
acquainted with his whole life and whose name is Salvatore
(Saviour). He knows that Peter has deserted and is pur-
sued, but he will save him. To gain a livelihood, he proposes
to him to travel together and heal the sick. An opportunity
to do this is soon offered. A rich man is ill, and Salvatore
promises to heal him in three days. He makes every one
withdraw, prepares a potion from herbs, and cures the pa-
tient. The relatives of the rich man offer in their gratitude
all manner of costly things to Salvatore, who, however, ac-
cepts only enough to support life. Such an unreasonable
proceeding enrages his companion to such a degree that he
parts from him. He wishes to cure people independently,
and promises a king to heal his sick daughter at once. But
although he does everything exactly like Salvatore, the only
effect of the potion is to kill the princess. As soon as the
king learns this, he has Peter thrown into prison. On his
way there he meets Salvatore, who is ready to help him at
his request. The latter goes to the king and promises to
raise his daughter if he will release to him the prisoner.
The king consents, but threatens Salvatore with death in
case of failure. The dead, however, comes to life, and in
gratitude offers her hand, through her father, to Salvatore,
190 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
who declares that it is his vocation to wander over the
earth. He asks that the maiden be given to his companion.2
In a story from Venice our Lord and St. Peter are hos-
pitably received by a poor woman who has no bed to offer
them, but makes up one for them from some straw and five
ells of linen which she has bought that day. When the
Lord departs the next morning he bestows on the woman
the power of doing all day the first thing she does in the
morning. She begins by taking the linen from the bed of
her guests, and pulls off piece after piece of linen. A friend
of hers learns this and determines to do the same, but is
punished by the Lord for her selfishness.3
LII. IN THIS WORLD ONE WEEPS AND ANOTHER
LAUGHS.
Once the Lord, while he was making the world, called
one of the apostles and told him to look and see what the
people were doing. The apostle looked and said : " How
curious ! the people are weeping." The Lord answered :
" It is not the world yet ! " The next day he bade the
apostle look again and see what the people were doing.
The apostle looked and saw the people laughing, and said :
"The people are laughing." The Lord answered: "It is
not the world yet." The third day he made him look again,
and the apostle saw that some were weeping, and some
were laughing, and said : " Some of the people are weeping,
and some are laughing." The Lord said : " Now it is the
world, because in this world one weeps and another laughs."
The next legend accounts for the ass' long ears.
LIII. THE ASS.
It is related that when the Lord created the world, he
also made all the animals, and gave each its name. He
also created the ass, which said : " Lord, what is my name ? "
" Your name is ass ! " The ass went away well pleased.
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 191
After a while it forgot its name, and went back to the Lord.
" Lord, what is my name ? " " Ass ! " After a while it
came back again. " Excuse me, Lord, what is my name ? "
" Ass, ass ! " The ass turned and went away, but forgot it
another time, and came back. " Lord, I have forgotten my
name." The Lord could, not stand it any longer, but seized
its ears and pulled them sharply, exclaiming : " Ass ! Ass !
Ass ! " The ears were pulled so hard that they became
long, and that is why the ass has long ears, and why we pull
a person's ears to keep him from forgetting a thing.
Another legend relates that when Christ was journeying
through the world he happened, dying with thirst, to enter
a town. He saw a woman combing her hair, and said :
" Will you give me a drink of water ? for I am dying of
thirst." " I am busy ; it is not the time for water ! " Christ
said at once :
" Cursed be the braid
That is braided Friday."
And continued his journey. After a time he saw a woman
making dough for bread. " Good woman, will you give me
a drink of water ? " " As much as you will ! " and went
and drew some water and gave him. Christ said :
" Blessed be the dough
That is kneaded on Friday."
Hence it is that certain women are accustomed not to comb
their hair on Friday.
There is a satirical legend, called "The Lord's Will,"
which relates that when Christ came to leave the world,
he was in doubt as to whom to leave all on the earth. If
he left it to the gentlemen, what would the nobility do ? if
to the nobility, what would become of the gentry, and the
workmen, and the peasants ? While He was reflecting, the
noblemen came and asked the Lord to give them everything,
which he did. Then the priests came ; and when they
were told that everything had been given to the nobility,
" Oh ! the devil ! " they exclaimed. " Then I leave you the
devil," said the Lord. To the monks, who, when they
I92 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
heard what had been done, exclaimed, " Patience ! " patience
was left. The workmen cried : " What a fraud ! " and re-
ceived that for their share. Finally the peasants came and
said, with resignation : " Let us do the will of God ; " and
that was their portion. And this is the reason why in this
world the noblemen command, the priests are helped by the
devil, the monks are patient, workmen fraudulent, and the
peasants have to do many things they don't want to, and
are obliged to submit to the will of God.4
St. Peter's mother is the subject of a story which has
given rise to a wide-spread proverb. She was, so runs the
story, an avaricious woman, who never was known to do
good to any one. In fact, during her whole life she never
gave anything away, except the top of an onion to a beggar
woman. After her death St. Peter's mother went to hell,
and the saint begged our Lord to release her. In consid-
eration of her one charitable act, an angel was sent to draw
her from hell with an onion-top. The other lost spirits
clutched hold of her skirts, in order to escape with her, but
the selfish woman tried to shake them off, and in her efforts
to do so broke the onion-top, and fell back into hell. This
story has given rise to the saying, " Like St. Peter's mam-
ma," which is found, with slight variations, all over Italy.5
A curious version of this story is given in Bernoni (Leg-
gende fant. No. 8) : After the onion-top was broken and
St. Peter's mother had fallen back into hell, the story con-
tinues : " Out of regard, however, for St. Peter, the Lord
permitted her once a year, on St. Peter's day, to leave hell
and wander about the earth a week ; and, indeed, she does
so every year, and during this week she plays all sorts of
pranks and causes great trouble." 6
St. Peter's sisters are the subject of a story with a moral,
contained in Schneller, p. 6.
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. I93
LIV. ST. PETER AND HIS SISTERS.
St. Peter had two sisters — one large, the other small. The
little one entered a convent and became a nun. St. Peter
was delighted at this and tried to persuade his big sister to
become a nun also. She would not listen to him, however,
and said : " I would rather marry." After St. Peter had
suffered martyrdom, he became, as is well known, Porter of
Heaven. One day the Lord said to him : " Peter, open the
gate of heaven to-day as wide as you can, and get out all
the heavenly ornaments and decorations, for to-day a very
deserving soul is going to arrive here." St. Peter did as he
was told with great joy, and thought : " Certainly my little
sister is dead, and is coming to heaven to-day." When
everything was ready, there came the soul of his big
sister, who had died and left many children, who bitterly
lamented her loss. The Lord gave her an exalted place
in heaven, much to the astonishment of St. Peter, who
thought : " I never should have imagined this ; what shall I
have to do when the soul of my little sister comes ? "
Not long after, the Lord said to him : " Peter, open the
gate of heaven to-day a little way, but a very little, — do
you hear ? " St. Peter did so and wondered : " Who is com-
ing to-day ? " Then came the soul of his little sister, and
had so much trouble to squeeze through the gate that she
hurt herself ; and she received a much lower place in
heaven than the big sister. At first St. Peter was amazed ;
afterwards he said : " It has happened differently from
what I imagined ; but I see now that every profession has
its merits, and every one, if he only wishes, can enter
heaven."
The cycle of stories referring to our Lord would not be
complete without legends of Pilate, Judas, and the Wander-
ing Jew. A powerful story is told of the first in Pitre, No.
1 19, which is as follows :
13
194 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
LV. PILATE.
It is said that the following once took place at Rome :
A wagon loaded with stones was crossing a solitary spot in
the country when one of the wheels sank into the ground
and it was impossible to extricate it for some time. Finally
they got it out, but there remained a large hole that opened
into a dark room under ground. " Who wishes to descend
into this hole ? " " I," said the carter. They soon procured
a rope and lowered the carter into the dark room. We will
suppose that this carter's name was Master Francis. Well,
then, Master Francis, when he was let down, turned to the
right and saw a door, which he opened, and found himself in
darkness that you could cut. He turned to the left, the
same ; he went forward, the same ; he turned once more
and when he opened the door what did he see ? He saw a
man seated before a table ; before him, pen, ink, and a writ-
ten paper that he was reading ; and when he finished it he
began over again, and never raised his eyes from the paper.
Master Francis, who was of incomparable courage, went up
to him and said : " Who are you ? " The man made no
answer, but continued to read. " Who are you ? " said
Master Francis again ; but not a word. The third time, the
man said : " Turn around, open your shirt, and I will write
who I am on your back. When you leave this place, go to
the Pope and make him read who I am. Remember, how-
ever, that the Pope alone must read it." Master Francis
turned about, opened his shirt, the man wrote on his back,
and then sat down again. Master Francis was courageous,
it is true ; but he was not made of wood, and in that moment
he was frightened to death. He fixed his shirt and then
asked : " How long have you been here ? " but could get
no answer from him. Seeing that it was time lost to ques-
tion him, he gave the signal to those outside and was drawn
up. When they saw him they did not recognize him ; he
had grown entirely white and seemed like an old man of
ninety. " What was it ? What happened ? " they all began to
say. " Nothing, nothing," he replied ; " take me to the Pope,
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 1 95
for I must confess." Two of those who were present con-
ducted him to the Pope. When he was with him he related
what had happened and taking off his shirt, said to him :
" Read, your Holiness ! " His Holiness read : "I am
Pilate." And as he uttered these words the poor carter
became a statue. And it is said that that man was Pilate,
who was condemned to stay in a cave, always reading the
sentence that he had pronounced on Jesus Christ, without
ever being able to take his eyes from the paper. This is
the story of Pilate who is neither saved nor damned.7
Judas is believed to have hanged himself on a tamarind-
tree, which, before that time, was a tall, beautiful tree.
After Judas's death it became the diminutive, shapeless
shrub called vruca, which is a synonym for all that is worth-
less. The soul of the traitor is condemned to wander
through the air, and every time it sees this shrub it pauses,
and imagines it sees its miserable body dangling from it,
the prey of birds and dogs.8 This popular legend is told in
the following words :
LVI. THE STORY OF JUDAS.
You must know that Judas was the one who betrayed
Jesus Christ. Now when Judas betrayed him, his Master
said: "Repent, Judas, for I pardon you." But Judas, not
at all ! he departed with his bag of money, in despair and
cursing heaven and earth. What did he do ? While he was
going along thus desperate he came across a tamarind-tree.
(You .must know that the tamarind was formerly a large
tree, like the olive and walnut.) When he saw this tama-
rind a wild thought entered his mind, remembering the trea-
son he had committed. He made a noose in a rope and
hung himself to the tamarind. And hence it is (because
this traitor Judas was cursed by God) that the tamarind-
tree dried up, and from that time on it ceased growing up
into a tree and became a short, twisted, and tangled bush ;
and its wood is good for nothing, neither to burn, nor to
I96 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
make anything out of, and all on account of Judas, who
hanged himself on it.
Some say that the soul of Judas went to the lowest hell,
to suffer the most painful torments ; but I have heard, from
older persons who can know, that Judas's soul has a severer
sentence. They say that it is in the air, always wandering
about the world, without being able to rise higher or fall
lower ; and every day, on all the tamarind shrubs that it
meets, it sees its body hanging and torn by the dogs and
birds of prey. They say that the pain he suffers cannot be
told, and that it makes the flesh creep to think of it. And
thus Jesus Christ condemned him for his great treason.9
An interesting legend (Pitre, No. 1 20) is told of the Jew
who struck our Lord with the palm of his hand (St. John
xviii. 22), and whom the popular imagination has identified
with the Malchus mentioned by St John, xviii. 10. It is
called
LVII. DESPERATE MALCHUS.
This Malchus was one of those Jews who beat our Lord ;
a Jew more brutal than can be told. When Christ was
taken to Pilate's house, this Malchus, with an iron glove,
gave him a blow so heavy that it knocked out all his teeth.
For the sacrilegious act, the Lord condemmed him to walk
constantly, without ever resting, around a column in an un-
derground room. This column is in a round room, and
Malchus walks and walks without ever having peace or
rest. They say that he has walked so much that he has
worn the ground down many yards and made the column
seem higher than it was, for this Malchus has led this life
ever since our Lord's passion and death. It is said that
this Malchus is desperate from his remorse, and while he
walks he beats the column, strikes his head against the
wall, and rages and laments ; but notwithstanding he does
not die, for the sentence of God is that he must live until
the day of judgment.10
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 1 97
The same legend is found in Bernoni as follows :
LVIII. MALCHUS AT THE COLUMN.
Malchus was the head of the Jews who killed our Lord.
The Lord pardoned them all, and likewise the good thief,
but he never pardoned Malchus, because it was he who
gave the Madonna a blow. He is confined under a moun-
tain, and condemned to walk around a column, without
resting, as long as the world lasts. Every time that he
walks about the column he gives it a blow in memory of the
blow he gave the mother of our Lord. He has walked
around the column so long that he has sunk into the ground.
He is now up to his neck. When he is under, head and all,
the world will come to an end, and God will then send him
to the place prepared for him. He asks all those who go
to see him (for there are such) whether children are yet
born ; and when they say yes, he gives a deep sigh and re-
sumes his walk, saying : " The time is not yet ! " for before
the world comes to an end there will be no children born
for seven years.11
This legend recalls the Wandering Jew, who is known in
Sicilian tradition under the name of Buttaden (from buttari,
to thrust away, and den, God) or more commonly as " The
Jew who repulsed Jesus Christ." He is reported to have
appeared in Sicily, and the daughter of a certain Antonino
Caseio, a peasant of Salaparuta, gives the following account
of her father's encounter with Buttadeu :
LIX. THE STORY OF BUTTADEU.
It was in the winter, and my good father was at Scalone,
in the warehouse, warming himself at the fire, when he
saw a man enter, dressed differently from the people of that
region, with breeches striped in yellow, red, and black, and
his cap the same way. My good father was frightened.
" Oh ! " he said, " what is this person ? " " Do not be
I98 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
afraid," the man said. " I am called Buttadeu" " Oh ! "
said my father, " I have heard you mentioned. Be pleased
to sit down a while and tell me something." " I cannot sit,
for I am condemned by my God always to walk." And
while he was speaking he was always walking up and down
and had no rest. Then he said : " Listen. I am going
away ; I leave you, in memory of me, this, that you must
say a credo at the right hand of our Lord, and five other
credos at his left, and a salve regina to the Virgin, for the
grief I suffer on account of her son. I salute you." "Fare-
well." " Farewell, my name is Buttadeu." 12
We have only a few legends of the saints to mention.
Undoubtedly a large number are current among the people
(Busk, pp. 196, 202, 203, 213-228, gives a good many), but
they do not differ materially from the literary versions cir-
culated by the Church. Those which we shall cite are
purely popular and belong to the great mediaeval legend-
cycle.
The first is the legend of " Gregory on the Stone," which
was so popular in the mediaeval epics. There are several
Italian versions, but we select as the most complete the one
in Gonzenbach, No. 85, called :
LX. THE STORY OF CRIVOLIU.
Once upon a time there was a brother and sister who
had neither father nor mother, and lived alone together.
They loved each other so much that they committed a sin
which they should not have committed. When the time
came the sister gave birth to a boy, which the brother had
secretly baptized. Then he burnt into his shoulders a
cross, with these words : " Crivoliu, who is baptized ; son
of a brother and sister." After the child was thus marked,
he put it in a little box and threw it into the sea.
Now it happened that a fisherman had just gone out to
fish, and saw the box floating on the waves. "A ship must
have sunk somewhere," he thought. " I will get the box,
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. I99
perhaps there is something useful in it." So he rowed
after it and got it. When he opened it and saw the little
child in it, he had pity on the innocent child, took it home
to his wife, and said : " My dear wife, our youngest child is
already old enough to wean ; nurse in its place this poor
innocent child." So his wife took little Crivoliu and nursed
him, and loved him as though he were her own child.
The boy grew and thrived and became every day larger
and stronger.
The fisherman's sons, however, were jealous because their
parents loved the little foundling as well as them, and when
they played with Crivoliu and quarrelled, they called him a
"foundling." The boy's heart was saddened by this and he
went to his foster-parents and said : " Dear parents, tell me,
am I truly not your son ? " The fisherman's wife said :
" How should you not be my son ? Have I not nursed you
when you were a baby ? " The fisherman forbade his chil-
dren very strictly to call little Crivoliu a "foundling."
When the child was larger, the fisherman sent him to
school with his sons. The children, when they were out of
their father's hearing, began again to mock little Crivoliu
and to call him " foundling," and the other children in the
school did the same. Then Crivoliu went again to his fos-
ter-parents and asked them if he was not their son. They
persuaded him out of it, however, and put him off until he
was fourteen. Then he could no longer stand being called
"foundling," and went to the fisherman and his wife, and
said : "Dear parents, I entreat you to tell me whether I am
your child or not." Then the fisherman told him how he
had found him and what was written on his shoulders.
" Then I will go forth, and do penance for the sins of my
parents," said Crivoliu. The fisherman's wife wept and
lamented and would not let him go ; but Crivoliu would not
be detained and wandered out into the wide world.
After he had wandered about a long time, he came one
day to a lonely place where there was only an inn. He
asked the hostess : " Tell me, good woman, is there a cave
near by, to which you alone know the entrance ? " She
200 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
answered : " Yes, my handsome youth, I know such a cave
and will take you to it willingly." Then Crivoliu took two
grams worth of bread and a little pitcher of water with
him and had the hostess show him the cave. It was some
distance from the inn, and the entrance was so covered with
thorns and bushes that he could scarcely penetrate into the
cave. He sent the hostess back, crept into the cave, put
the bread and water on the ground, knelt with folded arms,
and so did penance for the sins of his parents.
Many, many years passed, I know not how many, but so
many, that his knees took root and he grew fast to the
ground.
Now it happened that the Pope died at Rome, and a new
one was to be chosen. The cardinals all assembled, and a
white dove was let loose : for he on whom it should alight
was to be Pope. The white dove made several circles in
the air, but alighted on no one. Then all the archbishops
and bishops were summoned, and the dove was again let
loose, but it did not settle on any one. Then all the priests
and monks and hermits were collected, but the white dove
would not choose any of them. The people were in great
despair, and the cardinals had to wander forth and search
the whole country to see whether another hermit was yet
to be found, and a crowd of people accompanied them.
At last they came to the inn in the lonely neighborhood,
and asked the hostess whether she knew of any hermit or
penitent who was yet unknown to the world. The hostess
answered : " Many years ago a sorrowful youth came here
and made me conduct him to a cave to do penance. He is
surely dead long ago, for he took with him only two grani's
worth of bread and a pitcher of water." The cardinals
said: "We will look, however, and see whether he is still
alive; take us to him." Then the hostess conducted them
to the cave ; the entrance was scarcely to be recognized, so
overgrown was it with brambles, and before they could
enter the attendants had to cut away the brambles and
bushes with axes. After they had forced their way in, they
saw Crivoliu kneeling in the cave, with crossed arms, and
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 201
his beard had grown so long that it touched the ground,
and before him lay the bread, and by it the pitcher of water ;
for in all those years he had not eaten or drunken. When
they let the white dove loose now, it flew about in a circle
for a moment and then alighted on the head of the penitent.
Then the cardinals perceived that he was a saint, and
begged him to come with them and be their Pope. As they
were going to raise him up, they noticed that his knees had
grown fast, and they had to cut the roots. Then they took
him to Rome with them and he was made Pope.
Now it happened that at the same time the sister said to
her brother : " Dear brother, when we were young, we com-
mitted a sin that we have not yet confessed, for the Pope
alone can absolve us from it. Let us go, then, to Rome, be-
fore death overtakes us, and confess there our sin." So
they started on their journey to Rome, and when they ar-
rived there they entered the church where the Pope sat in
the confessional.
When they had confessed in a loud voice, for one always
confesses openly to the Pope, the Pope said : " Behold, I am
your son, for on my shoulder is the mark you speak of. I
have done penance many years for your sin, until it has
been forgiven you. I absolve you, therefore, from your sin,
and you shall stay with me and live in comfort." So they
remained with him, and when their time came, the Lord
called them all three to his kingdom.13
An important episode of the original legend is omitted
in the above version, but preserved in those in Pitre (No.
117) and Knust (No. 7). The youth after discovering his
origin sets out on his wanderings and comes by chance to
the country where his mother is living. They meet and,
not knowing their relation, marry. In the Sicilian story
this relationship is disclosed the day of the marriage by the
son showing his mother the box in which he was exposed
as a child. In the version of Knust (from Leghorn), the
child leaves his foster-father and goes in search of his par-
ents. He encounters them without knowing it of course,
202 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
and they, supposing him to be a beggar boy, give him
shelter and care for him until he has grown up. Then he
marries his mother, who recognizes him by a lock of red
hair. At the conclusion of the story, after the Pope has
heard the confession of his parents he reveals himself, they
all three embrace, and die thus united. The story adds,
"their tomb is still preserved in St. Peter's at Rome."
Another Pope, Silvester I., is the subject of a legend in
Pitre (No. 118) which contains the well-known myth of
Constantine's leprosy healed by his baptism at the hands of
St. Silvester.
Of greater interest is a legend of St. James the Elder,
the patron-saint of Spain, a pilgrimage to whose shrine at
Santiago in Galicia was so popular during the Middle Ages.
The only popular version which' we have found is in a
Sicilian story in Gonzenbach, No. 90.
LXI. THE STORY OF ST. JAMES OF GALICIA.
There was once a king and queen who had no children,
and who longed to have a son or daughter. The queen
prayed to St. James of Galicia, and said : " O St. James ! if
you will grant me a son, he shall make a pilgrimage to your
shrine when he is eighteen years old." After a time the
queen had, through the favor of God and the saint, a beau-
tiful boy who was as handsome as if God had made him.
The child grew rapidly and became larger and fairer every
day. When he was twelve years old, the king died, and
the queen remained alone with this son, whom she loved as
dearly as her eyes. Many years passed and the time drew
near when the prince should be eighteen. When the queen
thought that she must soon part from him to send him alone
on the long pilgrimage, she became very sorrowful and
wept and sighed the whole day.
One day the prince said to her : " Mother, why do you
sigh all day ? " " It is nothing, my son, only some cares of
mine," she answered. "What are you concerned about?"
asked he. " Are you afraid that your farms in the Plain (of
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 203
Catania) are badly tilled ? Let me go and look after them
and bring you news of them." The queen consented and
the prince rode to the Plain, to the property that belonged
to them. He found everything in good order, and returned
to his mother and said : "Dear mother, rejoice, and cease
your care, for everything is going well on your property ;
the cattle are thriving ; the fields are tilled, and the grain
will soon be ripe." " Very well, my son," answered the
queen, but she was not cheerful, and the next day began to
sigh and weep again. Then the prince said to her : " Dear
mother, if you do not tell me why you are so sad, I will de-
part, and wander out in the wide world." The queen an-
swered : " Ah, my dear son, I am sad because you must
now part from me. For before you were born, when I
longed for you so much, I vowed to St. James of Galicia,
that if he would grant you to me, you should make a pil-
grimage to his shrine when you were eighteen years old.
And now you will soon be eighteen, and I am sad because
you must wander away alone, and be gone so many years ;
for to reach the saint, one must journey a whole year." "Is
it nothing but that, dear mother ? " asked her son. " Be
not so sorrowful. Only the dead return not. If I live, I
will soon come back to you."
So he comforted his mother, and when he was eighteen
he took leave of the queen, and said : " Now farewell, dear
mother, and, God willing, we shall meet again." The queen
wept bitterly, and embraced him with many tears ; then
she gave him three apples, and said : " My son, take these
three apples and give heed to my words. You shall not
make the long journey alone. When, however, a youth
joins you and wishes to accompany you, take him with you
to the inn, and let him eat with you. After the meal cut
an apple in two halves, one large and the other small, and
offer them to the young man. If he takes the larger half,
part from him, for he will be no true friend to you ; but if
he takes the smaller half, regard him as your brother, and
share everything that you have with him." After these
words she embraced her son and blessed him, and the prince
departed.
204 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
He had already travelled a long time, and no one had
met him. One day, however, he saw a youth coming along
the road who joined him and asked : " Where are you go-
ing, handsome youth ? " " I am making a pilgrimage to
St. James of Galicia ; " and he told him of his mother's vow.
" I must go there, too," said the other, " for the same thing
happened to my mother as to yours ; if we have the same
journey to make, we can make it together." They contin-
ued their journey together, but the prince was not confiden-
tial towards his companion, for he thought : " I must first
make the trial with the apple."
As they were passing an inn, the prince said : "lam
hungry : shall we not have something to eat ? " The other
was willing, so they went in and ate together. After they
had eaten, the prince took out the apple, cut it in two un-
equal halves, and offered them to the other, who took the
larger half. " You are no true friend," thought the prince ;
and to get rid of him, he pretended to be ill, and obliged to
remain there. The other said : " I cannot wait for you, for
I have far to go yet ; so farewell." " Farewell," said the
prince, and was glad to be rid of him.
When he continued his journey again, he thought : " Ah,
if God would only send me a true friend, so that I should
not have to travel alone ! "
Not long after, another youth joined him and asked :
" Handsome young man, where are you going ? " The
prince answered him as he had done before, and everything
happened the same as with the first young man. After the
prince had got rid of him he resumed his journey and
thought : " O God, let me find a true friend who shall be to
me a brother on the long journey ! " While he was uttering
this prayer he saw a youth coming along the way, who was
a handsome lad, and appeared so friendly that he liked him
at once, and thought : " Ah, may this be the true friend ! "
The youth joined him, and everything passed as before,
except that this time the youth took the smaller half of the
apple, and the prince rejoiced that he had found a true
friend. " Fair youth," said he to him, " we must consider
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 205
ourselves as brothers now ; what is mine shall be yours also,
and what is yours, shall be mine. We will travel together,
until we come to the shrine of the saint ; and if one of us
dies on the way, the other must carry his body there. We
will both promise this." They did so, and regarded each
other as brothers, and continued their journey together.
To reach the shrine of the saint requires a whole year ;
imagine, then, how long the two must travel. One day when
they came, weary and exhausted, to a large, beautiful city,
they said : " We will stay here and rest a few days, and
afterwards continue our journey." So they took a small
house, and dwelt in it. Now opposite it was the royal
palace, and one morning as the king was standing on the
balcony, he saw the two handsome youths, and thought :
"Oh! how handsome these two youths are ! one is, how-
ever, much handsomer than the other. I will give him my
daughter in marriage." Now the prince was the handsomer
of the two. In order to attain his aim, the king invited
them both to dinner, and when they came to the palace
received them in a very friendly manner and had his daugh-
ter called, who was more beautiful than the sun and moon.
When they retired for the night, the king had a poisonous
drink given to the prince's companion, who fell down dead ;
for the king thought : " If his friend dies, the other will
remain here willingly, and think no more of his pilgrimage,
but marry my daughter."
The next morning, when the prince awoke, he asked :
" Where is my friend ? " " He died suddenly last night, and
is to be buried at once," answered the servants. The prince
said : " If my friend is dead, I cannot remain here longer,
but must depart this very hour." "Ah ! do remain here,"
begged the king. " I will give you my daughter for your
wife." "No," said the prince, "I cannot stay here. If you
will grant me a wish, give me a horse, and let me depart in
peace ; and when I have completed my pilgrimage, I will
return and marry your daughter." The king then gave
him a horse, which the prince mounted, and took his dead
friend before him on the saddle, and thus completed his
206 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
journey. The young man, however, was not dead, but lay
only in a deep sleep.
When the prince- reached the shrine of St. James of
Galicia, he dismounted, took his friend in his arms like a
child, and entered the church and laid the body on the steps
of the altar before the saint, and prayed : " O St. James of
Galicia ! behold, I have kept my vow. I have come to you
and have brought you my friend, also. I confide him now
to you ; if you will restore him to life, we will laud your
mercy ; but if he is not to come to life again, he has at least
kept his vow." And behold, while he was still praying, his
dead friend rose, and became again alive and well. Both
thanked the saint, and gave him costly presents, and then
started on their journey home.
When they reached the city where the king lived, they
occupied again the little house opposite the royal palace.
The king was greatly rejoiced to see the handsome prince
there again, and much handsomer than before ; he arranged
great festivities, and had a splendid marriage celebrated,
and thus the prince married the fair princess. After the
wedding they remained several months with her father, and
then the prince said : "My mother is expecting me at home
with great anxiety ; therefore I cannot stay longer here,
but will return to my mother with my wife and my friend."
The king consented and they prepared for the journey.
Now the king had a deadly hatred against the poor, in-
nocent youth, to whom he had before given the fatal drink,
and who had nevertheless returned alive, and in order to
cause him sorrow, he sent him in great haste on the morn-
ing of the departure into the country with an errand.
"Hasten," he said. " Your friend will not start until you
return." The youth hastened away, without taking leave,
and performed the king's errand. The king, meanwhile,
said to the prince : " Hasten your departure, otherwise you
cannot reach your quarters for the night before evening."
"I cannot depart without my friend," answered the prince.
The king, however, said : " Set out on your journey ; he will
be here within an hour, and will soon overtake you on his
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 207
swift horse." The prince allowed himself to be persuaded,
took leave of his father-in-law, and departed with his wife.
The poor friend could not fulfil the king's commission be-
fore several hours, and when he finally returned, the king
said to him: "Your friend is already far from here; see
how you can overtake him."
So the poor youth had to leave the palace, and did not
even receive a horse, and began to run, and ran day and
night until he overtook the prince. From his great exer-
tions, however, he contracted leprosy, so that he looked ill,
wretched, and dreadful. The prince, nevertheless, received
him in a friendly manner and cared for him like a brother.
They finally reached home, where the queen had awaited
her son with great anxiety, and now embraced him with
perfect joy. The prince had a bed prepared at once for
his sick friend and summoned all the physicians of the
town and state, but no one could help him. When the
poor youth grew no better the prince addressed himself to
St. James of Galicia and said : " O St. James of Galicia !
you raised my friend from the dead ; help him now this time
also, and let him recover from his leprosy." While he was
praying, a servant entered and said : "A strange physician
is without, who will make the poor youth well again." This
physician was St. James of Galicia himself, who had heard
the prayer of the prince and had come to help his friend.
You must know now that the prince's wife had had a little
girl who was a pretty, lovely child.
When the saint approached the bed of the sick youth,
he first examined him, and then said to the prince : " Do
you really wish to see your friend well again at any price?"
"At any price," answered the prince ; "only tell me what
can help him." "This evening, take your child," said the
saint, " open all her veins, and anoint with her blood your
friend's wounds, and he will be healed at once."
The prince was horrified when he heard that he himself
must kill his dear little daughter, but he answered : "I have
promised my friend to treat him like my brother ; and if
there is no other remedy, I will sacrifice my child."
208 ITALIAN. POPULAR TALES.
At evening he took the child and opened her veins and
anointed with the blood the sores of the sick youth, who
was at once cleansed from his foul leprosy. The child be-
came pale and weak, and looked as if it were dead. Then
they laid it in its cradle and the poor parents were deeply
grieved, for they believed they had lost their child.
The next morning the physician came and asked after
the patient. " He is well and sound," answered the prince.
" And where have you put your child ? " asked the saint.
" There it lies dead in its cradle," said the poor father,
sadly. " Just look at her once and see how she is," said
the saint ; and when they hastened to the cradle, they saw
the child in it alive and well again. Then the saint said :
" I am St. James of Galicia, and have come to help you, be-
cause I have seen what true friendship you have displayed.
Continue to love one another, and when you are in trouble
turn to me and I will come to your aid." With these words
he blessed them and disappeared from their sight. They
lived piously and did much good to the poor, and were
happy and contented.14
There are several interesting legends found only in Gon-
zenbach's collection. They can be mentioned but briefly
here. The first (No. 87) is entitled: "The Story of St.
Oniria or Neria." Two huntsmen lost their way in a wood
and found at night a hut in which was a table set for sup-
per, and a fire which emitted a heavenly odor. They ex-
amined it and found in the coals a heart, which they took
with them when they departed, the next morning. After
they had travelled a while, they stopped at an inn, and the
pious and virtuous daughter of the innkeeper waited on
them, and noticed the odor which came from the jacket
that one of the huntsmen had laid aside on account of the
heat. In the pocket she found the heart, which she kept
for a time on a table in her room. One day she was seized
with a great longing to eat it. She did so, and it soon was
evident that she was about to become a mother. Her
father treated her cruelly, for the shame she was going to
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 2CX)
bring on the family, but her godmother interfered, and one
night had a strange dream. There appeared to her a saint,
who said : " I am St. Oniria, and was consumed by fire.
Only my heart was left, so that I might be born again.
This heart the host's daughter has eaten, and she will, in
due time, give birth to me." The child was born as pre-
dicted, and grew handsomer every day. The grandfather,
however, could not endure him, and ill-treated him as well
as his mother.
One day, when the child was five years old, the grand-
father took him to the city. On the way they passed a
place where there was much filth, and the child said to his
grandfather : " I wish you might wallow in it." Afterwards
they saw a poor man being carried to the grave on a lad-
der, without any coffin. The child here wished that his
grandfather, when he died, might be like this one. Next
they met the long funeral procession of a rich man, and the
child wished that his grandfather might not be like this rich
man. The grandfather, of course, in each case was very
angry, and was only restrained from beating the child by
the mother's godfather, who had accompanied them.
After they had finished their business in the city they
set out for home ; and when they came to the spot where
they had met the rich man's funeral procession, the child
made his grandfather put his ear to the ground, when he
heard a great noise, as if of iron pestles and lamentations.
The child explained that what he heard were the devils tor-
menting the rich man's soul. When they came where they
had seen the poor man on the ladder, the grandfather lis-
tened again and heard the rejoicings of the angels on re-
ceiving the poor man's soul.
When they came to the place where the filth was, the
child made his grandfather dig and find a pot of money
which he told him to use better than he had done his own.
The child then said he was St. Oniria, exculpated his
mother, and said his grandfather would see him again when
the dead spoke with the living. Then he was taken up into
heaven.
14
210 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
Years after, two men spent the night in the inn, and one
murdered the other and hid the body under the straw,
where it was afterwards found by other travellers, and the
innkeeper accused of the murder. He was condemned and
was on the scaffold when a beautiful youth came riding in
hot haste, crying : " Pardon ! " The youth led the people
into the church, before the coffin of the murdered man, and
cried : " Rise, dead one, and speak with the living, and tell
us who murdered you." The dead man replied : " The inn-
keeper is innocent ; my treacherous companion killed me."
Then the youth accompanied the innkeeper home, revealed
himself as St. Oniria, blessed them, and disappeared.15
Another legend (No. 92), "The Story of the Hermit,"
has as its subject the mystery of God's Providence, and is
familiar to English readers in the form of Parnell's Hermit.
The substance of the Sicilian version is as follows : A her-
mit sees a man wrongfully accused of theft and shockingly
maltreated. He thereupon concludes that God is unjust to
suffer such things, and determines to return to the world.
On his way back a handsome youth meets him and they
journey together. A muleteer allows them to ride his
beasts, and in return the youth abstracts the muleteer's
money from his wallet and drops it in the road. A woman
who keeps an inn receives them hospitably, and on leaving
the next morning, the youth strangles her child in the era-
die. All at once the youth becomes a shining angel, and
says to the hermit : " Listen to me, O man who has been
bold enough to murmur against God's decrees ; " and then
explains that the person who had been wrongfully accused
of theft had years before murdered his father on that very
spot ; the muleteer's money was stolen money, and the
child of the hostess, had it lived, would have become a rob-
ber and murderer. Then the angel says : " Now you see
that God's justice is more far-sighted than man's. Return,
then, to your hermitage, and repent if so be that your mur-
muring be forgiven you." The angel disappears and the
hermit returns to his mountain, does severer penance, and
dies a saint.16
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 2 1 1
The legend in Gonzenbach (No. 91) entitled "Joseph the
Just " is nothing but the story of Joseph and his Brethren,
taken from the Bible. In the Sicilian version Joseph has
only three brothers ; otherwise the story follows the account
in Genesis very closely. Another legend in the same col-
lection (No. 89), "The Story of Tobia and Tobiola," is the
story of Tobit and Tobias, taken from the apocryphal book
of Tobit. The Sicilian story differs in the names only.
There are several other Sicilian legends the heroes of
which are pious, simple youths, the religious counterparts
of Giufa. One (Pitre, No. 112), called "The Poor Boy,"
tells the story of a simple youth who asked the priest the
way to paradise, and was told he must follow the strait and
narrow way. He took the first one he came to, and reached
a convent church during a festival, and imagined he had
reached paradise. He was found in the church when all
had departed ; but he persisted in remaining, and the supe-
rior sent him a bowl of soup, which he put on the altar ; and
when he was alone he began to converse confidentially with
the Lord on the crucifix, and said : " Lord, who put you on
the cross ? " " Your sins ! " and so the Lord responded to all
his questions. The youth, in tears, promised he would sin
no more, and invited the Lord to descend and partake of
his repast with him. The Lord did so, and commanded
him to tell the monks in the convent that they would be
damned unless they sold all their property and bestowed it
on the poor. If they would do so and come and confess to
the Lord himself, he would hear their confession and give
them the communion, and when it was finished they would
all die, one after the other, and enter the glory of paradise.
The poor youth went to the superior and gave him the
Lord's message. The superior sold the property of the con-
vent, and everything turned out as the Lord had said. The
monks all confessed and died, and all who were present or
heard of the event were converted and died in the grace of
God."
This legend leads quite naturally to another, in which in-
tercourse with the other world is represented as still occa-
212 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
sionally permitted to mortals. It is found only in Sicily,
having, curiously enough, parallels in the rest of Europe,
but none in Italy. It is called :
LXII. THE BAKER'S APPRENTICE.
There was once a baker who every morning loaded an
ounceworth of bread on a horse that came to his shop. One
day he said : " I give this ounceworth of bread to this
horse and he renders me no account of it." Then he said
to his apprentice : " Vincenzo, the horse will come to-mor-
row and I will give him the bread, but you must follow him
and see where he goes." The next day the horse came and
the baker loaded him, and gave the apprentice a piece of
bread for himself. Vincenzo followed the horse, and after
a while came to a river of milk, and began to eat bread and
milk, and could not overtake the horse again. He then re-
turned to his master, who, seeing him return to no purpose,
said : " To-morrow the horse will come again ; if you can-
not tell me where he goes I will no longer have you for my
apprentice." The next day the apprentice followed the
horse again, and came to a river of wine, and began to eat
bread and wine, and lost sight of the horse. He returned
to his master in despair at having lost the horse. His
master said : " Listen. The first time, one pardons ; the
second time, one condones ; the third time, one beats. If
to-morrow you do not follow the horse I will give you a
good thrashing and send you home." What did poor Vin-
cenzo do? He followed the horse the next day with his
eyes open. After a while he came to a river of oil. " What
shall I do ? the horse will get away from me now ! " So he
tied the horse's reins to his girdle and began to eat bread
and oil. The horse pulled, but Vincenzo said : " When I
finish the bread I will come." When he had finished the
bread he followed the horse, and after a time he came to a
cattle-farm where the grass was long and thick and the cat-
tle so thin that they could scarcely stand on their feet.
Vincenzo was astonished at seeing the grass so long and
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 2 1 3
the cattle so lean. Then he came to another farm, and
saw that the grass was dry and short, and the cattle fatter
than you can believe. He said to himself: "Just see!
There, where the grass was long, the cattle were lean ;
here, where you can hardly see the grass, the cattle are so
fat ! " The horse kept on, and Vincenzo after him. After
a while he met a sow with her tail full of large knots, and
wondered why she had such a tail. Farther on he came to
a watering-trough, where there was a toad trying to reach a
crumb of bread, and could not. Vincenzo continued his
way, and arrived at a large gate. The horse knocked at
the gate with his head, and the door opened and a beautiful
lady appeared, who said she was the Madonna. When she
saw the youth she asked : " And what are you here for ? "
Vincenzo replied: "This horse comes constantly to my
master's to get an ounceworth of bread, and my master
never has been able to find out where he carries it." " Very
well ; enter," said the lady ; " I will show you where he car-
ries it." Then the lady began to call all the souls in pur-
gatory : " My children, come hither ! " The souls then
descended ; and to some she gave the worth of a grano of
bread, to some the worth of a baiocco, and to others the
worth of five grant, and the bread was gone in a moment.
When the bread had disappeared, the lady said to Vin-
cenzo : " Did you see nothing on your way ? " " Yes, lady.
The first day that my master sent me to see where the
horse went, I saw a river of milk." The lady said : " That
is the milk I gave my son." "The second day I saw a river
of wine." " That," said the lady, " is the wine with which
my son was consecrated." " The third day I saw a river of
oil." " That is the oil that they ask of me and of my son.
What else did you see the third day ?" " I saw," answered
Vincenzo, " a farm with cattle. There was plenty of grass,
but the cattle were lean. Afterwards I saw another farm,
where you could scarcely see the grass, and the cattle were
fine and fat." " These, my son, are the rich, who are in
the midst of wealth ; and no matter how much they eat, it
does no good ; and the fat ones, that have no grass to eat,
214 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
are the poor, for my son supports and fattens them. What
else did you see ? " " I saw a sow with her tail full of
knots." " That, my son, is those who repeat their rosaries
and do not offer their prayers to me or to my son ; and my
son makes knots in them." " I also saw a watering-trough,
with a toad that was reaching after a crumb of bread, and
could not get it." She said : " A poor person asked a
woman for a bit of bread, and she gave his hand such a blow
that she made him drop it. And what else did you see, my
son ? " " Nothing, lady." " Then come with me, and I
will show you something else." She took him by the hand
and led him into hell. When the poor youth heard the
clanking of chains and saw the darkness, he came near dy-
ing, and wanted to get out. " You see," said the lady,
" those who are lamenting and in chains and darkness are
those who are in mortal sin. Now come, and I will take
you to purgatory." There they heard nothing, and the
darkness was so great that they could see nothing. Vin-
cenzo wished to depart, for he felt oppressed by anguish.
" Now," said the lady, " I will take you to the church of the
Holy Fathers. Do you see it, my son ? This is the church
of the Holy Fathers, which first was full and now is empty.
Come ; now I will take you to limbo. Do you see these
little ones ? These are those who died unbaptized." The
lady wished to show him paradise ; but he was too confused,
so the lady made him look through a window. "Do you
see this great palace ? There are three seats there ; one
for you, one for your master, and one for your mistress."
After this she took him to the gate. The horse was no
longer there. " Now," said Vincenzo, "how shall I find my
way back ? I will follow the tracks of the horse, and so
will get home." The lady answered : " Close your eyes ! "
Vincenzo closed his eyes, and found himself behind his
master's door. When he entered he told all that had oc-
curred to his master and mistress. When he had finished
his story all three died and went to paradise.18
The most famous story of the class we are now consider-
ing is, however, the one best known by its French title,
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 21 5
u Bonhomme Misere." The French version was popular as
a chap-book as early as 1719, running through fifteen edi-
tions from that date. The editor of the reprint referred to
in the note, as well as Grimm (II. 451), believed the story
to be of Italian origin and that the original would some day
be discovered.19 This has proved to be the case, and we
have now before us a number of versions. These may be
divided into two classes : one independent, the other con-
stituting a part only of some other story. The latter class
is generally connected with the cycle of our Lord's journeys
upon earth, and is represented by "The Master Thief" and
"Brother Lustig" in Germany, and " Beppo Pipetta" from
Venice. The Sicilian versions which we shall mention first,
although independent stories, are connected with the cycle
of our Lord's journeys upon earth. We give first two ver-
sions from Pitre (Nos. 124, 125).
LXIII. OCCASION.
Once upon a time there was a father and a mother who
had a little boy. They died and the child was left in the
street. One of the neighbors had pity upon him and took
him in. The boy throve well and when he had grown up,
the one who had sheltered him said : " Come now, Occasion
(for this was the boy's name), you are a man ; why do you
not think about supporting yourself and relieving us from
that care ? " So the lad made up a bundle and departed.
He journeyed and journeyed until his clothes were worn
out and he was almost dead from hunger. One day he saw
an inn and entered it, and said to the innkeeper : " Do you
want me for a servant ? I wish only a piece of bread for
my wages." The host said to his wife : " " What do you
say, Rosella ? We have no children ; shall we take this
lad ? " " Yes ; " and so they took him.
The boy was very attentive and did willingly whatever
was commanded him, and at last his master and mistress,
who had grown to love him like a son, went before the judge
and adopted him.
2l6 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
Time passed and the innkeeper and his wife died and left
all their property to the young man, who, when he saw
himself in possession of it, made known : " That whoever
should come to Occasion's inn could have food for noth-
ing." You can imagine the people that went there !
Now the Master and his apostles happened once to pass
that way, and when St. Thomas read this announcement he
said : " Unless I see and touch with my hands I shall not
believe it. Let us go to this inn." They went there and
ate and drank and Occasion treated them like gentlemen.
Before leaving St. Thomas said : " Occasion, why don't you
ask a favor of the Master ? " Then Occasion said : " Mas-
ter, I have before my door this fig-tree, and the children do
not let me eat one of the figs. Whoever goes by climbs up
and pulls off some. Now I would like this favor, that when
any one climbs this tree, he must stay there until I permit
him to come down." " Your request is granted," said the
Lord, and blessed the tree.
It was a fine thing ! The first who climbed up for figs
stuck fast to the tree without being able to move ; another
came, the same thing ; and so on ; all stuck fast, one by the
hand, another by the foot, another by the head. When
Occasion saw them he gave them a sound scolding and let
them go. The children were frightened and touched the
figs no more.
Years passed and Occasion's money was coming to an
end ; so he called a carpenter and told him to cut up the fig-
tree and make him a bottle out of it. This bottle had the
property that Occasion could shut up in it whoever he
wished. One day Death went to fetch him, for Occasion
was now very old. Occasion said : " At your service ; we
will go. But see here, Death, first do me a favor. I have
this bottle of wine, and there is a fly in it, and I don't like
to drink from it ; just go in there and take it out for me,
and then we will go." Death very foolishly entered the
bottle, when Occasion corked it and put it in his wallet,
saying : " Stay a bit with me."
While Death was shut up no one died ; and everywhere
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 2\J
you might see old men with such long white beards that it
was a sight. The apostles, seeing this, went to the Master
about it several times, and at last he visited Occasion.
"What is this? Here you have kept Death shut up so
many years, and the people are falling down from old age
without dying ! " " Master," said Occasion, " do you want
me to let Death out ? If you will give me a place in para-
dise, I will let him out." The Lord thought : "What shall
I do ? If I don't grant him this favor, he will not leave me
in peace." So he said: "Your request is granted!" At
these words Death was set at liberty ; Occasion was per-
mitted to live a few years longer, and then Death took him.
Hence it is "That there is no death without Occasion."
LXIV. BROTHER GIOVANNONE.
Once upon a time there was a convent at Casteltermini
which contained many monks, one of whom was named
Brother Giovannone. At the time when the Lord and all
his apostles were on their travels they visited this convent,
and all the monks asked the Lord to pardon their souls ;
Brother Giovannone asked nothing. St. Peter said to him :
" Why do you not ask pardon for your soul, like the others ? "
" I don't wish anything." St. Peter said : " Nothing ? When
you come to paradise we will talk about it." When the
Master had taken his departure and had gone some dis-
tance, Brother Giovannone began to cry out : " Master,
Master, wait ! I want a favor, and it is that any one I com-
mand must get into my pouch." The Master said : " This
request is granted."
Brother Giovannone was old and one day Death came
and said to him : " Giovannone, you have three hours to
live ! " Brother Giovannone replied : " When you come
for me you must let me know half an hour before." After
a while Death came and said : " You are a dead man ! "
Brother Giovannone replied: "In the name of Brother
Giovannone, into my pouch with you, Death ! " Then he
carried his pouch to a baker and asked him to hang it up
2l8 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
in the chimney until he came for it. For forty years no
one died. At the end of that time Brother Giovannone
went and set Death free, so that he might himself die, for
he was so old he could do no more. The first one that
Death killed when he was free was Brother Giovannone,
and then he destroyed all those who had not died in the
forty years.
After he was dead Brother Giovannone went and knocked
at the gate of paradise and St. Peter said to him : " There
is no room for you here." " Where must I go, then ? " asked
Brother Giovannone. " To purgatory," answered St. Peter.
So he knocked at purgatory and they told him : "There
is no place for you here." "Where must I go, then?"
" To hell." He knocked at hell and Lucifer asked : " Who
is there ? " " Brother Giovannone." Then Lucifer said to
his devils : " You take the mace ; you, the hammer ; you,
the tongs ! " Brother Giovannone asked : " What are you
going to do with these instruments ? " " We are going to
beat you." " In the name of Brother Giovannone, into
my pouch with you, all you devils ! " Then he hung the
pouch about his neck and carried all the devils to a smith
who had eight apprentices, and the master, nine. " Master-
smith, how much do you want to hammer this pouch eight
days and nights ? " They agreed upon forty ounces, and
hammered day and night and the pouch was not reduced to
powder, and Brother Giovannone was always present. The
last day the smiths said : " What the devil are these ; for
they cannot be pounded fine ! " Brother Giovannone an-
swered: "They are indeed devils! Pound hard!" After
they were through hammering, he took the pouch and emp-
tied it out in the plain ; the devils were so bruised and
mangled that they could hardly drag themselves back to
hell. Then Brother Giovannone went and knocked again
at paradise. "Who is there?" "Brother Giovannone."
" There is no room for you." " Peter, if you don't let me in
I will call you baldhead." " Now that you have called me
baldhead," said St. Peter, " you shall not enter." Brother
Giovannone said : " Ah, what is that you say ? I will be
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 219
even with you ! " So he stood near the gate of paradise
and said to all the souls who were going to enter : " In
the name of Brother Giovannone, into my pouch, all you
souls ! " and no more souls entered paradise. One day St,
Peter said to the Master : " Why do no more souls enter ? "
The Lord answered : " Because Brother Giovannone is be-
hind the gate putting them all in his pouch." "What shall
we do ? " said St. Peter. The Lord answered : " See if you
can get hold of the pouch and bring them all in together."
Brother Giovannone heard all this outside. What did he
do ? He said : " Into the pouch with myself ! " and in a
moment was in his own pouch. When St. Peter looked
Brother Giovannone was not to be seen, so he seized the
pouch and dragged it into paradise and shut the gate at
once, and opened the pouch. The first one who came out
was Brother Giovannone himself, who began at once to
quarrel with St. Peter because St. Peter wished to put him
out, and Brother Giovannone did not want to go. Then the
Lord said: "When one once enters the house of Jesus, he
does not leave it again." 20
These stories have close parallels in two Roman legends
collected by Miss Busk. In the first, the innkeeper asks
first for the faculty of always winning at cards ; and second,
that any one who climbs his fig-tree must stay there. When
Death comes the host asks her (Death is feminine in Italian)
to climb the tree and pick him a few figs. When once up
the tree, the host refuses to let her down until she promises
him four hundred years of life. Death has to consent and
the host in turn promises to go quietly with her when she
comes again. At the end of the four hundred years Death
takes the host to paradise. They pass by hell on the way
and the host proposes to the devil to play for the newly
received souls. The host wins fifteen thousand, which he
carries with him to paradise. St. Peter objects to let-
ting the "rabble" in, and Jesus Christ himself says: "The
host may come in himself, but he has no business with
the others." Then the host says that he has made no
220 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
difficulty about numbers when Christ has come to his inn
with as many as he pleased. " That is true ! that is right ! "
answered Jesus Christ. " Let them all in ! let them all
in!"21
In the other story, a priest, Pret' Olivo, received from the
Lord, in reward for his hospitality, the favor of living a hun-
dred years, and that when Death came to fetch him he
should be able to give her what orders he pleased, and that
she must obey him. Death called at the end of the hun-
dred years, and Pret' Olivo made her sit by the fire while he
said a mass. The fire grew hotter and hotter, but Death
could not stir until Pret' Olivo permitted her to, on condi-
tion that she should leave him alone a hundred years. The
second time Death called, Pret' Olivo asked her to gather
him some figs and commanded her to stay in the tree. So
Death a second time was obliged to promise him a respite
of a hundred years. The next time Death called, Pret'
Olivo put on his vestments and a cope, and took a pack of
cards in his hand and went with Death. She wanted to
take him directly to paradise, but he insisted on going
around by the way of hell and playing a game of cards with
the Devil. The stakes were souls, and as fast as Pret'
Olivo won, he hung a soul on his cope until it was covered
with them ; then he hung them on his beretta, and at last
was obliged to stop, for there was no more room to hang
any souls. Death objected to taking all these souls to para-
dise, but could not take Pret' Olivo without them. When
they arrived at paradise St. Peter made some objection to
admitting them, but the Master gave his permission and
they all got in.22
The Tuscan version, which contains some of the traits of
the last story, is as follows :
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 221
LXV. CxODFATHER MISERY.
Godfather Misery was old, — God knows how old ! One
day Jesus and St. Peter, while wandering through the
world to name the countries, came to Godfather Misery's,
who offered his visitors some polenta, and gave them his
own bed. Jesus, pleased with this reception, gave him
some money, and granted him these three favors : that
whoever sits on his bench near the fire cannot get up ; that
whoever climbs his fig-tree cannot descend ; and finally, out
of regard to St. Peter, the salvation of his soul. One day
Death came to Godfather Misery, and wanted to carry him
off. Godfather Misery said : " It is too cold to travel." Death
pressed him ; then he asked her to sit by the fire and warm
herself a moment, and he would soon be ready. Meanwhile
he piled wood on the fire. Death felt herself burning, and
tried to move, but could not ; so she had to grant Godfather
Misery another hundred years of life. Death was released ;
the hundred years passed, and Death returned. Godfather
Misery was at the door, pretending to wait for her, and
looking at his fig-tree in sorrow. He begged Death to pick
him a few figs for their journey. So Death climbed up,
but could not descend until she granted Godfather Misery
another hundred years. Even these passed, and Death
reappeared. This time there was no help, he must go.
Death gave him time only to recite an Ave Maria, and a
Paternoster. Godfather Misery, however, could not find
this time, and said to Death, who was hurrying him : " You
have given me time, and I am taking it." Then Death had
recourse to a stratagem, and disguised herself like a Jesuit,
and went where Godfather Misery lived, and preached.
Godfather Misery at first did not attend these sermons, but
his wife finally persuaded him to go to the church and hear
a sermon. Just as he entered, the preacher cried out that
whoever said an Ave Maria should save his soul. Godfather
Misery, who recognized Death,. answered from a distance :
" Go away ! you will not get me." Then Death went away
in despair, and never got hold of him again. Godfather
Misery still lives, since misery never ends.23
222 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
In another Tuscan story, similar gifts are bestowed upon
a smith, who had always been a good Christian, to enable
him to avoid a contract he had made with the Devil, to sell
him his soul for two years of life. The first time the Devil
comes he sits on the bench near the fire, and cannot rise
again until he extends his contract two years. The next
time he comes he does not enter the house, but looks in at
a window that has the power to detain any one who looks
through it. Again the contract is extended. The third
time the Devil is caught in the fig-tree, and then a new con-
tract is drawn up, that the Devil and the smith are never to
see each other again.24
The second class of versions of the story of " Bonhomme
Misere" is where the legend is merely an episode of some
other story. This class comprises two stories from the
territory of Venice. The first is entitled " Beppo Pipetta,"
from the hero who saved the king's life, which is threatened
by some robbers. The king was in disguise, and Beppo
did not know who he was until he was summoned to the
palace to be rewarded. The king told Beppo that he need
not be a soldier any longer, but might remain with him or
wherever he pleased, and offered to pay for all he needed ;
for he had saved his life. We give the rest of the story in
the words of the original.
LXVI. BEPPO PIPETTA.
When his first joy at this good fortune was over, Beppo
decided to visit his relations. There he met a man in the
street who entered into conversation with him, and they
chatted for a long time, until they finally went into an inn
to refresh themselves with something to eat and drink.
"How happens it," asked his new friend, who was vastly
entertained by Beppo's conversation, " that you, a soldier,
carry no knapsack ? " " Hm ! " said Beppo, " I don't care to
weigh myself down on a march with unnecessary things. I
have no effects, and if I need anything, I have a good mas-
ter who pays all my bills." " Now," said the stranger, " I
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 223
will give you a knapsack, and a very valuable one too ; for if
you say to any one, 'Jump in,' he will jump into the sack."
With these words the stranger took his leave.
" Wait," thought Beppo ; " I will put this to the proof."
And, indeed, a favorable opportunity offered itself, for just
then the landlord appeared to demand the payment of his
bill. " What do you want ? " asked Beppo. " My money ;
you might know that of yourself." " Let me alone ! I
have no money." "What ? you ragged soldier " — "Jump
in ! " said Beppo ; and the landlord went over his ears into
the sack. Only after long entreaty, and on condition that
he would never again present his bill, would Beppo let him
out again. " Just wait, fellow ! I '11 teach you how to in-
sult soldiers," said he to the landlord, as he went out.
Tired and hungry after a long walk, Beppo again turned
into an inn. There he saw a man who was continually
emptying a purse, but never finished, for it always became
full again. He quickly snatched the purse out of the man's
hand, and ran out of the inn, but no less quickly did the
owner run after him ; and since he had not walked as far
as Beppo, who had been wandering about all day, he soon
caught up with him. Then Beppo cried : " Jump in ! " and
the owner was in the sack. " Listen," said Beppo, after he
had somewhat recovered his breath, " listen and be reason-
able. You have had the purse long enough ; give it to me
now, or else you shall always stay in the sack." What
could the man do ? Willingly or unwillingly, he had to
give up the purse in order to get out of the accursed sack.
For two years Beppo stayed at home, doing much good
with the purse, and much mischief with the sack, until at
last he began to long for the capital again, and returned
there ; but what was his astonishment at seeing everything
hung with black, and everybody in mourning. " Do you
not know what the trouble is ? " he was asked, in reply to
his questions as to the cause of this sorrow; "don't you
know that to-morrow the Devil is going to carry away the
king's daughter, on account of a foolish vow that her father
once made ? " Then he went directly to the king, in order to
224 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
console him, but the latter would not put any faith in him.
"Your Majesty," said he, "you do not know what Beppo
Pipetta can do. Only let me have my own way."
Then he prepared, in a room of the palace, a large table,
with paper, pen, and ink, while the princess, in the next
room, awaited her sad fate in prayer. At midnight a fear-
ful noise was heard, like the roaring of the tempest ; and at
the last stroke of the clock, the Devil came through the
window into — the sack which Beppo held open for him,
crying, " Jump in ! " " What are you doing here ? " asked
Beppo of the raging Devil. " How does that concern you ? "
" I have my reasons," was the bold reply. " Wait a little,
you rascal ! " cried Beppo ; " I '11 teach you manners ! " and
he seized a stick and belabored the sack until the Devil in
anguish called upon all the saints. " Are you going to
carry off the princess, now ? " " No, no ; only let me out of
this infamous sack ! " " Do you promise never to molest
her ? " "I promise, only let me out ! " " No," said Beppo ;
" you must repeat your promise before witnesses, and also
give it in writing." Then he called some gentlemen of the
court into the room, had the promise repeated, and per-
mitted the Devil to stretch one hand out of the sack, in
order to write as follows : " I, the very Devil, herewith
promise that I will neither carry away H. R. H., the Prin-
cess, nor ever molest her in future. Satan, Spirit of
Hell."
" Good ! " said Beppo ; " the affair of the princess is now
ended. But now, on account of your previous impoliteness,
allow me to give you a few blows that may serve as remind-
ers of me on your journey." When he had done this, he
opened the sack, and the Devil went out as he had come in,
through the window.
Then the king gave a great feast, at which Beppo sat
between him and the princess ; and there was joy through-
out the whole kingdom.
After a while Beppo took a pleasure trip and came to a
place that pleased him so much that he decided to remain
there ; but the police must needs go through certain cere-
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 225
monies and wanted to know who he was, whence he came,
and a multitude of other things. Then he anwered : " I
am myself ; let that suffice you. If you want to know any-
thing more, write to the king." Accordingly they wrote to
the king, but he commanded them to treat him with respect
and not to disturb him.
When he had lived for many years in this place and had
grown old, Death came and knocked at his door. Beppo
opened it and asked : " Who are you ? " " I am Death,"
was the answer. " Jump in ! " cried Beppo, in great haste,
and behold ! Death was in the sack. " What ! " he ex-
claimed, " shall I, who have so much to do, loiter my time
away here ? " " Just stay where you are, you old villain,"
replied Beppo, and did not let him out for a year and a
half. Then there was universal satisfaction throughout
the world, the physicians being^especially jubilant, for none
of them ever lost a patient. Then Death begged so hum-
bly and represented so forcibly what would be the conse-
quences of this disorder, that Beppo agreed to let him out,
on condition that Death should not come back for him un-
less he was willing. Death departed and sought by means
of a few wars and pestilences to make up for lost time.
At length Beppo grew so old that life became distasteful
to him. Then he sent for Death, who, however, would not
come, fearing that Beppo might change his mind. So the
latter decided to go himself to Death. Death was not at
home ; but remembering his vacation in the sack, had pru-
dently left the order that in case a certain Beppo Pipetta
should come, he was to be beaten soundly ; an order which
was executed punctiliously. Beaten and cast out by Death,
he went sadly to hell ; but there the Devil had given the
porter orders to show him the same attention that he had
received at Death's abode, and that command also was con-
scientiously obeyed.
Smarting from the blows he had received, and vexed that
neither Death nor the Devil wanted him, he went to para-
dise. Here he announced himself to St. Peter, but the
saint thought that he had better first consult the Lord.
. 15
226 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
Meanwhile Beppo threw his cap over the wall into para-
dise. After he had waited a while, St. Peter reappeared
and said : " I am very sorry, but our Lord does n't want
you here." "Very well," said Beppo, "but you will at
least let me get my cap," and with that he slipped through
the gate and sat down on the cap. When St. Peter com-
manded him to get up and begone, he replied, composedly :
" Gently, my dear sir! at present I am sitting on my own
property, where I do not receive orders from any one ! "
And so he remained in paradise.25
The story known to our readers from the Grimm collec-
tion, " Godfather Death," is found in Sicily and Venice.
The version from the latter place given in Bernoni {Trad,
pop. p. 6) is as folldws :
LXVII. THE JUST MAN.
Once upon a time there was a peasant and his wife who
had a child that they would not baptize until they could
find a just man for his godfather. The father took the
child in his arms and went into the street to look for this
just man. After he had walked along a while, he met a
man, who was our Lord, and said to him : " I have this
child to baptize, but I do not want to give him to any one
who is not just; are you just?" The Lord answered:
" But — I don't know whether I am just." Then the peas-
ant passed on and met a woman, who was the Madonna,
and said to her : " I have this child to baptize and do not
wish to give him to any one who is not just ; are you just ? "
" I don't know," said the Madonna ; " but go on, for you will
find some one who is just." He went his way and met an-
other woman, who was Death, and said to her : " I have
been sent to you, for I have been told that you are just,
and I have this child to baptize, and do not wish to give it
to one who is not just ; are you just ? " Death said : " Yes,
I believe I am just ! Let us baptize the child, and then I
will show you whether I am just." Then they baptized the
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 227
child, and afterwards Death led the peasant into a very long
room, where there were many lights burning. " Godmoth-
er," said the man, astonished at seeing all the lights, " what
are all these lights ? " Death said : " These are the lights
of all the souls in the world. Would you like to see, friend ?
this is yours and this is your son's." When the peasant
saw that his light was about to expire, he said : " And when
the oil is all consumed, godmother ? " " Then," answered
Death, " you must come with me, for I am Death." " Oh !
for mercy's sake," cried the peasant, "let me at least take
a little oil from my son's lamp and put it in mine ! " " No,
no, godfather," said Death, " I don't do anything of that
sort ; you wished to see a just person, and a just person you
have found. And now go home and arrange your affairs,
for I am waiting for you." 26
We can mention but briefly another Venetian legend
which, like several of those already given, reaches back to
the Middle Ages. A wealthy knight, who has led a wicked
life, repents when he grows old, and his confessor enjoins
on him a three years' penance. The knight refuses, for he
might die at the end of two years and lose all that amount
of penance. He refuses in turn a penance of two years, of
one year, and even of a month, but agrees to do penance
for one night. He mounts his horse, takes leave of his
family, and rides away to the church, which is at some dis-
tance. After he has ridden for a time, his daughter comes
running after him and calls him back, for robbers have at-
tacked the castle. He will not be diverted from his pur-
pose, and tells her that there are servants and soldiers
enough to defend the house. Then a servant cries out
that the castle is in flames, and his own wife calls for help
against violence. The knight calmly continues his way,
leaving his servants to act for him, and simply saying : " I
have no time for it now."
Finally he enters the church and begins his penance.
Here he is disturbed by the sexton, who bids him depart, so
that he can close the church ; a priest orders him to leave,
228 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
as he is not worthy to hear a mass ; at midnight twelve
watchmen come and order him to go with them to the
judge, but he will not move for any of them ; at two
o'clock a band of soldiers surround him and order him to
depart, and at five o'clock a wild throng of people burst into
the church and cry : " Let us drive him out ! " then the
church begins to burn, and the knight finds himself in the
midst of flames, but still he moves not. At last, when the
appointed hour comes, he leaves the church and rides home
to find that none of his family had left the castle, but the
various persons who had tried to divert him from his pen-
ance were emissaries of the Devil. Then the knight sees
how great a sinner he was and declares that' he will do
penance all the rest of his life.27
Bernoni in his Leggende fantastiche gives nine legends,
one of which is the story of St. Peter's mother, mentioned
above. Of the remaining ones, several may be classed un-
der ghost stories, and two illustrate the great sanctity at-
tached by the Italian to the spiritual relationship contracted
by godmothers and godfathers, and by groomsmen and the
bride. It is well known that in the Romish Church a god-
father or godmother contracts a spiritual relationship with
the godson or goddaughter and their parents which would
prevent marriage between the parties. This relationship
the popular imagination has extended to the godfather and
godmother, and any improper intimacy between the two is
regarded as the most deadly sin. The first of Bernoni's
legends is entitled :
LXVIII. OF A GODFATHER AND A GODMOTHER OF ST.
JOHN WHO MADE LOVE.
Here in Venice, heaven knows how many centuries ago,
there wasTa gentleman and a lady, husband and wife, who
were rich people. Well, there frequented their house a com-
pare (godfather) of St John; and it came to pass that he
and his comare (godmother, i. e. the one who had been
godmother to the same child to which he had been god-
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 229
father), the lady of the house, made love to each other in
secret. This lady had a maid, and this maid knew every-
thing. So one day this lady said to the maid : " Hold your
tongue, and you '11 see that you will be satisfied with me.
When I come to die, you shall have an allowance of a dol-
lar a day." So this maid kept always on good terms with
the lady. It happened that the compare fell very ill. The
lady was so desperately sorry, that her husband kept say-
ing to her : " Come, will you make yourself ill too ? It 's
no use fretting, for it 's what we must all come to." At
last the compare died. And she took it so to heart, that
she fell ill in earnest. When her husband saw her giving
way to such low spirits, he began to suspect that there had
been something between her and the compare ; but he never
said a word about it to annoy her, but bore it like a philos-
opher. The maid was always by her mistress' bedside, and
the mistress said to her : " Remember that, if I die, you
must watch by me quite alone, for I won't have any one
else." And the maid promised her that she would. Well,
that day went by, and the next day, and the next, and the
lady got worse and worse, until at last she died. You can
fancy how sorry her husband was. And the maid and the
other servants were very sorry, too, for she was a very
good lady. The other servants offered to sit up and watch
with the maid ; but she said : " No ; I must sit up by my-
self, for my mistress said she would have no others." And
they said : " Very well. If you want anything, ring the
bell, and we shall be ready to do anything you want."
Then the maid had four tapers lighted, and placed at the
foot of the bed, and she took the Office for the Dead in
her hand and began to read it.
Just at midnight the door of the room burst open, and
she saw the figure of the compare come in. Directly she saw
him she felt her blood turn to water. She tried to cry out,
but she was so terrified that she could n't make a sound.
Then she got up from her chair and went to ring the bell ;
and the dead man, without saying a word (because, of course,
dead folks can't talk), gave her a sharp blow on the hand to
230 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
prevent her from ringing. And he signed her to take a
taper in her hand, and come with him to her mistress'
bed. She obeyed. When the dead man got to the bed-
side, he took the lady, and sat her up on the bed, and he
began to put her stockings on her feet, and he dressed her
from head to foot. When she was dressed, he pulled her
out of bed, took her by the arm, and they both went out
at the door, with the maid going before them to light the
way. In this palace there was an underground passage —
there are many like it in Venice — and they went down into
it. When they got to a certain part of it, he gave a great
knock to the taper that the maid had in her hand, and left
her in the dark. The maid was so terrified that she fell
down on the ground, all rolled up together like a ball, and
there she lay.
At daybreak the other servants thought they would go
and see how the maid was getting on, as she had not called
them all night. So they went and opened the door of the
room, and saw nobody there at all, either living or dead.
They were frightened out of their wits, and ran to their
master, and said: " Oh, mercy on us, there's nobody left,
neither the dead woman nor the live one ! The room 's
quite empty." Said the master: "You don't say so!"
Then he dressed himself as fast as he could, and went and
looked, and found nobody. And he saw that the clothes
his wife wore to go out in were gone too. Then he called
the servants, and said to them : " Here, take these torches,
and let us go and look in the underground passage." So
all the people went down there with lighted torches ; and
after searching about a bit, they found the poor maid, who
gave no sign of life. The servants took her by one arm ;
but it was all bent up stiff, and wouldn't move. And they
tried the other arm, and that was the same, and all her
body was knotted together quite stiff. Then they took up
this ball of a woman, and carried her up-stairs, and put her
on her bed. The master sent for the doctors, to see if they
could bring back life to her. And by degrees she began to
open her eyes and move her fingers. But she had had a
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 23 1
stroke and could n't speak. But by the movements of her
fingers they could make out nearly everything she wanted
to say. Then the master had the torches lighted again, and
went down again into the underground passage, to see if
he could find any trace of the dead woman. They looked
and looked, but they could find nothing but a deep hole.
And the master understood directly that that was where
his wife and her compare had been swallowed up. And
upon that he went up-stairs again ; but he would n't stay
any longer in that palace, nor even in Venice, and he went
away to Verona. And in the palace he left the maid, with
her dollar a day and people to take care of her and feed
her, for to the end of her days she was bedridden and
couldn't speak. And the master would have every one
free to go and see that sight, that it might be a warning to
all people who had the evil intention of not respecting the
baptismal relationship.28
The second of Bernoni's legends turns on the peculiar
sanctity of the relation of a groomsman (compare de Vaneld)
to the bride. The full title is : " About a compare de Van-
elo who pressed the bride's hand with evil intent." It is
as follows :
LIX. THE GROOMSMAN.
You must know that we Venetians have a saying that
the groomsman is the godfather of the first child. Well, in
the parish of the Angel Raphael it happened that there
was a young man and woman who were in love with each
other. So they agreed to be married, and the bridegroom
looked out for his best man. According to custom, directly
he had chosen his best man, he took him to the bride's
house, and said to her : " Look here, this is your grooms-
man." Directly the groomsman saw the bride he fell so
much in love with her that he consented more than will-
ingly to be the best man. Well, the wedding day came,
and this man went into the church with evil thoughts in his
heart. When they came out of the church they had a col-
232 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
lation, according to custom, and then in the afternoon they
had a gondola to go to the tavern, as people used to do on
such days. First the bride got into the gondola, with the
best man, and then the bridegroom and the relations.
When they were getting into the boat the groomsman took
the bride's hand to help her in, and he squeezed it, and
squeezed it so hard that he hurt her severely.
As time went on he saw that the bride thought nothing
about him, and he began not to care for her, either. But
by and by he began to have a sort of scruple of conscience
about what he had done to his comare on the wedding day.
And the more he thought of it, the more he felt this scruple.
So he made up his mind to go to confession, and to tell his
confessor what he had done, and with what evil intention.
" You have committed a great sin, my son," said the priest ;
" I shall give you a penance, — a heavy penance. Will you
do it ? " " Yes, father," said he ; " tell me what it is." The
priest answered: "Listen. You must make a journey in
the night-time to a place that I shall tell you of. But mind ;
whatever voices you hear, you must never turn back for an
instant ! And take three apples with you, and you will
meet three noblemen, and you must give one apple to each
of them." Then the priest told him the place he was to go
to, and the groomsman left him. Well, he waited until
night-fall, and then he took his three apples and set out.
He walked and walked and walked, until at last he came to
the place the priest had told him of, and he heard such a
talking and murmuring, you can't think ! One voice said
one thing, and one another. These were all folks who had
committed great sins against St. John ; but he knew noth-
ing about that. He heard them calling out : " Turn back !
turn back ! " But not he ! No ; he went straight on, with-
out ever looking round, let them call ever so much. After
he had gone on a while he saw the three noblemen, and he
saluted them and gave them an apple apiece. The last of
the three had his arm hidden under his cloak, and the com-
pare saw that the gentleman had great difficulty in stretch-
ing his arm out to take the apple. At length he pulled his
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 233
arm from under his cloak, and showed a hand swelled up
to such a huge size that the compare was frightened to look
at it. But he gave him the apple, the same as to the others,
and they all three thanked him and went away. The com-
pare returned home again, and went to his confessor and
told him all that had happened. Then the priest said :
" See, now, my son, you are saved. For the first of the
three noblemen was the Lord, the second was St. Peter,
and the third was St. John. You saw what a hand he had.
Well, that was the hand you squeezed on the wedding day ;
and so, instead of squeezing the bride's hand, you really
hurt St. John ! " 29
The third legend is entitled : " Of two compari of St.
John who swore by the name of St. John." Two compari
who had not seen each other for some time met one day,
and one invited the other to lunch and paid the bill. The
other declared that he would do the same a week hence.
When he said this they happened to be standing where two
streets crossed. " Then we meet a week from to-day at this
spot and at this hour ! " " Yes." " By St. John, I will not
fail ! " "I swear by St. John that I will be here awaiting
you ! " During the week, however, the compare who had paid
for the lunch died. The other did not know he was dead, and
at the appointed time he went to the place to meet him.
While there a friend passed, who asked : " What are you
doing here ? " " I am waiting for my compare Tony." " You
are waiting for your compare Tony ! Why, he has been
dead three days ! You will wait a long time! " "You say
he is dead ? There he is coming ! " And, indeed, he saw
him, but his friend did not. The dead man stopped before
his compare and said : " You are right in being here at this
spot, and you can thank God ; otherwise, I would teach you
to swear in the name of St. John ! " Then he suddenly dis-
appeared and his compare saw him no more, for his oath
was only to be at that spot.
The sanctity of an ordinary oath is shown in the fourth
story : " Of two lovers who swore fidelity in life and death."
234 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
Two young persons made love, unknown to the girl's par-
ents. The youth made her swear that she would love him
in life and death. Some time after, he was killed in a brawl.
The girl did not know it, and the young man's ghost con-
tinued to visit her as usual, and she began to grow pale
and thin. The father discovered the state of the case, and
consulted the priest, who learned from the girl, in confes-
sion, how matters stood, and came with a black cat, a stole,
and book, to conjure the spirit and save the girl.
The fifth legend is entitled : " The Night of the Dead " ;
i. e. the eve of All Saints' Day. A servant girl, rising early
one morning as she supposed (it was really midnight), wit-
nesses a weird procession, which she unwittingly disturbs
by lowering her candle and asking the last passer-by to
light it. This he does ; but when she pulls up her basket
she finds in it, besides the lighted candle, a human arm.
Her confessor tells her to wait a year, until the procession
passes again, then hold a black cat tightly in her arms, and
restore the arm to its owner. This she does, with the
words : " Here, master, take your arm ; I am much obliged
to you." He took the arm angrily, and said : " You may
thank God you have that cat in your arms ; otherwise, what
I am, that you would be also."
The sixth legend is of an incredulous priest, who believes
that where the dead are, there they stay. It is as follows :
LXX. THE PARISH PRIEST OF SAN MARCUOLA.
Once upon a time there was a parish priest at San Mar-
cuola, here in Venice, who was a very good man. He
could n't bear to see women in church with hats or bonnets
on their heads, and he had spirit enough to go and make
them take them off. "For," said he, "the church is the
house of God ; and what is not permitted to men ought not
to be permitted to women." But when a woman had a
shawl over her shoulders he would have her throw it over
her head, that she might not be stared at and ogled. But this
priest had one fault : he did not believe in ghosts ; and one
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 235
day he was preaching a sermon, and in this sermon he said
to the people : " Listen, now, dearly beloved brethren. This
morning, when I came into the church here, there comes up
to me one of my flock, and she says to me, all in a flutter :
' Oh, Father, what a fright I have had this night ! I was
asleep in my bed, and the ghosts came and twitched away
my coverlet ! ' But I answered her : ' Dear daughter, that is
not possible ; because where the dead are, there they stay.' "
And so he declared before all the congregation that it was
not true that the dead could come back and be seen and
heard. In the evening the priest went to bed as usual, and
about midnight he heard the house-bell ring loudly. The
servant went out on to the balcony and saw a great com-
pany of people in the street, and she called out : " Who 's
there ? " and they asked her if the Priest of San Marcuola
was at home. And she said Yes ; but he was in bed.
Then they said he must come down. But the priest, when
he heard about it, refused to go. They then began to ring
the bell again and tell the servant to call her master ; and
the priest said he would n't go anywhere. Then all the
doors burst open, and the whole company marched up-stairs
into the priest's bedroom, and bade him get up and dress
himself and come with them ; and he was obliged to do
what they said. When they reached a certain spot they
set him in the midst of them, and they gave him so many
knocks and cuffs that he did n't know which side to turn
himself ; and then they said : " This is for a remembrance
of the poor defunct ; " and upon that they all vanished away
and were seen no more, and the poor priest went back
home, bruised from head to foot. And so the ghosts proved
plain enough that it is n't true to say : " Where the dead are,
there they stay" 30
The story of Don Juan appears in the seventh legend,
entitled :
236 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
LXXI. THE GENTLEMAN WHO KICKED A SKULL.
There was once a youth who did nothing but eat, drink,
and amuse himself, because he was immensely wealthy and
had nothing to think about. He scoffed at every one ; he
dishonored all the young girls ; he played all sorts of tricks,
and was tired of everything. One day he took it into his
head to give a grand banquet ; and thereupon he invited
all his friends and many women and all his acquaintances.
While they were preparing the banquet he took a walk,
and passed through a street where there was a cemetery.
While walking he noticed on the ground a skull. He gave
it a kick, and then he went up to it and said to it in jest :
" You, too, will come, will you not, to my banquet to-night ? "
Then he went his way, and returned home. At the house
the banquet was ready and the guests had all arrived.
They sat down to the table, and ate and drank to the sound
of music, and diverted themselves joyfully.
Meanwhile midnight drew near, and when the clock was
on the stroke a ringing of bells was heard. The servants
went to see who it was, and beheld a great ghost, who said
to them : " Tell Count Robert that I am the one he invited
this morning to his banquet." They went to their master
and told him what the ghost had said. The master said :
" I ? All those whom I invited are here, and I have invited
no one else." They said : " If you should see him ! It is
a ghost that is terrifying." Then it came into the young
man's mind that it might be that dead man ; and he said
to the servants : " Quick ! quick ! close the doors and bal-
conies, so that he cannot enter ! " The servants went to
close everything ; but hardly had they done so when the
doors and balconies were thrown wide open and the ghost
entered. He went up where they were feasting, and said :
" Robert ! Robert ! was it not enough for you to profane
everything? Have you wished to disturb the dead, also?
The end has come ! " All were terrified, and fled here and
there, some concealing themselves, and some falling on
their knees. Then the ghost seized Robert by the throat
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 237
and strangled him and carried him away with him ; and
thus he has left this example, that it is not permitted to
mock the poor dead.31
The ninth and last of Bernoni's legends is a story about
Massariol, the domestic spirit of the Venetians. A man of
family, whose business takes him out at night, finds in the
street a basket containing an infant. The weather is very
cold, so the good man carries the foundling home, and his
wife, who already has a young child, makes the little stran-
ger as comfortable as possible. He is cared for and put in
the cradle by the side of the other child. The husband
and wife have to leave the room a moment ; when they re-
turn the foundling has disappeared. The husband asks in
amazement : " What can it mean ? " She answers : " I am
sure I don't know ; can it be Massariol ? " Then he goes
out on the balcony and sees at a distance one who seems
like a man, but is not, who is clapping his hands and laugh-
ing and making all manner of fun of him, and then suddenly
disappears.
The same mischievous spirit plays many other pranks.
Sometimes he cheats the ferrymen out of their toll ; some-
times he disguises himself like the baker's lad, and calls at
the houses to take the bread to the oven, and then carries
it away to some square or bridge ; sometimes, when the
washing is hung out, he carries it off to some distant place,
and when the owners have at last found their property,
Massariol laughs in their faces and disappears. The woman
who related these stories to Bernoni added : " Massariol
has never done anything bad ; he likes to laugh and joke
and fool people. He, too, has been shut up, I don't know
where, by the Holy Office, the same as the witches, fairies,
and magicians."
Pitre's collection contains little that falls under the sec-
ond heading of this chapter. The following story, how-
ever, is interesting from its English parallels :
238 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
LXXIII. SADDAEDDA.
Once upon a time there was a girl called Saddaedda, who
was crazy. One day, when her mother had gone into the
country and she was left alone in the house, she went into
a church where the funeral service was being read over the
body of a rich lady. The girl hid herself in the confes-
sional. No one knew she was there ; so, when the other
people had gone, she was left alone with the corpse. It
was dressed out in a rose-colored robe and everything else
becoming, and it had ear-rings in its ears and rings on its
fingers. These the girl took off, and then she began to un-
dress the body. When she came to the stockings she drew
off one easily, but at the other she had to pull so hard that
at last the leg came off with it. Saddaedda took the leg,
carried it to her lonely home, and locked it up in a box. At
night came the dead lady and knocked at the door. "Who 's
there ? " said the girl. " It is I," answered the corpse.
" Give me back my leg and stocking ! " But Saddaedda
paid no heed to the request. Next day she prepared a feast
and invited some of her playfellows to spend the night with
her. They came, feasted, and went to sleep. At midnight
the dead woman began to knock at the door and to repeat
last night's request. Saddaedda took no notice of the noise,
but her companions, whom it awoke, were horrified, and as
soon as they could, they ran away. On the third night just
the same happened. On the fourth she could persuade only
one girl to keep her company. On the fifth she was left
entirely alone. The corpse came, forced open the door,
strode up to Saddaedda's bed, and strangled her. Then
the dead woman opened the box, took out her leg and
stocking, and carried them off with her to her grave.32
This chapter would be incomplete without reference to
treasure stories. A number of these are given by Miss
Busk in her interesting collection. A few are found in Pi-
tre, only one of which needs mention here, on account of
its parallels in other countries. It is called Lu Vicerrh Tun-
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 239
nina, " Viceroy Tunny " (tunnina is the flesh of the tunny-
fish). There was at Palermo a man who sold tunny-fish.
One night he dreamed that some one appeared to him and
said : " Do you wish to find your Fate ? Go under the
bridge di li Testi (of the Heads, so the people call the
Ponte delV Ammiraglio, a bridge now abandoned, con-
structed in 1 1 13 by the Admiral Georgios Antiochenos) ;
there you will find it." For three nights he dreamed the
same thing. The third time, he went under the bridge and
found a poor man all in rags. The fish-seller was fright-
ened and was going away, when the man called him. It
was his Fate. He said : " To-night, at midnight, where
you have placed the barrels of fish, dig, and what you find
is yours."
The fish-dealer did as he was told ; dug, and found a
staircase, which he descended, and found a room full of
money. The fish-dealer became wealthy, lent the king of
Spain money, and was made viceroy and raised to the rank
of prince and duke.33
CHAPTER V.
NURSERY TALES.
The tales we have thus far given, although they may
count many young people among their auditors, are not
distinctly children's stories. The few that follow are, and
it is greatly to be regretted that their number is not larger.
That many more exist, cannot be doubted ; but collectors
have probably overlooked this interesting class. Even Pitre
in his large collection gives but eleven (Nos. 1 30-141), and
those in the other collections are mostly parallels to Pitre' s.
We will begin with those that are advantages taken of
children's love for stories. The first is from Venice (Ber-
noni, Punt. II. p. 53) and is called :
LXXIV. MR. ATTENTIVE.
" Do you want me to tell you the story of Mr. Atten-
tive ? "
" Tell me it."
" But you must not say ' tell me it,' for it is
The story of Mr. Attentive,
Which lasts a long time,
Which is never explained :
Do you wish me to tell it, or relate it ? "
" Relate it."
" But you must not say ' relate it,' for it is
The story of Mr. Attentive,
Which lasts a long time,
Which is never explained :
Do you wish me to tell it, or relate it ? "
" But come ! tell me it"
NURSERY TALES. 24 1
" But you must not say," etc., etc.1
The following are intended to soothe restless children,
and are so short that they may be given entire.
LXXV. THE STORY OF THE BARBER.
Once upon a time there was a barber. ... Be good and
I will tell it to you again.2
The next is from the same source.
Once upon a time there was a king, a pope, and a dwarf.
. . . This king, this pope, and this dwarf. . . .
(Then the story-teller begins again).
But it is time to give some of the stories that are told to
the good children. The first is from Pitre (No. 130) and is
called :
LXXVI. DON FIRRIULIEDDU.
Once upon a time there was a farmer who had a daughter
who used to take his dinner to him in the fields. One day
he said to her : " So that you may find me I will sprinkle
bran along the way ; you follow the bran, and you will come
to me."
By chance the old ogre passed that way, and seeing the
bran, said : " This means something." So he took the bran
and scattered it so that it led to his own house.
When the daughter set out to take her father his dinner,
she followed the bran until she came to the ogre's house.
When the ogre saw the young girl, he said : " You must
be my wife." Then she began to weep. When the father
saw that his daughter did not appear, he went home in the
evening, and began to search for her ; and not finding her,
he asked God to give him a son or a daughter.
A year after, he had a son whom they called " Don Fir-
riulieddti." When the child was three days old it spoke,
and said : " Have you made me a cloak ? Now give me a
16
242 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
little dog and the cloak, for I must look for my sister. " So
he set out and went to seek his sister.
After a while he came to a plain where he saw a number
of men, and asked : " Whose cattle are these ? " The herds-
man replied : " They belong to the ogre, who fears neither
God nor the saints, who fears Don Firriulieddu, who is
three days old, and is on the way, and gives his dog bread
and says : ' Eat, my dog, and do not bark, for we have fine
things to do.' "
Afterwards he saw a flock of sheep, and asked : " Whose
are these sheep ? " and received the same answer as from
the herdsman. Then he arrived at the ogre's house and
knocked, and his sister opened the door and saw the child.
" Who are you looking for ? " she said. " I am looking for
you, for I am your brother, and you must return to mamma."
When the ogre heard that Don Firriulieddu was there,
he went and hid himself up-stairs. Don Firriulieddu asked
his sister : " Where is the ogre ? " " Up-stairs." Don
Firriulieddu said to his dog : " Go up-stairs and bark, and I
will follow you." The dog went up and barked, and Firri-
ulieddu followed him, and killed the ogre. Then he took
his sister and a quantity of money, and they went home to
their mother, and are all contented.
Certain traits in the above story, as the size of the hero
and the bran serving to guide the girl to her father, recall,
somewhat faintly, it is true, our own " Tom Thumb." It
is only recently that a Tuscan version of " Tom Thumb "
has been found.3 It is called :
LXXVII. LITTLE CHICK-PEA*
Once upon a time there was a husband and wife who had
no children. The husband was a carpenter, and when he
came home from his shop he did nothing but scold his wife
because she had no children, and the poor woman was con-
stantly weeping and despairing. She was charitable, and
* Cecino, dim. of Cece, chick-pea.
NURSERY TALES. 243
had festivals celebrated in the church ; but no children.
One day a woman knocked at her door and asked for alms ;
but the carpenter's wife answered : " I will not give you
any, for I have given alms and had masses said, and festi-
vals celebrated for a long time, and have no son." " Give
me alms and you will have children." " Good ! in that case
I will do all you wish." " You must give me a whole loaf
of bread, and I will give you something that will bring
you children." "If you will, I will give you two loaves."
" No, no ! now, I want only one ; you can give me the other
when you have the children." So she gave her a loaf, and
the woman said : " Now I will go home and give my chil-
dren something to eat, and then I will bring you what will
make you have children." " Very well."
The woman went home, fed her children, and then took
a little bag, filled it with chick-peas, and carried it to the
carpenter's wife, and said: "This is a bag of peas; put
them in the kneading-trough, and to-morrow they will be
as many sons as there are peas." There were a hundred
peas, and the carpenter's wife said : " How can a hundred
peas become a hundred sons ? " " You will see to-morrow."
The carpenter's wife said to herself : " I had better say
nothing about it to my husband, because if by any mis-
chance the children should not come, he would give me
a fine scolding."
Her husband returned at night and began to grumble as
usual ; but his wife said not a word and went to bed repeat-
ing to herself : " To-morrow you will see ! " The next morn-
ing the hundred peas had become a hundred sons. One
cried: "Papa, I want to drink." Another said : "Papa, I
want to eat." Another : " Papa, take me up." He, in the
midst of all this tumult, took a stick and went to the trough
and began to beat, and killed them all. One fell out (imag-
ine how small they were !) and ran quickly into the bedroom
and hid himself on the handle of the pitcher. After the
carpenter had gone to his shop his wife said : " What a ras-
cal ! he has grumbled so long about my not having children
and now he has killed them all ! " Then the son who had
244 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
escaped said : " Mamma, has papa gone ? " She said : " Yes,
my son. How did you manage to escape ? Where are
you ? " " Hush ! I am in the handle of the pitcher ; tell me :
has papa gone ? " " Yes, yes, yes, come out ! " Then the
child who had escaped came out and his mamma exclaimed :
" Oh ! how pretty you are ! How shall I call you ? " The
child answered : " Cecino." " Very well, bravo, my Cecino !
Do you know, Cecino, you must go and carry your papa's
dinner to him at the shop." " Yes, you must put the little
basket on my head, and I will go and carry it to papa."
The carpenter's wife, when it was time, put the basket on
Cecino's head and sent him to carry her husband's dinner
to him. When Cecino was near the shop, he began to cry :
" O papa ! come and meet me ; I am bringing you your din-
ner."
The carpenter said to himself : " Oh ! did I kill them all,
or are there any left ?" He went to meet Cecino and said :
" O my good boy ! how did you escape my blows ? " " I fell
down, ran into the room, and hid myself on the handle of
the pitcher." " Bravo, Cecino ! Listen. You must go around
among the country people and hear whether they have any-
thing broken to mend." "Yes."
So the carpenter put Cecino in his pocket, and while he
went along the way did nothing but chatter ; so that every
one said he was mad, because they did not know that he
had his son in his pocket. When he saw some countrymen
he asked: "Have you anything to mend?" "Yes, there
are some things about the oxen broken, but we cannot let
you mend them, for you are mad." " What do you mean by
calling me mad ? I am wiser than you. Why do you say I
am mad ? " " Because you do nothing but talk to yourself
on the road." "I was talking with my son." "And where
do you keep your son ? " " In my pocket." " That is a
pretty place to keep your son." "Very well, I will show
him to you ; " and he pulls out Cecino, who was so small
that he stood on one of his father's fingers.
"Oh, what a pretty child! you must sell him to us."
" What are you thinking about ! I sell you my son who is so
NURSERY TALES. 245
valuable to me ! " " Well, then, don't sell him to us." What
does he do then ? He takes Cecino and puts him on the
horn of an ox and says : " Stay there, for now I am going
to get the things to mend." "Yes, yes, don't be afraid; I
will stay on my horn." So the carpenter went to get the
things to mend.
Meanwhile two thieves passed by, and seeing the oxen,
one said : " See those two oxen there alone. Come, let us go
and steal them." When they drew near, Cecino cried out :
" Papa, look out ! there are thieves here ! they are stealing
your oxen ! " " Ah ! where does that voice come from ? "
And they approached nearer to see ; and Cecino, the nearer
he saw them come, the more he called out : " Look out for
your oxen, papa ; the thieves are stealing them ! "
When the carpenter came the thieves said to him :
" Good man, where does that voice come from ? " " It is my
son." " If he is not here, where is he ? " " Don't you see ?
there he is, up on the horn of one of the oxen." When he
showed him to them, they said : " You must sell him to us ;
we will give you as much money as you wish." " What are
you thinking about ! I might sell him to you, but who knows
how much my wife would grumble about it ! " " Do you
know what you must tell her ? that he died on the way."
They tempted him so much that at last he gave him to
them for two sacks of money. They took their Cecino, put
him in one of their pockets, and went away. On their jour-
ney they saw the king's stable. " Let us take a look at the
king's stable and see whether we can steal a pair of horses."
"Very good." They said to Cecino: "Don't betray us."
" Don't be afraid, I will not betray you."
So they went into the stable and stole three horses, which
they took home and put in their own stable.
Afterwards they went and said to Cecino : " Listen. We
are so tired ! save us the trouble, go down and give the
horses some oats." Cecino went to do so, but fell asleep on
the halter and one of the horses swallowed him. When he
did not return, the thieves said : "He must have fallen
asleep in the stable." So they went there and looked for
246 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
him and called : " Cecino, where are you ? " " Inside of the
black horse." Then they killed the black horse ; but Ce-
cino was not there. " Cecino, where are you ? " " In the
bay horse." So they killed the bay horse ; but Cecino was
not there. " Cecino, where are you ? " But Cecino an-
swered no longer. Then they said : " What a pity ! that
child who was so useful to us is lost." Then they dragged
out into the fields the two horses that they had cut open.
A famished wolf passed that way and saw the dead horses.
" Now I will eat my fill of horse," and he ate and ate until
he had finished and had swallowed Cecino.* Then the wolf
went off until it became hungry again and said : " Let us
go and eat a goat."
When Cecino heard the wolf talk about eating a goat, he
cried out : " Goat-herd, the wolf is coming to eat your
goats ! "
[The wolf supposes that it has swallowed some wind that
forms these words, hits itself against a stone, and after
several trials gets rid of the wind and Cecino, who hides
himself under a stone, so that he shall not be seen.]
Three robbers passed that way with a bag of money.
One of them said : " Now I will count the money, and you
others be quiet or I will kill you ! " You can imagine
whether they kept still ! for they did not want to die. So
he began to count : " One, two, three, four, and five."
And Cecino : " One, two, three, four, and five." (Do you
understand ? he repeats the robber's words.) " I hear you !
you will not keep still. Well, I will kill you ; we shall see
whether you will speak again." He began to count the
money again : " One, two, three, four, and five." Cecino re-
peats : " One, two, three, four, and five." " Then you will
not keep quiet ! now I will kill you ! " and he killed one of
them. " Now we shall see whether you will talk ; if you do
I will kill you too." He began to count : " One, two, three,
four, and five." Cecino repeats : " One, two, three, four,
and five." " Take care, if I have to tell you again I will
* It appears from this that Cecino had been in one of the horses all the time,
but the thieves had not seen him because he was so small.
NURSERY TALES. 247
kill you ! " " Do you think I want to speak ? I don't wish
to be killed." He begins to count : " One, two, three, four,
and five." Cecino repeats : " One, two, three, four, and
five." " You will not keep quiet either ; now I will kill you ! "
and he killed him. " Now I am alone and can count by
myself and no one will repeat it." So he began again to
count : " One, two, three, four, and five." And Cecino :
" One, two, three, four, and five." Then the robber said :
" There is some one hidden here ; I had better run away or
he will kill me." So he ran away and left behind the sack
of money.
When Cecino perceived that there was no one there, he
came out, put the bag of money on his head, and started for
home. When he drew near his parents' house he cried :
" Oh, mamma, come and meet me ; I have brought you a
bag of money ! "
When his mother heard him she went to meet him and
took the money and said : " Take care you don't drown
yourself in these puddles of rain-water." The mother went
home, and turned back to look for Cecino, but he was not
to be seen. She told her husband what Cecino had done,
and they went and searched everywhere for him, and at last
found him drowned in a puddle.4
The next story is one that has always enjoyed great pop-
ularity over the whole of Europe, and is a most interesting
example of the diffusion of nursery tales. It is also interest-
ing from the attempt to show that it is of comparatively late
date, and has been borrowed from a people not of European
extraction.5 The story belongs to the class of what may be
called "accumulative" stories, of which "The House that
Jack built " is a good example. It is a version of the story
so well known in English of the old woman who found a
little crooked sixpence, and went to market and bought a
little pig. As she was coming home the pig would not go
over the stile. The old woman calls on a dog to bite pig,
but the dog will not. Then she calls in turn on a stick, fire,
water, ox, butcher, rope, rat, and cat. They all refuse to
248 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
help her except the cat, which promises help in exchange
for a saucer of milk. " So away went the old woman to the
cow. But the cow said to her : ' If you will go to yonder
hay-stack and fetch me a handful of hay, I '11 give you the
milk.' So away went the old woman to the hay-stack ;
and she brought the hay to the cow. As soon as the cow
had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk ; and
away she went with it in a saucer to the cat.
" As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat be-
gan to kill the rat ; the rat to gnaw the rope ; the rope be-
gan to hang the butcher ; the butcher began to kill the ox ;
the ox began to drink the water ; the water began to quench
the fire ; the fire began to burn the stick ; the stick began
to beat the dog ; the dog began to bite the pig ; the little
pig in a fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman
got home that night." 6
The Italian versions may be divided into two classes :
first, where the animals and inanimate objects are invoked
to punish some human being ; second, where all the actors
are animals. The first version of the first class that we shall
give is from Sicily, Pitre, No. 131, and is called :
LXXVIII. PITIDDA.
Once upon a time there was a mother who had a daughter
named Pitidda. She said to her : " Go sweep the house."
" Give me some bread first." "I cannot," she answered.
When her mother saw that she would not sweep the house,
she called the wolf. " Wolf, go kill Pitidda, for Pitidda will
not sweep the house." " I can't," said the wolf. " Dog,
go kill the wolf," said the mother, " for the wolf will not kill
Pitidda, for Pitidda will not sweep the house." "I can't,"
said the dog. " Stick, go kill the dog, for the dog will not
kill the wolf, for the wolf won't kill Pitidda, for Pitidda
won't sweep the house." " I can't," said the stick." " Fire,
burn stick, for stick won't kill dog, for dog won't kill wolf,
for wolf won't kill Pitidda, for Pitidda won't sweep the
house." "I can't," said the fire. "Water, quench fire, for
NURSERY TALES. 249
fire won't burn stick, for stick won't kill dog, for dog won't
kill wolf, for wolf won't kill Pitidda, for Pitidda won't sweep
the house." " I can't." " Cow, go drink water, for water
won't quench fire, for fire won't burn stick, for stick won't
kill dog, for dog won't kill wolf, for wolf won't kill Pitidda,
for Pitidda won't sweep the house." " I can't," said the
cow. " Rope, go choke cow," etc.
[Then the mother calls on the mouse to gnaw the rope,
the cat to eat the mouse, and the story ends.]
The cat runs and begins to eat the mouse, the mouse
runs and begins to gnaw the rope, the rope to choke the
cow, the cow to drink the water, the water to quench the
fire, the fire to burn the stick, the stick to kill the dog, the
dog to kill the wolf, the wolf to kill Pitidda, Pitidda to sweep
the house, and her mother runs and gives her some bread.7
The Italian story, it will be seen, has a moral. The an-
imals, etc., are invoked to punish a disobedient child. In
the Neapolitan version a mother sends her son to gather
some fodder for the cattle. He does not wish to go until
he has had some macaroni that his mother has just cooked.
She promises to keep him some, and he departs. While he
is gone the mother eats up all the macaroni, except a small
bit. When her son returns, and sees how little is left for
him, he begins to cry and refuses to eat ; and his mother
calls on stick, fire, water, ox, rope, mouse, and cat to make
her son obey, and eat the macaroni.8 The disobedient son
is also found in two Tuscan versions, one from Siena, and
one from Florence, which are almost identical.9
In the Venetian version, a naughty boy will not go to
school, and his mother invokes dog, stick, fire, water, ox,
butcher, and soldier.10
The Sicilian story of "The Sexton's Nose" (Pitre, No.
135) will serve as the connecting link between the two
classes above mentioned. Properly speaking, only the
second part of it belongs here ; but we will give a brief
analysis of the first also.
250 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
LXXIX. THE SEXTON'S NOSE.
A sexton, one day in sweeping the church, found a piece
of money (it was the fifth of a cent) and deliberated with
himself as to what he would buy with it. If he bought nuts
or almonds, he was afraid of the mice ; so at last he bought
some roasted peas, and ate all but the last pea. This he
took to a bakery near by, and asked the mistress to keep it
for him ; she told him to leave it on a bench, and she would
take care of it. When she went to get it, she found that
the cock had eaten it. The next day the sexton came for
the roast pea, and when he heard what had become of it,
he said they must either return the roast pea or give him
the cock. This they did, and the sexton, not having any
place to keep it, took it to a miller's wife, who promised to
keep it for him. Now she had a pig, which managed to
kill the cock. The next day the sexton came for the cock,
and on finding it dead, demanded the pig, and the woman
had to give it to him. The pig he left with a friend of his,
a pastry-cook, whose daughter was to be married the next
day. The woman was mean and sly, and killed the pig for
her daughter's wedding, meaning to tell the sexton that the
pig had run away. The sexton, however, when he heard it,
made a great fuss, and declared that she must give him back
his pig or her daughter. At last she had to give him her
daughter, whom he put in a bag and carried away. He took
the bag to a woman who kept a shop, and asked her to keep
for him this bag, which he said contained bran. ' The woman
by chance kept chickens, and she thought she would take
some of the sexton's bran and feed them. When she
opened the bag she found the young girl, who told her how
she came there. The woman took her out of the sack, and
put in her stead a dog. The next day the sexton came for
his bag, and putting it on his shoulder, started for the sea-
shore, intending to throw the young girl in the sea. When
he reached the shore, he opened the bag, and the furious
dog flew out and bit his nose. The sexton was in great
agony, and cried out, while the blood ran down his face in
NURSERY TALES. 2$ I
torrents : " Dog, dog, give me a hair to put in my nose,
and heal the bite." * The dog answered : " Do you want a
hair? give me some bread." The sexton ran to a bakery,
and said to the baker : " Baker, give me some bread to give
the dog ; the dog will give a hair ; the hair I will put in my
nose, and cure the bite." The baker said : " Do you want
bread ? give me some wood." The sexton ran to the wood-
man. " Woodman, give me wood to give the baker ; the
baker will give me bread ; the bread I will give to the dog ;
the dog will give me a hair ; the hair I will put in my nose,
and heal the bite." The woodman said: "Do you want
wood ? give me a mattock." The sexton ran to a smith.
" Smith, give me a mattock to give the woodman ; the wood-
man will give me wood ; I will carry the wood to the baker ;
the baker will give me bread ; I will give the bread to the
dog ; the dog will give me a hair ; the hair I will put in my
nose, and heal the bite." The smith said: "Do you want
a mattock ? give me some coals." The sexton ran to the
collier. " Collier, give me some coals to give the smith ;
the smith will give me a mattock ; the mattock I will give
the woodman ; the woodman will give me some wood ; the
wood I will give the baker ; the baker will give me bread ;
the bread I will give the dog ; the dog will give me a hair ;
the hair I will put in my nose, and heal the bite." " Do
you want coals ? give me a cart." The sexton ran to the
wagon-maker. " Wagon-maker, give me a cart to give the
collier ; the collier will give me some coals ; the coals I will
carry to the smith ; the smith will give me a mattock ; the
mattock I will give the woodman ; the woodman will give
me some wood ; the wood I will give the baker ; the baker
will give me bread ; the bread I will give to the dog ; the
dog will give me a hair ; the hair I will put in my nose, and
heal the bite."
The wagon-maker, seeing the sexton's great lamentation,
is moved to compassion, and gives him the cart. The sex-
ton, well pleased, takes the cart and goes away to the collier ;
* As with us the hair of a dog is supposed to heal the bite the same dog has
inflicted.
252 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the collier gives him the coals ; the coals he takes to the
smith ; the smith gives him the mattock ; the mattock he
takes to the woodman ; the woodman gives him wood ; the
wood he carries to the baker ; the baker gives him bread ;
the bread he carries to the dog ; the dog gives him a hair ;
the hair he puts in his nose, and heals the bite.11
The second class contains the versions in which all the
actors are animals or personified inanimate objects. The
first example we shall give is from Avellino in the Princi-
pato Ulteriore (Imbriani, p. 239), and is called :
LXXX. THE COCK AND THE MOUSE.
Once upon a time there was a cock and a mouse. One
day the mouse said to the cock : " Friend Cock, shall we
go and eat some nuts on yonder tree?" "As you like."
So they both went under the tree and the mouse climbed
up at once and began to eat. The poor cock began to fly,
and flew and flew, but could not come where the mouse
was. When it saw that there was no hope of getting there,
it said : " Friend Mouse, do you know what I want you to
do? Throw me a nut." The mouse went and threw one
and hit the cock on the head. The poor cock, with its
head broken and all covered with blood, went away to an
old woman. " Old aunt, give me some rags to cure my
head." " If you will give me two hairs, I will give you the
rags." The cock went away to a dog. " Dog, give me
some hairs ; the hairs I will give the old woman ; the old
woman will give me rags to cure my head." " If you will
give me a little bread," said the dog, " I will give you the
hairs." The cock went away to a baker. "Baker, give me
bread ; I will give the bread to the dog ; the dog will give
hairs ; the hairs I will carry to the old woman ; the old
woman will give me rags to cure my head." The baker
answered : " I will not give you bread unless you give me
some wood ! " The cock went away to the forest. " For-
est, give me some wood ; the wood I will carry to the baker ;
NURSERY TALES. 253
the baker will give me some bread ; the bread I will give to
the dog ; the dog will give me hairs ; the hairs I will carry-
to the old woman ; the old woman will give me rags to cure
my head." The forest answered : " If you will bring me a
little water, I will give you some wood." The cock went
away to a fountain. " Fountain, give me water ; water I
will carry to the forest ; forest will give wood ; wood I will
carry to the baker ; baker will give bread ; bread I will
give dog ; dog will give hairs ; hairs I will give old woman ;
old woman will give rags to cure my head." The fountain
gave him water ; the water he carried to the forest ; the
forest gave him wood ; the wood he carried to the baker ;
the baker gave him bread ; the bread he gave to the dog ;
the dog gave him the hairs ; the hairs he carried to the old
woman ; the old woman gave him the rags ; and the cock
cured his head.12
There are other versions from Florence {Nov. fior. p.
551), Bologna (Coronedi-Berti, X. p. 16), and Venice (Ber-
noni, Punt. III. p. 74), which do not call for any detailed
notice. In the Florentine version a cock gives a peck at a
mouse's head and the mouse cries out : " Where must I go
to be cured ?" Then follow the various objects which are
almost identical with those in the other versions. The
mouse, however, is killed by the ox, to which he goes last.
The Venetian version is the most elaborate ; in it the cock
and mouse go nutting together, and while the former flies
up into the tree and throws the nuts down, the mouse eats
them all up. When the cock comes down he flies into a
passion and gives the mouse a peck at his head. The
mouse runs off in terror, and the rest of the story is as
above until the end. The last person the mouse calls on
is a cooper, to make him a bucket to give to the well, to get
water, etc. The cooper asks for money, which the mouse
finds after a while. He gives the money to the cooper and
says : " Take and count it ; meanwhile I am going to drink,
for I am dying of thirst." As he is going to drink he sees
Friend Cock coming along. " Ah, poor me," says he to him-
254 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
self, " I am a dead mouse ! " The cock sees him and goes
to meet him and says : " Good day, friend, are you still
afraid of me ? Come, let us make peace ! " The mouse
then takes heart and says : " Oh, yes, yes ! let us make
peace ! "
So they made peace, and Friend Mouse said to Friend
Cock : " Now that you are here you must do me the favor
to hold me by the tail while I hang over the ditch to drink,
and when I say slapo, slapo, pull me back." The cock
said : " I will do as you wish."
Then the mouse went to the ditch and Friend Cock held
him by the tail. After the mouse had drunk his fill, he
said : " Friend, slapo, slapo ! " The cock answered : " Friend,
and I let you go by the tail ! " And in truth he did let go
his tail, and the poor mouse went to the bottom and was
never seen or heard of more.13
The following story from Sicily (Pitre, No. 132) belongs
also to a class of tales very popular and having only animals
for its actors. It is called :
LXXXI. GODMOTHER FOX*
Once upon a time there was Godmother Fox and God-
mother Goat.f The former had a little bit of a house
adorned with little chairs, cups, and dishes ; in short, it was
well furnished. One day Godmother Goat went out and
carried away the little house. Godmother Fox began to
lament, when along came a dog, barking, that said to her :
" What are you crying about ? " She answered : " God-
mother Goat has carried off my house ! " " Be quiet. I will
make her give it back to you." So the dog went and said
to Godmother Goat : " Give the house back to Godmother
Fox." The goat answered : " I am Godmother Goat. I
have a sword at my side, and with my horns I will tear you
in pieces." When the dog heard that, he went away.
Then a sheep passed by and said to the little fox : " What
* Cummari Vurpidda (diminutive of Fox) .
t Cummari Crapazza (diminutive of Goat).
NURSERY TALES. 2$$
are you crying about ? " and she told her the same thing.
Then the sheep went to Godmother Goat and began to re-
prove her. The goat made the same answer she had made
the dog, and the sheep went away in fright.
In short, all sorts of animals went to the goat, with the
same result. Among others the mouse went and said to
the little fox: "What are you crying about?" "God-
mother Goat has carried off my house." "Be still. I will
make her give it back to you." So the mouse went and
said to Godmother Goat : " Give Godmother Fox her house
back right away." The goat answered : " I am Godmother
Goat. I have a sword at my side, and with my fist and
with my horns I will smash you ! " The mouse answered
at once : " I am Godfather Mouse. By my side I have a
spit. I will heat it in the fire and stick it in your tail."
The inference of course is that Godmother Goat gave
back the house. The story does not say so, but ends with
the usual formula :
Story told, story written,
Tell me yours, for mine is said.
Pitre (No. 133) gives another version in which a goat gets
under a nun's bed and she calls on her neighbors, a dog,
pig, and cricket, to put the goat out. The cricket alone
succeeds, with a threat similar to that in the last story.
In the Neapolitan version (Imbriani, Dodici Conti Pomig-
lianesi, p. 273) an old woman, in sweeping the church, found
a piece of money and, like the sexton in the story of " The
Sexton's Nose," did not know what to buy with it. At
last she bought some flour and made a hasty-pudding of it.
She left it on the table and went again to church, but for-
got to close the window. While she was gone a herd of
goats came along, and one smelled the pudding, climbed in
at the window, and ate it up. When the old woman came
back and tried to open the door, she could not, for the goat
was behind it. Then she began to weep and various ani-
mals came along and tried to enter the house. The goat
answered them all : "I am the goat, with three horns on
256 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
my head and three in my belly, and if you don't run away
I will eat you up." The mouse at last replied : " I am
Godfather Mouse, with the halter, and if you don't run
away, I will tear your eyes out." The goat ran away and
the old woman went in with Godfather Mouse, whom she
married, and they both lived there together.
The Florentine version {Nov.fior. p. 556) is called "The
Iron Goat." In it a widow goes out to wash and leaves
her son at home, with orders not to leave the door open so
that the Iron Goat, with the iron mouth and the sword
tongue, can enter. The boy after a time wanted to go after
his mother, and when he had gone half way he remembered
that he had left the door open and went back. When he
was going to enter he saw there the Iron Goat. " Who is
there ? " " It is I ; I am the Iron Goat, with the iron mouth
and the sword tongue. If you enter I will slice you like a
turnip." The poor boy sat down on the steps and wept. A
little old woman passed by and asked the cause of his tears ;
he told her and she said she would send the goat away for
three bushels of grain. The old woman tried, with the
usual result, and finally said to the boy : " Listen, my child.
I don't care for those three bushels of grain ; but I really
cannot send the goat away." Then an old man tried his
luck, with no better success. At last a little bird came by
and promised for three bushels of millet to drive the goat
away. When the goat made its usual declaration, the little
bird replied : " And I with my beak will peck your brains
out." The goat was frightened and ran away, and the boy
had to pay the little bird three bushels of millet.14
The next story affords, like " Pitidda," a curious example
of the diffusion of nursery tales.
Our readers will remember the Grimm story of "The
Spider and the Flea." "A spider and a flea dwelt together
in one house and brewed their beer in an egg-shell. One
day, when the spider was stirring it up, she fell in and
scalded herself. Thereupon the flea began to scream.
And then the door asked : " Why are you screaming,
flea ? " " Because Little Spider has scalded herself in the
NURSERY TALES. 2$?
beer-tub," replied she. Thereupon the door began to
creak as if it were in pain, and a broom, which stood in the
corner, asked : " What are you creaking for, door ? "
" May I not creak ? " it replied.
" The little spider scalded herself,
And the flea weeps."
So a broom sweeps, a little cart runs, ashes burn furi-
ously, a tree shakes off its leaves, a maiden breaks her
pitcher, and a streamlet begins to flow until it swallows
up the little girl, the little tree, the ashes, the cart, the
broom, the door, the flea, and, last of all, the spider, all
together.15
The first Italian version of this story which we shall
mention is from Sicily (Pitre, No. 134), and is called :
LXXXII. THE CAT AND THE MOUSE.
Once upon a time there was a cat that wanted to get
married. So she stood on a corner, and every one who
passed by said : " Little Cat, what 's the matter ? " " What 's
the matter ? I want to marry." A dog passed by and
said : " Do you want me ? " " When I see how you can
sing." The dog said : " Bow, wow ! " " Fy ! What hor-
rid singing ! I don't want you." A pig passed. " Do
you want me, Little Cat ? " " When I see how you sing."
u Uh ! uh ! " " Fy ! You are horrid ! Go away ! I don't
want you." A calf passed and said : " Little Cat, will you
take me ? " " When I see how you sing." " Uhm ! " " Go
away, for you are horrid ! What do you want of me ? " A
mouse passed by : " Little Cat, what are you doing ? " " I
am going to get married." "Will you take me ? " "And
how can you sing ? " " Ziu, ziu ! " The cat accepted him,
and said : " Let us go and be married, for you please me."
So they were married.
One day the cat went to buy some pastry, and left the
mouse at home. " Don't stir out, for I am going to buy
some pastry." The mouse went into the kitchen, saw the
pot on the fire, and crept into it, for he wanted to eat the
17
258 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
beans. But he did not ; for the pot began to boil, and the
mouse stayed there. The cat came back and began to
cry ; but the mouse did not appear. So the cat put the
pastry in the pot for dinner. When it was ready the cat
ate, and put some on a plate for the mouse, also. When
she took out the pastry she saw the mouse stuck fast in it.
" Ah ! my little mouse ! ah ! my little mouse ! " so she went
and sat behind the door, lamenting the mouse.
" What is the matter," said the door, " that you are
scratching yourself so and tearing out your hair ? "
The cat said : " What is the matter ? My mouse is dead,
and so I tear my hair."
The door answered : " And I, as door, will slam."
In the door was a window, which said : " What 's the
matter, door, that you are slamming ? "
" The mouse died, the cat is tearing her hair, and I am
slamming."
The window answered : " And I, as window, will open
and shut."
In the window was a tree, that said : " Window, why do
you open and shut ? " The window answered : " The
mouse died, the cat tears her hair, the door slams, and I
open and shut." The tree answered and said: "And I,
as tree, will throw myself down."
A bird happened to alight in this tree, and said: "Tree,
why did you throw yourself down ? " The tree replied :
"The mouse died, the cat tears her hair, the door slams,
the window opens and shuts, and I, as tree, threw myself
down." "And I, as bird, will pull out my feathers." The
bird went and alighted on a fountain, which said : " Bird,
why are you plucking out your feathers so ? " The bird
answered as the others had done, and the fountain said:
"And I, as fountain, will dry up." A cuckoo went to drink
at the fountain, and asked : " Fountain, why have you dried
up?" And the fountain told him all that had happened.
" And I, as cuckoo, will put my tail in the fire." A monk
of St. Nicholas passed by, and said : " Cuckoo, why is your
tail in the fire ? " When the monk heard the answer he
NURSERY TALES. 259
said : " And I, as monk of St. Nicholas, will go and say
mass without my robes." Then came the queen, who,
when she heard what the matter was, said : " And I, as
queen, will go and sift the meal." At last the king came
by, and asked : " O Queen ! why are you sifting the meal ? "
When the queen had told him everything, he said : " And
I, as king, am going to take my coffee."
And thus the story abruptly ends. In one of Pitre's
variants a sausage takes the place of the mouse ; in an-
other, a tortoise.
In the version from Pomigliano d' Arco (Imbriani, p. 244),
an old woman, who finds a coin in sweeping a church, hesi-
tates in regard to what she will spend it for, as in the sto-
ries above mentioned. She finally concludes to buy some
paint for her face. After she has put it on, she stations
herself at the window. A donkey passes, and asks what
she wants. She answers that she wishes to marry. " Will
you take me ? " asks the donkey. " Let me hear what kind
of a voice you have." "Ingb! Ingb ! high!" "Away!
away ! you would frighten me in the night ! " Then a goat
comes along, with the same result. Then follows a cat,
and all the animals in the world ; but none pleases the old
woman. At last a little mouse passes by, and says : " Old
Aunt, what are you doing there ? " " I want to marry."
" Will you take me ? " " Let me hear your voice." " Zi-
vuzl ! zivuzl ! zivuzl ! zivuzi ! " " Come up, for you please
me." So the mouse went up to the old woman, and stayed
with her. One day the old woman went to mass, and left
the pot near the fire and told the mouse to be careful not
to fall in it. When she came home she could not find the
mouse anywhere. At last she went to take the soup from
the pot, and there she found the mouse dead. She began
to lament, and the ashes on the hearth began to scatter,
and the window asked what was the matter. The ashes
answered : " Ah ! you know nothing. Friend Mouse is in
the pot ; the old woman is weeping, weeping ; and I, the
ashes, have wished to scatter." Then the window opens
260 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
and shuts, the stairs fall down, the bird plucks out its feath-
ers, the laurel shakes off its leaves, the servant girl who
goes to the well breaks her pitcher, the mistress who was
making bread throws the flour over the balcony, and finally
the master comes home, and after he hears the story, ex-
claims : " And I, who am master, will break the bones of
both of you ! " And therewith he takes a stick and gives
the servant and her mistress a sound beating.16
There is a curious class of versions of the above story, in
which the principal actors are a mouse and a sausage, re-
minding one of the Grimm story of " The Little Mouse,
the Little Bird, and the Sausage." In the Venetian version
(Bernoni, Punt. III. p. 81), the beginning is as follows:
Once upon a time there was a mouse and a sausage, and
one day the mouse said to the sausage : " I am going to
mass ; meanwhile get ready the dinner." " Yes, yes," an-
swered the sausage. Then the mouse went to mass, and
when he returned he found everything ready. The next
day the sausage went to mass and the mouse prepared the
dinner. He put on the pot, threw in the rice, and then
went to taste if it was well salted. But he fell in and died.
The sausage returned home, knocked at the door, — for
there was no bell, — and no one answered. She called :
" Mouse ! mouse ! " But he does not answer. Then the
sausage went to a smith and had the door broken in, and
called again : " Mouse, where are you ? " And the mouse
did not answer. " Now I will pour out the rice, and mean-
while he will come." So she went and poured out the rice,
and found the mouse dead in the pot. " Ah ! poor mouse !
Oh ! my mouse ! What shall I do now ? Oh ! poor me ! "
And she began to utter a loud lamentation. Then the
table began to go around the room, the sideboard to throw
down the plates, the door to lock and unlock itself, the
fountain to dry up, the mistress to drag herself along the
ground, and the master threw himself from the balcony and
broke his neck. " And all this arose from the death of this
mouse."
The version from the Marches (Gianandrea, p. n) resem-
NURSERY TALES. 26l
bles the above very closely ; the conclusion is as follows :
" The mouse, the master of this castle, is dead ; the sau-
sage weeps, the broom sweeps, the door opens and shuts,
the cart runs, the tree throws off its leaves, the bird plucks
out its feathers, the servant breaks her pitcher," etc.
The version from Milan {Nov. fior. p. 552) resembles the
one from Venice. Instead of the mouse and the sausage
we have the big mouse and the little mouse. In the ver-
sion from Leghorn (Papanti, p. 19) called "Vezzino and
Lady Sausage," * the actors are Lady Sausage and her son
Vezzino, who falls into the pot on the fire while his mother
is at mass. The rest of the story does not differ materially
from the above versions.
In the Grimm story of the " Golden Goose," the goose
has the power of causing anything that touches it to stick
fast. This same idea is reproduced in several Italian
stories. The best is from Venice (Bernoni, Fiabe, p. 21)
and is called :
LXXXIII. A FEAST DAY.
Once upon a time there was a husband and wife ; the
husband was a boatman. One feast day the boatman took
it into his head to buy a fowl, which he carried home and
said : " See here, wife, to-day is a feast day ; I want a good
dinner ; cook it well, for my friend Tony is coming to dine
with us and has said that he would bring a tart." " Very
well," she said, " I will prepare the fowl at once." So she
cleaned it, washed it, put it on the fire, and said : " While
it is boiling I will go and hear a mass." She shut the
kitchen door and left the dog and the cat inside. Scarcely
had she closed the door when the dog went to the hearth
and perceived that there was a good odor there and said :
" Oh, what a good smell ! " He called the cat, also, and
said : " Cat, you come here, too ; smell what a good odor
there is ! see if you can push off the cover with your paws."
The cat went and scratched and scratched and down went
* Vezzino e Madonna Salciccia. Vezzino is the dim. of vezzo, delight, pas-
time.
262 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the cover. "Now," said the dog, "see if you can catch it
with your claws." Then the cat seized the fowl and dragged
it to the middle of the kitchen. The dog said : " Shall we
eat half of it ? " The cat said : " Let us eat it all." So
they ate it all and stuffed themselves like pigs. When they
had eaten it they said : " Alas for us ! What shall we do
when the mistress comes home ? She will surely beat us
both." So they both ran all over the house, here and there,
but could find no place in which to hide. They were going to
hide under the bed. " No," they said, " for she will see us."
They were going under the sofa ; but that would not do,
for she would see them there. Finally the cat looked up
and saw under the beams a cobweb. He gave a leap and
jumped into it. The dog looked at him and said : " Run
away ! you are mad ! you can be seen, for your tail sticks
out ! come down, come down ! " "I cannot, I cannot, for I
am stuck fast ! " " Wait, I will come and pull you out." He
gave a spring to catch him by the tail and pull him down.
Instead of that he, too, stuck fast to the cat's tail. He
made every effort to loosen himself, but he could not and
there he had to stay.
Meanwhile the mistress does not wait until the priest
finishes the mass, but runs quickly home. She runs and
opens the door and is going to skim the pot, when she dis-
covers that the fowl is no longer there, and in the middle
of the kitchen she sees the bones all gnawed. " Ah, poor
me ! the cat and the dog have eaten the fowl. Now I will
give them both a beating." So she takes a stick and then
goes to find them. She looks here, she looks there, but
does not find them anywhere. In despair she comes back
to the kitchen, but does not find them there. " Where the
deuce have they hidden ? " Just then she raises her eyes
and sees them both stuck fast under the beams. " Ah, are
you there ? now just wait ! " and she climbs on a table and
is going to pull them down, when she sticks fast to the
dog's tail. She tries to free herself, but cannot.
Her husband knocked at the door. " Here, open ! " "I
cannot, I am fast." " Loosen yourself and open the door !
NURSERY TALES. 263
where the deuce are you fastened ? " " I cannot, I tell
you." "Open! it is noon." "I cannot, for I am fast."
"But where are you fast?" "To the dog's tail." "I will
give you the dog's tail, you silly woman ! " He gave the
door two or three kicks, broke it in, went into the kitchen,
and saw cat, dog, and mistress all fast. " Ah, you are all
fast, are you? just wait, I will loosen you." He went to
loosen them, but stuck fast himself. Friend Tony comes
and knocks. " Friend ? Open ! I have the tart here." " I
cannot ; my friend, I am fast ! " " Bad luck to you ! Are you
fast at this time ? You knew I was coming and got fast ?
Come, loosen yourself and open the door ! " He said again :
" I cannot come and open, for I am fast." Finally the friend
became angry, kicked in the door, went into the kitchen,
and saw all those souls stuck fast and laughed heartily.
"Just wait, for I will loosen you now." So he gave a great
pull, the cat's tail was loosened, the cat fell into the dog's
mouth, the dog into his mistress' mouth, the mistress into
her husband's, her husband into his friend's, and his friend
into the mouth of the blockheads who are listening to me.17
The following nonsense story from Venice (Bernoni,
Punt. I. p. 18) will give a good idea of a class that is not
very well represented in Italy. It is called :
LXXXIV. THE THREE BROTHERS.
Once upon a time there were three brothers : two had no
clothes and one no shirt. The weather was very bad and
they make up their minds to go shooting. So they took
down three guns, — two were broken and one had no bar-
rel, — and walked and walked until they came at last to a
meadow, where they saw a hare. They began to fire at it,
but could not catch it. " What shall we do ? " said one of
them. They remembered that near by a godmother of
theirs lived ; so they went and knocked at her door and
asked her to lend them a pot to cook the hare they had not
caught. The godmother was not at home, but nevertheless
264 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
she answered : " My children, go in the kitchen and there
you will find three pots, two broken and one with no bot-
tom ; take whichever you wish." " Thanks, Godmother ! "
They went into the kitchen and chose the one without a
bottom and put the hare in it to cook. While the hare was
cooking, one said : " Let us ask our godmother whether she
has anything in her garden." So they asked her and she
said : " Yes, yes, my children, I have three walnut-trees ;
two are dead and one has never borne any nuts ; knock off
as many as you wish." One went and shook the tree that
had never borne nuts, and a little nut fell on his hat and
broke his heel. Thereupon they picked up the nuts and
went to get the hare, which meanwhile was cooked, and
said : " What shall we do with so much stuff ? " So they
went to a village where there were many ill, and they put
up a notice in the street that whoever wished might, at such
and such a place, get broth given him in charity. Every
one went to get some, and they took it in the salad-basket,
and it was given to them with a skimmer. One who did
not belong to the village, drank so much of this broth that
he was at the point of death. Then they sent for three
physicians : one was blind, one deaf, and one dumb. The
blind man went in and said : " Let me look at your tongue."
The deaf man asked : " How are you ? " The dumb said :
" Give me some paper, pen and ink." They gave them to
him and he said :
" Go to the apothecary,
For he knows the business ;
Buy two cents' worth of I know not what,
Put it wherever you wish.
He will get well I know not when,
I will leave and commend him to you." 18
One of the most popular of Italian tales, as the collector
tells us, is one of which we give the version from Leghorn
(Papanti, p. 25). It is called :
NURSERY TALES. 26$
LXXXV. BUCHETTINO.
Once upon a time there was a child whose name was
Buchettino. One morning his mamma called him and said :
" Buchettino, will you do me a favor ? Go and sweep the
stairs." Buchettino, who was very obedient, did not wait
to be told a second time, but went at once to sweep the
stairs. All at once he heard a noise, and after looking all
around, he found a penny. Then he said to himself :
" What shall I do with this penny ? I have half a mind to
buy some dates . . . but no ! for I should have to throw
away the stones. I will buy some apples ... no ! I will
not, for I should have to throw away the core. I will buy
some nuts . . . but no, for I should have to throw away
the shells ! What shall I buy, then ? I will buy — I will
buy — enough; I will buy a pennyworth of figs." No
sooner said than done : he bought a pennyworth of figs, and
went to eat them in a tree. While he was eating, the ogre
passed by, and seeing Buchettino eating figs in the tree,
said :
" Buchettino,
My dear Buchettino,
Give me a little fig
With your dear little hand,
If not I will eat you ! "
Buchettino threw him one, but it fell in the dirt. Then the
ogre repeated :
" Buchettino,
My dear Buchettino,
Give me a little fig
With your dear little hand,
If not I will eat you ! "
Then Buchettino threw him another, which also fell in the
dirt. The ogre said again :
" Buchettino,
My dear Buchettino,
Give me a little fig
With your dear little hand,
If not I will eat you ! "
266 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
Poor Buchettino, who did not see the trick, and did not
know that the ogre was doing everything to get him into
his net and eat him up, what does he do ? he leans down
and foolishly gives him a fig with his little hand. The
ogre, who wanted nothing better, suddenly seized him by
the arm and put him in his bag ; then he took him on his
back and started for home, crying with all his lungs :
" Wife, my wife,
Put the kettle on the fire,
For I have caught Buchettino !
Wife, my wife,
Put the kettle on the fire,
For I have caught Buchettino ! "
When the ogre was near his house he put the bag on the
ground, and went off to attend to something else. Buchet-
tino, with a knife that he had in his pocket, cut the bag
open in a trice, filled it with large stones, and then :
" My legs, it is no shame
To run away when there is need."
When the rascal of an ogre returned he picked up the bag,
and scarcely had he arrived home when he said to his wife :
"Tell me, my wife, have you put the kettle on the fire?"
She answered at once: "Yes." "Then," said the ogre,
" we will cook Buchettino ; come here, help me ! " And
both taking the bag, they carried it to the hearth and were
going to throw poor Buchettino into the kettle, but instead
they found only the stones. Imagine how cheated the
ogre was. He was so angry that he bit his hands. He
could not swallow the trick played on him by Buchettino
and swore to find him again and be revenged. So the next
day he began to go all about the city and to look into all
the hiding places. At last he happened to raise his eyes
and saw Buchettino on a roof, ridiculing him and laughing
so hard that his mouth extended from ear to ear. The
ogre thought he should burst with rage, but he pretended
not to see it and in a very sweet tone he said : " O Bu-
chettino ; just tell me, how did you manage to climb up
NURSERY TALES. 267
there ? " Buchettino answered : " Do you really want to
know ? Then listen. I put dishes upon dishes, glasses
upon glasses, pans upon pans, kettles upon kettles ; after-
wards I climbed up on them and here I am." "Ah! is
that so?" said the ogre; "wait a bit!" And quickly he
took so many dishes, so many glasses, pans, kettles, and
made a great mountain of them ; then he began to climb
up, to go and catch Buchettino. But when he was on the
top — brututum — everything fell down ; and that rascal of
an ogre fell down on the stones and was cheated again.
Then Buchettino, well pleased, ran to his mamma, who
put a piece of candy in his little mouth — See whether
there is any more ! 19
We will end this chapter with two stories in which the
chief actors are animals. One of these stories will doubt-
less be very familiar to our readers. The first is from
Venice (Bernoni, Punt. III. p. 65).
LXXXVI. THE THREE GOSLINGS.
Once upon a time there were three goslings who were
greatly afraid of the wolf ; for if he found them he would eat
them. One day the largest said to the other two : " Do
you know what I think ? I think we had better build a
little house, so that the wolf shall not eat us, and meanwhile
let us go and look for something to build the house with."
Then the other two said: "Yes, yes, yes . . . good! let
us go ! " So they went and found a man who had a load of
straw and said to him : " Good man, do us the favor to give
us a little of that straw to make a house of, so that the wolf
shall not eat us." The man said: "Take it, take it!" and
he gave them as much as they wanted. The goslings
thanked the man and took the straw and went away to a
meadow, and there they built a lovely little house, with a
door, and balconies, and kitchen, with everything, in short.
When it was finished the largest gosling said : " Now I
want to see whether one is comfortable in this house." So
268 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
she went in and said : " Oh ! how comfortable it is in this
house ! just wait ! " She went and locked the door with a
padlock, and went out on the balcony and said to the other
two goslings : " I am very comfortable alone here ; go away,
for I want nothing to do with you."
The two poor little goslings began to cry and beg their
sister to open the door and let them in ; if she did not, the
wolf would eat them. But she would not listen to them.
Then the two goslings went away and found a man who had
a load of hay. They said to him : " Good man, do us the
kindness to give us a little of that hay to build a house with,
so that the wolf shall not eat us ! " " Yes, yes, yes, take some,
take some ! " And he gave them as much as they wanted.
The goslings, well pleased, thanked the man and carried
the hay to a meadow and built a very pretty little house,
prettier than the other. The middle-sized gosling said to
the smallest : " Listen. I am going now to see whether one
is comfortable in this house ; but I will not act like our sis-
ter, you know ! " She entered the house and said to her-
self : " Oh ! how comfortable it is here ! I don't want my
sister ! I am very comfortable here alone." So she went
and fastened the door with a padlock, and went out on the
balcony and said to her sister : " Oh ! how comfortable it is
in this house ! I don't want you here ! go away, go away ! "
The poor gosling began to weep and beg her sister to open
to her, for she was alone, and did not know where to go,
and if the wolf found her he would eat her ; but it did no
good : she shut the balcony and stayed in the house.
Then the gosling, full of fear, went away and found a
man who had a load of iron and stones and said to him :
" Good man, do me the favor to give me a few of those
stones and a little of that iron to build me a house with, so
that the wolf shall not eat me ! " The man pitied the gos-
ling so much that he said : " Yes, yes, good gosling, or
rather I will build your house for you." Then they went
away to a meadow, and the man built a very pretty house,
with a garden and everything necessary, and very strong,
for it was lined with iron, and the balcony and door of iron
NURSERY TALES. 269
also. The gosling, well pleased, thanked the man and went
into the house and remained there.
Now let us go to the wolf.
The wolf looked everywhere for these goslings, but could
not find them. After a time he learned that they-had built
three houses. "Good, good !" he said ; "wait until I find
you ! " Then he started out and journeyed and journeyed
until he came to the meadow where the first house was.
He knocked at the door and the gosling said : " Who is
knocking at the door ? " " Come, come," said the wolf ;
"open, for it is I." The gosling said : "I will not open for
you, because you will eat me." "Open, open! I will not
eat you, be not afraid. Very well," said the wolf, " if you
will not open the door I will blow down your house." And
indeed he did blow down the house and ate up the gosling.
"Now that I have eaten one," he said, "I will eat the
others too." Then he went away and came at last to the
house of the second gosling, and everything happened as to
the first, the wolf blew down the house and ate the gosling.
Then he went in search of the third and when he found her
he knocked at the door, but she would not let him in. Then
he tried to blow the house down, but could not ; then he
climbed on the roof and tried to trample the house down,
but in vain. " Very well," he said to himself, " in one way
or another I will eat you." Then he came down from the
roof and said to the gosling : " Listen, gosling. Do you wish
us to make peace ? I don't want to quarrel with you who
are so good, and I have thought that to-morrow we will
cook some macaroni and I will bring the butter and cheese
and you will furnish the flour." "Very good," said the
gosling, "bring them then." The wolf, well satisfied, sa-
luted the gosling and went away. The next day the gosling
got up early and went and bought the meal and then re-
turned home and shut the house. A little later the wolf
came and knocked at the door and said : " Come, gosling,
open the door, for I have brought you the butter and
cheese ! " " Very well, give it to me here by the balcony."
" No indeed, open the door ! " "I will open when all is
27O ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
ready." Then the wolf gave her the things by the balcony
and went away. While he was gone the gosling prepared
the macaroni, and put it on the fire to cook in a kettle full
of water. When it was two o'clock the wolf came and said :
"Come, gosling, open the door." " No, I will not open, for
when I am busy I don't want any one in the way ; when it
is cooked, I will open and you may come in and eat it." A
little while after, the gosling said to the wolf : " Would you
like to try a bit of macaroni to see whether it is well
cooked ? " " Open the door ! that is the better way." " No,
no ; don't think you are coming in ; put your mouth to the
hole in the shelf and I will pour the macaroni down." The
wolf, all greedy as he was, put his mouth to the hole and
then the gosling took the kettle of boiling water and poured
the boiling water instead of the macaroni through the hole
into the wolf's mouth ; and the wolf was scalded and
killed. Then the gosling took a knife and cut open the
wolf's stomach, and out jumped the other goslings, who
were still alive, for the wolf was so greedy that he had swal-
lowed them whole. Then these goslings begged their sis-
ter's pardon for the mean way in which they had treated
her, and she, because she was kind-hearted, forgave them
and took them into her house, and there they ate their maca-
roni and lived together happy and contented.20
A curious variant of the above story is found in the same
collection (p. 69) under the title :
LXXXVII. THE COCK.
Once upon a time there was a cock, and this cock flew
here and flew there, and flew on an arbor, and there he
found a letter. He opened the letter and saw : " Cock,
steward," and that he was invited to Rome by the
Pope.
The cock started on his journey, and after a time met
the hen : " Where are you going, Friend Cock ? " said the
hen. "I flew," said he, "upon an arbor and found a letter,
NURSERY TALES. 2JI
and this letter said that I was invited to Rome by the Pope."
"Just see, friend," said the hen, "whether I am there too."
" Wait a bit." Then he turned the letter, and saw written
there: " Cock, steward ; Hen, stewardess." " Come, friend,
for you are there too." "Very well ! "
Then the two started off, and soon met the goose, who
said : " Where are you going, Friend Cock and Friend
Hen ? " " I flew," said the cock, " upon an arbor, and I
found a letter, and this letter said that we were invited to
Rome by the Pope." "Just look, friend, whether I am there
too." Then the cock opened the letter, read it, and saw
that there was written : " Cock, steward ; Hen, stewardess ;
Goose, abbess." " Come, come, friend ; you are there too."
So they took her along, and all three went their way.
[After a time they found the duck, and the cock saw
written in the letter : " Cock, steward ; Hen, stewardess ;
Goose, abbess ; Duck, countess." They next met a little
bird, and found he was down in the letter as "little man-
servant." Finally they came across the wood-louse, whom
they found mentioned in the letter as " maid-servant." On
their journey they came to a forest, and saw a wolf at a dis-
tance. The cock, hen, goose, and duck plucked out their
feathers and built houses to shelter themselves from the
wolf. The poor bug, that had no feathers, dug a hole in
the ground and crept into it. The wolf came, and as in
the last story, blew down the four houses and devoured
their occupants. Then he tried to get at the bug in the
same way ; but blew so hard that he burst, and out came
the cock, hen, goose, and duck, safe and sound, and began
to make a great noise. The bug heard it and came out of
her hole, and after they had rejoiced together, they sepa-
rated and each returned home and thought no more of go-
ing to Rome to the Pope.] '
There is a version from the Marches (Gianandrea, p. 21),
called, "The Marriage of Thirteen." The animals are the
same as in the last story. On their journey they meet the
wolf, who accompanies them, although his name is not in
272 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the letter. After a time the wolf becomes hungry, and ex-
claims : " I am hungry." The cock answers : " I have
nothing to give you." "Very well ; then I will eat you;"
and he swallows him whole. And so he devours one after
the other, until the bird only remains. The bird flies from
tree to tree and bush to bush, and around the wolf's head,
until he drives him wild with anger. At last along comes
a woman with a basket on her head, carrying food to the
reapers. The bird says to the wolf that if he will spare his
life he will get him something to eat from the basket. The
wolf promises, and the bird alights near the woman, who
tries to catch him ; the bird flies on a little way, and the
woman puts down her basket and runs after him. Mean-
while the wolf draws near the basket and begins eating its
contents. When the woman sees that, she cries : "Help!"
and the reapers run up with sticks and scythes, and kill the
wolf, and the animals that he had devoured all came out of
his stomach, safe and sound.21
There are two Sicilian versions of the story of " The
Cock." One (Pitre, No. 279), " The Wolf and the Finch,"
opens like the Venetian. The animals are : Cock, king ;
Hen, queen ; Viper, chambermaid ; Wolf, Pope ; and
Finch, keeper of the castle. The wolf then proceeds to
confess the others, and eats them in turn until he comes to
the finch, which plays a joke on him and flies away. The
conclusion of the story is disfigured, nothing being said of
the wolf's punishment or the recovery of the other ani-
mals.
The other Sicilian version is in Gonzenbach (No. 66).
We give it, however, for completeness and because it re-
calls a familiar story in Grimm.22 It is entitled :
LXXXVIII. THE COCK THAT WISHED TO BECOME
POPE.
It occurred once to the cock to go to Rome and have
himself elected Pope. So he started out, and on the way
found a letter, which he took with him. The hen met
NURSERY TALES. 2?$
him, and asked : " Mr. Cock, where are you going ? " " I
am going to Rome, to be Pope." " Will you take me with
you ?" she asked. "First I must look in my letter," said
the cock, and looked at his letter. " Come along; if I be-
come Pope, you can be the Popess." So Mr. Cock and
Mrs. Hen continued their journey and met a cat, who said :
" Mr. Cock and Mrs. Hen, where are you going ? " " We
are going to Rome, and wish to be Pope and Popess."
" Will you take me with you ? " " Wait until I look in my
letter," said the cock, and glanced at it. "Very well;
come along ; you can be our lady's-maid." After a while
they met a weasel, who asked : " Where are you going,
Mr. Cock, Mrs. Hen, and Mrs. Cat ? " " We are going to
Rome, where I intend to become Pope," answered the cock
" Will you take me with you ? " " Wait until I look in my
letter," said he. When the cock looked in his letter, he
said : "Very well ; come along."
So the three animals continued their journey together
towards Rome. At night-fall they came to a little house
where lived an old witch, who had just gone out. So each
animal chose a place to suit him. The weasel sat himself
in the cupboard, the cat on the hearth in the warm ashes,
and the cock and the hen flew up on the beam over the
door.
When the old witch came home she wanted to get a light
out of the cupboard, and the weasel struck her in the face
with his tail. Then she wanted to light the candle, and
went to the hearth. She took the bright eyes of the cat
for live coals and tried to light the match by them, and hit
the cat in the eyes. The cat jumped in her face and
scratched her frightfully. When the cock heard all the
noise he began to crow loudly. Then the witch saw that
they were no ghosts, but harmless domestic animals, and
took a stick and drove all four out of the house.
The cat and the weasel had no longer any desire to pro-
long their journey ; but the cock and hen continued their
way.
When they reached Rome they entered an open church,
18
274 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
and the cock said to the sexton : " Have all the bells rung,
for now I will be Pope." " Good ! " answered the sexton ;
"that may be, but just come in here." Then he led the
cock and the hen into the sacristry, shut the door, and
caught them both. After he had caught them he twisted
their necks and put them in the pot. Then he invited
his friends, and they ate with great glee Mr. Cock and Mrs.
Hen.
CHAPTER VI.
STORIES AND JESTS.
Until the Reformation, Europe was, by its religion and
the culture growing out of it, a homogeneous state. Not
only, however, did the legends of the Church find access to
the people everywhere, but the stories imported from the
Orient were equally popular and widespread. The absence
of other works of entertainment and the monotonous char-
acter of the legends increased the popularity of tales which
were amusing and interesting. We have considered in
other places the fairy tales and those stories which are of
more direct Oriental origin. In the present chapter we
shall examine those stories which are of the character of
jests or amusing stories, some of which are also Oriental,
but may more appropriately be classed in this chapter. The
first story we shall mention is familiar to the reader from
the ballad of " King John and the Abbot of Canterbury,"
in Percy and Burger's poem of Der Kaiser und der Abt.
There are two popular versions in Italian, as well as several
literary ones. The shortest is from Milan (Imbriani, Nov.
fior. p. 621), and is entitled :
XCI. THE COOK.
There was once a lord whose name was " Abbot-who-
eats-and-drinks-without-thinking." The king went there
and saw this name on the door, and said that if he had
nothing to think of, he would give him something to think
of. He told him that he must do in a week the three things
which he told him. First, to tell him how many stars there
were in heaven, how many fathoms of rope it would take
to reach to heaven, and what he, the king, was thinking of.
276 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
The cook saw that his master was sad, and sat with his head
bent over the table, and asked him what was the matter,
and his master told him everything. The cook promised
to settle the matter if he would give him half of his property.
He also asked for the skin of a dead ass, a cart-load of rope,
and his master's hat and cloak. Then the cook went to the
king, who said to him : " Well, how many stars are there in
heaven ? " The cook answered : " Whoever counts the
hairs on this ass' skin will know how many stars there are
in heaven." Then the king told him to count them, and he
answered that his share was already counted, and that it
was for the king to count now. Then the king asked him
how many fathoms of rope it would take to reach to heaven,
and the cook replied : " Take this rope and go to heaven,
and then come back and count how many fathoms there
are." Finally the king asked : " What am I thinking of?"
" You are thinking that I am the abbot ; instead of that, I
am the cook, and I have here the stew-pan to try the broth."
The version in Pitre (No. 97) is much better. It is called :
XCII. THE THOUGHTLESS ABBOT.
There was once in a city a priest who became an abbot,
and who had his carriages, horses, grooms, steward, secre-
tary, valet, and many other persons on account of the
wealth that he had. This abbot thought only of eating,
drinking, and sleeping. All the priests and laymen were
jealous of him, and called him the " Thoughtless Abbot."
One day the king happened to pass that way, and stopped,
and all the abbot's enemies went to him straightway, and
accused the abbot, saying : " Your Majesty, in this town
there is a person happier than you, very rich, and lacking
nothing in the world, and he is called the 'Thoughtless
Abbot.' "
After reflection the king said to the accusers : " Gentle-
men, depart in peace, for I will soon make this abbot think."
The king sent directly for the abbot, who had his carriage
STORIES AND JESTS. 2'J'J
made ready, and went to the king in his coach and four.
The king received him kindly, made him sit at his side, and
talked about various things with him. Finally he asked
him why they called him the " Thoughtless Abbot," and he
replied that it was because he was free from care, and that
his servants attended to his interests.
Then the king said : " Well, then, Sir Abbot, since you
have nothing to do, do me the favor to count all the stars
in the sky, and this within three days and three nights ;
otherwise you will surely be beheaded." The poor
"Thoughtless Abbot" on hearing these words began to
tremble like a leaf, and taking leave of the king, returned
home, in mortal fear for his neck.
When meal-time came, he could not eat on account of his
great anxiety, and went at once out on the terrace to look
at the sky, but the poor man could not see a single star.
When it grew dark, and the stars came out, the poor abbot
began to count them and write it down. But it grew dark
and light again, without the abbot succeeding in his task.
The cook, the steward, the secretaries, the grooms, the
coachmen, and all the persons in the house became thought-
ful when they saw that their master did not eat or drink,
and always watched the sky. Not knowing what else to
think, they believed that he had gone mad. To make the
matter short, the three days passed without the abbot
counting the stars, and the poor man did not know how to
present himself to the king, for he was sure he would behead
him. Finally, the last day, an old and trusty servant begged
him so long, that he told him the whole matter, and said :
" I have not been able to count the stars, and the king will
cut my head off this morning." When the servant had
heard all, he said : " Do not fear, leave it to me ; I will set-
tle everything."
He went and bought a large ox-hide, stretched it on the
ground, and cut off a piece of the tail, half an ear, and a
small piece out of the side, and then said to the abbot :
" Now let us go to the king ; and when he asks your excel-
lency how many stars there are in heaven, your excellency
278 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
will call me ; I will stretch the hide on the ground, and
your excellency will say : ' The stars in heaven are as many
as the hairs on this hide ; and as there are more hairs than
stars, I have been obliged to cut off part of the hide.' "
After the abbot had heard him, he felt relieved, ordered
his carriage, and took his servant to the king. When the
king saw the abbot, he saluted him, and then said : " Have
you fulfilled my command?" "Yes, your Majesty," an-
swered the abbot, " the stars are all counted."
"Then tell me how many they are." The abbot called
his servant, who brought the hide, and spread it on the
ground, while the king, not knowing how the matter was
going to end, continued his questioning.
When the servant had stretched out the hide, the abbot
said to the king : " Your Majesty, during these three
days I have gone mad counting the stars, and they are
all counted." " In short, how many are they ?" " Your
Majesty, the stars are as many as the hairs of this hide,
and those that were in excess, I have had to cut off, and
they are so many hundreds of millions ; and if you don't
believe me, have them counted, for I have brought you the
proof."
Then the king remained with his mouth open, and had
nothing to answer ; he only said : " Go and live as long as
Noah, without thoughts, for your mind is enough for you ; "
and so speaking, he dismissed him, thanking him, and re-
maining henceforth his best friend.
The abbot returned home with his servant, delighted and
rejoicing. He thanked his servant, made him his steward
and intimate friend, and gave him more than an ounce of
money a day to live on.1
In another Sicilian version referred to by Pitre, vol. IV.,
p. 437, the Pope, instead of the king, wishes to know from
the abbot : " What is the distance from heaven to earth ;
what God is doing in heaven ; what the Pope is thinking
of. The cook, disguised as the abbot, answers : "As long
as this ball of thread. Rewarding the good, and punishing
STORIES AND JESTS. 279
the wicked. He thinks he is speaking with the abbot, and
on the contrary, is talking to the cook."
The following story from Venice (Bernoni, Fiabe, No. 6)
is a combination of the two stories in Grimm, " Clever
Alice" and the " Clever People." It is called :
XCIII. BASTIANELO.
Once upon a time there was a husband and wife who had
a son. This son grew up, and said one day to his mother :
" Do you know, mother, I would like to marry ! " " Very
well, marry ! whom do you want to take ? " He answered :
"I want the gardener's daughter." "She is a good girl;
take her ; I am willing." So he went, and asked for the girl,
and her parents gave her to him. They were married, and
when they were in the midst of the dinner, the wine gave
out. The husband said : " There is no more wine ! " The
bride, to show that she was a good housekeeper, said : " I
will go and get some." She took the bottles and went to
the cellar, turned the cock, and began to think : " Suppose
I should have a son, and we should call him Bastianelo, and
he should die. Oh ! how grieved I should be ! oh ! how
grieved I should be ! " And thereupon she began to weep
and weep ; and meanwhile the wine was running all over
the cellar.
When they saw that the bride did not return, the mother
said : " I will go and see what the matter is." So she went
into the cellar, and saw the bride, with the bottle in her
hand, and weeping, while the wine was running over the
cellar. " What is the matter with you, that you are weep-
ing ? " " Ah ! my mother, I was thinking that if I had a
son, and should name him Bastianelo, and he should die,
oh ! how I should grieve ! oh ! how I should grieve ! "
The mother, too, began to weep, and weep, and weep ; and
meanwhile the wine was running over the cellar.
When the people at the table saw that no one brought
the wine, the groom's father said : " I will go and see what
is the matter. Certainly something wrong has happened to
280 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the bride." He went and saw the whole cellar full of wine,
and the mother and bride weeping. " What is the matter ? "
he said ; " has anything wrong happened to you ? " " No,"
said the bride, " but I was thinking that if I had a son and
should call him Bastianelo, and he should die, oh ! how I
should grieve ! oh ! how I should grieve ! " Then he, too,
began to weep, and all three wept ; and meanwhile the wine
was running over the cellar.
When the groom saw that neither the bride, nor the
mother, nor the father came back, he said : " Now I will go
and see what the matter is that no one returns." He went
into the cellar and saw all the wine running over the cellar.
He hastened and stopped the cask, and then asked : " What
is the matter, that you are all weeping, and have let the
wine run all over the cellar ? " Then the bride said : " I
was thinking that if I had a son and called him Bastianelo
and he should die, oh ! how I should grieve ! oh ! how I
should grieve ! " Then the groom said : " You stupid fools !
are you weeping at this, and letting all the wine run into the
cellar ? Have you nothing else to think of ? It shall never
be said that I remained with you ! I will roam about the
world, and until I find three fools greater than you I will
not return home."
He had a bread-cake made, took a bottle of wine, a sau-
sage, and some linen, and made a bundle, which he put on
a stick and carried over his shoulder. He journeyed and
journeyed, but found no fool. At last he said, worn out:
" I must turn back, for I see I cannot find a greater fool
than my wife." He did not know what to do, whether to
go on or to turn back. " Oh ! " he said, " it is better to try
and go a little farther." So he went on and shortly he saw
a man in his shirt-sleeves at a well, all wet with perspira-
tion and water. " What are you doing, sir, that you are
so covered with water and in such a sweat ? " " Oh ! let
me alone," the man answered, "for I have been here a
long time drawing water to fill this pail and I cannot fill
it." "What are you drawing the water in?" he asked
him. " In this sieve," he said. " What are you thinking
STORIES AND JESTS. 28 1
about, to draw water in that sieve ? Just wait ! " He went
to a house near by, and borrowed a bucket, with which
he returned to the well and filled the pail. " Thank you,
good man, God knows how long I should have had to
remain here ! " " Here is one who is a greater fool than
my wife."
He continued his journey and after a time he saw at a
distance a man in his shirt who was jumping down from a
tree. He drew near, and saw a woman under the same
tree holding a pair of breeches. He asked them what they
were doing, and they said that they had been there a long
time, and that the man was trying on those breeches and
did not know how to get into them. " I have jumped, and
jumped," said the man, "until I am tired out and I cannot
imagine how to get into those breeches." "Oh ! " said the
traveller, " you might stay here as long as you wished, for
you would never get into them in this way. Come down
and lean against the tree." Then he took his legs and put
them in the breeches, and after he had put them on, he
said : " Is that right ? " " Very good, bless you ; for if it
had not been for you, God knows how long I should have
had to jump." Then the traveller said to himself : " I have
seen two greater fools than my wife."
Then he went his way and as he approached a city he
heard a great noise. When he drew near he asked what it
was, and was told it was a marriage, and that it was the
custom in that city for the brides to enter the city gate on
horseback, and that there was a great discussion on this
occasion between the groom and the owner of the horse,
for the bride was tall and the horse high, and they could
not get through the gate ; so that they must either cut off
the bride's head or the horse's legs. The groom did not
wish his bride's head cut off, and the owner of the horse
did not wish his horse's legs cut off, and hence this disturb-
ance. Then the traveller said : " Just wait," and came up
to the bride and gave her a slap that made her lower her
head, and then he gave the horse a kick, and so they passed
through the gate and entered the city. The groom and the
282 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
owner of the horse asked the traveller what he wanted, for
he had saved the groom his bride, and the owner of the
horse his horse. He answered that he did not wish any-
thing and said to himself : " Two and one make three ! that
is enough ; now I will go home." He did so and said to his
wife : " Here I am, my wife ; I have seen three greater fools
then you ; now let us remain in peace and think about
nothing else." They renewed the wedding and always re-
mained in peace. After a time the wife had a son whom
they named Bastianelo, and Bastianelo did not die, but still
lives with his father and mother.2
There is a Sicilian version of this story (Pitre, No. 148)
called, "The Peasant of Larcara," in which the bride's
mother imagines that her daughter has a son who falls into
the cistern. The groom (they are not yet married) is dis-
gusted and sets out on his travels with no fixed purpose of
returning if he finds some fools greater than his mother-in-
law, as in the Venetian tale. The first fool he meets is a
mother, whose child, in playing the game called nocciole*
tries to get his hand out of the hole while his fist is full of
stones. He cannot, of course, and the mother thinks they
will have to cut off his hand. The traveller tells the child
to drop the stones, and then he draws out his hand easily
enough. Next he finds a bride who cannot enter the
church because she is very tall and wears a high comb.
The difficulty is settled as in the former story.
After a while he comes to a woman who is spinning and
drops her spindle. She calls out to the pig, whose name is
Tony, to pick it up for her. The pig does nothing but
grunt, and the woman in anger cries: "Well, you won't
pick it up ? May your mother die ! "
The traveller, who had overheard all this, takes a piece of
paper, which he folds up like a letter, and then knocks at
the door. " Who is there ? " " Open the door, for I have
a letter for you from Tony's mother, who is ill and wishes
* A game played with peach-pits, which are thrown into holes made in the
ground and to which certain numbers are attached.
STORIES AND JESTS. 283
to see her son before she dies." The woman wonders that
her imprecation has taken effect so soon, and readily con-
sents to Tony's visit. Not only this, but she loads a mule
with everything necessary for the comfort of the body and
soul of the dying pig.
The traveller leads away the mule with Tony, and returns
home so pleased with having found that the outside world
contains so many fools that he marries as he had first in-
tended.
The credulity of the woman in the last version, in allow-
ing Tony to visit his sick mother, finds a parallel in a Nea-
politan story (Imbriani, Pomiglianesi, p. 226) called :
XCIV. CHRISTMAS.
Once upon a time there was a husband who had a wife
who was a little foolish. One day he said to her : " Come,
put the house in order, for Christmas is coming." As soon
as he left the house his wife went out on the balcony and
asked every one who passed if his name was Christmas.
All said No ; but finally, one — to see why she asked — said
Yes. Then she made him come in, and gave him every-
thing that she had (in order to clean out the house). When
her husband returned he asked her what she had done with
things. She responded that she had given them to Christ-
mas, as he had ordered. Her husband was so enraged at
what he heard that he seized her and gave her a good beat-
ing.
Another time she asked her husband when he was going
to kill the pig. He answered : " At Christmas." The wife
did as before, and when she spied the man called Christmas
she called him and gave him the pig, which she had adorned
with her earrings and necklace, saying that her husband
had so commanded her. When her husband returned and
learned what she had done, he gave her a sound thrashing ;
and from that time he learned to say nothing more to his
wife.3
284 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
In the Sicilian version, Pitre, No. 186, "Long May,"*
the wife, who is very anxious to make more room in her
house by getting rid of the grain stored in it, asks her hus-
band when they shall clean out the house. He answers :
"When Long May comes." The wife asks the passers-by if
they are Long May; and at last a swindler says he is, and
receives as a gift all the grain. The swindler was a pot-
ter, and the woman told him that he ought to give her a
load of pots. He did so, and the wife knocked a hole in
the bottom of each, and strung them on a rope stretched
across the room. It is needless to say that when the hus-
band returned the wife received a beating " that left her
more dead than alive."
Another story about foolish people is the following Vene-
tian tale (Bernoni, Fiabe, xiii.), entitled :
XCV. THE WAGER.
There was once a husband and a wife. The former said
one day to the latter : " Let us have some fritters." She
replied : "What shall we do for a frying-pan?" "Go and
borrow one from my godmother." "You go and get it;
it is only a little way off." " Go yourself ; I will take it
back when we are done with it." So she went and bor-
rowed the pan, and when she returned said to her husband :
"Here is the pan, but you must carry it back." So they
cooked the fritters, and after they had eaten, the husband
said : " Now let us go to work, both of us, and the one who
speaks first shall carry back the pan." Then she began to
spin and he to draw his thread, — for he was a shoemaker,
— and all the time keeping silence, except that when he
drew his thread he said: " Leulerb, leulerb ;" and she, spin-
ning, answered: " Picici, picici, picicib." And they said
not another word.
Now there happened to pass that way a soldier with a
horse, and he asked a woman if there was any shoemaker in
* There is a Sicilian phrase : " Long as the month of May," to indicate
what is very long.
STORIES AND JESTS. 285
that street. She said that there was one near by, and took
him to the house. The soldier asked the shoemaker to
come and cut his horse a girth, and he would pay him. The
latter made no answer but : " Leulerb, leulerb" and his wife •
" Picici, picici, picicib." Then the soldier said : " Come and
cut my horse a girth, or I will cut your head off ! " The
shoemaker only answered: "Leulerb, leulerb" and his
wife: " Picici, picicl, picicib." Then the soldier began to
grow angry, and seized his sword and said to the shoe-
maker : " Either come and cut my horse a girth, or I will
cut your head off ! "
But to no purpose. The shoemaker did not wish to be
the first one to speak, and only replied : " Leulerb, leulerb"
and his wife: "Picici, picici, picicib." Then the soldier
got mad in good earnest, seized the shoemaker's head, and
was going to cut it off. When his wife saw that, she cried
out: "Ah! don't, for mercy's sake!" "Good !" exclaimed
her husband, " good ! Now you go and carry the pan back
to my godmother, and I will go and cut the horse's girth."
And so he did, and won the wager.
In a Sicilian story with the same title (Pitre, No. 181),
the husband and wife fry some fish, and then set about
their respective work, — shoemaking and spinning, — and
the one who finishes first the piece of work begun is to eat
the fish. While they were singing and whistling at their
work, a friend comes along, who knocks at the door, but re-
ceives no answer. Then he enters and speaks to them, but
still no reply ; finally, in anger, he sits down at the table
and eats up all the fish himself.4
One of our most popular stories illustrating woman's ob-
stinacy is found everywhere in Italy. The following is the
Sicilian version :
XCVI. SCISSORS THEY WERE.
Once upon a time there was a husband and a wife. The
husband was a tailor ; so was the wife, and in addition was
286 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
a good housekeeper. One day the husband found some
things in the kitchen broken, — pots, glasses, plates. He
asked : " How were they broken ? " " How do I know ? "
answered the wife. " What do you mean by saying ' how
do I know ? ' Who broke them ? " " Who broke them ? I,
with the scissors," said the wife, in anger. " With the scis-
sors ? " "With the scissors!" "Are you telling the
truth ? I want to know what you broke them with. If
you don't tell me, I will beat you." "With the scissors!"
(for she had the scissors in her hand). " Scissors, do you
say ? " " Scissors they were ! " " Ah ! what do you mean ?
Wait a bit ; I will make you see whether it was you with the
scissors." So he tied a rope around her and began to lower
her into the well, saying : " Come, how did you break
them ? You see I am lowering you into the well." " It
was the scissors ! " The husband, seeing her so obstinate,
lowered her into the well ; and she, for all that, did not
hold her tongue. " How did you break them ? " said the
husband. " It was the scissors." Then her husband low-
ered her more, until she was half way down. " What did
you do it with ? " " It was the scissors." Then he lowered
her until her feet touched the water. " What did you do
it with ? " "It was the scissors !" Then he let her down
into the water to her waist. " What did you do it with ? "
" It was the scissors ! " " Take care ! " cried her husband,
enraged at seeing her so obstinate, " it will take but little
to put you under the water. You had better tell what you
did it with ; it will be better for you. How is it possible to
break pots and dishes with the scissors ! What has become
of the pieces, if they were cut?" " It was the scissors!
the scissors ! " Then he let go the rope. Splash ! his wife
is all under the water. " Are you satisfied now ? Do you
say any longer that it was with the scissors ? " The wife
could not speak any more, for she was under the water ;
but what did she do ? She stuck her hand up out of the
water, and with her fingers began to make signs as if she
were cutting with the scissors. What could the poor hus-
band do ? He said : " I am losing my wife, and then I shall
STORIES AND JESTS. 287
have to go after her. I will pull her out now, and she may
say that it was the scissors or the shears." Then he pulled
her out, and there was no way of making her tell with
what she had broken all those things in the kitchen.5
Another familiar story is :
XCVII. THE DOCTOR'S APPRENTICE.
Once upon a time there was a doctor who took his ap-
prentice with him when he made his visits. One day while
visiting a patient, the doctor said : " Why do you not listen
to my orders that you are not to eat anything ?" The in-
valid said : "Sir, I assure you that I have eaten nothing."
"That is not true," answered the doctor, " for I have found
your pulse beating like that of a person who has eaten
grapes." The patient, convicted, said : " It is true that I
have eaten some grapes ; but it was only a little bunch."
"Very well ; do not risk eating again, and don't think you
can fool me."
The poor apprentice, who was with the doctor, was
amazed to see how his master guessed from the pulse that
his patient had eaten grapes ; and as soon as they had left
the house he asked : " Master, how did you perceive that
he had eaten grapes?" "Listen," said the doctor. "A
person who visits the sick must never pass for a fool. As
soon as you enter, cast your eyes on the bed and under the
bed, too, and from the crumbs that you see you can guess
what the patient has eaten. I saw the stalk of the grapes,
and from that I inferred that he had eaten grapes."
The next day there were many patients in the town, and
the doctor, not being able to visit tbem all, sent his appren-
tice to visit a few. Among others, the apprentice went to
see the man who had eaten the grapes ; and wishing to play
the part of an expert like his master, to show that he was a
skilful physician, when he perceived that there were bits
of straw under the bed, said angrily : " Will you not under-
stand that you must not eat ? " The invalid said : " I as-
288 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
sure you that I have not even tasted a drop of water."
"Yes, sir, you have," answered the apprentice ; "you have
been eating straw, for I see the bits under the bed." The
sick man replied at once : " Do you take me for an ass like
yourself ? " And so the apprentice cut the figure of the
fool that he was.6
There are two figures in Sicilian folk-lore around whom
many jokes have gathered which are, in other parts of Italy,
told of some nameless person or attributed to the continen-
tal counterparts of the insular heroes. These two are Fir-
razzanu and Giufa. The former is the practical joker ; the
second, the typical booby found in the popular literature of
all peoples.
The following stories of Firrazzanu (unless otherwise in-
dicated) are from Pitre, No. 1 56.
XCVIII. FIRRAZZANU'S WIFE AND THE QUEEN.
Firrazzanu was the valet of a prince in Palermo, on whom
he also played his tricks ; but as Firrazzanu was known and
everybody was amused by him, the prince overlooked them.
The queen was once in Palermo, and wished to know
Firrazzanu. He went to see her, and amused her some-
what. The queen said : " Are you married, or single ? "
" Married, your Majesty." " I wish to make your wife's ac-
quaintance." " How can that be, your Majesty, for my wife
is deaf? " (Firrazzanu made this up out of his own head,
for it was not true.) " No matter ; when I speak with her
I will scream. Go, have your wife come here."
Firrazzanu went home. "Fanny, the queen wants to
know you ; but you must remember that she is a little hard
of hearing, and if you wish to speak to her, you must raise
your voice."
"Very well," said his wife, "let us go." When they ar-
rived at the palace she said to the queen, in a loud voice :
"At your Majesty's feet!" The queen said to herself:
"You see, because she is deaf, she screams as if everybody
STORIES AND JESTS. 289
else were deaf ! " Then she said to her, loudly : " Good
day, my friend ; how do you do ? " " Very well, your Maj-
esty ! " answered Firrazzanu's wife, still louder. The queen,
to make herself heard, raised her voice and screamed, also,
and Fanny, for her part, cried out louder and louder, so
that it seemed as if they were quarrelling. Firrazzanu
could contain himself no longer, and began to laugh, so
that the queen perceived the joke ; and if Firrazzanu had
not run away, perhaps she would have had him arrested,
and who knows how the matter had ended ? 7
The second story, "The Tailor who twisted his Mouth,"
has already been mentioned in Chapter III.
On one occasion (No. 7) the viceroy gave a feast, and
needed some partridges. Now the word pirnicana means
both partridge and humpback ; so Firrazzanu said he would
get the viceroy as many pirnicani as he wanted, although
they were very scarce. The viceroy said twenty would do.
Firrazzanu then collected a score of humpbacks and intro-
duced them into the viceroy's kitchen, sending word to
the viceroy that the pirnicani were ready. His excel-
lency wished to see them, and Firrazzanu led his troop to
his apartment. When they were all in, Firrazzanu said :
"Here they are." The viceroy looked around and said:
"Where ? " " Here. You wanted pirnicani, and these are
pirnicani." The viceroy laughed, gave each of the hump-
backs a present, and dismissed them.8
Another time, while the prince was at dinner, Firrazzanu
led a number of asses under his window, and made them
bray so that the poor prince was driven almost to distrac-
tion. The author of the joke, as usual, took to his heels,
and escaped.
Once a very wealthy prince, having a great number of
rents to collect, and not succeeding, thought of making
Firrazzanu collector. " Here," said he to him, " take my
authority, and collect for me, and I will give you twenty
per cent." Firrazzanu went into the places where the rents
were to be collected, and called together all the debtors.
19
29O ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
What do you suppose he did ? He made them pay his
share, that is, twenty per cent, and nothing more. " The
rest," he said, " you can pay another year to the prince ;
now you may depart."
Then he went back to the prince. " What have you done,
Firrazzanu? Have you collected all the rents?" "What
are you talking about collecting ! I had hard work to col-
lect my share." " What do you mean ? " " I collected
with difficulty the twenty per cent, that belonged to me ;
your share will be paid next year." The prince was obliged
to laugh at last, and Firrazzanu went away happy and sat-
isfied.9
Another time the prince went hunting, and ordered Fir-
razzanu, when it was convenient, to tell the princess that
he should not be home to dinner that day. Firrazzanu did
not find it convenient to deliver the message for a week,
when he said that the prince would not be home to dine
that day. On the first occasion, of course, the princess
waited for her husband in great anxiety until midnight ; on
the second she went out to pay visits, and when the prince
returned, he found his wife out, and no dinner prepared.
Firrazzanu, when scolded, excused himself by saying that
the prince told bim to deliver the message when convenient.
This recalls the story in Straparola (XIII. 6) where a
master orders his lazy servant to go to market and buy
some meat, and says to him, sarcastically: "Go and stay a
year!" which command the servant obeys to the letter.
The viceroy at last, angry at one of Firrazzanu's jokes,
banished him to the town of Murriali. When Firrazzanu
grew tired of the place, he had a cart filled with the earth
of the town, and rode into Palermo on it. The viceroy had
him arrested as soon as he saw him, but Firrazzanu pro-
tested that he had not broken the viceroy's command, for
he was still on the earth of Murriali.
The same story is told of Gonnella, the Italian counter-
part of Firrazzanu, by Sacchetti (Nov. 27), and Bandello
(IV. 18).
The prince desired once to give Firrazzanu a lesson that
STORIES AND JESTS. 29 1
would correct him of his fondness for jokes ; so he told the
commandant of the castle that he would send him one day
a servant of his with a letter, and that he, the commandant,
should carry out the orders contained in it.
A week after, the prince called Firrazzanu and said : " Go
to the commandant of the castle and ask him to give you
what this letter says."
Firrazzanu went, turning over the letter and in doubt
about the matter. Just then he met another servant and
said to him : "Carry this letter for me to the commandant
of the castle, and tell him to give you what he has to give
you. When you return, we will have a good drink of wine."
The servant went and delivered the letter to the com-
mandant, who opened it, and read : " The commandant will
give my servant, who is a rascal, a hundred lashes, and then
send him back to me." The order was carried out, and the
poor servant returned to the palace more dead than alive.
When Firrazzanu saw him, he burst out laughing, and said :
" My brother, for me and for you, better you than me."
This story is told in Gonzenbach (No. 75) as the way in
which the queen tried to punish Firrazzanu for the joke he
played on her by telling her his wife was deaf.
There are other stories told of Firrazzanu, but they do
not deserve a place here, and we can direct our attention
at once to Giufa, the typical booby, who appears in the
various provinces of Italy under different names.10
The first story told of him in Pitre s collection (No. 190)
is :
XCIX. GIUFA AND THE PLASTER STATUE.
Once upon a time there was a very poor woman who had
a son called Giufa, who was stupid, lazy, and cunning. His
mother had a piece of cloth, and said one day to Giufa :
" Take this cloth, and go and sell it in a distant town, and
take care to sell it to those who talk little." So Giufa set
out, with the cloth on his shoulder.
When he came to a town, he began to cry : " Who wants
cloth ? " The people called him, and began to talk a great
292 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
deal ; one thought it coarse, another dear. Giufa thought
they talked too much, and would not sell it to them. After
walking a long way, he entered a court-yard where he found
nothing but a plaster image. Giufa said to it : " Do you
want to buy the cloth ? " The statue said not a word, and
Giufa, seeing that it spoke little, said : " Now I must sell
you the cloth, for you speak little ; " and he took the cloth
and hung it on the statue, and went away, saying : " To-
morrow I will come for the money."
The next day he went after the money, and found the
cloth gone. " Give me the money for the cloth." The
statue said nothing. " Since you will not give me the
money, I will show you who I am ; " and he borrowed a
mattock, and struck the statue until he overthrew it, and
inside of it he found a jar of money. He put the money in
a bag, and went home to his mother, and told her that he
had sold the cloth to a person who did not speak, and gave
him no money ; that he had killed him with a mattock, and
thrown him down, and he had given him the money which
he had brought home. His mother, who was wise, said to
him : " Say nothing about it, and we will eat this money
up little by little." n
Another time his mother said to him : " Giufa, I have
this piece of cloth to be dyed ; take it and leave it with the
dyer, the one who dyes green and black." Giufa put it on
his shoulder, and went off. On his way he saw a large,
beautiful snake, and because it was green he said to it :
" My mother has sent me with this cloth which she wants
dyed. To-morrow I will come for it." And there he left it.
He went home and told his mother, who began to tear
her hair. "Ah! shameless fellow! how you ruin me!
Hasten and see whether it is there still ! " Giufa went back,
but the cloth had disappeared.12
STORIES AND JESTS. 293
C. giufa AND THE JUDGE.
One day Giufa went out to gather herbs, and it was night
before he returned. On his way back the moon rose
through the clouds, and Giufa sat down on a stone and
watched the moon appear and disappear behind the clouds,
and he exclaimed constantly : " It appears, it appears ! it
sets, it sets ! "
Now there were near the way some thieves, who were
skinning a calf which they had stolen, and when they
heard : " It appears, it sets ! " they feared that the officers
of justice were coming, so they ran away and left the meat.
When Giufa saw the thieves running away, he went to see
what it was and found the calf skinned. He took his knife
and cut off flesh enough to fill his sack and went home.
When he arrived there his mother asked him why he came
so late. He said it was because he was bringing some
meat which she was to sell the next day, and the money
was to be kept for him. The next day his mother sent
him into the country and sold the meat.
In the evening Giufa returned and asked his mother :
" Did you sell the meat ? " " Yes, I sold it to the flies on
credit." " When will they give you the money ? " " When
they get it." A week passed and the flies brought no
money, so Giufa went to the judge and said to him : " Sir,
I want justice. I sold the flies meat on credit and they have
not come to pay me." The judge said : " I pronounce this
sentence on them : wherever you see them you may kill
them." Just then a fly lighted on the judge's nose, and
Giufa dealt it such a blow that he broke the judge's head.
The anecdote of the fly in the latter part of the story is
found independently in a version from Palermo. "The flies
plagued Giufa and stung him. He went to the judge and
complained of them. The judge laughed and said : 'Wher-
ever you see a fly you can strike it.' While the judge was
speaking a fly rested on his face and Giufa dealt it such a
blow that he broke the judge's nose."
294 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
This story, which, as we shall see, has variants in differ-
ent parts of Italy, is of Oriental origin and is found in the
P antschatantra. A king asked his pet monkey to watch
over him while he slept. A bee settled on the king's head ;
the monkey could not drive it away, so he took the king's
sword and killed the bee — and the king, too. A similar
parable is put into the mouth of Buddha. A bald carpenter
was attacked by a mosquito. He called his son to drive it
away ; the son took the axe, aimed a blow at the insect, but
split his father's head in two, in killing the mosquito. In
the Anvar-i-Suhaili, the Persian translation of the Pant scha-
tantra, it is a tame bear who keeps the flies from the sleep-
ing gardener by throwing a stone at his head.13
The only popular European versions of this story, as far
as we know, are found in Italy. Besides those from Sicily,
there are versions from Florence, Leghorn, and Venice.
The first is called :
CI. THE LITTLE OMELET.
Once upon a time there was a little woman who had a
little room and a little hen. The hen laid an egg and the
little woman took it and made a little omelet of it, and put
it to cool in the window. Along came a fly and ate it up.
Imagine what an omelet that must have been ! The little
woman went to the magistrate and told him her story. He
gave her a club and told her to kill the fly with it wherever
she saw it. At that moment a fly lighted on the magis-
trate's nose, and the woman, believing it to be the same
fly, gave it a blow and broke the magistrate's nose.
The versions from Leghorn and Venice are in almost
the same words.14
The literary versions are quite abundant, four or five be-
ing found in Italy, and a number in France, the best known
of which is La Fontaine's fable of " The Bear and the
Amateur Gardener," Book VIII. io.15
One morning, before Giufa was up, he heard a whistle
STORIES AND JESTS. 295
and asked his mother who was passing. She answered
that it was the morning-singer. One day Giufa, tired of the
noise, went out and killed the man who was blowing the
whistle, and came back and told his mother that he had
killed the morning - singer. His mother went out and
brought the body into the house and threw it into the well,
which happened to be dry. Then she remembered that she
had a lamb, which she killed and also threw in the well.
Meanwhile the family of the murdered man had learned
of the murder and had gone to the judge, with their com-
plaint, and all together went to Giufa's house to investigate
the matter. The judge said to Giufa : " Where did you
put the body ? " Giufa, who was silly, replied : " I threw
it in the well." Then they tied Giufa to a rope and lowered
him into the well. When he reached the bottom he began
to feel around and touched wool, and cried out to the son
of the murdered man : " Did your father have wool ? "
" My father did not have wool." " This one has wool ; he
is not your father." Then he touched the tail : " Did your
father have a tail?" "My father did not have a tail."
" Then it 's not your father." Then he felt four feet and
asked : " How many feet did your father have ? " " My
father had two feet." Giufa said : " This one has four feet ;
he is not your father." Then he felt the head and said :
" Did your father have horns ? " " My father did not have
horns." Giufa replied: "This one has horns; he is not
your father." Then the judge said : " Giufa, bring him up
either with the horns or with the wool." So they drew up
Giufa with the lamb on his shoulder, and when the judge
saw that it was a real lamb, they set Giufa at liberty.
In a variant of the above story Giufa's mother, to get rid
of him, one day tells him to take his gun and go off and
shoot a cardinal-bird. Giufa asks what a cardinal is, and his
mother tells him that it is one that has a red head. Giufa,
of course, shoots a cardinal and carries him home. The
remainder of the story is as above. In another variant
Giufa's mother has a cock which she cooks one day, and
Giufa, who had never eaten anything of the kind before,
296 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
likes it greatly and asks what it is. His mother tells him
it is the night-singer. One evening Giufa saw a poor man
singing behind a door, and thinking he was a night-singer,
killed him and carried him home. The rest of the story is
like the first version.16
Giufa is not without an occasional gleam of wit, as is
shown in the following story (Pitre No. 190, § 8), entitled :
CII. EAT, MY CLOTHES !
As Giufa was half a simpleton no one showed him any
kindness, such as to invite him to his house or give him
anything to eat. Once Giufa. went to a farm - house for
something, and the farmers, when they saw him looking so
ragged and poor, came near setting the dogs on him, and
made him leave in a hurry. When his mother heard it she
procured for him a fine coat, a pair of breeches, and a velvet
vest. Giufa dressed up like an overseer, went to the same
farm-house, and then you should see what great ceremonies
they made ! they invited him to dine with them. While at
the table all were very attentive to him. Giufa, on the one
hand, filled his stomach, and on the other, put into his
pockets, coat, and hat whatever was left over, saying : " Eat,
my clothes, for you were invited ! "
It is interesting to note that this story is told of no less
a person than Dante, about whom cluster more popular
traditions than many are aware of. It is the subject of one
of Sercambi's novels, and will be found with many other
interesting traditions of the great poet in Papanti's Dante
secondo la Tradizione e i Novellatori, Leghorn, 1873.17
Giufa was not a very safe person to leave alone in the
house. Once his mother went to church and told him to
make some porridge for his little sister. Giufa made a great
kettle of boiling porridge and fed it to the poor child and
burned her mouth so that she died. On another occasion
his mother, on leaving home, told him to feed the hen that
was sitting and put her back on the nest, so that the eggs
STORIES AND JESTS. 297
should not get cold. Giufa stuffed the hen with the food
until he killed her, and then sat on the eggs himself until
his mother returned.18
Giufa s mother went to mass once and said to him : " Pull
the door to ! " When his mother had gone out Giufa took
hold of the door and began to pull it, and pulled and pulled
until it came off. Giufa put it on his back and carried it to
the church, and threw it down before his mother, saying :
"There is the door ! " 19
A number of other stories about Giufa are found in Gon-
zenbach (No. 27) which we give here for completeness.
CIII. GIUFA'S EXPLOITS.
After Giufa had scalded his little sister to death, his
mother drove him from the house, and he entered the ser-
vice of a priest. " What wages do you want ? " asked the
priest. " One egg a day, and as much bread as I can eat
with it ; and you must keep me in your service until the
screech-owl cries in the ivy." The priest was satisfied and
thought he could not find such a cheap servant again. The
next morning Giufa received his egg and a loaf of bread.
He opened the egg and ate it with a pin, and every time he
licked off the pin he ate a great piece of bread. " Bring me
a little more bread," he cried ; " this is not enough ;" and
the priest had to get him a large basket of bread.
So it was every morning. " Alas for me ! " cried the priest ;
" in a few weeks he will reduce me to beggary." It was
winter then and would be several months until the screech-
owl cried in the ivy. In despair the priest said to his
mother : " This evening you must hide in the ivy and
scream like an owl." The old woman did as she was told
and began to cry : " Miu, miu ! " " Do you hear, Giufa ? "
said the priest, " the screech-owl is crying in the ivy ; we
must part." So Giufa took his bundle and was going to
return to his mother.
As he was going by the place where the priest's mother
was still crying "Miu, miu," he exclaimed : " O you cursed
298 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
screech - owl suffer punishment and sorrow ! " and threw
stones into the ivy and killed the old woman.
Giufa's mother would not allow him to remain at home,
and made him take service as a swineherd with a farmer,
who sent him into the woods to keep the swine until they
were fat and then drive them back. So Giufa lived several
months in the woods until the swine were fat. As he was
driving them home he met a butcher and said to him :
"Would you like to buy these swine ? I will sell them to
you at half price if you will give me back the ears and
tails." The butcher bought the whole herd, and paid Giufa
the money, together with the ears and tails.
Giufa then went to a bog near by and planted two ears
close together and three spans off a tail, and so with all of
them. Then he ran in great trouble to the farmer and
cried : " Sir, imagine what a great misfortune has happened
to me. I had fattened your swine beautifully and was driv-
ing them home when they fell into a bog and are all swal-
lowed up in it. The ears and tails only are still sticking
out." The farmer hastened with all his people to the bog,
where the ears and tails still stuck out. They tried to pull
the swine out, but whenever they seized an ear or a tail it
came right off and Giufa exclaimed : "You see how fat the
swine were : they have disappeared in the marsh from pure
fatness." The farmer was obliged to return home without
his swine, while Giufa took the money home to his mother
and remained a time with her.
One day his mother said to him : " Giufa, we have noth-
ing to eat to-day ; what shall we do ? " " Leave it to me,"
said he, and went to a butcher. " Gossip, give me half a
rotulu of meat ; I will give you the money to-morrow." The
butcher gave him the meat and he went in the same way to
the baker, the oil-merchant, the wine-dealer, and the cheese-
merchant and took home to his mother the meat, macaroni,
bread, oil, wine, and cheese which he had bought on credit,
and they ate together merrily.
The next day Giufa pretended he was dead and his
mother wept and lamented. " My son is dead, my son is
STORIES AND yESTS. 299
dead ! " He was put in an open coffin and carried to the
church and the priests sang the mass for the dead over
him. When, however, every one in the city heard that
Giufa was dead, the butcher, the baker, the oil-merchant,
and the wine-dealer said : " What we gave him yesterday is
as good as lost. Who will pay us for it now ? " The cheese-
dealer, however, thought : " Giufa, it is true, owes me only
four grant* but I will not give them to him. I will go
and take his cap from him." So he crept into the church,
but there was still a priest there praying over Giufa's coffin.
" As long as the priest is there, it is not fitting for me to
take his cap," thought the cheese-merchant, and hid him-
self behind the altar. When it was night the last priest de-
parted and the cheese-merchant was on the point of com-
ing out from his hiding-place when a band of thieves rushed
into the church. They had stolen a large bag of money
and were going to divide it in the dark church. They
quarrelled over the division and began to cry out and make
a noise. Thereupon Giufa sat up in his coffin and ex-
claimed : " Out with you ! " The thieves were greatly
frightened when the dead man rose up, and believed he was
calling to the other dead, so they ran out in terror, leaving
the sack behind. As Giufa was picking up the sack, the
cheese-merchant sprang from his hiding-place and claimed
his share of the money. Giufa, however, kept crying : "Your
share is four grani!' The thieves outside thought he was
dividing the money among the dead and said to each other :
" How many he must have called if they receive but four
grani apiece ! " and ran away as fast as they could run.
Giufa took the money home to his mother, after he had
given the cheese-merchant a little to say nothing about
what had happened.
Giufa's mother once bought a large stock of flax and said
to her son : " Giufa, you can surely spin a little so as to be
doing something." Giufa took a skein from time to time,
and instead of spinning it put it in the fire and burned it.
Then his mother became angry and beat him. What did
Giufa do then ? He took a bundle of twigs and wound it
* About a cent and a half.
300 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
with flax like a distaff ; then he took a broom for a spindle and
sat himself on the roof and began to spin. While he was
sitting there three fairies came by and said : " Just see how
nicely Giufa is sitting there and spinning. Shall we not
give him something ? " The first fairy said : " I will enable
him to spin as much flax in a night as he touches." The
second said : " I will enable him to weave in a night as
much yarn as he has spun." The third said : " I will ena-
ble him to bleach all the linen he has woven in one night."
Giufa heard this and at night when his mother had gone
to bed, he got behind her stock of flax, and as often as he
touched a skein it was at once spun. When the flax was
all gone he began to weave, and as soon as he touched the
loom the linen began to roll from it. Finally he spread
the linen out and had scarcely wet it a little when it was
bleached. The next morning Giufa showed his mother the
fine pieces of linen, and she sold them and earned much
money. Giufa continued this for several nights ; finally he
grew tired and wanted to go out to service again.
He found a place with a smith, whose bellows he was to
blow. He blew them so hard, however, that he put the fire
out. The smith said : " Leave off blowing and hammer the
iron on the anvil." But Giufa pounded on the anvil so
hard that the iron flew into a thousand pieces. Then the
smith became angry, but he could not send him away, for
he had agreed to keep him a year. So he went to a poor
man and said : " I will make you a handsome present if
you will tell Giufa that you are Death, and that you have
come to take him away." The poor man met Giufa one
day, and said what the smith had told him. Giufa was not
slow. " What, are you Death ? " cried he, seized the poor
man, put him in his sack, and carried him to the smithy.
There he laid him on the anvil and began to hammer away
on him. " How many years shall I yet live ? " he asked,
while he was hammering. " Twenty years," cried the man
in the sack. " That is not near enough." " Thirty years,
forty years, as long as you will," screamed the man ; but
Giufa kept on hammering until the poor man was dead.
STORIES AND JESTS. 301
The bishop once announced to the whole town that every
goldsmith should make him a crucifix, and he would pay
four hundred ounces for the most beautiful one. Whoever
brought a crucifix that did not please him must lose his
head. So a goldsmith came and brought him a handsome
crucifix, but the bishop said it did not please him and had
the poor man's head cut off, but kept the crucifix. The
next day a second goldsmith came, who brought a still hand-
somer crucifix, but it went no better with him than with the
first. This lasted for some time and many a poor man lost
his head. When Giufa heard of this he went to a gold-
smith and said : " Master, you must make me a crucifix
with a very thick body, but otherwise as fine as you can
make it." When the crucifix was done Giufa took it on his
arm and carried it to the bishop. Scarcely had the bishop
seen it when he cried out : " What are you thinking of, to
bring me such a monster ? Wait, you shall pay me for it ! "
"Ah, worthy sir," said Giufa, "just hear me and learn what
has happened to me. This crucifix was a model of beauty
when I started with it ; on the way it began to swell with
anger and the nearer your house I came the more it swelled,
most of all when I was mounting your stairs. The Lord is
angry with you on account of the innocent blood that you
have shed, and if you do not at once give me the four hun-
dred ounces and an annuity to each of the goldsmiths' wid-
ows, you, too, will swell in the same way, and God's wrath
will visit you." The bishop was frightened and gave him the
four hundred ounces, and bade him send all the widows to
him so that he could give each of them a yearly pension.
Giufa took the money and went to each widow and said:
" What will you give me if I will procure you an annuity
from the bishop ? " Each gave him a handsome sum and
Giufa took home to his mother a great heap of money.
One day Giufa' s mother sent him to another town, where
there was a fair. On the way some children met him, who
asked: "Where are you going, Giufa?" "To the fair."
"Will you bring me back a whistle?" "Yes!" "And me,
too ? " " Yes ! " " Me, too ? " " Me, too ? " asked one after
302 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the other, and Giufa said " Yes " to all. At last there was a
child who said : " Giufa, bring me a whistle, too. Here is a
penny." When Giufa came back from the fair, he brought
one whistle only and gave it to the last boy. " Giufa,
you promised each of us one," cried the other children.
" You did not give me a penny to buy it with," answered
Giufa.20
The counterpart of Giufa is found in a Venetian story
(Bernoni, Fiabe, No. n) entitled "The Fool," which is, in
substance, as follows :
CIV. THE FOOL.
Once upon a time there was a mother who had a son
with little brains. One morning she said : " We must get
up early, for we have to make bread." So they both rose
early and began to make bread. The mother made the
loaves, but took no pains to make them the same size.
Her son said to her finally : " How small you have made
this loaf, mother ! " " Oh ! " said she, " it does not matter
whether they are big or little ; for the proverb says : ' Large
and small, all must go to mass.' " " Good, good ! "
When the bread was made, instead of carrying it to the
baker's, the son took it to the church, for it was the hour for
mass, saying : " My mother said that, ' Large and small, all
must go to mass.'" So he threw the loaves down in the
middle of the church. Then he went home to his mother
and said : " I have done what you told me to do." " Good !
did you take the bread to the baker's ? " " Oh ! mother, if
you had seen how they all looked at me ! " " You might
also have cast an eye on them in return," said his mother.
" Wait, wait, I will cast an eye at them, too," he exclaimed,
and went to the stable and cut out the eyes of all the an-
imals, and putting them in a handkerchief, went to the
church and when any man or woman looked at him he
threw an eye at them.
When his mother learned what he had done she took to
STORIES AND JESTS. 303
her bed and sent her son for a physician. When the doc-
tor came he felt her pulse and said : " Oh ! how weak this
poor woman is ! " Then he told the son that he must take
good care of his mother and make her some very thin broth
and give her a bowlful every minute. The son promised
to obey him and went to the market and bought a sparrow
and put on the fire a pail of water. When it boiled he put in
the sparrow and waited until it boiled up two or three times,
and then took a bowl of the broth to his mother, and re-
peated the dose as fast as he could.
The next day the physician found the poor woman
weaker than ever, and told her son he must put something
heavy on her so as to throw her into a perspiration. When
the doctor had gone the son piled all the heavy furniture in
the room on her, and when she could no longer breathe he
ran for the doctor again. This time the doctor saw that
nothing was to be done, and advised her son to have her
confess and prepare for death. So her son dressed her and
carried her to church and sat her in the confessional and
told the priest that some one was waiting for him and then
went home. The priest soon saw that the woman was dead
and went to find her son. When the son heard that his
mother was dead, he declared that the priest had killed her,
and began to beat him.21
There are many stories in Italy which turn on the tricks
played by a sharper on his credulous friends ; a good spec-
imen of the class is the following from Sicily (Pitre, No.
157):
CV. UNCLE CAPRIANO.
There was once a husband and wife who had a daughter.
The man's name was Uncle Capriano and he owned near
the town a piece of property, where he always worked.
One day thirteen robbers happened to pass that way, saw
Uncle Capriano, dismounted, and began to talk with him,
and soon formed a friendship for him. After this they fre-
quently went to divert themselves with him. When they
304 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
arrived they always saluted him with : " Good day, Uncle
Capriano," and he answered : " Your servant, gentlemen ;
what are your worships doing ? " " We have come to
amuse ourselves. Go, Uncle Capriano, go and lunch, for we
will do the work meanwhile." So he went and ate and
they did his work for him. Finally, what do you suppose
Uncle Capriano tried to do ? He sought to invent some
way to get money from the robbers. When he went home
he said to his wife : "lam on friendly terms with the rob-
bers and I would like to see whether I can get a little
money out of them, and I have invented this story to tell
them : that we have a rabbit, which I send home alone
every evening with fire-wood and things for soup, which my
wife cooks." Then he said to his daughter : " When I come
with the thieves, you bathe the rabbit in water and come
out of the door to meet me and say : ' Is that the way to load
the poor little rabbit so that it comes home tired to death ? ' '
When the thieves heard that he had a rabbit that carried
things, they wanted it, saying : " If we had it we could send
it to carry money, food, and other things to our houses."
Uncle Capriano said to them one day : " I should like to
have you come to my house to-day." There were thirteen
of the thieves ; one said Yes, another said No. The captain
said : " Let us go and see the rabbit." When they arrived
at the house the daughter came to the door and said : " Is
that the way to load the poor little rabbit so that it comes
home tired to death ? " When they entered the house all
felt of the rabbit and exclaimed : " Poor little animal ! poor
little animal ! it is all covered with sweat." When the
thieves saw this they looked at each other and said : " Shall
we ask him to give us this little rabbit ? " Then they said :
" Uncle Capriano, you must give us the rabbit without any
words, and we will pay you whatever you ask." He an-
swered : " Ask me for anything except this rabbit, for if I
give you that I shall be ruined." They replied : " You
must give it to us without further words, whether you are
ruined or not." Finally Uncle Capriano let them have the
rabbit for two hundred ounces, and they gave him twenty
STORIES AND JESTS. 305
besides to buy himself a present with. After the thieves
had got possession of the rabbit, they went to a house in
the country to try it. They each took a bag of money and
said : " Let us send a bag to each of our houses." The
captain said : " First, carry a bag to mine." So they took
the rabbit to load it, and after they had put the bags on it,
the rabbit could not move and one of the thieves struck it
on the haunch with a switch. Then the rabbit ran away
instantly. The thieves went in great anger to Uncle Ca-
priano and said : " Did you have the boldness to play such
a trick on us, to sell us a rabbit that could not stir when
we put a few bags of money on it ? " " But, gentlemen,"
said the old man, " did you beat it ? " " Of course," an-
swered one of the thieves, " my companion struck it with a
switch on the haunch." The old man asked : " But where
did you strike it, on the right or on the left haunch ? "
" On the left." " That is why the rabbit ran away," said
the old man. "You should have hit it on the right. If you
did not observe these conditions, what fault is it of mine ? "
" This is true," said the thieves, " Uncle Capriano is right;
so go and eat and we will attend to the work." And so
their friendship was not broken this time.
After a time Uncle Capriano said to his wife : " We must
get some more money from the thieves." "In what way ? "
" To-morrow you must buy a new pot, and then you must
cook in an old pot somewhere in the house, and at Ave
Maria, just before I come home, you must empty the old
pot into the new one, and put it on the hearth without any
fire. To-morrow I will tell the thieves that I have a pot
that cooks without any fire."
The next evening Uncle Capriano persuaded the thieves
to go home with him. When they saw the pot they looked
at one another and said : " We must ask him to give it to
us." After some hesitation, he sold it to them for four
hundred ounces, and twenty over as before.
When the thieves arrived at their house in the country,
they killed a fine kid, put it into the pot, and set it on the
hearth, without any fire, and went away. • In the evening
305 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
they all ran and tried to see who would arrive first, and find
the meat cooked. The one who arrived first took out a
piece of meat, and saw that it was as they had left it. Then
he gave the pot a kick, and broke it in two. When the
others came and found the meat not cooked, they started
for Uncle Capriano's, and complained to him that he had
sold them a pot that cooked everything, and that they had
put meat into it, and found it raw. " Did you break the
pot?" asked Uncle Capriano. "Of course we broke it."
" What kind of a hearth did you have, high or low ? " One
of the thieves answered: " Rather high." "That was why
the pot did not cook ; it should have been low. You did not
observe the conditions and broke the pot ; what fault is that
of mine ? " The thieves said : " Uncle Capriano is right ;
go, Uncle Capriano, and eat, for we will do your work."
Some time after, Uncle Capriano said again to his wife :
" We must get some more money out of them." " But how
can we manage it ? " " You know that we have a whistle
in the chest ; have it put in order, and to-morrow go to the
butcher's, and get a bladder of blood, and fix it about your
neck, and put on your mantilla ; and when I return home,
let me find you sitting down and angry, and the candle not
lighted. I will bring my friends with me, and when I find
the candle not lighted, I will begin to cry out, and you will
not utter a word ; then I will take my knife and cut your
throat. You will fall down on the floor ; the blood will
run out of the bladder, and the thieves will believe that you
are dead. You " (turning to his daughter) — " what I say I
mean, when I tell you : ' Get the whistle ' — get it and give
it to me. When I blow it three times, you " (speaking to
his wife) " will get up from the floor. When the thieves
see this operation they will want the whistle, and we will
get another six hundred ounces from them."
[Everything took place as Uncle Capriano had arranged ;
the thieves paid him six hundred ounces, and twenty over
as usual, and then went home and killed their wives, to try
the whistle on them. The rage of the thieves can be imag-
ined when they found they had been deceived again. In
STORIES AND JESTS. 307
order to avenge themselves, they took a sack and went to
Uncle Capriano, and without any words seized him, put him
in it, and taking him on a horse, rode away. They came
after a time to a country-house, where they stopped to eat,
leaving Uncle Capriano outside in the bag.]
Uncle Capriano, who was in the bag, began to cry :
" They want to give me the king's daughter, and I don't
want her ! " There happened to be near by a herdsman,
who heard what he was saying about the king's daughter,
and he said to himself : " I will go and take her myself."
So he went to Uncle Capriano and said : " What is the
matter with you?" "They want to give me the king's
daughter, and I don't want her, because I am married."
The herdsman said : " I will take her, for I am single ; but
how can we arrange it ? " Uncle Capriano answered :
"Take me out, and get into the bag yourself." "That is
a good idea," said the herdsman ; so he set Uncle Capriano
at liberty, and got into the bag himself. Uncle Capriano
tied him fast, took his crook, and went to tend the sheep.
The herdsman soon began to cry : " They want to give me
the king's daughter. I will take her, I will take her ! " In
a little while the thieves came and put the bag on a horse,
and rode away to the sea, the herdsman crying out all the
time : " They want to give me the king's daughter. I will
take her, I will take her ! " When they came to the sea,
they threw the bag in, and returned home. On their way
back, they happened to look up on the mountain, and ex-
claimed : " See there ! is that not Uncle Capriano ? "
"Yes, it is." " How can that be; did we not throw him
into the sea, and is he there now ? " Then they went to
him and said : " How is this, Uncle Capriano, did n't we
throw you in the sea ? " " Oh ! you threw me in near the
shore, and I found these sheep and oxen ; if you had thrown
me in farther out, I would have found many more." Then
they asked Uncle Capriano to throw them all in, and they
went to the sea, and he began to throw them in, and each
said : " Quick, Uncle Capriano, throw me in quickly before
my comrades get them all ! " After he had thrown them
308 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
all in, Uncle Capriano took the horses and sheep and oxen,
and went home and built palaces, and became very rich,
and married his daughter, and gave a splendid banquet.22
A very interesting class of stories is found in Pitre (Nos.
246-270) illustrating proverbial sayings. The first, on the
text " The longer one lives, the more one learns," relates
that a child came to an old man and asked for some coals
to light a fire with. The old man said he would willingly
give them, but the child had nothing to carry them in.
The child, however, filled his palm with ashes, put a coal on
them, and went away. The old man gave his head a slap,
and exclaimed : " With all my years and experience, I did
not know this thing. ' The longer one lives, the more one
learns.' " And from that time these words have remained
for a proverb.
Another (No. 252) recalls one of Giufa's pranks. A
husband, to test his wife and friend, who is a bailiff, throws
a goat's head into the well, and tells the wife that he has
killed a person and cut off the head to prevent the body
from being recognized. The wife promises secrecy, but
soon tells the story to her friend, who denounces the sup-
posed murderer to the judge. The house is entered by an
arbor, from which they climb into a window, and the hus-
band is arrested and taken to the well, which a bailiff de-
scends, and finds the goat's head. The husband explains
his trick, which gave rise to the saying : " Do not confide
a secret to a woman ; do not make a bailiff your friend, and
do not rent a house with an arbor."23
Another shows how the stories of classic times survive
among the people. Nero, a wicked king, goes about in dis-
guise to hear what the people say of him. One day he
meets an old woman in the field, and when Nero's name is
mentioned, instead of cursing him as others do, she says :
" May God preserve him." She explains her words by
saying that they have had several kings, each worse than
the other, and now they have Nero, who tears every son
from his mother, wherefore may God guard and preserve
him, for " There is no end to evil." 24
STORIES AND JESTS. 309
There was once a whimsical prince who thought he could
arrange the world and animals as he pleased and overcome
Nature. He taught his horse to devour flesh and his dogs
to eat grass. He trained an ass to dance and accompany
himself by his braying : in short, the prince boasted that
by means of Art one could rule Nature. Among other
things he trained a cat to stand on the table and hold a
lighted candle while he was eating. No matter what was
brought on the table, the cat never moved, but held the
candle as if it had been a statue of wood. The prince
showed the cat to his friends and said, boastingly : " Na-
ture is nothing ; my art is more powerful and can do this
and other things." His friends often said that everything
must be true to its nature ; "Art departs and Nature pre-
vails." The prince invited them to make any trial they
wished, asserting that the cat would never forget the art he
had taught it. One of his friends caught a mouse one day
and wrapped it up in a handkerchief and carried it with
him to the prince's. When the cat heard and saw the
mouse, it dropped the candlestick and ran after the mouse.
The friend began to laugh, and said to the prince, who
stood with his mouth wide open with amazement : " Dear
prince, I always told you Art departs and Nature prevails ! "
This story is told of Dante and Cecco d' Ascoli, the for-
mer playing the role of the prince.25
To counterbalance the stories of foolish people which
have been related above, we will conclude this chapter with
some stories of clever people, stories which were popular
as long ago as the Middle Ages.
The first is from Sicily (Gonz., No. 50) and is called :
CVII. THE CLEVER PEASANT.
There was once a king who, while hunting, saw a peas-
ant working in the fields and asked him : " How much do
you earn in a day?" "Four carlini, your Majesty," an-
swered the peasant. " What do you do with them ? " con-
tinued the king. The peasant said : " The first I eat ; the
310 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
second I put out at interest ; the third I give back, and the
fourth I throw away."
The king rode on, but after a time the peasant's answer
seemed very curious to him, so he returned and asked him :
" Tell me, what do you mean by eating the first carlino, put-
ting the second out to interest, giving back the third, and
throwing away the fourth ? " The peasant answered : " With
the first I feed myself ; with the second I feed my children,
who must care for me when I am old ; with the third I feed
my father, and so repay him for what he has done for me,
and with the fourth I feed my wife, and thus throw it away,
because I have no profit from it." " Yes," said the king,
" you are right. Promise me, however, that you will not tell
any one this until you have seen my face a hundred times."
The peasant promised and the king rode home well pleased.
While sitting at table with his ministers, he said : " I
will give you a riddle : A peasant earns four carlini a day ;
the first he eats ; the second he puts out at interest ; the
third he gives back, and the fourth he throws away. What
is that ? " No one was able to answer it.
One of the ministers remembered finally that the king
had spoken the day before with the peasant, and he re-
solved to find the peasant and obtain from him the answer.
When he saw the peasant he asked him for the answer to
the riddle, but the peasant answered : " I cannot tell you,
for I have promised the king to tell no one until I have seen
his face a hundred times." "Oh!" said the minister, "I
can show you the king's face," and drew a hundred coins
from his purse and gave them to the peasant. On every
coin the king's face was to be seen of course. After the
peasant had looked at each coin once, he said : " I have now
seen the king's face a hundred times, and can tell you the
answer to the riddle," and told him it.
The minister went in great glee to the king and said :
"Your Majesty, I have found the answer to the riddle ; it
is so and so." The king exclaimed : " You can have heard
it only from the peasant himself," had the peasant sum-
moned, and took him to task. " Did you not promise me
STORIES AND JESTS. 311
not to tell it until you had seen my face a hundred times ? "
"But, your Majesty," answered the peasant, " your minister
showed me your picture a hundred times." Then he showed
him the bag of money that the minister had given him.
The king was so pleased with the clever peasant that he
rewarded him, and made him a rich man for the rest of his
life.26
CVIII. THE CLEVER GIRL.
Once upon a time there was a huntsman who had a wife
and two children, a son and a daughter; and all lived to-
gether in a wood where no one ever came, and so they knew
nothing about the world. The father alone sometimes went
to the city and brought back the news. The king's son
once went hunting and lost himself in that wood, and while
be was seeking his way it became night. He was weary
and hungry. Imagine how he felt ! But all at once he saw
a light shining at a distance. He followed it and reached
the huntsman's house and asked for lodging and something
to eat. The huntsman recognized him at once and said :
" Highness, we have already supped on our best. But if
we can find anything for you, you must be satisfied with it.
What can we do ? We are so far from the towns, that we
cannot procure what we need every day." Meanwhile he
had a capon cooked for him. The prince did not wish to
eat it alone, but called all the huntsman's family, and gave
the head of the capon to the father, the back to the mother,
the legs to the son, and the wings to the daughter, and ate
the rest himself. In the house there were only two beds,
in the same room. In one the husband and wife slept, in
the other the brother and sister. The old people went and
slept in the stable, giving up their bed to the prince. When
the girl saw that the prince was asleep, she said to her
brother : " I will wager that you do not know why the
prince divided the capon among us in the manner he did."
" Do you know ? Tell me why." " He gave the head to
papa because he is the head of the family, the back to
mamma because she has on her shoulders all the affairs of
312 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
the house, the legs to you because you must be quick in
performing the errands which are given you, and the wings
to me to fly away and catch a husband." The prince pre-
tended to be asleep ; but he was awake and heard these
words, and perceived that the girl had much judgment ; and
as she was also pretty, he fell in love with her.
The next morning he left the huntsman's ; and as soon as
he reached the court, he sent him, by a servant, a purse of
money. To the young girl he sent a cake in the form of a
full moon, thirty patties, and a cooked capon, with three
questions : " Whether it was the thirtieth of the month in
the wood, whether the moon was full, and whether the
capon crowed in the night." The servant, although a
trusty one, was overcome by his gluttony and ate fifteen of
the patties, and a good slice of the cake, and the capon.
The young girl, who had understood it all, sent back word
to the prince that the moon was not full but on the wane ;
that it was only the fifteenth of the month and that the
capon had gone to the mill ; and that she asked him to
spare the pheasant for the sake of the partridge. The
prince, too, understood the metaphor, and having summoned
the servant, he cried : " Rogue ! you have eaten the capon,
fifteen patties, and a good slice of the cake. Thank that
girl who has interceded for you; if she had not, I would
have hung you."
A few months after this, the huntsman found a gold mor-
tar, and wished to present it to the prince. But his daughter
said : " You will be laughed at for this present. You will
see that the prince will say to you : ' The mortar is fine
and good, but, peasant, where is the pestle ? ' ' The father
did not listen to his daughter; but when he carried the
mortar to the prince, he was greeted as his daughter had
foretold. " My daughter told me so," said the huntsman.
" Ah ! if I had only listened to her ! " The prince heard
these words and said to him : " Your daughter, who pre-
tends to be so wise, must make me a hundred ells of cloth
out of four ounces of flax ; if she does not I will hang you
and her." The poor father returned home weeping, and
STORIES AND JESTS. 313
sure that he and his daughter must die, for who could make
a hundred ells of cloth with four ounces of flax. His
daughter came out to meet him, and when she learned why
he was weeping, said : " Is that all you are weeping for ?
Quick, get me the flax and I will manage it." She made
four small cords of the flax and said to her father : " Take
these cords and tell him that when he makes me a loom
out of these cords I will weave the hundred ells of cloth."
When the prince heard this answer he did not know what
to say, and thought no more about condemning the father
or the daughter.
The next day he went to the wood to visit the girl. Her
mother was dead, and her father was out in the fields dig-
ging. The prince knocked, but no one opened. He knocked
louder, but the same thing. The young girl was deaf to
him. Finally, tired of waiting, he broke open the door and
entered : " Rude girl ! who taught you not to open to one
of my rank ? Where are your father and mother ? " " Who
knew it was you ? My father is where he should be and
my mother is weeping for her sins. You must leave, for I
have something else to do than listen to you." The prince
went away in anger and complained to the father of his
daughter's rude manners, but the father excused her. The
prince, at last seeing how wise and cunning she was, mar-
ried her.
The wedding was celebrated with great splendor, but an
event happened which came near plunging the princess into
misfortune. One Sunday two peasants were passing a
church ; one of them had a hand-cart and the other was
leading a she-ass ready to foal. The bell rang for mass and
they both entered the church, one leaving his cart outside
and the other tying the ass to the cart. While they were
in the church the ass foaled, and the owner of the ass and
the owner of the cart both claimed the colt. They appealed
to the prince, and he decided that the colt belonged to the
owner of the cart, because, he said, it was more likely that
the owner of the ass would tie her to the cart in order to
lay a false claim to the colt than that the owner of the cart
314 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
would tie it to the ass. The owner of the ass had right on
his side, and all the people were in his favor, but the prince
had pronounced sentence and there was nothing to say.
The poor man then applied to the princess, who advised
him to cast a net in the square when the prince passed.
When the prince saw the net, he said : " What are you do-
ing, you fool ? Do you expect to find fish in the square ? "
The peasant, who had been advised by the princess, an-
swered : " It is easier for me to find fish in the square than
for a cart to have foals." The prince revoked the sen-
tence, but when he returned to the palace, knowing that
the princess had suggested the answer to the peasant, he
said to her : " Prepare to return to your own home within
an hour. Take with you what you like best and depart."
She was not at all saddened by the prospect, but ate a bet-
ter dinner than usual, and made the prince drink a bottle
of wine in which she had put a sleeping potion ; and when
he was as sound asleep as a log, she had him put in a car-
riage and took him with her to her house in the wood. It
was in January, and she had the roof of the house uncovered
and it snowed on the prince, who awoke and called his ser-
vants : " What do you wish ? " said the princess. " I com-
mand here. Did you not tell me to take from your house
the thing I liked best ? I have taken you, and now you are
mine." The prince laughed and they made peace.27
The next story is the Italian version of the tale familiar
to the readers of Grimm by the title of " Doctor Knowall."
There is a Sicilian version in Pitre, No. 167, in which our
story forms one of several episodes. It is found, however,
independently in the Mantuan collection from which we
take it, changing the name slightly to suit the conclusion of
the story.
CIX. CRAB.
There was once a king who had lost a valuable ring. He
looked for it everywhere, but could not find it. So he issued
a proclamation that if any astrologer could tell him where
STORIES AND JESTS. 315
it was he would be richly rewarded. A poor peasant by
the name of Crab heard of the proclamation. He could
neither read nor write, but took it into his head that he
wanted to be the astrologer to find the king's ring. So he
went and presented himself to the king, to whom he said :
"Your Majesty must know that I am an astrologer, al-
though you see me so poorly dressed. I know that you
have lost a ring and I will try by study to find out where
it is." " Very well," said the king, " and when you have
found it, what reward must I give you ? " " That is at
your discretion, your Majesty." " Go, then, study, and we
shall see what kind of an astrologer you turn out to be."
He was conducted to a room, in which he was to be shut
up to study. It contained only a bed and a table on which
were a large book and writing materials. Crab seated him-
self at the table and did nothing but turn over the leaves
of the book and scribble the paper so that the servants who
brought him his food thought him a great man. They were
the ones who had stolen the ring, and from the severe
glances that the peasant cast at them whenever they en-
tered, they began to fear that they would be found out.
They made him endless bows and never opened their
mouths without calling him " Mr. Astrologer." Crab, who,
although illiterate, was, as a peasant, cunning, all at once
imagined that the servants must know about the ring, and
this is the way his suspicions were confirmed. He had
been shut up in his room turning over his big book and
scribbling his paper for a month, when his wife came to
visit him. He said to her : " Hide yourself under the bed,
and when a servant enters, say : ' That is one ; ' when an-
other comes, say : ' That is two ; ' and so on." The woman
hid herself. The servants came with the dinner, and hardly
had the first one entered when a voice from under the bed
said: "That is one." The second one entered; the voice
said : " That is two ; " and so on. The servants were
frightened at hearing that voice, for they did not know
where it came from, and held a consultation. One of them
said : " We are discovered ; if the astrologer denounces us
316 ITALIAN POPULAR TALES.
to the king as thieves, we are lost." " Do you know what
we must do ? " said another. " Let us hear." " We must
go to the astrologer and tell him frankly that we stole the
ring, and ask him not to betray us, and present him with a
purse of money. Are you willing ? " " Perfectly."
So they went in harmony to the astrologer, and making
him a lower bow than usual, one of them began : " Mr.
Astrologer, you have discovered that we stole the ring.
We are poor people and if you reveal it to the king, we are
undone. So we beg you not to betray us, and accept this
purse of money." Crab took the purse and then added:
" I will not betray you, but you must do what I tell you, if
you wish to save your lives. Take the ring and make that
turkey in the court-yard swallow it, and leave the rest to
me." The servants were satisfied to do so and departed
with a low bow. The next day Crab went to the king and
said to him : " Your Majesty must know that after having
toiled over a month I have succeeded in discovering where
the ring has gone to." "Where is it, then?" asked the
king. " A turkey has swallowed it." " A turkey ? very well,
let us see."
They went for the turkey, opened it, and found the ring
inside. The king, amazed, presented the astrologer with
a large purse of money and invited him to a banquet.
Among the other dishes, there was brought on the table a
plate of crabs. Crabs must then have been very rare, be-
cause only the king and a few others knew their name.
Turning to the peasant the king said : " You, who are an
astrologer, must be able to tell me the name of these
things which are in this dish." The poor astrologer was
very much puzzled, and, as if speaking to himself, but in
such a way that the others heard him, he muttered : " Ah !
Crab, Crab, what a plight you are in ! " All who did not
know that his name was Crab rose and proclaimed him the
greatest astrologer in the world.28
NOTES.
NOTES.
INTRODUCTION.
1. There are some popular tales, chiefly Oriental in their origin, in
the Cente novelle antiche (see the notes to Chapter III.), and Boccaccio
and his imitators undoubtedly made use of popular material. These
popular elements, however, are almost exclusively of the class of jests.
The fairy tale, which constitutes by far the largest and most important
class of popular tales, is not found in European literature until Stra-
parola. For a few earlier traces of fairy tales in mediaeval literature,
see an article by the writer, " Two Mediaeval Folk- Tales," in the Ger-
mania, XVIII. [New Series], p. 203.
2. The little that is known of Straparola and a very complete bibli-
ography of his Piacevoli Notti will be found in an excellent monograph
entitled, Giovan Francesco Straparola da Caravaggio, Inaugural-Dis-
sertation von F. W. J. Brakelmann aus Soest, Gottingen, 1867. Stra-
parola's work, especially the unexpurgated editions, is scarce, and the
student will ordinarily be obliged to consult it in the French transla-
tion of Louveau and Larivey, of which there is an excellent edition in
the Bibliotheque Elzevirienne of P. Jannet, Paris, 1857. There is a
German translation with valuable notes of the marchen contained in
the Piacevoli Notti by F. W. Val. Schmidt, Berlin, 18 17. Schmidt used,
without knowing it, an expurgated edition, and translated eighteen in-
stead of twenty-two popular tales.
3. The reader will find all the necessary references to Straparola's
borrowed materials in Liebrecht's translation of Dunlop's History of
Fiction, pp. 283, 493 ; in Brakelmann's dissertation above cited ; in
the French version in the Bib. Elzevir, j and in Grimm, II. 477.
4. A comparison of Straparola's tales with those of Grimm, and an
analysis of those lacking in Schmidt's translation, will be found in
Grimm, II. 477-481.
5. The imitations of Straparola will be found in Dunlop-Liebrecht, p.
284. It is impossible to say with absolute certainty that Perrault bor-
rowed his " Chat Botte',} and " Peatt d'Ane'''' from Straparola. It is,
however, quite likely. Perrault's stories appeared 1694-97, and twelve
editions of the French translation of Straparola had been issued before
that date.
320 NOTES.
6. The few details of Basile's life will be found in Grimm, II. 481,
Liebrecht's translation, II. p. 316, and Taylor's translation, p. v. An
article in a recent number of the periodical named from Basile, vol. II.
p. 17, gives the conflicting testimony of a number of Italian writers as
to Basile's birth and death. The writer has discovered a mention of
Basile's burial in the church of St. Sophia at Giugliano, near Naples,
and in a record of deaths kept in the same town, an entry stating that
Basile died there on the 23d of February, 1632. The following are all the
editions of which I can find mention : Naples, 1637, 8vo, 1644, i2mo,
1645, 1674, 1694 (Graesse), 1697 (Pitre), 1714, 1722, 1728, 1747, 1749
(Liebrecht), 1788, Collezione di Ttitti i Poemi, etc.; Rome, 1679, 1797
(Pitre). Italian translations appeared at Naples in 1754, 1769, 1784,
and 1863, and in Bolognese at Bologna, 1742, 1813, 1872, and at Venice
in 18 13. The editions used in the preparation of this work will be
found in the Bibliography. In spite of the numerous editions above
cited, the Pentamerone is a very scarce work, and the scholar will usu-
ally have to content himself with Liebrecht's excellent translation.
Thirty-one of the fifty stories have been admirably translated by John
Edward Taylor, London, 1848, 1850. The Pentamerone suffered the
same fate as the Piacevoli Notti. It was not known, for instance, in
Germany, until Fernow described it in his Romische Studien, Zurich,
1808, vol. III. pp. 316, 475, although Wieland had taken the material
for his " Pervonte " from the third story of the first day.
7. The frame of the Penta?nerone is the story of the " False Bride : "
see Gonz., Nos. 11, 12; Pitre, No. 13; Imbriani, "']£ Sette Mane-
Mozzej " and Hahn, Nos. 12, 49. Grimm, II. p. 483, gives the stories
in the Pent, which have parallels among his own Kinder- und Haus-
marchen. The notes to Liebrecht's translation are to be suppplemented
by the same author's additional notes in his translation of Dunlop, p.
515.
8. This story is usually printed with Perrault's tales, but its author
was really Mile. Lhe'ritier. See the latest edition of Perrault's tales,
Les Contes de Charles Perrault, par Andre" Lefevre, Paris, Lemerre,
1875, P- xli.
9. See Dunlop-Liebrecht, p. 408 et seq.j and Grimm, II. p. 489 et
seq.
10. References to four of the five stories will be found as follows :
I., Pitre, vol. IV. pp. 372, 375; II., Pitre, ibid. p. 381 ; III., Nov. fior.
pp. 93, 112, Pitre, No. 36; V., Pitre, vol. IV. p. 391. The two editions
of Naples, 1684 and 1751, are extremely scarce and the student will be
obliged to have recourse to the edition of 1789, contained in the Colle-
zione di tutti li foeti in lingua Napoletana.
11. Pitre, vol. I. p. xliii., mentions some other names, as, riimanzi
by the inhabitants of Termini, and pugaret by the Albanian colonists.
To these may be added another Milanese appellation, panzanega.
FAIRY TALES. 32 1
12. Other endings are given by Imbriana, Pomiglianesi, p. 129 : —
Cuccurucu,
No' nee n' e cchiu.
(Cuccurucu, there is no more.)
Cuccurucu.
Ss' 'o vuo' cchiii bello, t' o dice tu.
(Cuccurucu, if you want it finer, tell it yourself.) See also Pitre, vol.
I. p. 196, note 2. The most curious introductions and endings are those
in De Nino, Usi e Costumi abruzzesi, vol. III. There is no general
formula, but each fiaba has one of its own. Some are meaningless
jingles, but others are quite extensive poems on religious subjects.
Among these may be found legends of various saints, St. Nicholas, p.
335) etc.
13. An interesting article might be written on the Italian story-tell-
ers, generally illiterate women, from whose lips the stories in the mod-
ern collections have been taken down. Some details may be found in
Pitre, vol. I. p. xvii. (repeated in Ralston's article in Eraser's Maga-
zine).
14. Any attempt at an explanation of these facts would lead into the
vexed question of the origin and diffusion of popular tales in general.
We cannot refrain, however, from calling attention to a remark by Ne-
rucci in the preface to his Nov. pop. montalesi, p. v. He thinks that
the Italian popular tale will be found to have much the same origin as
the Italian popular poetry, that is, that very much is of a literary origin
which has usually been deemed popular. This is undoubtedly true of
many stories ; but may not two versions of a given story, a popular and
a literary one, have had a source common to both ? A very interesting
study might be made of the Italian popular tales in their relation to lit-
erary versions which may be the originals.
The most valuable contributions to the question of the origin of Ital-
ian popular tales are those by Pitre in the first volume of his Fiabe, pp.
xli.-cxlv., and in the same author's Nov. pop. tosc. pp. v.-xxxviii.
CHAPTER I.
FAIRY TALES.
i. This story is a variant of Pitre, No. 17, Marvizia (the name of the
heroine who was as small as a marva, the mallow plant), in which the
introduction is wanting. The heroine falls in love with a green bird
she sees in her garden, and goes in search of it. After many adven-
tures, she restores the bird to its former human shape and marries it.
Other Italian versions of the story in the text are : Sicilian, Pitre, No.
21
322 NOTES.
281, Nttovo Saggz'o, V. ; Gonz., No. 15 ; Neapolitan, Pent. II. 9, V. 4;
Comp., No. 33 (from the Basilicata) ; Roman, Busk, p. 99 ; Tuscan,
De Gub., Sto. Stefano, No. 14; and Tyrolese, Schneller, No. 13.
An important trait in the above class is " Tasks set Wife." Besides
in the above stories, this trait is also found in those belonging to other
classes : see De Gub., Sto. Stefano, No. 2, and Nov.fior. p. 209.
Another important trait is the following: When after a long search
the wife discovers her husband, it is only to find him in the power of a
second wife, who, however, by various bribes, is induced to permit the
first wife to spend a night in her husband's chamber. She is unable
to awaken her husband, who has been drugged by the second wife.
The third night she succeeds, makes herself known to him, and they
escape. As an example of this trait, we give in full De Gub., Sto.
Stefano, No. 14, referred to above.
XX. SIR FIORANTE, MAGICIAN.
A woodman had three daughters. Every morning one after the
other, in turn, carried him his bread to the wood. The father and the
daughters noticed in a thicket a large snake, which one day asked the
old man for one of his daughters in marriage, threatening him with
death if none of them would accept such an offer. The father told his
daughters of the snake's offer, and the first and second immediately
refused. If the third had refused too, there would have been no hope
of salvation for the father ; but for his sake she declared at once that
snakes had always pleased her, and she thought the snake proposed
by her father very handsome. At this the snake shook his tail in token
of great joy, and making his bride mount it, carried her away to the
midst of a beautiful meadow, where he caused a splendid palace to arise
while he himself became a handsome man, and revealed himself as Sir
Fiorante with the red and white stockings. But woe to her if she ever
disclosed to any one his existence and name ! She would lose him
forever, unless, to obtain possession of him again, she wore out a pair
of iron shoes, a staff and a hat, and filled with her tears seven bottles.
The maiden promised ; but she was a woman ; she went to visit her
sisters ; one of them wished to know her husband's name, and was so
cunning that at last her sister told her, but when the poor girl went
back to see her husband, she found neither husband nor palace. To
find him again, she was obliged in despair to do penance. She walked
and walked and walked, and wept unceasingly. She had already filled
one bottle with tears, when she met an old woman who gave her a fine
walnut to crack in time of need, and disappeared. When she had
filled four bottles, she met another old woman, who gave her a hazel-
nut to crack in time of need, and disappeared. She had filled all seven
bottles when a third old woman appeared to her, and left her an almond
FAIRY TALES. 323
to be cracked in a third case of need, and she, too, disappeared. At
last the young girl reached the castle of Sir Fiorante, who had taken
another wife. The girl broke first the walnut, and found in it a beauti-
ful dress which the second wife wanted herself. The young girl said :
" You may have it if you will let me sleep with Sir Fiorante." The
second wife consented, but meanwhile she gave Sir Fiorante some
opium. In the night, the young girl said: " Sir Fiorante with the red
and white stockings, I have worn out a pair of iron shoes, the staff and
the hat, and filled seven bottles with tears, wherefore you must recog-
nize your first wife."
He made no answer, for he had taken opium. The next day the girl
opened the hazel-nut, and out came a dress more beautiful than the
first ; Sir Fiorante's second wife wanted this, and obtained it on the
same condition as the first, but took care that Sir Fiorante should take
some opium before going to bed. The third day, a faithful servant
asked Sir Fiorante if he had not heard in the night the cries that were
uttered near him. Sir Fiorante replied, No, but was careful not to take
any opium the third night, when, having broken the almond and found
in it a dress of unapproachable beauty, the young girl obtained the
second wife's consent to sleep anew with Sir Fiorante. The latter pre-
tended this time to take the opium, but did not. Then he feigned to
be asleep, but remained awake in order to hear the cries of his aban-
doned wife, which he could not resist, and began to embrace her. The
next day they left that palace to the second wife, and departed together
and went to live in happiness at another more wonderful castle.
This episode is found in the Pent. V. 3, otherwise not belonging to
this class ; and in Comp., No. 51, and ATov.fior. p. 168, which properly
belong to the formula of " Animal Children."
Hahn's formula No. 6, in which a maiden sells herself for three costly
presents, and is obliged to marry the buyer, is sufficiently illustrated by
Gonz., No. 18, Pitre, No. 105, and Nerucci, No. 50. In the last story
the person to whom the maiden has sold herself refuses to marry her.
The wedding torch is found also in Pitre, No. 17, and is clearly a
survival of the classic custom. The episode in which the birth of the
child is hindered recalls the myths of Latona and Alcmene, see Koh-
ler's notes to Gonz., No. 12 (II. p. 210). Other cases of malicious
arrest of childbirth in popular literature may be found in Child's Eng-
lish and Scottish Pop. Ballads, Part I. p. 84. Pandora's box is also
found in Pent. V. 4.
Copious references to other Europeans versions of our story will be
found in Kbhler's notes to Gonz., No. 15 (II. 214), and to Blade*, Contes
pop. rec. en Agenais, p. 145, to which may be added the notes to the
Grimm stories Nos. 88, 113, 127 ("The Soaring Lark," "The Two
Kings' Children," and " The Iron Stove "), and Benfey, Pant. I. p. 255.
324 NOTES.
2. The lamp lighted at night to enable the wife to see her husband
is found in Pitre, No. 82, and in a Calabrian story in De Gub., Zool.
Myth. II. 286-287, where the drop of wax falls on the mirror of the
sleeping youth. The same incident occurs in the curious story of
" The Enchanted Palace," in Comp., No. 27, which is simply a reversal
of the Cupid and Psyche myth, and in which the husband is the curious
one, and the drop of wax falls on the sleeping wife, and awakens her.
The " iron shoes " are found in Comp., No. 51 ; Pitre, No. 56; Pent.
V. 4; De Gub., Sto. Stefano, No. 14; Gradi, Vigilia, p. 26; and Ortoli,
p. 8. See also Hahn, Nos. 73, 102, and Basque Legends, p. 39.
3. See Kbhler to Gonz., No. 16; Dunlop-Liebrecht, p. 406 (Anmer-
kung. 475, and Nachtrag, p. 544) ; Graesse, Sagen-Kreise, p. 380 ; Ben-
fey, I. 254 ; and Simrock, D. M. pp. 332, 391, 427.
4. Other Italian versions of this story are : Nerucci, Nos. 33, 59 ;
Comparetti, No. 27 (Monferrato), mentioned already in Note 2 ; and
Schneller, No. 13. Pitre, No. 27, has some points of contact also with
our story.
5. Nerucci, No. 1, and Nov.fior. p. 319. For the story of " Beauty
and the Beast " in general, see Ralston's article with this title in the
Nineteenth Century, No. 22, December, 1878 ; and notes to Schiefner's
Tibetan Tales, London, 1882, p. xxxvii.
6. The following versions all contain the episodes of the father ask-
ing his daughters what gifts he shall bring them, and daughter's tardy
return to the monster: Busk, p. 115; Gradi, Saggio, p. 189; Compa-
retti, No. 64 (Montale) ; and Z00L Myth. II. p. 382 (Leghorn), with
which compare Indian Fairy Tales, p. 292. In Fiabe Mant. No. 24,
we have father's gifts and sympathetic ring; but the danger to mon-
ster does not depend on the tardiness of his bride. In Zool. Myth.
II. p. 381 (Piedmont), we have father's gift ; but danger to monster
results from wife's revealing his name to her sisters. Schneller, No.
25, contains the usual introduction (father's gifts), but the monster, a
snake, accompanies his bride on her visit home, and while they are
dancing together she steps on his tail and crushes it, whereupon the
snake becomes a handsome young man. A Sicilian story, " Zafarana "
(Gonz., No. 9), contains both episodes above mentioned, but otherwise
differs from the class of stories we are now examining.
Closely allied with the formula of " Beauty and the Beast " is that
of "Animal Children." In the latter class the introduction (father's
gift) is wanting, and also the episode of visit of wife and tardy return.
The " animal child " is usually born in accordance with a rash wish of
childless mother that she might have a son, even if he were like one
of the animals which she happens to see (Hahn, Formula No. 7).
When the " animal child " is grown up his parents attempt to obtain a
wife for him ; two of three sisters show their disgust and are killed;
the third is more prudent, and ultimately disenchants her husband,
FAIRY TALES. 325
usually by burning his skin, which he puts on and off at pleasure. The
typical story of this class is Pitre, No. 56, " The Serpent." To Pitre's
copious references may be added : Comparetti, No. 9 (Monferrato), in
which the prince resumes his shape after his third marriage without
any further means of disenchantment ; No 66 (Monferrato), the prince
takes off seven skins, and from a dragon becomes a handsome youth.
In both these stories the prince is enchanted and not born in accord-
ance with mother's wish. Gianandrea, p. 15, is a version of Comp.,
No. 9. Corazzini, p. 429 (Benevento), belongs more properly to
" Beauty and the Beast ; " the husband disappears on wife's revealing
to his mother the secret of his being a handsome youth by night. A
somewhat similar version is in Prato, No. 4, " // Re Serpente." See
also Finamore, Nov. pop. abmzzesi, Nos. 6, 21, and Archivio, I. 424
(Piedmont), 531 (Tuscany); II. 403 (Marches); III. 362 (Abruzzi).
For other references to this class see Kohler's notes to Widter-
Wolf, Jahrb. VII. p. 249 ; Benfey, Pant. I. p. 265 et seq.; and notes
to Grimm, Nos. 108 ("Hans the Hedgehog") and 144 (" The Little
Ass ").
7. Other Italian versions may be found in Pitre, No. 38 ; Gonz., No.
27 ; Pent. II. 2 ; Busk, pp. 46, 57, and 63 ; Fiabe Mant. Nos. 3 and 17 ;
Nov. tosc. 4; and Schneller, No. 21. Pent. II. 5, contains many
points of resemblance, although it belongs to the class of " Animal
Children."
Two very close non-Italian versions are Asbj., No. 84, " The Green
Knight" {Tales from the Fjeld, p. 311, "The Green Knight"], and
Hahn, No. 7, " The Golden Wand."
An important episode in the above stories is " sick prince and se-
cret remedy." This is found in stories belonging to other classes, as
for example in Schneller, 9, 10, 11 ; in 10 the princess is ill, in n there
is simply the " overheard council of witches ; " Nov.fior. pp. 599, 601
(princess ill), and Comp., No. 8 (sick prince).
The above trait is found in the class of stories which may be named
" True and Untrue," and of which Grimm, No. 107, " The Two Trav-
ellers," is a good example. Italian versions may be found in Widter-
Wolf, No. 1 {Jahrb. VII. p. 3); Nerucci, No. 23; Ive, Nozze Ive-
Lorenzetto, p. 31, "La Curona del Gran Giegno" Non-Italian ver-
sions will be found in Kohler's notes to Widter-Wolf, and Ive's notes
to above cited story.
8. This class is named by Hahn from Genevieve de Brabant, whose
legend may be found in Diet, des Legendes, p. 396, and, with copious
references, in D'Ancona's Sacre Rappresentazioni, III. p. 235.
9. The title of the original is " Lifigghi di lu Cavuliciddaru" " The
Herb-gatherer's Daughters."
10. Another Sicilian version is "Re Sonnu," in Pitre, Nuovo Saggio,
No. I. To the references in Pitre, No. 36, and Gonz., No. 5, may be
326 NOTES.
added: Fiabe Mant. No. 14. only as far as abstraction of children are
concerned and accusation of murder against the mother ; No. 46, a
poor version, the beginning of which is lost ; Comparetti, Nos. 6 (Ba-
silicata), and 30 (Pisa); No. 17 (Pisa) is a defective version, the
search for the marvellous objects being omitted ; another distorted
version from Monferrato is found in the same collection, No. 25. See
also Prato, Quattro nov.pop. livornesi, No. 2, and Finamore, No. 39.
Two of the traits of our story are found in many others ; they are :
" Sympathetic objects," ring, etc., and " Life-giving ointment or leaves."
For the former, see notes to next two stories, and in general, Brueyre,
p. 93 ; for the latter, see Gonz., No. 40 ; Comparetti, No. 32 (see Note
12) ; Bernoni, Ptmt. III. p. 84. In these stories the life-restoring
substance is an ointment ; leaves possessing the same power are found
in Pitre, No. 11, Pent. I. 7, La Posillechejata, No. 1, and Coronedi-
Berti, No. 14. See also Grimm, No. 16, " The Three Snake-Leaves ; "
Basque Legends, p. 117 ; Benfey, Pant. I. 454, Cox, Aryan Myth. I.
160; and Germania, XXI. p. 68. For non-Italian versions of the story
in the text see Kohler's notes in Melusine, p. 213, to a Breton version,
and Lndian Fairy Tales, pp. 242, 277.
In the above formula are embraced several somewhat different sto-
ries in which the persecution of innocent wife proceeds from various
persons. For instance, in the Italian legends Sta. Guglielma is perse-
cuted by her brother-in-law ; Sta. Ulila by her father and mother-in-
law ; and Stella by her stepmother. See D'Ancona, op. cit., pp. 199,
235> 3l7- A popular version, somewhat distorted, of the second of the
above-mentioned legends may be found in Nerucci, No. 39; of the
third in Gonz., No. 24.
More commonly, however, the persecution is on the part of envious
sisters or wicked stepmother. The important role played by the last
in tales of the North of Europe has its counterpart in those of the
South. The following story from Siena (Pitre, La Scatola di Cris-
talld) will sufficiently illustrate this class.
XXI. THE CRYSTAL CASKET.
There was once a widower who had a daughter. This daughter was
between ten and twelve years old. Her father sent her to school, and
as she was all alone in the world commended her always to her teacher.
Now, the teacher, seeing that the child had no mother, fell in love with
the father, and kept saying to the girl : " Ask your father if he would
like me for a wife." This she said to her every day, and at last the
girl said : " Papa, the school-mistress is always asking me if you will
marry her." The father said : " Eh ! my daughter, if I take another
wife, you will have great troubles." But the girl persisted, and finally
the father was persuaded to go one evening to the school-mistress'
FAIRY TALES. 327
house. When she saw him she was well pleased, and they settled the
marriage in a few days. Poor child ! how bitterly she had to repent
having found a stepmother so ungrateful and cruel to her ! She sent
her every day out on a terrace to water a pot of basil, and it was so
dangerous that if she fell she would go into a large river.
One day there came by a large eagle, and said to her : " What are
you doing here ? " She was weeping because she saw how great the
danger was of falling into the stream. The eagle said to her : " Get
on my back, and I will carry you away, and you will be happier than
with your new mamma." After a long journey they reached a great
plain, where they found a beautiful palace all of crystal ; the eagle
knocked at the door and said : " Open, my ladies, open ! for I have
brought you a pretty girl." When the people in the palace opened the
door, and saw that lovely girl, they were amazed, and kissed and
caressed her. Meanwhile the door was closed, and they remained
peaceful and contented.
Let us return to the eagle, who thought she was doing a spite to the
stepmother. One day the eagle flew away to the terrace where the
stepmother was watering the basil. " Where is your daughter ? " asked
the eagle. " Eh ! " she replied, "perhaps she fell from this terrace and
went into the river ; I have not heard from her in ten days." The
eagle answered : " What a fool you are ! I carried her away ; seeing
that you treated her so harshly I carried her away to my fairies, and
she is very well." Then the eagle flew away.
The stepmother, filled with rage and jealousy, called a witch from
the city, and said to her : " You see my daughter is alive, and is in the
house of some fairies of an eagle which often comes upon my terrace ;
now you must do me the favor to find some way to kill this stepdaughter
of mine, for I am afraid that some day or other she will return, and my
husband, discovering this matter, will certainly kill me." The witch
answered : " Oh, you need not be afraid of that : leave it to me."
What did the witch do ? She had made a little basketful of sweet-
meats, in which she put a charm ; then she wrote a letter, pretending
that it was her father, who, having learned where she was, wished to
make her this present, and the letter pretended that her father was so
glad to hear that she was with the fairies.
Let us leave the witch who is arranging all this deception, and return
to Ermellina (for so the young girl was named). The fairies had said
to her : " See, Ermellina, we are going away, and shall be absent four
days ; now in this time take good care not to open the door to any one,
for some treachery is being prepared for you by your stepmother."
She promised to open the door to no one : " Do not be anxious, I am
well off, and my stepmother has nothing to do with me." But it was
not so. The fairies went away, and the next day when Ermellina was
alone, she heard a knocking at the door, and said to herself : " Knock
328 NOTES.
away ! I don't open to any one." But meanwhile the blows redoubled,
and curiosity forced her to look out of the window. What did she see ?
She saw one of the servant girls of her own home (for the witch had
disguised herself as one of her father's servants). " O my dear Ermel-
lina," she said, " your father is shedding tears of sorrow for you,
because he really believed you were dead, but the eagle which carried
you off came and told him the good news that you were here with the
fairies. Meanwhile your father, not knowing what civility to show you,
for he understands very well that you are in need of nothing, has
thought to send you this little basket of sweetmeats." Ermellina had
not yet opened the door ; the servant begged her to come down and
take the basket and the letter, but she said : " No, I wish nothing ! "
but finally, since women, and especially young girls, are fond of sweet-
meats, she descended and opened the door. When the witch had given
her the basket, she said : " Eat this," and broke off for her a piece of
the sweetmeats which she had poisoned. When Ermellina took the
first mouthful the old woman disappeared. Ermellina had scarcely
time to close the door, when she fell down on the stairs.
When the fairies returned they knocked at the door, but no one
opened it for them ; then they perceived that there had been some
treachery, and began to weep. Then the chief of the fairies said :
" We must break open the door," and so they did, and saw Ermellina
dead on the stairs. Her other friends who loved her so dearly begged
the chief of the fairies to bring her to life, but she would not, " for,"
said she, " she has disobeyed me ; " but one and the other asked her
until she consented ; she opened Ermellina's mouth, took out a piece
of the sweetmeat which she had not yet swallowed, raised her up, and
Ermellina came to life again.
We can imagine what a pleasure it was for her friends ; but the chief
of the fairies reproved her for her disobedience, and she promised not
to do so again.
Once more the fairies were obliged to depart. Their chief said :
" Remember, Ermellina : the first time I cured you, but the second I
will have nothing to do with you." Ermellina said they need not worry,
that she would not open to any one. But it was not so ; for the eagle,
thinking to increase her stepmother's anger, told her again that Ermel-
lina was alive. The stepmother denied it all to the eagle, but she
summoned anew the witch, and told her that her stepdaughter was still
alive, saying : " Either you will really kill her, or I will be avenged on
you." The old woman, finding herself caught, told her to buy a very
handsome dress, one of the handsomest she could find, and transformed
herself into a tailoress belonging to the family, took the dress, de-
parted, went to poor Ermellina, knocked at the door and said : " Open,
open, for I am your tailoress." Ermellina looked out of the window
and saw her tailoress ; and was, in truth, a little confused (indeed, any
FAIRY TALES. 329
one would have been so). The tailoress said, " Come down, I must
fit a dress on you." She replied, " No, no ; for I have been deceived
once." " But I am not the old woman," replied the tailoress, " you
know me, for I have always made your dresses." Poor Ermellina was
persuaded, and descended the stairs ; the tailoress took to flight while
Ermellina was yet buttoning up the dress, and disappeared. Ermellina
closed the door, and was mounting the stairs ; but it was not permitted
her to go up, for she fell down dead.
Let us return to the fairies, who came home and knocked at the door ;
but what good did it do to knock ! There was no longer any one there.
They began to weep. The chief of the fairies said : " I told you that
she would betray me again ; but now I will have nothing more to do
with her." So they broke open the door, and saw the poor girl with
that beautiful dress on ; but she was dead. They all wept, because they
really loved her. But there was nothing to do ; the chief struck her
enchanted wand, and commanded a beautiful rich casket all covered
with diamonds and other precious stones to appear; then the others
made a beautiful garland of flowers and gold, put it on the young girl,
and then laid her in the casket, which was so rich and beautiful that it
was marvellous to behold. Then the old fairy struck her wand as usual
and commanded a handsome horse, the like of which not even the king
possessed. Then they took the casket, put it on the horse's back, and
led him into the public square of the city, and the chief of the fairies
said : " Go, and do not stop until you find some one who says to you :
' Stop, for pity's sake, for I have lost my horse for you.' "
Now let us leave the afflicted fairies, and turn our attention to the
horse, which ran away at full speed. Who happened to pass at that
moment ? The son of a king (the name of this king is not known) ;
and saw this horse with that wonder on its back. Then the kino- be°-an
to spur his horse, and rode him so hard that he killed him, and had to
leave him dead in the road ; but the king kept running after the other
horse. The poor king could endure it no longer ; he saw himself lost,
and exclaimed : " Stop, for pity's sake, for I have lost my horse for
you ! " Then the horse stopped (for those were the words). When
the king saw that beautiful girl dead in the casket, he thought no more
about his own horse, but took the other to the city. The king's mother
knew that her son had gone hunting; when she saw him returning with
this loaded horse, she did not know what to think. The son had no
father, wherefore he was all powerful. He reached the palace, had
the horse unloaded, and the casket carried to his chamber ; then he
called his mother and said : " Mother, I went hunting, but I have found
a wife." " But what is it ? A doll ? A dead woman ? " " Mother,"
replied her son, " don't trouble yourself about what it is, it is my wife."
His mother began to laugh, and withdrew to her own room (what could
she do, poor mother ?).
330 NOTES.
Now this poor king no longer went hunting, took no diversion, did
not even go to the table, but ate in his own room. By a fatality it hap-
pened that war was declared against him, and he was obliged to de-
part. He called his mother, and said : " Mother, I wish two careful
chambermaids, whose business it shall be to guard this casket ; for if
on my return I find that anything has happened to my casket, I shall
have the chambermaids killed." His mother, who loved him, said :
" Go, my son, fear nothing, for I myself will watch over your casket."
He wept several days at being obliged to abandon this treasure of his,
but there was no help for it, he had to go.
After his departure he did nothing but commend his wife (so he
called her) to his mother in his letters. Let us return to the mother,
who no longer thought about the matter, not even to have the casket
dusted ; but all at once there came a letter which informed her that
the king had been victorious, and should return to his palace in a few
days. The mother called the chambermaids, and said to them :
" Girls, we are ruined." They replied : " Why, Highness ? " " Be-
cause my son will be back in a few days, and how have we taken care
of the doll ? " They said : " True, true ; now let us go and wash the
doll's face." They went to the king's room and saw that the doll's
face and hands were covered with dust and fly-specks, so they took a
sponge and washed her face, but some drops of water fell on her dress
and spotted it. The poor chambermaids began to weep, and went to
the queen for advice. The queen said : " Do you know what to do !
call a tailoress, and have a dress precisely like this bought, and take
off this one before my son comes." They did so, and the chamber-
maids went to the room and began to unbutton the dress. The mo-
ment that they took off the first sleeve, Ermellina opened her eyes.
The poor chambermaids sprang up in terror, but one of the most
courageous said: " I am a woman, and so is this one; she will not eat
me." To cut the matter short, she took off the dress, and when it was
removed Ermellina began to get out of the casket to walk about and
see where she was. The chambermaids fell on their knees before
her and begged her to tell them who she was. She, poor girl, told
them the whole story. Then she said: "I wish to know where I
am ? " Then the chambermaids called the king's mother to explain
it to her. The mother did not fail to tell her everything, and she, poor
girl, did nothing but weep penitently, thinking of what the fairies had
done for her.
The king was on the point of arriving, and his mother said to the
doll : " Come here ; put on one of my best dresses." In short, she
arrayed her like a queen. Then came her son. They shut the doll
up in a small room, so that she could not be seen. The king came
with great joy, with trumpets blowing, and banners flying for the vic-
tory. But he took no interest in all this, and ran at once to his room
FAIRY TALES. 33 1
to see the doll ; the chambermaids fell on their knees before him say-
ing that the doll smelled so badly that they could not stay in the pal-
ace, and were obliged to bury her. The king would not listen to this
excuse, but at once called two of the palace servants to erect the gal-
lows. His mother comforted him in vain : " My son, it was a dead
woman." " No, no, I will not listen to any reasons ; dead or alive,
you should have left it for me." Finally, when his mother saw that he
was in earnest about the gallows, she rang a little bell, and there came
forth no longer the doll, but a very beautiful girl, whose like was never
seen. The king was amazed, and said : " What is this ! " Then his
mother, the chambermaids, and Ermellina, were obliged to tell him all
that had happened. He said : " Mother, since I adored her when
dead, and called her my wife, now I mean her to be my wife in truth."
" Yes, my son," replied his mother, " do so, for I am willing." They
arranged the wedding, and in a few days were man and wife.
Sicilian versions of this story may be found in Pitre, Nos. 57, 58 ;
Gonz., Nos. 2-4. To the copious references in the notes to the stories
just mentioned may be added : Fiabe Mant. No. 28 ; Ttiscan Fairy
Tales, No. IX. ; Nov. fior. pp. 232, 239 ; De Nino, XLL, XLIX., L. ;
Nov. tosc. 9. Other European versions are : Grimm, No. 53, " Little
Snow-White;" Hahn, No. 103; Lo Rondallayre, No. 46: see also
Kohler's notes to Gonz., Nos. 2-4.
The last class of " stepmother" stories which we shall mention is
Hahn's Formula 15, " Phryxos and Helle," in which both brother and
sister are persecuted by stepmother. A good example of this class is
Pitre, No. 283.
XXII. THE STEPMOTHER.
There was once a husband and a wife who had two children, a son
and a daughter. The wife died, and the husband married a woman
who had a daughter blind of one eye. The husband was a farmer, and
went to work in a field. The stepmother hated her husband's chil-
dren, and to get rid of them she baked some bread, and sent it by them
to her husband, but directed them to the wrong field, so that they
might get lost. When the children reached a mountain they began to
call their father, but no one answered. Now the girl was enchanted ;
and when they came to a spring and the brother wanted to drink, she
said to him : " Do not drink of this fountain, or you will become an
ass." Afterwards they found another spring, and the brother wanted
to drink ; but his sister said to him : " Do not drink of it, or you will
become a calf." However, the boy would drink, and became a calf
with golden horns. They continued their journey, and came to the
seashore, where there was a handsome villa belonging to the prince.
When the prince saw the young girl, and beheld how beautiful she
332 NOTES.
was, he married her, and afterwards asked her what there was about
the little calf, and she replied : " I am fond of him because I have
brought him up."
Let us now return to her father, who, from the great grief he had on
account of his children's disappearance, had gone out to divert him-
self, and wandered away, gathering fennel. He arrived at last at the
villa, where was his daughter who had married the king. His daugh-
ter looked out of the window and said to him : " Come up, friend."
His daughter had recognized him, and asked : " Friend, do you not
know me ? " " No, I do not recognize you." Then she said : " I am
your daughter, whom you believed lost." She threw herself at his
feet, and said : " Pardon me, dear father ; I came by chance to this
villa, and the king's son was here and married me." The father was
greatly consoled at finding his daughter so well married. " Now, my
father," said she, " empty this sack of fennel, for I will fill it with gold
for you." And then she begged him to bring his wife, and the daugh-
ter blind of one eye. The father returned home with his bag full of
money, and his wife asked in terror: "Who gave you this money?"
He answered : " O wife ! do you know that I have found my daugh-
ter, and she is the king's wife, and filled this bag with money ? " She,
instead of being happy, was angry at hearing that her stepdaughter
was still alive ; however, she said to her husband : " I will go and take
my daughter." So they went, the husband, the wife, and the blind
daughter, and came to the husband's daughter, who received her step-
mother very kindly. But the latter, seeing that the king was away,
and that her stepdaughter was alone, seized her and threw her from a
window into the sea ; and what did she do then ? She took her blind
daughter and dressed her in the other's clothes, and said to her:
" When the king comes and finds you here weeping, say to him : ' The
little calf has blinded me with his horn, and I have only one eye ! ' "
Then the stepmother returned to her own house. The king came and
found her daughter in bed weeping, and said to her : " Why are you
weeping ? " " The little calf struck me with his horn and put out one
of my eyes." The king cried at once : "Go call the butcher to kill
the calf ? " When the calf heard that he was to be killed, he went out
on the balcony and called to his sister in the sea : —
"Oh! sister,
For me the water is heated,
And the knives are sharpened."
The sister replied from the sea : —
" Oh ! brother, I cannot help you,
I am in the dog-fish's mouth."
When the king heard the calf utter these words, he looked out of the
window, and when he saw his wife in the sea, he summoned two sail-
FAIRY TALES. 333
ors, and had them take her out and bring her up and restore her.
Then he took the blind girl and killed her and cut her in pieces and
salted her like tunny-fish, and sent her to her mother. When her hus-
band found it out he left her and went to live with his daughter.
It may not be amiss to mention here another class of stories which
come under the formula of " Persecuted Maiden." The class resem-
bles in some respects the story of King Lear. The youngest daughter
is persecuted by her father because he thinks she does not love him as
much as her older sisters. A good example of this class is Pitre, No.
10, DAcqua e lu Salt,
XXIII. WATER AND SALT.
A very fine story is related and told to your worships. Once upon
a time there was a king with three daughters. These three daughters
being at table one day, their father said : " Come now, let us see which
of you three loves me." The oldest said : " Papa, I love you as much
as my eyes." The second answered : " I love you as much as my
heart." The youngest said : " I love you as much as water and salt."
The king heard her with amazement : " Do you value me like water
and salt ? Quick ! call the executioners, for I will have her killed im-
mediately." The other sisters privately gave the executioners a little
dog, and told them to kill it and rend one of the youngest sister's gar-
ments, but to leave her in a cave. This they did, and brought back to
the king the dog's tongue and the rent garment : " Royal Majesty,
here is her tongue and garment." And his Majesty gave them a re-
ward. The unfortunate princess was found in the forest by a magician,
who took her to his house opposite the royal palace. Here the king's
son saw her and fell desperately in love with her, and the match was
soon agreed upon. Then the magician came and said : " You must
kill me the day before the wedding. You must invite three kings, your
father the first. You must order the servants to pass water and salt
to all the guests except your father." Now let us return to the father
of this young girl, who the longer he lived the more his love for her
increased, and he was sick of grief. When he received the invitation
he said : " And how can I go with this love for my daughter ? " And
he would not go. Then he thought: "But this king will be offended
if I do not go, and will declare war against me some time." He ac-
cepted and went. The day before the wedding they killed the magician
and quartered him, and put a quarter in each of four rooms, and sprinkled
his blood in all the rooms and on the stairway, and the blood and flesh
became gold and precious stones. When the three kings came and
saw the golden stairs, they did not like to step on them. " Never
mind," said the prince, "go up : this is nothing." That evening they
334 NOTES.
were married : the next day they had a banquet. The prince gave or-
ders : " No salt and water to that king." They sat down at table, and
the young queen was near her father, but he did not eat. His daugh-
ter said : " Royal Majesty, why do you not eat ? Does not the food
please you ? " " What an idea ! It is very fine." " Why don't you
eat then ?" "I don't feel very well." The bride and groom helped
him to some bits of meat, but the king did not want it, and chewed his
food over and over again like a goat (as if he could eat it without salt !).
When they finished eating they began to tell stories, and the king told
them all about his daughter. She asked him if he could still recognize
her, and stepping out of the room put on the same dress she wore
when he sent her away to be killed. " You caused me to be killed be-
cause I told you I loved you as much as salt and water : now you have
seen what it is to eat without salt and water." Her father could not
say a word, but embraced her and begged her pardon. They remained
happy and contented, and here we are with nothing.
A Venetian version (Bernoni, No. 14) is translated in the Cornhill
Magazine, July, 1875, p. 80, a Bolognese version may be found in Co-
ronedi-Berti, No. 5, and from the Abruzzi in Finamore, Nos. 18, 26.
Compare also Pomiglianesi, p. 42. For transmutation of magician's
body see Zool. Myth. I. p. 123, Benfey, Pant. I. pp. 477, 478, Ralston,
R. F. T. p. 223, and Indian Fairy Tales, p. 164.
Other Sicilian versions are in Gonz., Nos. 48, 49. A Neapolitan is in
Pent. V. 8; a Mantuan, in Fiabe Mant. No. 16 ; a Tuscan, xn. Archivio
per le Trad. pop. I. p. 44, and one from the Abruzzi in Archivio, III.
546. The same story is in Grimm, Nos. II and 141. "The Little
Brother and Sister " and " The Little Lamb and the Little Fish." See
also Hahn, No. 1. The latter part of the story is connected with
" False Bride." See note 21 of this chapter.
11. Other Italian versions are: Pitre, No. 20; Pent. II. 1; Pomi-
glianesi, pp. 121, 130, 136, 188, 191; Busk, p. 3; Nov. fior. p. 209;
Gargiolli, No. 2; Fiabe Mant. No. 20; Bernoni, No. 12; Archivio, I.
525 (Tuscan), III. 368 (Abruzzi), and De Nino, XX. Some points of
resemblance are found also in Pent. V. 4; Coronedi-Berti, No. 8; and
Finamore, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 12.
Other stories in which children are promised to ogre, demon, etc.,
are to be found in Pitre, No. 31, Widter-Wolf, No. XIII., and in the
various versions of the story of " Liombruno." See Chap. II., note 13.
For other European versions of the story in the text, see Ralston's
R. F. T. p. 141; Grimm, No. 12, " Rapunzel," and Basque Legends, p.
59. For child promised to demon, see Romania, No. 28, p. 531; Grimm,
Nos. 31 ("The Girl Without Hands") 55, ("Rumpelstiltskin ") 92,
("The King of the Golden Mountain "), and 181 ("The Nix of the
Mill-Pond "). See also Hahn, I. p. 47, No. 8.
FAIRY TALES. 335
Some of the incidents of this story are found in those belonging to
other classes. The girl's face changed to that of dog, etc., is in Com-
paretti, No. 3 (furnished with a long beard), and Finamore, Trad. pop.
abruzzesi, No. 1, Pent. I. 8 (goat), Nerucci, Nos. 30 (sheep's neck),
37 (buffalo), and Nov. pop. toscani, in Archivio per la Trad. pop. No. 1
(goat). For "flight and obstacles," see Nov.fior. pp. 12, 415, Pent. II.
1, and stories cited by Pitre in his notes to No. 13, also note 25 to this
chapter, Basque Legends, p. 120, Orient tend Occident, II. p. 103, and
Brueyre, p. n 1. For "ladder of hair," see Pomiglianesi, p. 126.
12. Other Italian versions are : Pent. I. 9; Gonz., Nos. 39, 40; Com-
paretti, No. 46 (Basilicata) ; De Gub., Sto. Stefano, Nos. 17, 18 ; Fina-
more, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 22 ; De Nino, LXV. ; Nov. fior, pp.
375> 387 (Milan); Coronedi-Berti, No. 16; Fiabe Mant. No. 19; and
Schneller, No. 28. This story, as far as the two brothers (not born
miraculously) and liberation of princess are concerned, is in Pent. I.
7, and Widter-Wolf, No. 8.
References to other European versions may be found in the Ro-
mania, Nos. 19, pp. 336, 339; 28, p. 563; 32, p. 606: Orient und Occi-
dent, II. p. 115 (Kohler to Campbell, No. 4), and Blade, Agenais, No.
2 (p. 148).
As regards the separate traits, as usual many of them are found in
other classes of stories : the cloud occurs in Comp., No. 40 ; children
born from fish, De Gub., Zool. Myth. II. 29; for sympathetic objects
and life-giving ointment, see last two stories. For " kindness to ani-
mals," and "thankful beasts," see Fiabe Mant. Nos. 37, 26, Gonz., No.
6, and the stories belonging to the class " Giant with no heart in his
body " mentioned below. The gratitude and help of an animal form
the subject of some independent stories, e. g., Strap. III. 1; Pent. I.
3 ; and Gonz., No. 6, above mentioned ; and are also found in the for-
mula " Animal Brothers-in-law." See note 23. For European versions
see Orient und Occident, II. p. 101 ; Brueyre, p. 98 ; Ralston, R. F. T.
p. 98; Benfey, Pant. I. p. 193 et seq.j Basque Legends, p. 81, and
Zool. Myth. I. p. 197; II. 45. For transformation into statues, see
stories mentioned in note 10, Bernoni, Punt. III. p. 89, Nov.fior. p.
112, and Ortoli, pp. 10, 34.
The most interesting episode, however, is that of "Magician (or
Giant) with no heart in his body" (see Chap. III., note 8), which is in
the following Italian tales: Pitre, No. 81, Busk, p. 158; Nov.fior. pp.
7, 347; Gonz., Nos. 6, 16; Fiabe Mant. No. 37; and Pomiglianesi, No.
2, p. 21 (v. p. 41). For other references, see Basque Legends, p. 83;
Brueyre, pp. 81-83 ; Ralston, R. F. T., Am. ed., pp. 1 19-125; Orient
und Occident, II. p. 101 ; Hahn, I. p. 56, No. 31 ; and Romania, No.
22, p. 234. See also note 18 of this chapter.
The story in our text is not a good example of Hahn's Form. 13,
" Andromeda, or Princess freed from Dragon." Some of the other
336 NOTES.
stories cited are much better, notably Widter-Wolf, No. 8, Gonz., Nos.
39, 40, and also Strap., X. 3, and Schneller, No. 39. Hahn's Danae
Form. 12 is represented by Nov. tosc. No. 30. The allied myth of
Medusa by Nov. tosc. No. 1, and Archivio, I. p. 57.
13. Versions of this wide-spread story are in Pitre, Otto Fiabe, No.
1 ; Gonz., Nos. 58, 59, 61, 62, 63 (partly), and 64 ; Kohler, Italien
Volksm. (Sora) No. 1, "Die drei Briider und die drei befreiten K'6-
nigsfochter" (jahrb. VIII. p. 241) ; Widter-Wolf, No. 4 {Jahrb. VII.
p. 20) ; Schneller, No. 39 ; Nov.Jior. p. 70, and De Gub., Zobl. Myth.
II. 187 (Tuscan). Part of our story is also found in Schneller, pp.
188-192, and Pitre, Nos. 83, 84 (var.). To these references, which are
given by Pitre, maybe added the following: Comparetti, Nos. 19 (Mon-
ferrato) partly, 35 (Monferrato), and 40 (Pisa) ; De Gub., Sto. Stefano,
No. 19; Fiabe Mant. Nos. 18, 32 (the latter part), 49 (partly) ; Tuscan
Fahy Tales, No. 3 ; Finamore, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 29 ; and Nov.
tosc. No. 3.
The trait "underground world" is also found in Busk, p. 141.
These stories illustrate sufficiently Hahn's Form. 40, " Descent into
the Nether World."
14. To the stories in Note 13 containing " liberation of hero by
eagle " may be added Comparetti, No. 24 (Monferrato). See in gen-
eral: De Gub., Zobl. Myth. II. 186; Benfey, Pant. I. pp. 216, 388;
Rivista Orientate, I. p. 27; Orient utid Occident, II. p. 299; and
Basque Legends, p. no.
15. Another version from Avellino is in the same collection, p. 201.
Other Italian versions are : Pitre, No. 79; Gonz., No. 51 ; De Gub.,
Sto. Stefano, No. 20 ; De Nino, No. 2 ; Comparetti, No. 28 (Monfer-
rato) ; Ive, Fiabe pop. rovignesi, p. 20; No. 3, "El Pumo de tcoroj"
Schneller, No. 51 ; and Corazzini, p. 455 (Benevento).
In general see Ive's and Kohler's notes to stories above cited, and
Romania, No. 24, p. 565. The corresponding Grimm story is No. 28,
" The Singing Bone."
16. Other Italian versions are : Pitre, Nos. 41, 42 ; Pent. I. 6; Busk,
pp. 26, 31; Comp., No. 23 (Pisa): Fiabe Mant. No. 45 ; Nov.Jior.
p. 162 (Milan) ; Finamore, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. II. ; and Ar-
chivio, II. 185 (Sardinia).
Schneller, No. 24, and Bernoni, No. 8, are connecting links between
" Cinderella " and " Allerleirauh." In the former, Cinderella's father
asks his three daughters what present he shall make them. Cinderella
asks for a sword, and shortly after leaves her home and obtains a situ-
ation in a city as servant. In the palace opposite lives a young count,
with whom Cinderella falls in love. She obtains a situation in his
house. Her sword, which is enchanted, gives her beautiful dresses,
and she goes to the balls as in the other versions. The third even-
ing the count slips a costly ring on her finger, which Cinderella uses
FAIRY TALES. 337
to identify herself with. Bernoni, No. 8, is substantially the same.
After the death of their mother and father Cinderella's sisters treat
her cruelly, and she obtains a place as servant in the king's palace, and
is aided by the fairies, who take pity upon her. She is identified by
means of a ring, and also by her diamond slipper, which she throws to
the servants, who are following her to see where she lives.
European versions will be found in the notes to Grimm, No. 21
(" Cinderella "), and W. R. S. Ralston's article, " Cinderella," in the
Nineteenth Century, November, 1879.
17. Other Italian versions are: Pitre, No. 43; Gonz., 38 ; Pent. II.
6 ; Busk, pp. 66, 84, 90, 91 ; Comparetti, No. 57 (Montale) ; De Gub.,
Sto. Stefano, No. 3 (see also Rivista di Lett. Pop. I. p. 86) ; Gradi,
Saggio, p. 141 ; Fiabe Mant. No. 38 ; Nov.fior. p. 158 (Milan), Fina-
more, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 3; De Nino, No. 17, and Archivio,
I. 190 (Tuscan)'), II. 26 (Sardinia). Straparola, I. 4, contains the first
part of our story, which is also partly found in Coronedi-Berti, No. 3,
and Finamore, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 13.
The gifts, which in the story in the text are given the day of the
wedding, in the other versions are bestowed before marriage by father,
in order to overcome daughter's opposition. The recognition by
means of ring is found in the last two stories mentioned in Note 16,
in Fiabe Mant. No. 38, above- cited, and Nov.fior. p. 158 (Milan).
See also Grimm, Nos. 93 ("The Raven"), 101 ("Bearskin") ; Hahn,
No. 25; Asbj., No. 71 {Tales from the Fjeld, p. 130) ; and Romania,
No. 23, p. 359.
Other European versions of our story will be found mentioned in
the notes to Grimm, No. 65 (" Allerleirauh "), to Gonz., No. 38 (II.
229); Orient und Occident, II. 295; D'Ancona, Sacre Rappresent.
III. 238 ; Romania, No. 24, 571; Basque Legends,^. 165, and Rals-
ton's R. F. T. p. 159.
18. See Gonz., No. 26, and Widter-Wolf, No. 8 (Jahrb. VII. p. 128).
For story in general, see notes to stories just cited, and Cox, Aryan
Myth. vol. I. p. 224; II. p. 261, "The Myth of Nisos and Skylla;"
Hahn, I. p. 52 ; and De Gub., Zool. Myth. I. p. 211 et seq.
19. Pitre, in his notes to No. 71, gives two variants of his story, and
mentions a Piedmontese version yet unpublished. Comparetti, No. 54,
an analysis of which is given in the text, represents sufficiently Hahn's
Form. No. 37, " Strong Hans."
20. In the version in Pent. IV. 8, after the seven sons have disap-
peared, their sister goes in search of them, finds, them, and they all
live happily together until by her fault they are changed into doves,
and she is obliged to go to the house of the Mother of Time and learn
from her the mode of disenchantment. In a story in Pitre, No. 73, a
husband threatens to kill his wife if she does not give birth to a male
child.
338 NOTES.
For other European versions of our story, see Grimm, No. 9, " The
Twelve Brothers ; " No. 25, " The Seven Ravens ; " and No. 49, " The
Six Swans ; " Melusine, p. 419, and Basque Legends, p. 186. Part of
the story in text belongs to the Genevieve formula, see notes 8, 10, of
this chapter.
21. The first trait, " Two Sisters," is also found as an independent
story, see Chap. II., p. 100, and note 2. " Substitution of false bride "
is found without " Two Sisters " in Comp., Nos. 53 (Montale) and 68
(Montale) ; Fiabe Mant. No. 16 ; and Gradi, Saggio, p. 141. See note
10 of this chapter. The best example of "substitution " is, as we have
said before, Grimm, No. 89, " The Goose-Girl ; " see also Romania,
No. 24, p. 546. The same trait is found also in a very extensive and
interesting class of stories which may be termed, from the usual titles
of the stories, "The Three Citrons," some of the versions of which be-
long to " Forgotten Bride." We give here, however, a version belong-
ing to the class above-mentioned, and which we have taken, on account
of its rarity, from Ive, Fiabe pop. rovignesi, p. 3.
XXIV. THE LOVE OF THE THREE ORANGES.
Once upon a time there was a king and queen who had a half-witted
son. The queen was deeply grieved at this, and she thought to go to
the Lord and ask counsel of him what she was to do with this son.
The Lord told her to try and do something to make him laugh. She
replied : " I have nothing but a jar of oil, unfortunately for me ! " The
Lord said to her : "Well, give this oil away in charity, for there will
come many people ; some bent, some straight, some humpbacked, and
it may happen that your son will laugh." So the queen proclaimed
that she had a jar of oil, and that all could come and take some. And
everybody, indeed, hurried there and took the oil down to the last
drop. Last of all came an old witch, who begged the queen to give
her a little, saying : " Give me a little oil, too ! " The queen replied :
" Ah, it is all gone, there is no more ! " The queen was angry and
full of spite because her son had not yet laughed. The old witch said
again to the queen : " Let me look in the jar ! " The queen opened
the jar, and the old woman got inside of it and was all covered with
the dregs of the oil ; and the queen's son laughed, and laughed, and
laughed. The old woman came out, saw the prince laughing, and said
to him : " May you never be happy until you go and find the Love of
the three Oranges." The son, all eager, said to his mother : " Ah,
mother, I shall have no more peace until I go and find the Love of the
three Oranges." She answered : " My dear son, how will you go and
find the Love of the three Oranges ?" But he would go ; so he mounted
his horse and rode and rode and rode until he came to a large gate.
He knocked, and some one within asked : " Who is there ? " He re-
FAIRY TALES. 339
plied : " A soul created by God." The one within said : " In all the
years that I have been here no one has ever knocked at this gate."
The prince repeated : " Open, for I am a soul created by God ! " Then
an old man came down and opened the gate. He had eyelids that
reached to his feet, and he said : " My son, take down those little
forks, and lift up my eyelids." The prince did so, and the old man
asked : " Where are you going, my son, in this direction ? " "I am
going to find the Love of the three Oranges." The old man an-
swered : " So many have gone there and never returned ! Do you
wish not to return, too ? My son, take these twigs ; you will meet
some witches who are sweeping out their oven with their hands ; give
them these twigs, and they will let you pass." The prince very grate-
fully took the twigs, mounted his horse and rode away. He journeyed
a long time, and at last saw in the distance the witches of immense
size who were coming towards him. He threw them the twigs, and
they allowed him to pass.
He continued his journey, and arrived at a gate larger than the first.
Here the same thing occurred as at the first one, and the old man said :
" Well ! since you will go, too, take these ropes, on your way you will
encounter some witches drawing water with their tresses ; throw them
these ropes, and they will let you pass."
Everything happened as the old man said ; the prince passed the
witches, continued his journey and came to a third gate larger than
the second. Here an old man with eyelids longer than the other two
gave him a bag of bread, and one of tallow, saying : " Take this bag of
bread ; you will meet some large dogs ; throw them the bread and they
will let you pass ; then you will come to a large gate with many rusty
padlocks ; then you will see a tower, and in it the Love of the three
Oranges. When you reach that place, take this tallow and anoint well
the rusty padlocks ; and when you have ascended the tower, you will
find the oranges hanging from a nail. There you will also find an old
woman who has a son who is an ogre and has eaten all the Christians
who have come there : you see, you must be very careful ! "
The prince, well contented, took the bag of bread and the tallow and
rode away. After a long journey, he saw at a distance, three great
dogs with their mouths wide open coming to eat him. He threw them
the bread, and they let him pass.
He journeyed on until he came to another large gate with many rusty
padlocks. He dismounted, tied his horse to the gate, and began to
anoint the locks with the tallow, until, after much creaking, they opened.
The prince entered, saw the tower, went up and met an old woman who
said to him : " Dear son, where are you going ? What have you come
here for ? I have a son who is an ogre, and will surely eat you up."
While she was uttering these words, the son arrived. The old woman
made the prince hide under the bed ; but the ogre perceived that there
340 NOTES.
was some one in the house, and when he had entered, he began to
cry : —
" Gein gein, I smell a Christian,
Gian gian, I smell a Christian ! "
" Son," his mother said, "there is no one here." But he repeated his
cry. Then his mother, to quiet him, threw him a piece of meat, which
he ate like a madman ; and while he was busy eating, she gave the three
oranges to the prince, saying : " Take them, my son, and escape at
once, for he will soon finish eating his meat, and then he will want to
eat you, too." After she had given him the three oranges, she repented
of it, and not knowing what else to do, she cried out : " Stairs, throw
him down ! lock, crush him ! " They answered : " We will not, for he
gave us tallow ! " " Dogs, devour him ! " " We will not, for he gave
us bread ! " Then he mounted his horse and rode away, and the old
woman cried after him : " Witch, strangle him ! " "I will not, for he
gave me ropes ! " " Witch, kill him ! " "I will not, for he gave me
twigs ! " The prince continued his journey, and on the way became
very thirsty, and did not know what to do. Finally he thought of
opening one of the oranges. He did so, and out came a beautiful girl,
who said to him :
" Love, give me to drink ! "
He replied :
" Love, I have none! "
And she said :
"Love, I shall die!"
And she died at once. The prince threw away the orange, and con-
tinued his journey, and soon became thirsty again. In despair he
opened another orange, and out sprang another girl more beautiful than
the first. She, too, asked for water, and died when the prince told her
he had none to give her. Then he continued his way, saying : " The
next time I surely do not want to lose her." When he became thirsty
again, he waited until he reached a well ; then he opened the last orange
and there appeared a girl more beautiful than the first two. When she
asked for water, he gave her the water of the well ; then took her out
of the orange, put her on horseback with himself, and started for home.
When he was nearly there, he said to her : " See, I will leave you here
for a time under these two trees ; " one had leaves of gold and silver
fruit, and the other gold fruit and silver leaves. Then he made her a
nice couch, and left her resting between the two trees. " Now," said
he, " I must go to my mother to tell her that I have found you, then I
will come for you and we shall be married ! " Then he mounted his
horse and rode away to his mother.
Now while he was gone an old witch approached the girl and said :
" Ah, dear daughter, let me comb your hair." The young girl replied :
" No, the like of me do not wish it." Again she said : " Come, my
dear daughter, let me comb you ! " Tired of being asked so often by
FAIRY TALES. 34 1
the old woman, the girl at last allowed her to comb her hair, and what
did that monster of an old witch take it into her head to do. She
stuck a pin through the girl's temples from side to side, and the girl at
once was changed into a dove. What did this wretch of an old woman
then do ? She got into the couch in the place of the young girl, who
flew away.
Meanwhile the prince reached his mother's house, and she said to
him : " Dear son, where have you been ? how have you spent all this
time ? " " Ah, my mother," said he, " what a lovely girl I have for my
wife!" "Dear son, where have you left her?" "Dear mother, I
have left her between two trees, the leaves of one are of gold and
the fruit is silver, the leaves of the other are of silver and the fruit
gold."
Then the queen gave a grand banquet, invited many guests, and
made ready many carriages to go and bring the young girl. They
mounted their horses, they entered their carriages, they set out, but
when they reached the trees they saw the ugly old woman, all wrinkled,
in the couch between the trees, and the white dove on top of them.
The poor prince, you can imagine it ! was grieved to the heart, and
ashamed at seeing the ugly old woman. His father and mother, to sat-
isfy him, took the old woman, put her in a carriage, and carried her to
the palace, where the wedding-feast was prepared. The prince was
downhearted, but his mother said to him : " Don't think about it, my
son, for she will become beautiful again." But her son could not think
of eating or of talking. The dinner was brought on and the guests
placed themselves at the round table. Meanwhile, the dove flew up
on the kitchen balcony, and began to sing :
" Let the cook fall asleep,
Let the roast be burned,
Let the old witch be unable to eat of it.*'
The guests waited for the cook to put the roast on the table. They
waited, and waited and waited, and at last they got up and went to the
kitchen, and there they found the cook asleep. They called and called
him, and at last he awoke, but soon became drowsy again. He said he
did not know what was the matter with him, but he could not stand
up. He put another roast on the spit, however. Then the dove again
flew on the balcony and sang :
" Let the cook fall asleep,
Let the roast be burned,
Let the old witch be unable to eat of it."
Again the guests waited until they grew weary, and then the groom
went to see what was the matter. He found the cook asleep again,
and said : " Cook, good cook, what is the matter with you that you
sleep ? " Then the cook told him that there was a dove that flew on
the balcony and repeated : —
342 NOTES.
" Let the cook fall asleep,
Let the roast be burned,
Let the old witch be unable to eat of it." —
and that he was immediately seized with drowsiness, and fell asleep at
once. The bridegroom went out on the balcony, saw the dove, and
said to it : " Cuocula, pretty cuocula, come here and let me see you ! "
The dove came near him and he caught it, and while he was caressing
it he saw the pins planted in its head, one in its forehead, and one in
each of its temples. What did he do ? He pulled out the pin in the
forehead ! Then he caressed it again, and pulled out the pins from its
temples. Then the dove became a beautiful girl, more beautiful than
she was before, and the prince took her to his mother and said :
" Here, my mother, this is my bride ! " His mother was delighted to
see the beautiful girl, and the king, too, was well pleased. When the
old witch saw the girl, she cried : " Take me away, take me away, I
am afraid ! " Then the fair girl told the whole secret how it was. The
guests who were present wished to give their opinions as to what
should be done with the old woman. One of the highest rank said :
" Let her be well greased, and burned ! " " Bravo, bravo ! " exclaimed
the others, " burn her ; she must be burned ! " So they seized the old
woman, had wood brought, and burned her in the midst of the city.
Then they returned home, and had a finer wedding than before.
The following are the Italian versions of the above : Pent. IV. 9 ;
Pitre, Otto Fiabe, II. "La Bella di li setti Citrij" Gonz., No. 13;
Busk, p. 15 ; Nov.fior. pp. 305, 308 (Milan) ; Comparetti, No. 68 (also
in Nerucci, p. 111) ; De Gub., Sto. Stefano, Nos. 4, 5 ; Prato, Quattro
nov. pop. livornesi, No. 1 ; Archivio, I. 525 (Tuscan) ; II. 204 (Sar-
dinian) ; Piedmontese in Mila y Fontanals Observaciones sobre la
poesia popular, Barcelona, 1853, p. 179; Coronedi-Berti, No. 11 ; Co-
razzini (Benevento), p. 467; and Schneller, No. 19. Part of our story
is the same as Pitre, No. 13, " Snow-white-fire-red," given in full in
our text. See also Finamore, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 15.
Copious references to other European versions will be found in the
notes of Ive, Kdhler, etc., to the above versions ; to these may be
added, Lo Rondallayre, Nos. 18, 37, Liebrecht to Simrock's Deut.
Marchen in Orient und Occident, III. p. 378 (Kalliopi), No. 3, and
Indian Fairy Tales, pp. 253, 284.
22. See Pent. IV. 7 ; Gonz., Nos. 33, 34 ; Pitre, Nos. 59, 60 (61) ;
Archivio, II. 36 (Sardinia); De Nino, No. 19; and Schneller, No. 22.
The corresponding Grimm story is No. 135, " The White Bride and
the Black One." For other European references, see Kohler to Gonz.,
Nos. 33, 34 (II. p. 225), and Romania, No. 24, pp. 546, 561. See also
Chapter II., note I.
23. The best version is in the Pent. IV. 3, where the three daugh-
FAIRY TALES. 343
ters are married to a falcon, a stag, and a dolphin, who, as in our story,
assist their brother-in-law, but are disenchanted without his aid. Other
Italian versions are : Pitre, No. 16, and Nov. pop. sicil., Palermo, 1873,
No. 1; Gonz., No. 29; Knust (Leghorn), No. 2 (Jahrb. VII. 384);
Finamore, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 23 ; Nov. fior. p. 266 ; Compa-
retti, Nos. 4, 58; Archivio, II. p. 42 (Tuscan); Nov. tosc. No. 11.
For other European versions see, besides references in notes to above
stories, Hahn, No. 25 ; Grimm, vol. II. p. 510, to Musaus' " Die drei
Schwestem" and No. 197, " The Crystal Ball ; " Benfey, Pant. I. p.
534; and Ralston, R. F. T. p. 96. See also note 12 of this chapter.
As usual, many of the incidents of our stories are found in those be-
longing to other classes ; among the most important are : Prince hid-
den in musical instrument, Pitre, No. 95 ; finding princess' place of
concealment, Pitre, Nos. 95, 96; Gonz., No. 68; and Grimm, No. 133;
" The Shoes which were danced to Pieces ; " princess recognized
among others dressed alike, or all veiled ; Nov. fior. p. 41 1 (Milan) ;
Grimm, No. 62, " The Queen Bee," Ralston, R. F. T. p. 141, note ;
Basque Legends, p. 125; Orient tmd Occident, II. pp. 104, 107-114;
tasks set hero to win wife, Pitre, Nos. 21, 95, 96 ; Gonz., No. 68; De
Gub., Sto. Stefano, No. 8 ; Basque Legends, p. 120 ; Orient und Occi-
dent, II. 103 ; and Romania, No. 28, p. 527. This last incident is
found also in " Forgotten Bride," see note 25 of this chapter.
24. For other European references to the first class, " riddle solved
by suitor," see Jahrb. V. 13; Grimm, No. 114, "The Cunning Little
Tailor," and Hahn, I. p. 54.
Other Italian versions of the second class are : Comparetti, Nos. 26
(Basilicata), 59 (Monferrato) ; Nerucci, p. 177 (partly); and Widter-
Wolf, No. 15 (Jahrb. VII. 269). See also Kohler's notes to last-
mentioned story, and also to Campbell, No. 22, in Orient und Occi-
dent, II. 320; Grimm, No. 22, "The Riddle;" and Prof. F. J. Child,
English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Part II. p. 414.
For other stories containing riddles belonging to other classes than
the above, see Bernoni, Punt. II. p. 54; Gradi, Vigilia, p. 8; Coraz-
zini, p. 432 ; Finamore, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 7 ; and Kohler's ar-
ticle, Das Rdthselmdrchen von dem ermordeten Geliebten in the Ri-
vista di Lett. pop. I. p. 212. A peculiar version of the second class
may be found in Ortoli, p. 123, where a riddle very much like the one
in the text is proposed by suitor to princess' father.
25. Other Italian versions are : Gonz., Nos. 14, 54, 55; Pent. II. 7,
III. 9 (forgets bride on touching shore) ; Pomiglianesi, p. 136 (the
first part belongs to the class of " Fair Angiola ; ") Busk, p. 3 (first
part same as last story) ; De Gub., Sto. Stefano, No. 5 (see also Ri-
vista di Lett. pop. I. p. 84) ; Coronedi-Berti, No. 13 (this is one of
the few " Three Citrons " stories containing episode of bride forgotten
at mother's kiss) ; Schneller, No. 27 ; Finamore, Trad. pop. abruz-
344 NOTES.
zest, No. 4 (mother's kiss) ; Pitre, vol. IV. p. 285, gives an Albanian
version of our story. The imprecation and mother's kiss are also
found in another of the " Three Citrons " stories, Gonz., No. 13. For
obstacles to flight, see Note 1 1 of this chapter.
For other European versions see Kohler's notes to Gonz., No. 14;
to Campbell, No. 2 {Orient und Occident, II. 103).; to Kreutzwald-
Lowe, No. 14; Hahn, I. p. 55; Romania, Nos. 19, p. 354, 20, p. 527;
Grimm, Nos. 56, ("Sweetheart Roland"), 113 ("The Two Kings'
Children"), 186 ("The True Bride"), 193 ("The Drummer;")
Basque Legends, p. 120; Ralston, R. F. T. pp. 119, 131 ; Brueyre, p.
in ; and B. Schmidt, Griechische Marchen, Sagen und Volkslieder,
Leipzig, 1877, cited by Cosquin, Romania, No. 28, p. 543. See also in
general, Cox, Aryan Myth. I. p. 158.
26. The same incident is found in Gonz., No. 6, and Pitre, No. 61.
See Kohler's notes to Gonz., No. 6; Grimm, No. 193 ("The Drum-
mer") ; Romania, No. 28, p. 527; and Hahn, No. 15.
27. Another Venetian version is in Bernoni, No. 3. See also Nov.
fior. p. 290; Gradi, Vigilia, p. 53; Fiabe Mant. No. 39; and Schnel-
ler, No. 32.
For other European versions, see Grimm, No. 46 (" Fitcher's Bird "),
Kohler's notes to Widter-Wolf, No. 11 (Jahrb. VII. 148) ; and Rals-
ton, R. F. T. p. 97.
28. See Pitre, No. 19, Nuovo Saggio, No. 4; Nov. fior. pp. 7, 12;
and Nerucci, No. 49. Compare also Gonz., Nos. 10 and 22 (already
mentioned, " The Robber who had a Witch's Head"), and Comparetti,
No. 18 (Pisa).
For other references to this class, see Grimm, No. 40 (" The Robber-
Bridegroom ") and Romania, No. 22, p. 236.
29. See Chap. II., note 4. For other references to this class, see
Grimm, No. 3 (" Our Lady's Child "), and Ro?nania, No. 28, p. $6%.
30. The seventh version is from Bologna and is entitled La Fola del
Muretein ("The Story of the Little Moor"), and was published by Co-
ronedi-Berti in the Rivista Europea, Florence, 1873. It is briefly as
follows : A queen has no children and visits a witch who gives her an
apple to eat, telling her that in due time she will bear a son. One of the
queen's maids eats the peel and both give birth to sons ; the maid's
being called the Little Moor from resembling the dark red color of the
apple peel. The two children grow up together, and when the prince
goes off on his travels his friend the little Moor accompanies him.
They spend the night in an enchanted castle and the friend hears a
voice saying that the prince will conquer in a tournament and marry
the king's daughter, but on their wedding night a dragon will devour
the bride, and whoever tells of it will become marble. The friend
saves the princess' life, but is thrown into prison, and when he excul-
pates himself becomes marble. He can only be restored to life by being
FAIRY TALES. 345
anointed with the blood of a cock belonging to a wild man (om sal-
vadgJi) living on a certain mountain. The prince performs the difficult
feat of stealing the cock and healing his friend.
For other European versions, see Grimm, No 6 (" Faithful John ") ;
Hahn, No. 29 ; Wolf, Proben Port, und Cat. Volksm. p. 52 ; Lo Ron-
dallayre, No. 35 (" Lo bon criat ") ; Old Deccan Days, p. 98 ; and in
general, Benfey, Pant. I. p. 417, and Kohler in WeimariscJie Beitrdge
zur Lit. tend Kunst, Weimar, 1865, p. 192 et seq.
31. See Pitre, vol. I. pp. xcix., ciii. ; IV. pp. 382, 430, and Compa-
retti, No. 44. A version from the Abruzzi may be found in Finamore,
No. 38. See also Grimm, No. 191 ("The Robber and his Sons");
Basque Legends, p. 4 ; Dolopathos ed. Oesterley, pp. xxii., 65 ; and in
general, Orieftt ttnd Occident, II. 120, and Benfey, Pant. I. 295.
32. Another Sicilian version is in Gonz., No. 83. Other versions
are : Pent. III. 7; Nerucci, p. 341 ; De Nino, No. 30 ; Fiabe Mant.
No. 4 ; Nov. fior. p. 340 (Milan) ; and Widter-Wolf, No. 9 (Jahrb.
VII. p. 134). There are other similar stories in which a person is
forced by those envious of him to undertake dangerous enterprises :
see Pitre, Nos. 34, 35 ; Comparetti, No. 16; Tuscan Fairy Tales, No.
8, De Nino, No. 39, etc. Strap., I. 2, also offers many points of re-
semblance to our story.
For other versions, see Grimm, No. 192 (" The Master-Thief "), and
Kdhler's notes to Widter-Wolf, No. 9.
33. The version in Nov. fior. p. 574, is from Florence, the others,
pp. 575 (the story in our text), 577, 578, 579, are from Milan, and closely
resemble each other.
34. Compare Pitre, No. 83, and De Nino, No. 43. Tyrolese ver-
sions are in Schneller, Nos. 53, 54. See also Widter-Wolf, No. 2
(Jahrb. VII. 13), and Jahrb. VIII. p. 246, Italien. Mdrchen aus
Sora, No. 2. For additional European versions, see Jahrb. ut supra,
and V. 7; Romania, Nos. 19, p. 350; 24, p. 562; 28, p. 556; and
Grimm, Nos. 20 (" The Valiant Little Taylor"), and 183 ("The Giant
and the Tailor ") Some of the episodes mentioned in the text may
be found in a Corsican story in Ortoli, p. 204, where, however, instead
of a giant, a priest is outwitted by his servant.
CHAPTER II.
FAIRY TALES CONTINUED.
I. This story Is found in the Pent. I. 10. In Schneller, No. 29,
the king falls in love with a frog (from hearing its voice without seeing
it) which is transformed by the fairies into a beautiful girl. The good
wishes of the fairies are found in Pitre, Nos. 61, 94. See also Pent.
346 NOTES.
I. 3 ; III. 10, and Chap. I. of the present work, note 22. For gifts by
the fairies, see Pitre, vol. I. p. 334, and the following note.
2. This story is often found as an introduction to " False Bride ; "
see Chap. I., note 21. Sicilian versions may be found in Pitre, Nos.
62, 63; Neapolitan, Pent. III. 10; from the Abruzzi in Finamore, No.
48; De Nino, No. 18; Tuscan, Gradi, Vigilia, p. 20, De Gub., Sto. Ste-
fano, No. 1, Zo'ol. Myth. II. p. 62, note, Tuscan Fairy Tales, pp. 9,
18, Corazzini, p. 409, Nov. tosc. No. 8, La Tinchina deW alto Mare;
Venetian, Bernoni, XIX.; and Tyrolese, Schneller, Nos. 7, 8.
In several of the Tuscan versions (Gradi, Zo'ol. Myth., Tuscan Fairy
Tales, p. 9, and Nov.fior. p. 202, which is composed of " Two Sisters "
and " True Bride ") instead of fairies the sisters find cats who bestow
the varying gifts.
Other European versions of this story will be found in Grimm, No.
24, "Old Mother Holle;" Norwegian in Asbj. & Moe, No. 15 ; [Da-
sent, Pop. Tales from the Norse, p. 103, "The Two Step-Sisters "]
French in Blade, Contes agen. p. 149, and Cosquin, Contes pop. lor-
rains, No. 48 (Romania, No. 32, p. 564). The Oriental versions are
mentioned by Cosquin in his notes to the last named story; see also
Benfey, Pant. I. p. 219.
3. Other Tuscan versions are in Gradi, Saggio di Letture varie, p.
125, and Nov. tosc. No. 22 ; Sicilian and Roman versions may be found
in Pitre, No. 64, and Busk, p. 96.
French versions will be found in Mehisine, pp. 113 (conte picard)
and 241 {conte de V Amienois). A Japanese version is given in the
same periodical, p. 161. An Irish version is in Croker, Fairy Legends
etc. (translated in Brueyre, p. 206) ; and a Turkish version is given in
The Wo7ider World Stories, New York, Putnam, 1877, p. 139. Other
French and Oriental versions are noticed in Mehisine, pp. 161, 241. A
somewhat similar German version is in Grimm, No. 182. "The Pres-
ents of the Little Folk."
4. This story somewhat resembles Gonz., No. 20, mentioned in Chap.
I., note 29. Another Sicilian version is in Pitre, No. 86. I have been
unable to find any other Italian parallels. Personification of one's Fate
may be found in Gonz., Nos. 52, 55, Pitre, No. 12 ; and of Fortune in
Pitre, No. 29, and Comparetti, No. 50. See Indiin Fairy Tales, p. 263.
5. Sicilian versions are in Pitre, No. 105, and Gonz., No. 18. In
the latter version the king drives his daughter from the palace and the
rejected suitor disguises himself, follows her, and marries her. A
Neapolitan version is in the Pent. IV. 10 ; Tuscan in Gradi, Vigilia,
p. 97; Nerucci, p. 211 ; and Jahrb. VII. p. 394 (Knust, No. 9).
Other European versions are : Grimm No. 52, " King Thrushbeard ; "
Norwegian, Asbj. & Moe, No. 45, and Grundtwig, III. [1]; French,
Romania, No. 32, p. 552 (Contes pop. lorrains, No. 45) ; and Greek,
Hahn, No. 113. See also Tibetan Talcs, London, 1882, Ralston's
notes, p. lviii.
FAIRY TALES. 347
6. Other versions of this story are : Sicilian, Pitre, No. 67, and
Gonz., No. 28 ; Tuscan, Archivio, I. pp. 41, 65, Nov. tosc. No. 7, Abruzzi,
De Nino, No. 1. For the first part of the story, see Nov.fior. pp. 332-
333-
7. I have followed in this division Imbriani, Pomiglianesi, p. 89.
8. Another Sicilian version, which, however, does not contain the
trait " cure by laughing," is in Pitre, No. 28. Gonz., No. 30, may be
mentioned here, as it contains a part of our story. The magic gifts in
it are a carpet that transports the owner wherever he wishes to go, a
purse always full, and a horn that when one blows in the little end
covers the sea with ships, when one blows in the big end, the ships
disappear. Neapolitan versions are in Imbriani, Pomiglianesi, pp. 62,
83; Roman in Busk, pp. 129, 136, comp. p. 146 ; and Tuscan in Frizzi,
Novella montanina, Florence, A. Ciardelli e C. 1876, Nerucci, p. 471
Archivio per le Trad. pop. I. p. 57, and Nov. tosc. No. 16. De Gub.,
Zoo I. Myth. I. p. 288, n. 3, gives a version from the Marches, and there
is a Bolognese version in Coronedi-Berti, No. 9. Other versions may
be found in Finamore, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 30, and Bolognini, p.
21. For other European versions, see Gesta Rom. ed. Oesterley, cap.
cxx. ; Grimm, No. 122; Campbell, No. 10, " The Three Soldiers " (see
Kohler's notes to this story in Orient tind Occident, II. p. 124, and
Brueyre, p. 138); Cosquin, Contes pop. lorrai7is, Nos. 11 (Rom. No.
19, p. 361) and 42 (Rom. No. 28, p. 581); and finally, Kreutzwald,
Ehstnische Mdrchen, No. 23. Comp. also De Gub., Zo'ol. Myth. I. p.
182, and Ralston's notes to Schiefner's Tibetan Tales, p. liv.
9. I have been unable to find any European parallels to this form
of the story.
10. Another version of this story is found in the same collection, p.
359. Other Tuscan versions are found in De Gub., Sto. Stefano, No.
21, Gradi, Saggio di Letture varie, p. 181, Nov. tosc. No. 29, and Com-
paretti, No. 7 (Mugello). The other versions are as follows: Sicilian,
Pitre, No. 29 (comp. No. 30), Gonz., No. 52 ; Neapolitan, Pent. I. 1
(Comp. Pomiglianesi, p. 116); Abruzzi, Finamore, No. 37 ; De Nino,
No. 6; Ortoli, pp. 171, 178; Venetian, Bernoni, No. 9; the Marches,
Comp., No. 12; and Tyrolese, Schneller, p. 28.
For the other European parallels, see Grimm, No. 36, " The Table,
the Ass, and the Stick;" Me lu sine (conie breton), p. 130; Cosquin,
Contes pop. lorrains, No. 14 (Rom. No. 19, p. 333) ; De Gub., Zobl.
Myth. II. p. 262 (Russian) ; Brueyre, p. 48 (B. Gould, Yorkshire, Ap-
pendix to Henderson's Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of Eng-
land); Asbj. & Moe, No. 7 [Dasent, Pop. Tales from the Norse, p.
261, " The Lad who went to the North Wind "], and Old Deccan Days,
No. 12.
11. Another Sicilian version is in Gonz., No. 65, with same title and
contents. A Neapolitan version is in the Pent. II. 4, where the fox is
348 NOTES.
replaced by a cat. This is also the case in the versions from the
Abruzzi, Finamore, No. 46, De Nino, No. 53; in the Florentine ver-
sions in Nov.jior. p. 145, Nov. lose. No. xii. var. ; and in the Tyrolese
given by Schneller, p. 122 ("77 Conte Martin dalla gatta^. In an-
other story in Schneller, p. 124 Q'L'Anello"), a youth possesses a
magic ring and a dog and cat which recover the ring when stolen from
its owner. Older and more interesting than the above versions is the
one in Straparola, XL 1. We give it here in full in order that our
readers may compare with it the version in our text and Perrault's
" Puss in Boots," which is the form in which the story has become
popular all over Europe. The following translation is from the edition
of 1562 (Venice).
XXXIV. PUSS IN BOOTS.
SORIANA DIES AND LEAVES THREE SONS: DUSOLINO, TeSIFONE, AND CONSTANTINE THE
Lucky, who, by virtue of a cat, acquires a powerful kingdom.
There was once in Bohemia a very poor lady named Soriana, who
had three sons : one was called Dusolino, the other Tesifone, and the
third Constantine the Lucky. She owned nothing valuable in the
world but three things : a kneading-trough, a rolling-board, and a cat.
When Soriana, laden with years, came to die, she made her last testa-
ment, and left to Dusolino, her eldest son, the kneading-trough, to Te-
sifone the rolling-board, and to Constantine the cat. When the mother
was dead and buried, the neighbors, as they had need, borrowed now
the kneading-trough, now the rolling-board ; and because they knew
that the owners were very poor, they made them a cake, which Duso-
lino and Tesifone ate, giving none to Constantine, the youngest
brother. And if Constantine asked them for anything, they told him
to go to his cat, which would get it for him. Wherefore poor Constan-
tine and his cat suffered greatly. Now the cat, which was enchanted,
moved to compassion for Constantine, and angry at the two brothers
who treated him so cruelly, said : " Constantine, do not be downcast,
for I will provide for your support and my own." And leaving the
house, the cat went out into the fields, and, pretending to sleep, caught
a hare that passed and killed it. Thence, going to the royal palace
and seeing some of the courtiers, the cat said that she wished to speak
with the king, who, when he heard that a cat wished to speak to him,
had her shown into his presence, and asked her what she wished.
The cat replied that her master, Constantine, had sent him a hare
which he had caught. The king accepted the gift, and asked who this
Constantine was. The cat replied that he was a man who had no su-
perior in goodness, beauty, and power. Wherefore the king treated
the cat very well, giving her to eat and drink bountifully. When the
cat had satisfied her hunger, she slyly filled with her paw (unseen by
FAIRY TALES. 349
any one) the bag that hung at her side, and taking leave of the king,
carried it to Constantine. When the brothers saw the food over which
Constantine exulted, they asked him to share it with them ; but he re-
fused, rendering them tit for tat. On which account there arose be-
tween them great envy, that continually gnawed their hearts. Now
Constantine, although handsome in his face, nevertheless, from the
privation he had suffered, was covered with scabs and scurf, which
caused him great annoyance. But going with his cat to the river, she
licked him carefully from head to foot, and combed his hair, and in a
few days he was entirely cured.
The cat (as we said above) continued to carry gifts to the royal pal-
ace, and thus supported her master. But after a time she wearied of
running up and down so much, and feared that she would annoy the
king's courtiers ; so she said to her master : " Sir, if you will do what
I order, I will make you rich in a short time." " How ? " said her
master. The cat replied : " Come with me, and do not ask any more,
for I am ready to enrich you." So they went together to the stream,
which was near the royal palace, and the cat stripped her master, and
with his agreement threw him into the river, and then began to cry
out in a loud voice : " Help ! help ! Messer Constantine is drowning."
The king hearing this, and remembering that he had often received
presents from him, sent his people at once to aid him. When Messer
Constantine was taken out of the water and dressed in fine clothes, he
was taken to the king, who received him cordially, and asked him why
he had been thrown into the river. Constantine could not answer for
grief ; but the cat, which was always at his side, said : " Know, O
king, that some robbers learned from spies that my master was loaded
with jewels, which he was coming to present to you. They robbed
him of all, and threw him into the river, thinking to kill him, but
thanks to these gentlemen he has escaped from death." The king,
hearing this, ordered, that he should be well cared for ; and seeing that
he was handsome, and knowing him to be wealthy, he concluded to
give him Elisetta, his daughter, for a wife, endowing her with jewels
and most beautiful garments. After the wedding festivities had
been ended, the king had ten mules loaded with money, and five with
costly apparel, and sent his daughter to her husband's home, accompa-
nied by a great retinue. Constantine, seeing that he had become so
wealthy and honored, did not know where to lead his wife, and took
counsel with his cat, which said : " Do not fear, my master, for we
shall provide for everything." So they all set out gayly on horseback,
and the cat ran hastily before them ; and having left the company some
distance behind, met some horsemen, to whom she said : " What are
you doing here, wretched men ? Depart quickly, for a large band of
people are coming, and will take you prisoners. They are near by : you
can hear the noise of the neighing horses." The horsemen said in ter-
350 * NOTES.
ror : " What must we do, then ? " The cat replied : " Do this, — if
you are asked whose horsemen you are, answer boldly, Messer Con-
stantine's, and you will not be molested." Then the cat went on, and
found a large flock of sheep, and did the same with their owners, and
said the same thing to all those whom she found in the road. The
people who were escorting Elisetta asked the horsemen : " Whose
knights are you," and " whose are so many fine flocks ? " and all
with one accord replied: "Messer Constantine's." Then those who
accompanied the bride said : " So then, Messer Constantine, we are
beginning to enter your territory." And he nodded his head, and re-
plied in like manner to all that he was asked. Wherefore the company
judged him to be very wealthy. At last the cat came to a very fine
castle, and found there but few servants, to whom she said: "What
are you doing, good men ; do you not perceive the destruction which
is impending ? " " What ? " asked the servants. " Before an hour
passes, a host of soldiers will come here and cut you to pieces. Do
you not hear the horses neighing ? Do you not see the dust in the
air ? If you do not wish to perish, take my advice and you will be
saved. If any one asks you whose this castle is, say, Messer Con-
stantine's." So they did; and when the noble company reached the
handsome castle they asked the keepers whose it was, and all an-
swered boldly Messer Constantine the Lucky's. Then they entered,
and were honorably entertained. Now the castellan of that place was
Signor Valentino, a brave soldier, who, a short time before, had left
the castle to bring home the wife he had lately married ; and to his
misfortune, before he reached the place where his wife was he was
overtaken on the way by a sudden and fatal accident, from which he
straightway died, and Constantine remained master of the castle. Be-
fore long, Morando, King of Bohemia, died, and the people elected for
their king Constantine the Lucky because he was the husband of Eli-
setta, the dead king's daughter, to whom the kingdom fell by right of
succession. And so Constantine, from being poor and a beggar, re-
mained Lord and King, and lived a long time with his Elisetta, leav-
ing children by her to succeed him in the kingdom.
For copious references to other European versions, see Kohler's
notes to Gonz., No. 65 (II. p. 242), and Benfey, Pant. I. p. 222.
12. The earliest Italian versions are in the Cento nov. ant., Testo
Papanti {Romania, No. 10, p. 191), and Straparola, XI. 2. Later
popular versions, besides the Istrian one in the text, are : Nerucci,
p. 430, and Bernoni, III. p. 91, both of which are much distorted.
Some of the episodes are found in other stories, as, for instance, the
division of the property, including the wife, which occurs in Gonz.,
No. 74. "The Thankful Dead" is also the subject of an Italian
novel, Novella di Messer Danese e di Messer Gigliotto, Pisa, 1868 (pri-
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 35 I
vately printed), and of a popular poem, Istoria bellissima di Stellante
Costantina composta da Giovanni Orazio Brunette
The extensive literature of this interesting story can best be found
in D'Ancona's notes to the version in the Cento nov. ant., cited above.
To these may be added : Ive's notes to the story in the text, Cos-
quin's notes to No. 19 of the Contes pop. lorrains (Rom. No. 24, p.
534). and Nisard, Hist, des Livrcs pop. II. p. 450. Basque and Span-
ish versions have been published recently, the former in Webster's
Basque Legends, pp. 146, 151, and the latter in Caballero, Cuentos,
oraciones, etc., Leipzig, 1S78, p. 23. A version from Mentone may be
found in the Folk-Lore Record, vol. III. p. 48, "John of Calais."
13. In the original it is la Voria, which in Sicilian means "breeze,"
but I take it to be the same as Boria in Italian (Lat. Boreas-ce), the
North Wind.
14. Other Italian versions are: Nov. fior. p. 440; Archivio, III.
542 (Abruzzi) ; Pitre, No. 31 ; Tuscan Fairy Tales, No. 10, p. 102;
De Nino, No. 69; and Widter-Wolf, No. 10 (Jahrbuch, VII. 139).
See also Prato, Una nov. pop. monferrina, Como, 1882 ; and Finamore,
Trad. pop. abruzzesi, Nos. 17, 19.
References to other European versions will be found in Kohler's
notes to Widter-Wolf, No. 10. See also Grimm, No. 92; Ralston's
R. F. T. p. 132, and Chap. I., note 11, of the present work.
15. A work of this kind, similar in scope to Nisard's Hist, des
IJvres populaires, is greatly to be desired, and ought to be undertaken
before the great changes in the social condition of Italy shall have
rendered such a task difficult, if not impossible.
CHAPTER III.
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN.
I. There are three Italian translations of the Pantschatantra, all of
the XVI. century. Two, Discorsi degli Animali, by Angelo Firenzuola,
1548, and La Filosofia Morale, by Doni, 1552, represent the Hebrew
translation by Rabbi Joel (1250), from which they are derived through
the Directorium humanae vitae of Johannes de Capua (1263-78) ; the
third, Del Governo de' Regni, by G. Nuti, 1583, is from the Greek ver-
sion of Simeon Seth (1080). A full account of the various translations
of the Pantschatantra may be found in Max Midler's Chips, Vol. IV.
p. 165, " The Migration of Fables." See also Benfey, Pant. I. pp. 1-
19, Buddhist Birth Stories; or, Jataka Tales, By V. Fausbbll and T.
W. Rhys Davids, Boston, 1880, p. xciii., and Landau, Die Quellen des
Decamerone, mentioned in the following note.
The Seven Wise Masters was also translated into Italian at an early
352 NOTES.
date. One version, II Libro dei Sette Savj di Roma, Pisa, 1864, edited
by Prof. A. D'Ancona, is a XIII. century translation from a French
prose version (Cod. 7974, Bib. nat.~) ; another, of the same date, Storia
d' una crudele Matrigna, Bologna, 1862, is from an uncertain source,
from which is probably derived a third version, II Libro dei Sette Savi
di Roma tratto da tin codice del secolo XIV. per cura di Antonio Cap-
pelli, Bologna, 1865. The MS. from which the version edited by
Delia Lucia in 1832 (reprinted at Bologna, 1862) was taken has been
recently discovered and printed in Operette inedite o rare, Libre? ia
Dante, Florence, 1883, No. 3. A fourth version of the end of the
XIII. or the beginning of the XIV. century is still inedited, it is men-
tioned by D'Ancona in the Libro dei Sette Savj, p. xxviii., and its
contents given. The latest and most curious version is / Compassio-
nevoli Avvenimenti di Erasto, a work of the XVI. century (first edition,
Venice, 1542) which contains four stories found in no other version of
the Seven Wise Masters. The popularity of this version, the source
of which is unknown, was great. See D'Ancona, op. cit., pp. xxxi.-
xxxiv.
The Disciplina Clericalis was not known, apparently, in Italy as a
collection, but the separate stories were known as early as Boccaccio,
who borrowed the outlines of three of his stories from it (VII. 4;
VIII. 10: X. 8). Three of the stories of the Disc. Cler. are also found
in the Ital. trans, of Frate Jacopo da Cessole's book on Chess (Vol-
garizzamento del libro de' Costumi e degli ojffizii de' nobili sopra il
giuoco degli Scachi, Milan, 1829) and reprinted in Libro di ATovelle
Antiche, Bologna, 1868, Novelle III., IV., and VI. This translation is
of the XII. century. Other stories from the Disc. Cler. are found in
the Cento nov. ant., Gualt., LI 1 1., XXXL, LXVL, Borg., LXXIV. {Cent,
nov., Biagi, pp. 226, 51, 58) ; and in Cintio, Gli Ecato7itmiti, I, 3 ; VII.
6.
2. It has been generally supposed that the Oriental element was
introduced into European literature from Spain through the medium of
the French. We shall see later that this was the case with the famous
collection of tales just mentioned, the Disciplina Clericalis. Oriental
elements are also found in the French fabliaux which are supposed to
have furnished Boccaccio with the plots of a number of his novels.
See Landau, Die Quellen des Deca77terone, 2d ed., Vienna, 1884, p.
107. Professor Bartoli in his I Precursoi'i del Boccaccio e alcune delle
sue Fonti, Florence, 1876, endeavors to show that Boccaccio may
have taken the above mentioned novels from sources common to them
and the French fabliaux. It is undeniable that there was in the
Middle Ages an immense mass of stories common to the whole western
world, and diffused by oral tradition as well as by literary means, and
it is very unsafe to say that any one literary version is taken directly
from another. Sufficient attention has not been paid to the large
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 353
Oriental element in European entertaining literature prior to the Renais-
sance. In early Italian literature besides Boccaccio, the Cento novelle
antiche abound in Oriental elements. See D'Ancona, Le Fonti del
Novellino, in the Romania, vol. III. pp. 164-194, since republished in
Studj di Critica e Storia Letteraria, Bologna, 1880, pp. 219-359.
3. See Introduction, Notes 3, 7.
4. In the Pantschatantra (Benfey's trans, vol. II. p. 120) this story
is as follows : A merchant confides to a neighbor some iron scales or
balances for safe-keeping. When he wishes them back he is told that
the mice have eaten them up. The merchant is silent, and some time
after asks his neighbor to lend him his son to aid him in bathing. After
the bath the merchant shuts the boy up in a cave, and when the father
asks where he is, is told that a falcon has carried him off. The neigh-
bor exclaimed : " Thou liar, how can a falcon carry away a boy ? The
merchant responded : " Thou veracious man ! If a falcon cannot carry
away a boy, neither can mice eat iron scales. Therefore give me back
my scales if you desire your son." See also Benfey, Pant. I. p. 283.
La Fontaine has used the same story for his fable of Le Depositaire
injidele (livre IX. 1) : see also references in Fables inedites, vol. II.
P- 193-
5. The fables in Pitre of non-Oriental origin may be mentioned
here; they are: No. 271, " Brancaliuni" found also in Straparola, X.
2; No. 272, "The Two Mice," compare Aesop, ed. Furia, 198, and
Schneller, No. 59 ; No. 274, " Wind, Water, and Honor," found in
Straparola, XI. 2; No. 275, " Godfather Wolf and Godmother Fox";
No. 276, "The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox," Aesop, ed. Furia, 233 ;
No. 277, "The Fox," see Roman du Renart, Paris, 1828, I. p. 129, and
Nov. lose. No. 69; No. 278, "L'Acidduzzu (Pretty Little Bird)," com-
pare Asbj. & Moe, No. 42, Bernoni, Punt. III. p. 69, " El Galo"
Nerucci, Cincelle da Ba?nbini, p. 38 ; No. 279, ' ' The Wolf and the
Finch," Gonz., No. 66, Nov. tosc. No. 52 (add to Kohler's references :
Asbj. & M., Nos. 42, 102, [Dasent, Tales frojn the Fjeld, p. 35, "The
Greedy Cat,"] and Bernoni, Pzmt. III. p. 69); and finally No. 280,
"The Cricket and the Ants," see Aesop, ed. Furia, 121, La Fontaine,
La Cigale et la Fourmi, livre I. 1 : see copious references in Robert,
Fables inedites, I. p. 2. For Bernoni, III. p. 69, " El Galo," and Pitre\
No. 279, see Chap. V. pp. 270, 272.
There are two fables in Coronedi-Berti's collection: No. 20: "La
Fola del Corov," and No. 21, "La Fola dla Voulp." The first is the
well-known fable of the crow in the peacock's feathers ; for copious
references see Robert, Fables inedites, I. p. 247, to La Fontaine's Le
Geai pare des plumes du Paon, livre IV. fab. IX., and Oesterley to
Kirchhof's Wendunmuth, 7, 52. In the second fable the fox leaves
her little ones at home, bidding them admit no one without a counter-
sign. The wolf learns it from the simple little foxes themselves, gains
23
354 NOTES.
admission, and eats two of them up. The mother takes her revenge
in almost the same way as does the fox in Pitre's fable, No. 277.
6. This fable is also found in Pitre, No. 273, " The Man, the Wolf,
and the Fox," and in Gonz., No. 69, " Lion, Horse, and Fox : " see
Benfey, Pant. I. 113, and Kohler's references to Gonz., No. 69.
There is also a version of this fable in Morosi, p. 75, which is as
follows : —
XLIX. THE MAN, THE SERPENT, AND THE FOX.
There was once a huntsman, who, in passing a quarry, found a ser-
pent under a large stone. The serpent asked the hunter to liberate
him, but the latter said : " I will not free you, for you will eat me."
The serpent replied : " Liberate me, for I will not eat you." When
the hunter had set the serpent at liberty, the latter wanted to devour
him, but the hunter said : " What are you doing ? Did you not prom-
ise me that you would not eat me ? " The serpent replied that hunger
did not observe promises. The hunter then said : " If you have no
right to eat me, will you do it ? " " No," answered the serpent. " Let
us go, then," said the hunter, " and ask three times." They went into
the woods and found a greyhound, and asked him, and he replied :
" I had a master, and I went hunting and caught hares, and when I
carried them home my master had nothing too good to give me to eat ;
now, when I cannot overtake even a tortoise, because I am old, my
master wishes to kill me ; for this reason I condemn you to be eaten
by the serpent ; for he who does good finds evil." " Do you hear ?
We have one judge," said the serpent. They continued their journey,
and found a horse, and asked him, and he too replied that the serpent
was right to eat the man, " for," he said, " I had a master, who fed me
when I could travel ; now that I can do so no longer, he would like to
hang me." The serpent said : " Behold, two judges ! " They went
on, and found a fox. The huntsman said : " Fox, you must aid me.
Listen : I was passing a quarry, and found this serpent dying under a
large stone, and he asked aid from me, and I released him, and now he
wants to eat me." The fox answered : " I will be the judge. Let us
return to the quarry, to see how the serpent was." They went there,
and put the stone on the serpent, and the fox asked : " Is that the way
you were ?" " Yes," answered the serpent. " Very well, then, stay so
always ! " said the fox.
7. The individual stories of the Thotisand and One ATights were
known in Europe long before the collection, which was not translated
into French until 1704-17 17. This is shown by the fact that some of
the XIII. century fabliatix embody stories of the Thousand and One
Nights. See Note 10. An interesting article by Mr. H. C. Coote on
" Folk-Lore, the source of some of M. Galland's Tales," will be found
in the Folk-Lore Record, vol. III. pp. 1 78-1 91.
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 355
8. The Sicilian versions are in Pitre, No. 81. The version from Pa-
lermo, of which Pitre gives only a resume, is printed entire in F. Saba-
tini, La Lanterna, Nov. pop. sicil. Imola, 1878. The Roman version,
" How Cajusse was married," is .in Busk, p. 158; and the Mantuan in
Visentini, No. 35. Tuscan versions may be found in the Rivista di
Lett. pop. p. 267 ; De Nino, No. 5 ; and a version from Bergamo in
the same periodical, p. 288. For the episode of the " Magician with
no heart in his body," see Chap. I. note 12.
9. See Pitre, No. 36, and Gonz., No. 5, with Kohler's copious refer-
ences. As this story is found in Chap. I. p. 17, it is only mentioned
here for the sake of completeness.
There is another complete version of " The Forty Thieves " in Ne-
rucci, No. 54, Cicerchia, o i ventiduct, Ladri. The thieves are twenty-
two, and cicerchia is the magic word that opens and shuts the robbers'
cave. A version in Ortoli, p. 137, has seven thieves.
10. Pitre, No. 164, " The Three Hunchbacks ; " Straparola, V. 3.
It is also found in the fabliau, Les Trois Bossus, Barbazan-Meon,
III. 245 ; for copious references see Von der Hagen, Gesamtntaben-
teuer, III. p. xxxv. et seq. Pitre, No. 165, " Fra Ghiniparu," is a
variation of the above theme, and finds its counterpart in the fabliau
of Le Sacristain de Cluni : see Gesammtabenteuer, ut sup. Other ver-
sions are in Finamore, Trad. pop. abruzzesi, No. 9, and Nov. tosc.
No. 58.
11. The story is, properly speaking, in the introduction to the Thou-
sand and One Nights : see Lane, The Thousand and One Nights,
London, 1865, I. 10. See Straparola, XII. 3, and Schmipf und Ernst
von Johannes Pauli, herausgegeben von Hermann Oesterley (Biblio-
thek des litt. Vereins, LXXXV.), Stuttgart, 1866, No. 134, " Ein bosz
weib tugenhaft zemachen."
12. For the first story, see Thousand and One Nights (ed. Breslau),
IX. 129; Pent. V. 7; Gonz., No. 45; Hahn, No. 47; and Grimm,
No. 129. For the second, see Thousand and One Nights (ed. Breslau),
II. 196; ed. Lane, III. 41.
13. See Lane, I. 140, and, for the transformations, p. 156. This
story is also in Straparola, VIII. 5. It is well known in the North of
Europe from the Grimm tale (No. 68), " The Thief and his Master,"
To the references in Grimm, II. p. 431, may be added : Revue Cel-
tique, I. 132, II.; Benfey, Pant. I. p. 410; Brueyre, 253; Ralston,
R. F. T. 229 ; Asbj. & M., No. 57 [Dasent, Pop. Tales, No. XXXIX.]
(comp. Nos. 9, 46 [Dasent, Pop. Tales, Nos. XXIIL, IX.]); Hahn,
No. 68; Bernhauer, Vierzig Viziere, p. 195; Orient und Occident, II.
313; III. 374; Grundtvig, I. 248; Jiilg, Kahniikische Mdrchen, Einlei-
tung, p. 1 ; and F. J. Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads,
Part II. p. 399, "The Twa Magicians."
14. The principal sources of information in regard to the Disciplina
356 NOTES.
Clericalis and its author are the two editions of Paris and Berlin :
Disciplina Clericalis : auctore Petro Alphonsi, Ex-Judaeo Hispano,
Parisiis, mdcccxxiv. 2 vols. (Societe des Bibliophiles francais) ;
Petri Alfonsi Disciplina Clericalis, zum ersten Mai herausgegeben
mit Einleitung und Anmerkungen von Fr. Wilh. Val. Schmidt, Ber-
lin, 1827. The first edition was edited by J. Labouderie, Vicar-general
of Avignon, and as only two hundred and fifty copies were printed, it is
now very scarce. Schmidt even had not seen it : and when he pub-
lished his own edition, three years later, thought it the first. The Paris
edition contains the best text, and has besides two Old-French transla-
tions, one in prose, the other in verse. The Berlin edition is, however,
more valuable on account of the notes.
15. This is the story shortly after mentioned, Pitre, No. 138, " The
Treasure." The date of the Cento nov. ant. cannot be accurately
fixed; the compilation was probably made at the end of the XIII.
cent., although individual stories may be of an earlier date.
16. See Disciplina Cler. ed. Schmidt, pp. 63 and 142. For copious
references see Oesterley's Gesta Rom. cap. 106.
17. There are several literary Italian versions of this story: one in
Casalicchio, VI., I., VI.; and in Cintio, Ecatojiimiti, I. 3. There is
another popular version in Imbriani's Nov. fior. p. 616, " The Three
Friends."
18. See Disc. Cler. ed. Schmidt, pp. 50 and 128. The version in the
Cento nov. ant. ed. Gualt., No. 31, is as follows : Messer Azzolino
had a story-teller, whom he made tell stories during the long winter
nights. It happened one night that the story-teller had a great mind
to sleep, and Azzolino asked him to tell stories. The story-teller
began to relate a story about a peasant who had a hundred bezants.
He went to market to buy sheep, and had two for a bezant. Returning
home with his sheep, a river that he had crossed was greatly swollen
by a heavy rain that had fallen. Standing on the bank he saw a poor
fisherman with an exceedingly small boat, so small that it would only
hold the peasant and one sheep at a time. Then the peasant began to
cross with one sheep, and began to row: the river was wide. He
rows and crosses. And the story-teller ceased relating. Azzolino
said: "Go on." And the story-teller answered: "Let the sheep
cross, and then I will tell the story." For the sheep would not be over
in a year, so that meanwhile he could sleep at his leisure.
The story passed from the Disc. Cler. into the Spanish collection El
Libro de los Enxemplos, No. 85. A similar story is also found in
Grimm, No. 86, " The Fox and the Geese."
19. The word translated bank (bancu) is here used to indicate a
buried treasure. The most famous of these concealed treasures was
that of Ddisisa, a hill containing caves, and whose summit is crowned
by the ruins of an Arab castle. This treasure is mentioned also in
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 357
Pitre, No. 230, " The Treasure of Ddisisa," where elaborate direc-
tions are given for finding it.
20. See Pitre, vol. IV. p. 401, and Nov.fior. p. 572.
21. See Disc. Cler. ed. Schmidt, pp. 64 and 147, where the story is
as follows : " A certain tailor to the king had, among others, an ap-
prentice-named Nedui. On one occasion the king's officers brought
warm bread and honey, which the tailor and his apprentices ate with-
out waiting for Nedui, who happened to be absent. When one of the
officers asked why they did not wait for Nedui, the tailor answered
that he did not like honey. When Nedui returned, and learned what
had taken place, he determined to be revenged ; and when he had a
chance he told the officer who superintended the work done for the
king that the tailor often went into a frenzy and beat or killed the by-
standers. The officer said that if they could tell when the attack was
coming on, they would bind him, so that he could not injure any one.
Nedui said it was easy to tell; the first symptoms were the tailor's
looking here and there, beating the ground with his hands, and getting
up and seizing his seat. The next day Nedui securely hid his master's
shears, and when the latter began to look for them, and feel about on
the floor, and lift up his seat, the officer called in the guard and had
the tailor bound, and, for fear he should beat any one, soundly thrashed.
At last the poor tailor succeeded in obtaining an explanation ; and
when he asked Nedui : " When did you know me to be insane ? " the
latter responded: "When did you know me not to eat honey? " See
also references in Kirchhoff's Wendunmuth, I. 243.
22. In the original the admonitions are in the form of a verse, as
follows : —
" Primu : Cu' cancia la via vecchia pi la nova,
Le guai ch' 'un circannu dda li trova
Secunnu : Vidi assai e parra pocu.
Terzu : Pensa la cosa avanti chi la fai,
Ca la cosa pinsata e bedda assai."
23. See Disc. Cler. ed. Schmidt, pp. 61 and 141. This story is also
found in the Gesta Romanorum, cap. 103; Gonz., No. 81, where copi-
ous references by Oesterley and Kohler may be found ; in Nerucci,
No. 53; and in a distorted version in Ortoli, p. 118: see also Giomale
Napoletano della Domenica, August 20, 1882; Pitre, "/ Tre Pareri"
and Notes and Queries, London, February 7, March 14, 1885.
24. See Note 1 of this chapter.
25. In the original, what the husband, wife, and king, say, is in
verse, as follows : —
" Vigna era e Vigna son,
Amata era e piu non son ;
E non so per qual cagion,
Che la Vigna a perso la so stagion."
" Vigna eri e Vigna sei,
Amata eri e piu non sei :
358 NOTES.
Per la branca del leon
La Vigna a perso la so stagion."
" Ne la Vigna io son intrato,
Di quei pampani n' 6 tocato ;
Ma lo guiro per la corona che porto in capo,
Che de quel fruto no ghe n' 6 gustato."
This story is also found in Pitre, No. 76, " Ltt Bracceri di^nanu
manca " ("The Usher on the Left Hand," i. e., of the king, who also
had one on his right hand) ; Pomiglianesi, No. 6, " Villa j " and, in
the shape of a poetical dialogue, in Vigo, Raccolta amplissima di Canti
popolari siciliani. Secunda ediz. Catania, 1 870-1874, No. 5145.
The story is told of Pier delle Vigne by Jacopo d' Aqui (XIII.
cent.) in his Chronicon imaginis mtmdi, and of the Marchese di Pes-
cara by Brantome, Vie des Dames galantes. These versions will be
found with copious references in Pitre and Imbriani as cited above :
see also, Cantilene e Ballate, Stranibotti e Madrigali nei Secoli XIII.
e XIV, A cura di Giosue Carducci, Pisa, 1871, p. 26. The story is
discussed in an exhaustive manner by S. Prato in the Romania, vol.
XII. p. 535 ; XIV. p. 132, " D Orma del Leone."
26. For the Oriental versions see Essai sur les Fables indiennes, par
A. Loiseleur Deslongchamps, Paris, 1838, p-96; Das Buck von den
sieben weisen Meistern, aus dem Hebraischen und Griechischen zum
ersten Male iibersetzt von H. Sengelmann, Halle, 1842, p. 40 {Mischle
Sandabdf), p. 87 {Syntipas}, Tausend und Eine Nacht, Deutsch von
Max Habicht, Von der Hagen und Schall, Breslau, 1836, vol. XV. p.
112 (Arabic); Li Romans des Sept Sages, nach der Pariser Hand-
schrift herausgegeben von H. A. Keller, Tubingen, 1836, p. cxxxviii. ;
Dyocletianus Leben, von Hans von Buhel, herausgegeben von A. Keller,
Quedlinburg und Leipzig, 1841, p. 45. All students of this subject are
acquainted with Domenico Comparetti's masterly essay Ricerche in-
torno al Libro di Sindibdd, Milan, 1869, which has recently been made
accessible to English readers in a version published by the English
Folk-Lore Society in 1882. The Persion and Arabic texts may be
consulted in an English translation, reprinted with valuable introduc-
tion and notes in the following work : The Book of Sindibdd j or, The
Story of the King, his Son, the Damsel, and the Seven Vazirs, From
the Persian and Arabic, with Introduction, Notes, and an Appendix,
by W. A. Clouston. Privately printed, 1884 [Glasgow], pp. xvii.-lvi.
27. For the original version in the various forms of the Western
Seven Wise Masters, see Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, p. 162 ; Keller,
Romans, p. ccxxix., and Dyocletianus, p. 63 ; and D Ancona, II Libro
dei Sette Savi di Roma, p. 121. To the references in D' Ancona may
be added : Deux Redactions du Roman des Sept Sages, G. Paris, Paris,
1876, pp. 47, 162; Benfey, in Orient und Occident, III. 420; Romania,
VI. p. 182; Melusine, p. 384; and Basque Legends, collected by Rev.
W. Webster, London, 1879, PP- I3&> I37-
STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 359
28. See Grimm, No. 33, "The Three Languages;" Hahn, No. 33;
Basque Legends, p. 137; and Melusine, p. 300. There is a verbose
version in the Fiabe Mantovane, No. 23, " Bobo."
29. See Herodotus, with a commentary by J. W. Blakesley, Lon-
don, 1854, I. p. 254, n. 343. For the literature of this story, and for
various other Italian versions, see La Leggenda del Tesoro di Ramp^
sinite, Stanislao Prato, Como, 1882 ; and Ralston's notes to Schief-
ner's Tibetan Tales, p. xlvii.
30. For the story in the Seven Wise Masters, see D'Ancona, op. cit.
p. 108; Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, p. 146; Keller, Romans, p. cxciii.,
and Dyoclet. p. 55.
Besides the popular versions in Italian, the story is also found in
Bandello, I., XXV., who follows Herodotus closely.
31. For the story in the Seven Wise Masters see D'Ancona, op.
cit. p. 120; Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, p. 158; Keller, Romans, p.
ccxxxvii., and Dyoclet. p. 61. Literary versions of this story are in
Straparola, II. 11 ; Pecorone, II. 2; Malespini, 53 ; Bandello, I. 3; and
Sercambi, XIII. See Pitre, IV. pp. 407, 442.
32. The literature of this famous collection of tales will best be
found in an article by Wilhelm Pertsch, " Ueber Nachschabf s Papa-
gaienbuch " in the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesell-
schaft, Bd. XXI. pp. 505-551. Prof. H. Brockhaus discovered that
the eighth night of Nachschabi's version was nothing but a version of
the Seven Wise Masters containing seven stories. Nachschabi, in
preparing his work, used probably the oldest version of the Seven
Wise Masters of which we have any knowledge. Professor Brock-
haus made this discovery known in a brief pamphlet entitled: Die
Sieben Weisen Meister von Nachschabi, Leipzig, 1843, of which only
twelve copies were printed. The above, except the Persian text, was
reprinted in the Bldtt.fiir lit. Unterhaltung, 1843, Nos. 242, 243 (pp.
969 et seq.) ; and, in an Italian translation, in D'Ancona's // Libro
dei Sette Savi di Roma.
The Persian version of Qadiri (a compend of Nachschabi's) is the
one most frequently translated. The German translation : Tonti-
nameh. Eine Sammlung pers. Marchen, von C. J. L. Iken, mit einem
Anhange von J. G. L. Kosegarten, Stuttgart, 1822, is easily found.
The Turkish version is elegantly translated by G. Rosen : Tiiti-nameh,
das Papagaienbnch, eine Sammlung orientalischer Erzahlungen nach
der tiirkischen Bearbeitung zum ersten Male iibersetzt von G. Rosen,
Leipzig, 1858, 2 vols.
33. The preservation of the frame of the Ctikasaptati in Italian
popular tales is only paralleled, to our knowledge, by the preservation
of the Seven Wise Masters in a Magyar popular tale. See La Tra-
dizione dei Sette Savi nelle Novelline magiare. Lettera al Prof. A.
D'Ancona di E. Teza, Bologna, 1864.
360 NOTES.
It is possible that the Italian stories containing the frame of the
Ctikasaptati may have been developed from the story in the Seven
Wise Masters which is found in both the Oriental and Occidental ver-
sions. The spirit of Folk-tales seems to us averse to expansion, and
that condensation is the rule. We think it more likely that it was by
way of oral tradition, or from some now lost collection of Oriental tales
once known in Italy.
34. It is in the work by Teza mentioned in the last note, p. 52.
35. See Pitre, vol. I. p. 23. The three stories in one are called
Donna Viulanti (Palermo) and Lu Frati e hi Soru (Salaparuta).
36. See Chapter I. note 7.
37. The Italian versions are : Pitre, No. 78, " Lti Zu Viritati "
("Uncle Truth"); Gonz., No. 8, "Bauer Wahrhaft" ("Farmer
Truth"); XII. Conti Pomiglianesi, p. 1, "Giuseppe 'A Vereta"
(" Truthful Joseph," the version translated by us) ; p. 6, another ver-
sion from same place and with same name; and in Straparola, III. 5.
References to Oriental sources maybe found in Kohler's notes to Gonz.,
No. 8, and Oesterley's notes to Gesta Rom. cap. n 1.
In addition to the Oriental elements mentioned in the third chapter,
Stanislao Prato has discovered the story of Nala in a popular tale from
Pitigliano (Tuscany), see S. Prato, La Leggenda indiana di Nala in
una novella popolare pitiglianese, Como, 188 1. (Extracted from /
Nuovi Goliardi.)
CHAPTER IV.
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES.
I. It is the LXXV. novel of the Testo Gualteruzzi (Biagi, p. 108) :
Qui conta co??^e Domeneddio s' accompagtio con tin ghillare. The Lord
once went in company with a jester. One day the former went to a
funeral, and the latter to a marriage. The Lord called the dead to life
again, and was richly rewarded. He gave the jester some of the money
with which he bought a kid, roasted it and ate the kidneys himself.
His companion asked where they were, and the jester answered that in
that country the kids had none. The next time the Lord went to a
wedding and the jester to a funeral, but he could not revive the dead,
and was considered a deceiver, and condemned to the gallows. The
Lord wished to know who ate the kidneys, but the other persisted in
his former answer; but in spite of this the Lord raises the dead, and the
jester is set at liberty. Then the Lord said he wished to dissolve their
partnership, and made three piles of money, one for himself, another
for the jester, and the third for the one who ate the kidneys. Then the
jester said : " By my faith, now that you speak thus, I will tell you that
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 36 1
I ate them ; I am so old that I ought not to tell lies now." So some
things are proved by money, which a man would not tell to escape
from death. For the sources and imitations of this story see D'Ancona,
Le Fonti del Novellino, in the Romania, No. 10, p. 180, {Studj, p. 333).
To D'Ancona's references may be added the following : Grimm, 147,
"The Old Man made young again"; AsbJ0nsen and Moe, No. 21
[Dasent, Pop. Tales, No. XIV.], Ny Samm. No. 101 [Dasent, Tales
from the Fjeld, p. 94, "Peik"] ; Ralston, R. F. T. p. 350; Simrock's
Deutsche Marchen, Nos. 31k (p. 148), 32 ; Romania, No. 24, p. 578,
" Le Foie de Motiton" (E. Cosquin, Contes pop. lorrains, No. 30);
Brueyre, p. 330 ; and an Italian version, which is simply an amplifica-
tion of the one in the Cento nov. ant., in the recently published Ses-
santa Nov. pop. montalesi, Nerucci, No. 31.
2. See Jahrbuch, VII. pp. 28, 396. The professional pride of the
smith finds a parallel in an Irish story in Kennedy, " How St. Eloi
was punished for the sin of Pride." Before the saint became religious
he was a goldsmith, but sometimes amused himself by shoeing horses,
and boasted that he had never found his master in anything. One day
a stranger stopped at his forge and asked permission to shoe his horse.
Eloi consented, and was very much surprised to see the stranger break
off the horse's leg at the shoulder, carry it into the smithy and shoe
it. Then the stranger put on again the horse's leg, and asked Eloe if
he knew any one who could do such a good piece of work. Eloi tries
himself, and fails miserably. The stranger, who is Eloi's guardian
angel, cures the horse, reproves the smith for his pride, and disappears.
See Brueyre, p. 329, and Blad£, Agenais, p. 61, and Kohler's notes, p. 157.
3. Bernoni, Punt. I. p. 1, "/ cinque brazzi de Tela?'' See Benfey,
Pant. I. p. 497, where the same story (without the coarseness of the
Italian version) is related of Buddha, who tells the hospitable woman
that " what she begins shall not end until sunset." She begins to
measure linen and it lengthens in her hands so that she continues to
measure it all day. The envious neighbor receives the same gift, but
before she begins to measure the linen, she thinks she will water the
swine ; the bucket does not become empty until evening, and the whole
neighborhood is inundated. See Benfey's parallels, ut. sup. pp. 497-
98, and Grimm, No. 87, notes.
4. These four legends are in Pitre, Cinque Novelline popolari sici-
liane, Palermo, 1878. In the third story, "San Pietru e so cumpari^
St. Peter gets something to eat from a stingy man by a play on the
word mussu, " snout," and cu lu mussu, " to be angry." For a similar
story see Pitre, III. 312. A parallel to the first of the above legends
may be found in Finamore, No. 34, IV., where are also some other
legends of St. Peter.
Since the above note was written, some similar legends have been
published by Salomone Marino in the Archivio per lo Studio delle
362 NOTES.
Tradizioni popolari, vol. II. p. 553. One "The Just suffers for the
Sinner " (" Chianci lu giustu pri lu piccatieri") relates how St. Peter
complained to our Lord that the innocent were punished with the guilty.
Our Lord made no answer, but shortly after commanded St. Peter to
pick up a piece of honey-comb filled with bees, and put it in the bosom
of his dress. One of the bees stung him, and St. Peter in his anger
killed them all, and when the Lord rebuked him, excused himself by
saying : " How could I tell among so many bees which one stung me ? "
The Lord answered : "Am I wrong then, when I punish men likewise ?
Chianci lu giustu pri lu piccaturi."
Another legend relates the eagerness of St. Peter's sister to marry.
Thrice she sent her brother to our Lord to ask his consent, and thrice
the Lord, with characteristic patience, answered : " Tell her to do what
she wishes."
A third legend explains why some are rich and some are poor in this
world. Adam and Eve had twenty-four children, and one day the Lord
passed by the house, and the parents concealed twelve of their children
under a tub. The Lord, at the parents' request, blessed the twelve
with riches and happiness. After he had departed, the parents realized
what they had done, and called the Master back. When he heard that
they had told him a falsehood about the number of their children, he
replied that the blessing was bestowed and there was no help for it.
" Oh ! " said Adam in anguish, " what will become of them ? " The
Lord replied : " Let those who are not blessed serve the others, and let
those who are blessed support them." " And this is why in the world
half are rich and half are poor, and the latter serve the former, and the
former support the latter."
The last of these legends which I shall mention is entitled : " All
things are done for money." (" Tutti cosi st(' fatti pri dinari")
There once died a poor beggar who had led a pious life, and was des-
tined for paradise. When his soul arrived at the gate and knocked,
St. Peter asked who he was and told him to wait. The poor soul
waited two months behind the gate, but St. Peter did not open it for
him. Meanwhile, a wealthy baron died and went, exceptionally, to
paradise. His soul did not need even to knock, for the gate was thrown
open, and St. Peter exclaimed : " Throw open the gate, let the baron
pass ! Come in Sir Baron, your servant, what an honor ! " The soul
of the beggar squeezed in, and said to himself : " The world is not the
only one who worships money ; in heaven itself there is this law, that
all things are done for money."
5. Pitre, No. 126, where other Sicilian versions are mentioned. A
version from Siena is in T. Gradi, Proverbi e Modi di dire, p. 23, re-
peated in the same author's Saggio di Letture varie, p. 52, and fol-
lowed by an article by Tommaseo, originally printed in the Institutore
of Turin, in which Servian and Greek parallels are given. Besides
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 363
the Venetian variant mentioned in the text, there are versions from
Umbria and Piedmont cited by Pitre, a Tuscan one in Nov. tosc. No.
26, and one from the Tyrol in Schneller, No. 4. Pitre, in his notes to
Nov. tosc. No. 26, mentions several other versions from Piedmont,
Friuli, and Benevento. An exact version is also found in Corsica :
see Ortoli, p. 235.
6. This reminds one of the " Sabbath of the Damned : " see Dou-
het, Dictionnaire des Le'gendes, Paris, 1855, p. 1040.
7. Pitre, in a note to this story, mentions several proverbial sayings
in which Pilate's name occurs : " To wash one's hands of the matter
like Pilate," and " To come into a thing like Pilate in the Creed," to
express engaging in a matter unwillingly, or to indicate something that
is mal a propos.
8. Pitre, I. p. cxxxvii., and Pitre, Appunti di Botanica popolare si-
ciliana, in the Rivista Europea, May, 1875, P- 441-
9. Pitre, I. p. cxxxviii.
10. This legend is mentioned in a popular Sicilian legend in verse,
see Pitre, Canti pop. sic. II. p. 368, and is the subject of a chap-book,
the title of which is given by Pitre, Fiabe, vol. IV. p. 397.
n. Preghiere pop. veneziane raccolte da Dom. Giuseppe Bernoni,
p. 18.
12. Pitre, I. p. cxxxiii. For earlier appearances of the Wandering
Jew in Italian literature, see A. D'Ancona, La Leggenda dell' Ebreo
errante, Nuova Antologia, serie II. vol. XXIII. 1880, p. 425 ; Roma-
nia, vol. X. p. 212, Le Juif errant en Italia au XIIIe siecle, G. Paris
and A. D'Ancona; vol. XII. p. 112, Encore le Juif errant en Italie,
A. D'Ancona, and Giornale Storico, vol. III. p. 231, R. Renier, where
an Italian text of the XVIII. cent, is printed for the first time. The
myth of the Wandering Jew can best be studied in the following re-
cent works : G. Paris, Le Juif Errant, Extrait de V Encyclopedic des
Sciences Religieuses, Paris, 1880 ; Dr. L. Neubaur, Die Sage vom ewi-
gen Juden, Leipzig, 1884; P. Cassel, A/tasverus, die Sage vom ewi-
gen Juden, Berlin, 1885. The name Buttadeu (Buttadaeus in the
Latin texts of the XVII. cent.) has been explained in various ways.
It is probably from the Ital. verb buttare, to thrust away, and dio, God.
13. Crivoliu is a corruption of Gregoriu, Gregory, and the legend is,
as Kohler says, a peculiar transformation of the well-known legend of
" Gregory on the Stone." For the legend in general, see A. D'An-
cona's Introduction to the Leggenda di Vergogna e la Leggenda di
Giuda, Bologna, 1869, and F. Lippold, Ueber die Quelle des Gregorius
Hartmanrts von Aue, Leipzig, 1869, p. 50 et sea. See also Pitre's
notes to No. 117. An example of this class of stories from Cyprus
may be found in the Jahrb. XL p. 357.
14. See Kohler's notes to Gonz., No. 90, and Sacre Rappresentasioni
del Secoli XIV.-XVL raccolte e illustrate di A. D'Ancona, Florence,
364 NOTES.
1872, III. p. 435. There is another legend of St. James of Galicia in
Busk, p. 208, entitled " The Pilgrims." A husband and wife make the
usual vow to St. James that if he will give them children they will
make the pilgrimage to Santiago. When the children are fifteen and
sixteen the parents start on the pilgrimage, taking with them the son,
and leaving the daughter in charge of a priest, who wrote slanderous
letters about her, whereupon the son returned suddenly, slew his sis-
ter, and threw her body in a ditch. A king's son happened to pass by,
found the body, and discovered that it still contained life. He had her
cured, and married her, and they afterwards became king and queen.
While the king was once at war, the viceroy tempted the queen, and
when she would not listen to him, killed her two children and slan-
dered her to the king. The queen took the bodies of the children
and wandered about until she met the Madonna, who took the chil-
dren, and the queen went to Galicia. The king and viceroy also made
a pilgrimage to the same place where the queen's parents had dwelt
since the supposed death of their daughter. All met at the saint's
shrine and forgave each other, and the Madonna restored the children
alive and well.
There are two or three other stories in Pitre and Gonz. in which
saints appear in the rdle of good fairies, aiding the hero when in
trouble. One of these stories, " The Thankful Dead " (Gonz., No.
74), has already been mentioned in Chapter II. p. 131 ; two others may
be briefly mentioned here. The first is Gonz., No. 74, " Of one who
by the help of St. Joseph won the king's daughter." A king pro-
claims that he will give his daughter to any one who builds a ship that
will go by land and water. The youngest of three brothers constructs
such a vessel by the help of St. Joseph, after his two brothers have
failed. The saint, who is not known to the youth, accompanies him
on the voyage on the condition that he shall receive the half of every-
thing that the youth receives. During the voyage they take on board
a man who can fill a sack with mist, one who can tear up half a forest
and carry the trees on his back, a man who can drink up half a river,
one who can always hit what he shoots at, and one who walks with
such long steps that when one foot is in Catania the other is in Mes-
sina. The king refuses to give his daughter to the youth in spite of
the ship that goes by land and water. The youth, however, by the
help of his wonderful servants and St. Joseph, fulfils all the king's re-
quirements, and carries away the princess. When the youth returned
home with his bride and treasures, St. Joseph called on him to fulfil
his promise to him. The youth gives him half of his treasures, and
even half of the crown he had won. The saint reminds him that the
best of his possessions yet remains undivided, — his bride. The
youth determines to keep his promise, draws his sword, and is about
to cut his bride in two, when St. Joseph reveals himself, blesses the
pair, and disappears.
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 365
This story is sometimes found as a version of the " Thankful
Dead," see Chapter II. note 12. The second story is Pitre, No. 116,
" St. Michael the Archangel and one of his devotees," of which there
is a version in Gonz., No. 76, called, " The Story of Giuseppino." In
the first version a child, Pippino, is sold by his parents to the king in
order to obtain the means to duly celebrate the feast of St. Michael,
to whom they were devoted. The child is brought up in the palace as
the princess's playmate ; but when he grows up the king is anxious to
get rid of him, and so sends him on a voyage in an unseaworthy ves-
sel. St. Michael appears to the lad, and tells him to load the ship
with salt. They set sail, and the rotten ship is about to go to pieces,
when the saint appears and changes the ship into a vessel all of gold.
They sell the cargo to a king who has never tasted salt before, and re-
turn to their own country wealthy. The next voyage Pippino, by the
saint's advice, takes a cargo of cats, which they sell to the king of a
country overrun by mice. Pippino returns and marries the king's
daughter. In the version in Gonz., Giuseppino is a king's son, who
leaves his home to see the world, and becomes the stable-boy of the
king whose daughter he marries. The three cargoes are : salt, cats,
and uniforms. On the last voyage, Giuseppino captures a hostile fleet,
and makes his prisoners put on -the uniforms he has in his ship. With
this army he returns, and compels the king to give him his daughter.
St. Joseph acts the same part in this version as St. Michael in Pitre's.
The story of " Whittington and his Cat " will at once occur to the
reader. See Pitre's notes to No. 116, and vol. IV. p. 395, and Kdhler
to Gonz., No. y6.
15. Kohler has no note on this legend, and I have been unable to
find in the list of saints any name of which Oniria or Neria may be a
corruption.
16. The references to this story will best be found in Pauli's Schimpf
unci Ernst, ed. Oesterley, No. 682, and in the same editor's notes to the
Gesta Romanorum, cap. 80. To these may be added a story by De
Trueba in his Narraciones populares, p. 65, entitled, " Las Dudas de
San Pedro;'''' Luzel, Legendes Chretiennes, I. 282, II. 4 ; Fiore di
Virtu, Naples, 1870, p. 68; Etienne de Bourbon, No. 396 {Anec-
dotes historiques, legendes et apologues tire's du Receuil inedit d'Etienne
de Bourbon, pub. pour la Socie'te' de l'Hist. de France par A. Lecoy de
la Marche, Paris, 1877.
Since the above was written, several important contributions to the
literature of this story have been made. The first in point of time and
importance is a paper by Gaston Paris in the Comptes Rendus of the
Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, vol. VIII. pp. 427-449
(reprinted in La Poesie du Moyen Age, Lecons et Lectures par Gaston
Paris, Paris, 1885). Next may be mentioned " The Literary History
of ParneWs Hermit," by W. E. A. Axon, London, 1881 (reprinted
366 NOTES.
from the Seventh Volume of the Third Series of Memoirs of the Man-
chester Literary and Philosophical Society, Session 1879-80). An Ice-
landic version is in Islendzk Aeventyri, fsldndische Legenden, Novel-
len und Mdrchen, herausgegeben von Hugo Gering, Halle, 1884, vol.
II. p. 247. The legend is clearly shown by Gaston Paris to be of
Jewish origin.
17. There is another version of this story in Gonz., No. 86, " Von
dem frommen Kinde " (" The Pious Child "), Kohler in his notes cites
Grimm's Children's Legends, No. 9, and Schneller, No. 1. In this last
story a pious child is cruelly treated by his step-mother, and leaves his
home to live in a convent. One day he notices in a corner a neglected
crucifix covered with dust and cobwebs. He sees how thin the figure
is, and at meal-time brings his food where the crucifix is and begins to
feed the image, which opens its mouth and eats with appetite. As the
image grows stouter the pious child grows thinner. The Superior
learns one day the fact, and tells the child to ask the Lord to invite
him and the Superior to his table. The next day both die suddenly
after mass.
In a story in Gonz., No. 47, "Of the pious youth who went to
Rome," the youth talks to the image on the crucifix in a familiar way,
and receives information about questions put to him by various per-
sons. The youth also dies suddenly at the end of the story.
18. Pitre, No. 11 1. Another Sicilian version is in Gonz., No. 88,
" The Story of Spadonia." Spadonia is the son of a king, who every
day has bread baked and sent to the souls in purgatory by means of
an ass sent for that purpose by the Lord. Spadonia becomes king,
and sends one of his servants, Peppe, to see where the ass goes.
Peppe crosses a river of clear water, one of milk, and one of blood.
Then he sees the thin oxen in a rich pasture, and the reverse ; in ad-
dition he beholds a forest with small and large trees together, and a
handsome youth cutting down now a large tree, now a small one, with
a single stroke of a bright axe. Then he passed through a door with
the ass, and sees St. Joseph, and St. Peter, and all the saints, and
among them God the Father. Farther on Peppe sees many saints,
and among them the parents of Spadonia. Finally Peppe comes where
the Saviour and his Mother are on a throne. The Lord says to him
that Spadonia must marry a maiden named Secula, and open an inn, in
which any one may eat and lodge without cost. The Lord then ex-
plains what Peppe has seen. The river of water is the good deeds of
men which aid and refresh the poor souls in purgatory ; the river of
milk is that with which Christ was nourished ; and the river of blood
that shed for sinners. The thin cattle are the usurers, the fat, the poor
who trust in God, the youth felling the trees is Death.
Peppe returns and tells his master all he had seen, and Spad6nia
wanders forth in search of a maiden called Secula. He finds at last a
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 367
poor girl so called, and marries her, and opens an inn as he had been
directed. After a time the Lord and his Apostles visit the inn, and the
king and his wife wait on them, and treat them with the utmost con-
sideration. The next day after they had departed Spadonia and his
wife find out who their guests were, and hasten after them in spite of
a heavy storm. When they overtake the Lord they ask pardon for
their sins, and eternal happiness for all belonging to them. The Lord
grants their request, and tells them to be prepared at Christmas, when
he will come for them. They return home, give all their property to
the poor, and at Christmas they confess, take communion, and die
peacefully near each other, together with Secula's old parents.
This curious legend has no parallels in Italy out of Sicily. It is,
however, found in the rest of Europe, the best parallel being V Homme
aux dents rouges, in Blade", Agenais, p. 52. Kdhler cites Blade", Contes
et proverbes pop. rec. en Ar?nagnac, p. 59, and AsbJ0rnsen, No. 62
[Dasent, Tales from the Fjeld, p. 160, "Friends in Life and Death"].
To these may be added the story in Schneller, p. 215, and the refer-
ences given by Kohler in his notes to Gonz., No. 88.
19. See Champfleury, De la litterature popitlaire en France. Re-
cherches sur les origines et les variations de la le'gende du bonhomme
Misere, Paris, 1861. It contains a reprint of the oldest yet known
edition of the chap-book, that of 1719. The most valuable references
to the legend in general will be found (besides the above work, and
Grimm's notes to Nos. 81, 82) in the Jahrb. V. pp. 4, 23; VII. 128,
268; and in Pitre's notes, vol. III. p. 63, and IV. pp. 398, 439. All the
Italian versions are mentioned in the text or following notes. To the
stories from the various parts of Europe mentioned in the articles
above cited, may be added Webster, Basque Legends, pp. 195, 199.
Since this note was written another Tuscan version has been published
by Pitre in his Nov. tosc. No. 28, who cites in his notes : Ortoli, p. 1,
§ 1, No. XXII. (Corsica) ; and two literary versions in Cintio de' Fa-
britii, Venice, 1726, Origine de1 volgari proverbi, and Domenico Batac-
chi in his Novelle galanti : La Vita e la Morte di Prete Ulivo.
20. See Pitre, No. 125.
21. See Busk, p. 178.
22. See Busk, p. 183.
23. Novelline di Sto. Stefano, No. XXXII. A version from Mon-
ferrato is found in Comparetti, No. 34, entitled, "La Morte Burlata "
(" Death Mocked "), in which a schoolmaster, who is a magician, tells
one of his scholars that he will grant him every day any favor he may
ask. The first day the scholar asks that any one who climbs his pear-
tree must remain there ; the second day he asks that whoever ap-
proaches his fireplace to warm himself must stay there ; and finally
he asks to win always with a pack of cards that he has. When the
possessor of these favors has lived a hundred years Death comes for
368 NOTES.
him, but is made to climb the tree, and is forced to grant the owner
another hundred years of life. The fireplace procures another res-
pite, and then the man dies and goes to paradise ; but the Lord will not
admit him, for he had not asked for mercy. Hell will not receive him,
for he had been a good man ; so he goes to the gate of purgatory and
begins playing cards, with souls for stakes, and wins enough to form a
regiment. Then he goes to paradise, and the Lord tells him he can
enter alone. But he persists in going in with all those who are at-
tached to him ; so all the souls enter too.
24. Novelline di Sto. Stefano, No. 33. A similar story, told in
greater detail, is in Schneller, No. 17, " Der Stoftselwirth" ("The
Tapster"). A generous host ruins himself by his hospitality, and
borrows money of the Devil for seven years ; if he cannot repay it
his soul is to belong to the lender. The host continues his liberality,
and at the end of seven years is poorer than before. The Lord, St.
Peter, and St. John come to the tavern and tell the landlord to ask
three favors. He asks that whoever climbs his fig-tree may remain
there ; whoever sits on his sofa must stay there ; and finally, whoever
puts his hands in a certain chest must keep them there. The Devil
first sends his eldest son after the money. The host sends him up the
fig-tree, and then gives him a sound beating. Then the Devil sends
his second son, whom the landlord invites to sit on his sofa, and gives
him a sound thrashing too. Finally the Devil himself comes, and the
host tells him to get his money himself out of the chest. The Devil
sticks fast, and is set free only on condition of renouncing all claims
to the landlord's soul.
The conclusion of the story is like that of " Beppo Pipetta."
There is another story about a bargain with the Devil in the Novel-
line di Sto. Stefano, No. 35, " Le Donne ne sanno un -punto piu del
diavolov (" Women know a point more than the Devil"). A fowler
sells his soul to the Devil for twelve years of life and plenty of birds.
When the time is nearly up the fowler's wife persuades him to alter
his bargain with the Devil a little. The latter is to give up his claim
if the former can find a bird unknown to the Devil. The Devil con-
sents, and comes the last day and recognizes easily every bird, until
finally the fowler's wife, disguised with tar and feathers, comes out of
a case and frightens the fowler and the Devil so that he runs away.
The mysterious bird recalls the one in Grimm, No. 46, " Fitcher's
Bird."
25. yahrbuch,Yll. 121. The wonderful sack occurs in another Vene-
tian story, Widter-Wolf, No. 14, " Der Hollenpfortner " (" The Porter
of Hell "). The gifts are : a gun that never misses, a violin that
makes every one dance, and a sack into which every one must spring
when commanded by the owner. See Kohler's notes to this story,
Jahrb. VII. 268. A Corsican version is in Ortoli, p. 155. The epi-
LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES. 369
sode of the Devil beaten in the sack is also found in Comparetti, No.
49, uIl Ramaio." A wandering smith gives alms to St. Peter and the
Lord, and receives in return a pouch like the above. When the Devil
comes to fetch him he wishes him in his sack, and gives him a good
pounding. When the smith dies he gets into paradise by throwing
his bag inside and wishing himself in it.
There are two other stories in which the Devil gets worsted : they
are Gianandrea, No. VI., " Quattordici'''' ("Fourteen"), and Fiabe
Mantovane, No. 11, " Pacchione." In these stories a cunning person
is sent to the Devil to bring back a load of gold. The cunning person
takes a long pair of tongs, catches the Devil by the nose, loads his
horse, and returns in safety.
The first part of the story of " Quattordici " is found in the Basque
Legend of " Fourteen : " see Webster, p. 195.
26. Another Venetian version is in Widter-Wolf, No. 3, " Der Ge-
vatter Tod'''' (" Godfather Death"). There are also two Sicilian ver-
sions : Pitre, No. 109, "La Morti e so Jigghiozzu " (" Death and her
Godson ") ; and Gonz., No. 19, " Gevatter Tod" which do not differ
materially from the version given in our text. References to European
parallels maybe found in Kohler's notes to Widter-Wolf, No. 3, Jahrb.
VII. p. 19; to Gonz., No. 19, and in Grimm's notes to No. 44.
27. Widter-Wolf, No. 16, " Der standhafter Biisser" ("The Con-
stant Penitent"), Jahrb. VII. p. 273. For parallels, see Kohler's ar-
ticle, Die Legende von dem Ritter in der Capelle, Jahrb. VI. p. 326.
28. Bernoni, Legg. fant. p. 3. The translation in text, as well as
that of the two following stories, I have taken from The Cornhill
Magazine, July, 1875, " Venetian Popular Legends," p. 86.
Another story illustrating the same point is found in Pitre, No. no,
Li Cumpari di S. Giuvanni, which is translated as follows by Ralston
in Fraser's Magazine, April, 1876, " Sicilian Fairy Tales," p. 424.
LXXII. THE GOSSIPS OF ST. JOHN.
Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife, and they were
both bound in gossipry with a certain man. The husband got ar-
rested, and was taken away to prison. Now the gossip was very fond
of his cummer, and used often to go and visit her. One day she said
to him : " Gossip, shall we go and see my husband ? " " Gmirsi, cum-
mari" (" Certainly, cummer"), said her gossip ; so off they went. On
the way they bought a large melon — for it was the melon season — to
take to the poor prisoner. We are but flesh and blood ! The gossip
and his cummer sinned against St. John. In short, they brought
things to a pretty pass. St. John was n't going to let that pass unpun-
ished. When they had come to the prison and had visited the pris-
oner, before going away they wanted to make a present to the jailer;
24
37° NOTES.
so they gave him the melon. He cut it open before their eyes. Hor-
ror of horrors ! When the melon was cut open, there was found in
the middle of it a head ! Now this was the head of St. John, which
had slipped itself in there for the purpose of bringing home their sin
to the minds of the gossips. The matter immediately came to the
ears of justice, and they were arrested. They confessed the wrong
they had done. The husband was set at liberty, and the gossip and
his cummer were sent to the gallows.
In regard to Saint John and the relationship of godfather, see Pitre's
note in vol. I. p. 73.
29. Bernoni, p. 7 ; Cornhill Magazine, p. 88.
30. Bernoni, p. 17; Cornhill Magazine, p. 89.
31. Bernoni, p. 19. There are prose versions of the closely re-
lated story of Don Juan in Busk, p. 202, " Don Giovanni" and in
Nov. lose. No. 21, "Don Giovanni." There are poetical versions of
this legend in G. Ferraro, Canti popolari raccolti a Ponlelagoscuro,
No. 19; " La Testa di Morto" in Rivista di Filologia Romanza, vol.
II. p. 204; Ive, Canti pop. istriani, Turin, 1877, cap. xxv. No. 6, " Li-
onzoj " Saiomone-Marino, Leggende pop. sicil. XXVII. " Lionziu."
32. Pitre, No. 128. The version in the text is Ralston's condensa-
tion, taken from Frasefs Magazine, p. 433. As Pitre notes, there is
some slight resemblance between this story and that of " Cattari-
netta" in Schneller, No. 5, which has a close parallel in Bernoni, Trad,
pop. venez. Punt. III. p. 76, " Nono Cocon," and one not so close in
Papanti, Nov. pop. livor, No. I, " La Mencherina" p. 7. There is a
close parallel to the Sicilian story in a Tuscan tale, "La Gamba"
("The Leg"), in Novelline pop. toscane, pubb. da G. Pitre, p. 12. In a
note Pitre mentions a variant from Pratovecchio in which the leg is of
gold. He also gives copious references to versions from all parts of
Europe. The English reader will recall at once Halliwell's story of
" Teeny-Tiny " {Nursery Tales, p. 25). To the above references may
be added : " Le Pendu " in Cosquin, Contes pop. lorrains, No. 41, in
Romania, No. 28. p. 580. Since the above note was written, another
Tuscan version has been published by Pitre, Nov. lose. No. 19.
33. Pitre, No. 203. The parallels to this story may best be found in
J. Grimm's Kleinere Schriften, III. p. 414, Der Trauni von detn Schatz
auf der Briicke. To Grimm's references may be added : Graesse,
Sagenschatz Sachserfs, No. 587 ; Wolf, Hesseche Sagen, No. 47 ; Kuhn,
Westfalische Sagen, No. 169 ; and Vierzig Veziere, p. 270.
NURSERY TALES. 37 1
CHAPTER V.
NURSERY TALES.
i. The verse in this story is given somewhat differently by Bolza,
Canzoni pop. Comasche, Vienna, 1866, Note 9: —
" La storia de Sior Intento,
Che dura molto tempo,
Che mai no se destriga :
Vole che ve la diga ? '•
The story of Mr. Attentive, which lasts a long time, which is never
explained, do you wish me to tell it ?
There are in Bernoni, Punt. II. pp. S3, 54> two or three other rhymes
of this class that may be given here.
ONCE UPON A TIME.
Once upon a time — that I remember — into a blind-man's eye — a
fly went — and I thought — that it was a quail — wretched blind-man
— go away from here !
ONE AND ANOTHER.
Fiaba, aba — Questa xe una — Muro e malta — Questa xe un' altra.
Story, ory — This is one — Wall and mud — This is another.
" A long one and a short one,
Do you wish me to tell you a long one ?
This is the finger and this is the nail.
Do you wish me to tell you a short one ?
This is the finger and this is the end of it."
2. Pitre, No. 141. In the notes to this story are given some more
of this class.
" Once upon a time there was a page who drew three carts : one of
wine, one of bread, and one of relishes. . . . And once upon a time
there was a page."
Some poetical versions are given in the same place from various
parts of Italy.
" Once upon a time,
An old man and an old woman
Were on top of a mountain . . .
Be quiet, for I am going to tell you it."
— Naples.
" Once upon a time there was a man
Behind the church
With a basket on his back . . .
But be still if I am to tell you it ! "
— Milan, Nov.fior. p. 570.
3/2 NOTES.
Some more rhymes of this class may be found in Papanti, Nov. pop.
livor, p. 17 : " Once upon a time there was a man, whose name was
Boccabella, who skinned his wife to make a skirt; and skinned his
children to make some towels."
" Once upon a time there was a man,
A woman, and a little bottle . . .
Listen to this ! "
" Once upon a time there was a king
Who ate more than you ;
He ate bread and cheese,
Pull, pull this nose."
Here the speaker pulls the child's nose.
" Once upon a time there was a rich poor man
Who had seven daughters to marry :
On one hand there came a felon,
And on the other seven blisters."
3. Rivista di Letterahira popolare, vol. I. p. 161 (1878). "Una Va-
riante toscana della Novella del Petit Poucet." Versions from the
Marches, the Abruzzi, and Tuscany may now be found in Giornale di
Filologia romanza, II. p. 23 ; Finamore, Tradizioni popolari abruz-
zesi, 1882, No. 47, p. 233 ; and Nov. tosc. No. 42.
4. The myth of " Tom Thumb " has been thoroughly examined in an
admirable monograph : Le Petit Poucet et la Grande Ourse par Gas-
ton Paris, Paris, 1875. The author says in conclusion (p. 52): "Si
nous cherchons enfin quels sont les peuples qui nous offrent soit ce
conte, soit cette denomination, nous voyons qu'ils comprennent essen-
tiellement les peuples slaves (lithuanien, esclavon) et germaniques (al-
lemand, danois, suddois, anglais). Les contes des Albanais, des Rou-
mains et des Grecs modernes sont sans doute emprunte's aux Slaves,
comme une tres-grande parti e de la mythologie populaire de ces na-
tions. Le nom wallon et le conte forezien nous montrent en France
(ainsi que le titre du conte de Perrault) la legende de Poucet : mais
elle a pu fort bien, comme tant d'autres rdcits semblables, y etre ap-
portee par les Germains. Ni en Italie, ni en Espagne, ni dans les
pays celtiques je n'ai trouve* trace du conte ou du nom." This latter
statement must now, of course, be modified. To the references in
Paris' book may be added : Romania, No. 32, p. 59 (Cosquin, No. 53),
and Kohler in Zeit.f. rom. Phil. III. p. 617.
The transformation of the chick-peas into children has a parallel in
the Greek story of " Pepper-Corn " shortly to be mentioned.
5. The discussion of this point may best be found in the following
works : Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes of England {Percy Soc. IV.),
London, 1842, pp. 2, 159 ; Romania, I. p. 218; and Un Canto popo-
lare piemontese e un Canto religioso popolare israelitico. Note e con-
front di Cesare Foa, Padova, 1879. The references to the other Eu-
ropean versions of this story may be found in Roznania, No. 28, p.
546 (Cosquin, No. 34), and Kohler in Zeit.f. ro?n. Phil. III. 156.
NURSERY TALES. 373
6. Halli well's Nursery Rhymes, p. 160.
7. There is a poetical version of this story in Vigo, Raccolta am-
plissima di Canti pop. sicil. 2da ediz. Catania, 1 870-1 874, No. 4251, be-
ginning : —
" Susi, Bittudda
Va scupa la casa.
— Signura, non pozzu
Mi doli lu cozzu," etc.
The ending, however, is incomplete.
8. Imbriani, Pomiglianesi, p. 232, " MiccoP
9. The version from Siena is in Saggio di Letture varie per i Gio-
vani di T. Gradi, Torino, 1865, p. 175, " La Novella di Petuzzo j " the
Tuscan (Florence) version is in Imbriani, Nov. fior. p. 548, " Pe-
truzzo.'''' Another Tuscan version may be found in Nerucci, Cincelle
da Bambini, No. 7 ; and one from Apulia in Archivio, III. p. 69.
10. Bernoni, Punt. III. p. 72, " Petin-Petele."
11. The first part of this story is found also in a Tuscan version
given by Corazzini in his Componimenti minori, p. 412, u II Cecio"
(" The Chick-pea "). The chick-pea is swallowed by a cock, that is
eaten by a pig, that is killed by a calf, that is killed and cooked by an
innkeeper's wife for her sick daughter, who recovers, and is given in
marriage to the owner of the chick-pea.
The sexton's doubt as to how he shall invest the money he has
found is a frequent trait in Italian stories, and is found in several men-
tioned in this chapter. See notes in Papanti, Nov. pop. livor. p. 29.
Copious references to this class of stories may be found in the Ro-
mania, Nos. 24, p. 576, and 28, p. 548; Kohler in Zeitschrift fiir rom.
Phil. II. 351; Grimm, No. 80; Orient und Occident, II. 123; Blade",
Agenais, No. 5; Melusine, 148, 218, 426; and Brueyre, p. 376. See
also Halliwell, p. 33, " The Cat and the Mouse."
12. This version is a variant of a story in the same collection, p.
236, which cannot well be translated, as it is mostly in rhyme. There
is another version from Montella in the Principaio Ulteriore, p. 241,
" Lo Haddro e lo Sorece'" ("The Cock and the Mouse"), which has a
satirical ending. The beginning is like that of the other versions :
the cock and the mouse go to gather pears; one falls and wounds the
mouse's head. The mouse goes to the physician, who demands rags,
the ragman asks for the tail of the dog. The dog demands bread, the
baker wood, the mountain an axe ; the iron-monger says : " Go to the
galantuomo (gentleman, wealthy person), get some money, and I will
give you the axe." The mouse goes to the galantuomo, who says :
" Sit down and write, and then I will give you the money." So the
mouse begins to write for the galantuomo, but his head swells and he
dies. A similar story is found in Corsica, see Ortoli, p. 237.
13. It remains to mention two poetical versions : one in Corazzini,
from Verona, op. cit. p. 139, which begins : —
\
374 NOTES.
" Cos' e questo ?
La camera del Vesco.
Cos' e deiitro ?
Pan e vin," etc.
" What is this ? The bishop's chamber. What is in it ? Bread and
wine. Where is my share ? The cat has eaten it. Where is the
cat ? The stick has beaten him. Where is the stick ? The fire has
burned it. Where is the fire ? The water has quenched it. Where is
the water ? The ox has drunk it. Where is the ox ? Out in the
fields. Who is behind there ? My friend Matthew. What has he in
his hand ? A piece of bread. What has he on his feet ? A pair of
torn shoes. What has he on his back ? A whale. What has he in
his belly ? A balance. What has he on his head ? A cap upside
down."
The choice of objects is determined by the rhyme, e. g. : —
" Cosa g'alo in schena ?
Na balena.
Cosa g'alo in panza ?
Una balanza."
The second poetical version is from Turin, and is given by Foa, op.
cit. p. 5. It begins : —
1. " A j'era' na crava
C a pasturava,
A m' a rout '1 bout
Oh '1 bon vin c'a j'era' nt '1 me bout
L' e la crava c' a' m 1' a rout !
2. " A j'e riva-ie 1' luv
L' a mangia la crava
C a pasturava
C a m' ha rout '1 bout," etc. {.ut supra.}
The following is a literal prose translation of this curious version.
" There was a goat that was feeding, it has broken my bottle. Oh,
the good wine that was in my bottle, it is the goat that has broken it !
Then came the wolf that ate the goat that was feeding, that broke my
bottle, etc. Then came the dog, that barked at the wolf, that ate the
goat, etc. Then came the stick that beat the dog, that barked at the
wolf, etc. Then came the fire that burned the stick, that beat the dog,
etc. Then came the water that quenched the fire, that burned the
stick, etc. Then came the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the
fire, etc. Then came the butcher that killed the ox, that drank the
water, etc. Then came the hangman that hung the butcher, that killed
the ox, etc. Then came death, and carried away the hangman, that
hung the butcher, etc. Then came the wind, that carried away death,
that carried away the hangman," etc.
A variant of this song reminds one more closely of the prose ver-
sions.
" Then came the hangman that hung the butcher, etc. Then came
NURSERY TALES. 375
the rat that gnawed the cord, that hung the butcher, etc. Then came
the cat that ate the rat, that gnawed the cord, etc. Then came the
dog that caught the cat, that ate the rat, that gnawed the cord," etc.
The above Italian version, it will be clearly seen, is only a popular
rendition of the Jewish hymn in the Sefther Haggadah. Foa, in the
work above cited, gives another version from Orio Canarese, and also
a number of Italian versions of the " Song of the Kid." His conclu-
sion is the same as that of Gaston Paris in the Romania, I. p. 224,
that the " Song of the Kid " is not of Jewish origin, but was intro-
duced into the Haggadah from the popular song or story.
14. A version of this story is found in Morosi's Studi sui Dialetti
greet, Lecce, 1870.
LXXXIX. THE GOAT AND THE FOX.
Once upon a time a goat entered the den of the fox while the latter
was absent. At night the fox returned home, and finding the goat fled
because frightened by the horns. A wolf passed by, and was also ter-
rified. Then came a hedgehog and entered the den, and pricked the
goat with its quills. The goat came out, and the wolf killed it, and
the fox ate it.
1 5. Grimm, No. 30. Another version from the North of Europe is
in AsbJ0rnsen, No. 103 [Dasent, Tales from the Fjeld, p. 30, " The
Death of Chanticleer "]. Several French versions may be found in
the Romania, No. 22, p. 244, and Melusine, p. 424. There is a Span-
ish version in Caballero's Cuentos, etc., Leipzig, 1878, p. 3, " La Hor-
miguita " ("The Little Ant "). There is a curious version in Hahn's
Griechische und Albanesische Marchen, Leipzig, 1864, No. 56, "Pep-
per-Corn." The story is from Smyrna, and is as follows : —
PEPPER-CORN.
Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman who had
no children ; and one day the old woman went into the fields and
picked a basket of beans. When she had finished, she looked into
the basket and said : " I wish all the beans were little children."
Scarcely had she uttered these words when a whole crowd of little
children sprang out of the basket and danced about her. Such a fam-
ily seemed too large for the old woman, so she said : " I wish you
would all become beans again." Immediately the children climbed
back into the basket and became beans again, all except one little
boy, whom the old woman took home with her.
He was so small that everybody called him little Pepper- Corn, and
so good and charming that everybody loved him.
One day the old woman was cooking her soup and little Pepper-
376 NOTES.
Corn climbed up on the kettle and looked in to see what was cooking,
but he slipped and fell into the boiling broth and was scalded to
death. The old woman did not notice until meal-time that he was
missing, and looked in vain for him everywhere to call him to dinner.
At last they sat down to the table without little Pepper-Corn, and
when they poured the soup out of the kettle into the dish the body of
little Pepper-Corn floated on top.
Then the old man and the old woman began to mourn and cry:
" Dear Pepper-Corn is dead, dear Pepper-Corn is dead."
When the dove heard it she tore out her feathers, and cried : " Dear
Pepper- Corn is dead. The old man and the old woman are mourn-
ing."
When the apple-tree saw that the dove tore out her feathers it asked
her why she did so, and when it learned the reason it shook off all its
apples.
In like manner, the well near by poured out all its water, the queen's
maid broke her pitcher, the queen broke her arm, and the king threw
his crown on the ground so that it broke into a thousand pieces ; and
when his people asked him what the matter was, he answered : " Dear
Pepper-Corn is dead, the old man and the old woman mourn, the dove
has torn out her feathers, the apple-tree has shaken off all its apples,
the well has poured out all its water, the maid has broken her pitcher,
the queen has broken her arm, and I, the king, have lost my crown ;
dear Pepper-Corn is dead."
See also Benfey, Pant. I. p. 191. There is also a version in Morosi,
op. cit., given by Imbriani in Pomiglianesi, p. 268 ; and mention is
made of one from the Abruzzi in Finamore, Trad. pop. abruszesi, p.
244.
16. In addition to the versions mentioned in the text, Imbriani (Po-
miglianesi, pp. 250, 252) gives two versions from Lecco.
The following version is found in Morosi, p. 72>-
XC. THE ANT AND THE MOUSE.
There was once an ant who, while sweeping her house one day,
found three quattrini, and began to say : " What shall I buy ? What
shall I buy ? Shall I buy meat ? No, because meat has bones, and I
should choke. Shall I buy fish ? No, for fish has bones, and I should
be scratched." After she had mentioned many other things, she con-
cluded to buy a red ribbon. She put it on, and sat in the window. An
ox passed by and said : " How pretty you are ! do you want me for
your husband ? " She said : " Sing, so that I may hear your voice."
The ox with great pride raised his voice. After the ant had heard it,
she said : " No, no, you frighten me."
NURSERY TALES. 377
A dog passed by, and the same happened to him as to the ox. After
many animals had passed, a little mouse went by and said : " How
pretty you are ! do you want me for your husband ? " She said :
" Let me hear you sing." The mouse sang, and went pi, pi, pi ! His
voice pleased the ant, and she took him for her husband.
Sunday came, and while the ant was with her friends, the mouse
said : " My dear little ant, I am going to see whether the meat that you
have put on the fire is done." He went, and when he smelled the odor
of the meat, he wanted to take a little; he put in one paw and burned
it ; he put in the other, and burned that too ; he stuck in his nose, and
the smoke drew him into the pot, and the poor little mouse was all
burned. The ant waited for him to eat. She waited two, she waited
three hours, the mouse did not come. When she could wait no longer,
she put the dinner on the table. But when she took out the meat, out
came the mouse dead. When she saw him the ant began to weep, and
all her friends ; and the ant remained a widow, because he who is a
mouse must be a glutton. If you don't believe it, go to her house and
you will see her.
17. Other Italian versions are: Pitre, No. 136, " Li VecchV ("The
Old Folks ") ; and Nov.fior. p. 567, " The Story of Signor Donato."
18. There are two versions of this story in Pitre, No. 139, and notes.
They differ but little from the one we have translated. An Istrian ver-
sion is in Ive, Fiabe pop. rovignesi, 1878, No. 4, " I tri fardai," and a
Corsican one in Ortoli, p. 278.
19. Other Italian versions are : Coronedi-Berti, p. 49, " La Fola cP
Zanninein ; " and Bernoni, Trad. pop. p. 79, " Rosseto."
20. There is another Italian version in Fiabe Mantovane, No. 31,
" The Wolf." The only parallel I can find to this story out of Italy is
a negro story in Lippincotf s Magazine, December, 1877, "Folk- Lore
of the Southern Negroes," p. 753, " Tiny Pig." Allusion is made to
the Anglo-Saxon story of the " Three Blue Pigs," but I have been
unable to find it.
21. A Sicilian version is in Pitre, No. 278, " L? Acidduzzu " (" Little
Bird "), and one from Tuscany in Nerucci, Cincelle da Bambini,
No. 12.
22. Kohler, in his notes to this story, gives parallels from various
parts of Europe. To these may be added Asbjarnsen and Moe, Nos.
42, 102 [Dasent, Tales from the Fjeld, p. 35, "The Greedy Cat"].
Comp. Halliwell, p. 29, "The story of Chicken-licken." A French
version is in the Romania, No. 32, p. 554 (Cosquin, No. 45), where
copious references to this class of stories may be found. Add to
these those by Kohler in Zeitschrift fiir rom. Phil. III. p. 617.
378 NOTES.
CHAPTER VI.
STORIES AND JESTS.
i. A well-known literary version of this story is Sachetti, Nov. IV.
Copious references to this popular story will be found in Oesterley's
notes to Pauli's Schimpf und Ernst, No. 55 ; see also Pitre, IV. pp.
392, 437. The entire literature of the subject is summed up in a mas-
terly manner by Professor F. J. Child in English and Scottish Pop-
ular Ballads, Part II. p. 403.
2. There is a version from Siena in Gradi, Saggio di Letture varie,
p. 179, "Tea, Tecla e Teopistay" and from Rome in Busk, pp. 357,
367. References to other European versions of this story may be
found in Grimm, Nos. 34, 104; Schneller, No. 56, "Die narrischen
Weiberj" Zingerle, Mdrchen, I. No. 14; Dasent's Tales from the
Norse, p. 191, " Not a Pin to choose between Them " (Asbj. & M., No.
10) ; Ralston, R. E. T. pp. 52-54 ; Jahrbuch, V. 3, Kohler to Cenac
Moncaut's Contes pop. de la Gascogne, p. 32, " Maitre Jean Vhabile
Ho7nme j " Orient tmd Occident, II. p. 319 ; Kohler to Campbell, No.
20, " The Three Wise Men," p. 686, to No. 48, " Sgire Mo Chealag."
3. This story is sometimes found as one of the episodes of the last
tale, as for example in Schneller, No. 56. Imbriani, Pomiglianesi, p.
227, cites as parallels : Coronedi-Berti, XII. " Lafola dla Pataloccaf
Beroaldo di Verville, Le Moyen de Parvenir, LXXVIII. ; and a story
in La Civilta italiana, 1865, No. 13. See also Ro7>iania, VI. p. 551
(E. Cosquin, Contes pop. lorrains, No. 22), and Jahrb. VIII. 267,
Kohler to the above cited story in the Civilta ital. from Calabria. It
is also the story of " The Miser and his Wife " in Halliwell, p. 31.
4. There is a literary version in Straparola, VIII. 1. Other literary
versions are cited in Pitre, IV. p. 443.
5. Pitre, No. 257, where references to other Italian versions may be
found. See also Pitre, IV. pp.412 and 447; and Kohler's notes to
Blade, Contes pop. recueillis en Agenais, p. 155, for other European
versions. Additional references may be found in Oesterley's notes to
Pauli's Schimpf und Ernst, No. 595. A similar story is in Pitre's
Nov. tosc. No. 67.
6. Pitre, No. 180. A literary version is in Straparola, VIII. 6. For
other references see Schmidt, Straparola, p. 329 ; and Oesterley's notes
to Pauli's Schimpf und Ernst, No. 357.
7. This story is found in Gonz., No. J^, " Von Firrazsanu" and is
(with the queen's attempt to punish him for it) the only joke in that
collection relating to Firrazzanu. A literary version is in Bandello,
Novelle, IV. 27.
8. See Pitre, No. 156, var. 5 (III. p. 181).
STORIES AND JESTS. 379
9. Imbriani in his notes to Pitre (IV. p. 41 7) gives a French version
of this joke entitled : Un Neveti pratique.
10. The name Giufa is retained in many localities with slight
phonetic changes. Thus it is Giuca in Trapani ; Giuxa in the Alba-
nian colonies in Sicily ; in Acri, Giuvali ; and in Tuscany, Rome, and
the Marches, Giucca. Pitre, III. p. 371, adds that the name Giufa is
the same as that of an Arab tribe. The best known continental coun-
terparts of Giufa are Bertoldino and Cacasenno (see Olindo Guerrini,
La Vita e le Ofiere di Giulio Cesar e Croce, Bologna, 1879, PP- 257—279).
Tuscan versions of the stories of Giufa given in the text may be found
in Nov. tosc. pp. 179-193.
1 1. The same story is told by Miss Busk, " The Booby," p. 371, and
is in the Pent. I. 4. It is probably founded on the well-known fable of
^sop, '■'■Homo fractor simulacri " (ed. Furia, No. 21), which seems very
widely spread. A Russian version, from AfanasiefF, is in De Gub.,
Zool. Myth. I. p. 176. See also Benfey, Pant. I. p. 478 ; and Kohler
to Gonz., No. 37.
12. In Gonz., No. 37, Giufa takes the cloth, and on his way to the
dyer's sits down to rest on a heap of stones in a field. A lizard creeps
out from the stones, and Giufa, taking it for the dyer, leaves the cloth
on the stones and returns home. His mother, of course, sends him
immediately back for the cloth, but it has disappeared, as well as the
lizard. Giufa cries : " Dyer, if you don't give me back my cloth I will
tear down your house." Then he begins to pull down the heap of
stones, and finds a pot of money which had been hidden there. He
takes it home to his mother, who gives him his supper and sends him
to bed, and then buries the money under the stairs. Then she fills her
apron with figs and raisins, climbs upon the roof, and throws figs and
raisins down the chimney into Giufa's mouth as he lies in his bed.
Giufa is well pleased with this, and eats his fill. The next morning he
tells his mother that the Christ child has thrown him figs and raisins
from heaven the night before. Giufa cannot keep the pot of money a
secret, but tells every one about it, and finally is accused before the
judge. The officers of justice go to Giufa's mother and say : " Your
son has everywhere told that you have kept a pot of money which he
found. Do you not know that money that is found must be delivered
up to the court ? " The mother protests that she knows nothing about
the money, and that Giufa is always telling stupid stories. "But
mother," said Giufa, " don't you remember when I brought you home
the pot, and in the night the Christ child rained figs and raisins from
heaven into my mouth ? " " There, you see how stupid he is," says
the mother, " and that he does not know what he says." The officers
of justice go away thinking, " Giufa is too stupid ! "
Kohler, in his Notes to Gonz., No. 37, cites as parallels to the
above, Pent. I. 4, and Thousand and One Nights, Breslau trans. XI.
380 NOTES.
144. For the rain of figs and raisins he refers to Jahrb. VIII. 266 and
268; and to Campbell, II. 385, for a shower of milk porridge. See
Note 16 of this chapter, and Indian Fairy Tales, p. 257.
13. See Max Midler's Chips, II. p. 229, and Benfey, Pant. I. p. 293.
14. See Imbriani, Nov. fior. p. 545 ; Papanti, Nov. pop. livor. No.
3 ; and Bernoni, Punt. III. p. 83.
15. See Robert, Fables inedites, II. p. 136. The Italian literary ver-
sions are: Morlini, XXI., Straparola, XIII. 4; and two stories men-
tioned by Imbriani in his Nov. fior. pp. 545, 546.
16. This episode is in Strap. XIII. 4; Pitre, IV. p. 291, gives a ver-
sion from the Albanian colony of Piana de' Greci, sixteen miles from
Palermo. In the same vol., p. 444, he gives a variant from Erice in
which, after Giufa has killed the " canta-la-notti,''' his mother climbs a
fig-tree and rains down figs into the mouth of Giufa, who is standing
under. In this way she saves herself from the accusation of having
thrown a murdered man into the well. See Note 12. For another Si-
cilian version of this episode see Gonz., No. 37 (I. p. 252).
17. Papanti, p. 65. Copious references will be found in Papanti, pp.
72-81 ; Oesterley to Pauli, Schhnpf und Ernst, No. 416; and Kirchof,
WendummUh, I. 122; and Kohler's notes to Sercambi's Novels in
Jahrb. XII. p. 351.
18. Kohler, in his notes to Gonz., No. 37 (II. p. 228), cites for this
story: Thousand and One Days, V. 119; Petit. I. 4; Grimm, II. 382;
Morlini, No. 49; Zingerle, I. 255; Bebelius, Facetice, I. 21 ; Blade*,
Contes et Proverbes, Paris, 1867, p. 21 ; and Bertoldino (Florence,
Salani), p. 31, " Bertoldino entra nella cesta delP oca a covare in cambio
di lei:'' In the story in the Fiabe Mant. No. 44, "// Pazzo " (" The
Fool "), the booby kills his own mother by feeding her too much mac-
aroni when she is ill.
19. See Pitre, No. 190, var. 9; Jahrb. V. 18; Simrock, Deutsche
Mdrchen, No. 18 {Orient und Occident, III. p. 373) ; Hahn, No. 34;
Jahrb. VIII. 267; Mehisine, p. 89; Nov. fior. p. 601 ; Romatiia, VI.
p. 551 ; Busk, pp. 369, 374; and Fiabe Mant. No. 44.
In the Sicilian stories Giufa simply takes the door off its hinges and
carries it to his mother, who is in church. In the other Italian ver-
sions the booby takes the door with him, and at night carries it up
into a tree. Robbers come and make a division of their booty under
the tree, and the booby lets the door fall, frightens them away, and
takes their money himself.
20. See Kohler's notes to Gonz., II. p. 228. To these may be added,
for the story of Giufa planting the ears and tails of the swine in the
marsh: Ortoli, p. 208: Melusine, p. 474; and Romania, VII. p. 556,
where copious references to parallels from all of Europe may be found.
In the story in Ortoli, cited above, the priest's mother is killed, as in
text.
STORIES AND JESTS. 38 1
21. For the literal throwing of eyes, see : Jahrb. V. p. 19; Grimm,
No. 32 (I. p. 382) ; Nov.fior. p. 595 ; Webster, Basque Legends, p. 69 ;
Orient und Occident, II. 684 (Kohler to Campbell, No. 45).
22. See Gonz., Nos. 70, 71, and Kohler's notes, II. p. 247. Other
Italian versions are : De Gub., Sio. Stefano, No. 30 ; Widter-Wolf,
No. 18, and Kohler's notes (Jahrb. VII. 282); Strap., I. 3: Nov.fior.
p. 604; Fiabe Mant. No. 13. To these may be added : Romania, V.
p. 357 ; VI. p. 539 ; and VIII. p. 570.
23. See Pitre's notes, IV. pp. 124, 412; and F. Liebrecht in the
Academy, vol. IV. p. 421.
24. See Pitre's notes, IV. pp. 140, 448 ; Wright's Latin Stories, pp.
49, 226.
25. Pitre, No. 290. See Papanti, op. cit. p. 197, where other versions
are cited. To these may be added the story in Marcolf, see Guerrini,
Vita di G. C. Croce, p. 215; and Marcolphus, Hoc est Disputationis,
etc., in Epistola obscuror, vivoricm, Frankf. a. M., 1643, p. 593.
There is another story in Pitre (No. 200) which is also attributed to
Dante. It is called : — >-
CVI. PETER FULLONE AND THE EGG.
Once upon a time Peter Fullone, the stone-cutter, was working at
the cemetery, near the church of Santo Spirito ; a man passed by and
said : " Peter, what is the best mouthful ? " Fullone answered : " An
egg ; " and stopped.
A year later Fullone was working in the same place, sitting on the
ground and breaking stones. The man who had questioned him the
year before passed by again and said : " Peter, with what ? " meaning :
what is good to eat with an egg. " With salt," answered Peter Fullone.
He had such a wise head that after a year he remembered a thing that
a passer-by had said.
The cemetery alluded to, Pitre says, is beyond the gate of St. Agatha,
near the ancient church of Sto. Spirito, where the Sicilian Vespers
began. An interesting article on Peter Fullone maybe found in Pitre,
Studi di Poesia popolare, p. 109, " Pietro Fullone e le Sfide popolari
siciliane."
The sight-seer in Florence has noticed, on the east side of the
square in which the cathedral stands, a block of stone built into the
wall of a house, and bearing the inscription, " Sasso di Dante.'''1 The
guide-books inform the traveller that this is the stone on which the
great poet was wont to sit on summer evenings. Tradition says that
an unknown person once accosted Dante seated in his favorite place,
and asked : " What is the best mouthful ? " Dante answered : " An
egg." A year after, the same man, whom Dante had not seen mean-
382 NOTES
while, approached and asked : " With what ? " Dante immediately re-
plied : " With salt."
A poet, Carlo Gabrielli, put this incident into rhyme, and drew from
it the following moral (senso) : —
" L' acuto ingegno grande apporta gloria ;
Maggior, se v'h congiunta alta memoria."
See Papanti, op. cit. pp. 183, 205.
26. This story is told in almost the same words in Pitre, No. 297,
" The Peasant and the King." There are several Italian literary ver-
sions, the best known being in the Cento nov. ant. ed. Borghini, Nov.
VI. : see D'Ancona's notes to this novel in the Romania, III. p. 185,
"Le Fonti del Novellino." It is also found in the Gesta Romanorum,
cap. 57, see notes in Oesterley's edition; and in Simrock's Deutsche
Marchen, No. 8, see Liebrecht's notes in Orient und Occident, III. p.
372. To the above may, finally, be added Kohler's notes to Gonz., No.
50 (II. p. 234).
27. Comparetti, No. 43, " La Ragazza astuta " (Barga). The first
part of the story, dividing the fowl, and sending the presents, which
are partly eaten on the way, is found in Gonz., No. 1, " Die Kluge
Bauemtochter'''' ("The Peasant's Clever Daughter "). See Kohler's
notes to Gonz., No. 1 (II. 205) ; and to Nasr-eddin's Schwanke in
Orient tmd Occident, I. p. 444. Grimm, No. 94, " The Peasant's Wise
Daughter," contains all the episodes of the Italian story except the di-
vision of the fowl. An Italian version in the Fiabe Mant. No. 36,
" La giovane accorta" contains the episode of the mortar. The king
sends word to the clever daughter that she must procure for him some
ahime (sneeze) salad. She sent him some ordinary salad with some
garlic sprinkled over it, and when he touched it he sneezed (and formed
the sound represented by the word ahime). The rest of the story con-
tains the episode lacking in the other popular Italian versions, but
found in Grimm, and technically known as " halb geritten?"1 For this
episode see Gesta Romanorutn, ed. Oesterley, cap. 124, and Pauli, 423.
Another Italian version from Bergamo may be found in Corazzini,
p. 482, "La Storia del Pestu d' or" (" The Story of the Gold Pes-
tle "), which is like the version in the text from the episode of the mor-
tar on. In the story from Bergamo it is a gold pestle, and not a mor-
tar, that is found, and the story of " halb geritten " is retained. The
episode of the foal is changed into a sharp answer made (at the queen's
suggestion) by the king's herdsman to his master, who had failed to
pay him for his services. A version from Montale, Nerucci, p. 18, "//
Mortajo d' oro " (" The Golden Mortar "), contains all the episodes of
the story in the text (including " halb geritten ") except the division of
the fowl. The first part of the story is found in a tale from Cyprus, in
the Jahrb. XI. p. 360.
A parallel to the story in our text may also be found in Ralston's
STORIES AND JESTS. 383
R. F. T. p. 30. The literature of the story of "The Clever Girl"
may be found in Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Part I.
p. 6, " The Elfin Knight."
28. Fiabe Mantovane, No. 41, " Gdmbara." The Italian for crab
is gambero. There is a Tuscan story (Nov. pop. tosc. p. 8), " // Med- •
ico grillo " (" Doctor Cricket "), with reference perhaps to the other
meaning of grillo, whim, fancy, which reminds one of the story in the
text. The pretended doctor cures a king's daughter by making her
laugh so hard that she dislodges a fish-bone that had stuck in her
throat. Doctor Cricket becomes so popular that the other doctors
starve, and finally ask the king to kill him. The king refuses, but sets
him a difficult task to do, namely, to cure all the patients in the hospi-
tal ; failing to accomplish this, he is to be killed or dismissed. Doctor
Cricket has a huge cauldron of water heated, and then goes into the
wards and tells the patients that when the water is hot they are all to
be put into it, but if any one wishes to depart he can go away then.
Of course they all run away in haste, and when the king comes the
hospital is empty. The doctor is then richly rewarded, and returns to
his home.
For parallels to our story see Pitre's notes, vol. IV. p. 442, and to
the Tuscan story above-mentioned.
Another Tuscan version has recently been published in Nov. tosc.
No. 60. ' See also Grimm, No. 98 ; AsbjWnsen, Ny Sam. No. 82
[Dasent, Tales from the Fj eld, p. 139, "The Charcoal Burner"] ; Ca-
ballero, Cuentos, p. 68 ; Orient und Occident, I. 374 ; and Benfey, Pant.
I. 374. There is a story in Straparola (XIII. 6) that recalls the story
in our text. A mother sends her stupid son to find "good day" (il
buon de). The youth stretched himself in the road near the city gate
where he could observe all those who entered or left the town. Now
it happened that three citizens had gone out into the fields to take pos-
session of a treasure that they had discovered. On their return they
greeted the youth in the road with " good day." The youth said,
when the first one saluted him : " I have one of them," meaning one
of the good days, and so on with the other two. The citizens who had
found the treasure, believing that they were discovered, and that the
youth would inform the magistrates of the find, shared the treasure
with him.
384 NOTES.
LIST OF WORKS MOST FREQUENTLY REFERRED TO
IN THE NOTES.
{For works relating directly to Italian Popular Tales, see Bibliog-
raphy.)
Asbjarnsen : Norske Folke-Eventyr fortalte af P. Chr. Asbjornsen.
Ny Samling. Christiania, 1871. 8°. [English version in Tales from
the Fjeld. A second series of Popular Tales from the Norse of P.
Chr. Asbjornsen. By G. W. Dasent, London, 1874.]
AsbJ0rnsen and Moe : Norse Folke-Eventyr fortalte af P. Chr. As-
bjarnsen og j0i'gen Moe. 5te Udgave. Christiania, 1874. 8°. [Partly
translated by G. W. Dasent in Popular Tales from the Norse. 2d
ed. Edinburgh, 1859. New York, 1859.]
Basque Legends : collected, chiefly in the Labourd, by the Rev. Went-
worth Webster. London, 2d ed. 1879. 8°.
Benfey, Pantschatantra : Fiinf Biicher indischer Fabeln, Marchen und
Erzahlungen, Aus dem Sanskrit ubersetzt mit Einleitung und An-
merkungen von Theodor Benfey. Erster Theil, Einleitung. Leip-
zig, 1859. 8°.
Blade" : Contes populaires recueillis en Agenais par M. Jean-Francois
Blade" suivis de notes comparatives par M. Reinhold Kohler. Paris,
1874. 8°.
Brueyre : Contes populaires de la Grande-Bretagne par Loys Brueyre.
Paris, 1875. 8°-
Cosquin, Emmanuel : Contes populaires lorrains recueillis dans un
village du Barrois, a Montiers-sur-Baulx (Meuse), Romania, V. 83,
133; VI. 212, 529; VII. 527; VIII. 545 ; IX. 377; X. 117, 543-
Cox : The Mythology of the Aryan Nations. By G. W. Cox. 2 vols.
London, 1870. 8°.
Dunlop-Liebrecht : Geschichte der Prosadichtung. Aus dem engli-
schen von F. Liebrecht. Berlin, 1851. 8°.
Folk- Lore Record, London, 1 879-1 882. 5 vols. 8°.
Gesammtabenteuer. Von F. H. von der Hagen. 3 vols. Stuttgart
and Tubingen, 1850. 8°.
Gesta Romanorum von Herm. Oesterley. Berlin, 1872. 8°.
Graesse, J. G. T. : Die grossen Sagenkreise des Mittelalters. Dres-
den und Leipzig, 1842. 8°.
Grimm, The Brothers : Grimm's Household Tales. With the Author's
Notes translated from the German and edited by M. Hunt. With
an Introduction by A. Lang, M. A. In two volumes. London : G.
Bell & Sons. 1884. (Bohn's Standard Library.) [This excellent ver-
sion contains all the stories and notes of the third edition of the
LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED. 385
original text, Gottingen, 1856, the third volume of which, contain-
ing the notes, is rather scarce. The numbers of the stories corre-
spond in the German and English editions, and the latter will be
cited for the convenience of the reader.]
Grundtwig : Danske Folkeminder, Viser, Sagn og Eventyr. Udgivne
af Svend Grundtwig. KJ0benhavn, 1861. iste-jdie Samling. 8°.
Hahn: Griechische und Albanesische Marchen. Gesammelt, iiber-
setzt und erlautert von J. G. von Hahn. Leipzig, 1864. 2 vols. 8°.
Halliwell, J. O. : Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales. London,
1849. 12°.
Kreutzwald : Ehstnische Marchen. Aufgezeichnet von Friedrich
Kreutzwald. Halle, 1869. 8°.
Luzel : Cont'es bretons recueillis et traduits par F. M. Luzel. Quim-
perle', 1870. 8°.
MeTusine: Revue de Mythologie, Litt. pop., Traditions et usages,
dirige'e par MM. H. Gaidoz et E. Rolland. Paris, 1877, 1884. 40.
Nisard, Ch. : Histoire des Livres populaires. Paris, 1854. 2 vols. 8°.
Novelle Ant. Biagi. Le Novelle Antiche dei codici Panciatichiano-
Palatino 138 e Laurenziano-Gaddiano 193, con una introduzione etc
per Guido Biagi. Florence, 1880. 8°.
Novelle Ant. Borg : Le Cento Novelle Antiche secondo 1' edizione del
MDXXV. corrette ed illustrate con note. Milano, 1825. 8°.
Novelle Ant. Gualt. : Cento Novelle Antiche. Libro di Novelle e di
Bel parlar gentile (Gualteruzzi da Fano). Florence (Naples),
1727. 8°.
Novelle Ant. Papanti. Romania, vol. III. p. 189.
Old Deccan Days, or Hindoo Fairy Legends. Collected by M. Frere.
Philadelphia: Lippincott & Co. 1868.
Orient und Occident insbes. in ihren gegenwartigen Beziehungen.
Forschungen und Mittheilungen. Eine Vierteljahrschrift heraus-
gegeben von Theodor Benfey. Vols I.— III. Gottingen, 1 860-1 864.
8°.
Ralston : Russian Folk-Tales. By W. R. S. Ralston. London, 1873.
8°. [There is an American reprint, without date.]
Robert: Fables inedites des XI I^ XI He, XI Ve Siecles et Fables de
La Fontaine. Par A. C. M. Robert. 2 vols. Paris, 1825. 8°.
Romania: Recueil Trimestriel consacre a l'etude des langues et des
litteratures romanes. Publie' par P. Meyer et G. Paris. Paris, 1872,
still in course of publication.
Rondallayre, lo : Quentos populars Catalans coleccionats per F. Mas-
pons y Labros. Barcelona, 1871. 180.
Schiefner, F. Anton von : Tibetan Tales, done into English from the
German, with an Introduction by W. R. S. Ralston, M. A. London,
1882 (Triibner's Oriental Series).
Stokes, Maive : Indian Fairy Tales. With notes by Mary Stokes, and
an Introduction by W. R. S. Ralston, M. A. London, 1880.
386 NOTES.
Sacre Rappresentazioni dei Secoli XIV., XV., XVI. Raccolte e illus-
trate per cura di Alessandro D'Ancona. Florence, 1872. 3 vols. 160.
Schimpf und Ernst : J. Pauli. Herausgegeben von Herm. Oesterley.
Bibliothek des Litt. Vereins in Stuttgart. Bd. LXXXV. Stutt-
gart, 1866. 8°.
Tausend und Eine Nacht. Arabische Erzahlungen. Deutsch von M.
Habicht, von der Hagen und C. Schall. Breslau, 1836. 15 vols. 8°.
Wendunmuth : Hans Wilhelm Kirchhof, Wendunmuth. Herausge-
geben von Herm. Oesterley. Bibliothek des Litt. Vereins in Stutt-
gart. Bd. XCV.-XCIX. 5 vols. 8°. Tubingen, 1869.
INDEX.
Admonitions, the Three, story of, 157.
Andromeda, or Princess freed from Dragon,
33S-
Angiola, the Fair, story of, 26.
Animal brothers-in-law, 60 ; animal children,
324; animals, dispute of, settled by hero,
3i-
Ant and the Mouse, story of the, 376.
Apple, unequally divided, indicates true
friend, 204.
Ass, story of the, 190.
Ass that lays Money, story of the, 123.
Baker's Apprentice, story of the, 212.
Barber, story of the, 241.
Basile, Giambattista, xi.
Bastanielo, story of, 279.
Beauty and the Beast, 7.
Beppo Pipetta, story of, 222.
Bierde, story of, 68.
Bird, magic, bestowing gifts, 43 ; bird, trans-
formation into, 2, 13.
Blood of children restores uncle to life, 87.
Bluebeard, 77.
Bone of hero as musical instrument discov-
ering murderers, 41 ; human bone to be
eaten, 81.
Bonhomme Misere, 215, 222, 367.
Boots, magic, faster than wind, 143.
Bottles, seven, filled with tears, 322.
Bride, the Forgotten, 58, 71
Bride, the True, 57, 71, 102.
Brother Giovannone, story of, 217.
Brothers, three, born from mother eating
magic fish, 30.
Buchettino, story of, 265.
Bucket, story of the, 100.
Buddha, parable of, 294.
Buttadeu, story of, 197.
Capon divided in peculiar manner, 311.
Cat and the Mouse, story of the, 257.
Catherine and her Fate, story of, 105.
Cento Novelle Antiche, 154, 188.
Chess, winning at, disposes of princess's
hand, 123.
Chick-Pea, Little, story of, 242.
Children born from chick-peas, 243 ; from fish,
3°> 335!. apple-peel, 344; Children prom-
ised to witches, 25 ; to Devil, 136.
Christmas, story of, 283.
Cinderella, story of, 42.
Cistern, story of the, 36.
Clever Girl, story of the, 311.
Clever Peasant, story of the, 309.
Cloak that renders invisible, 123, 1
Cloud, story of the, 30.
Cobbler, the, story of, 94.
Cock, story of the, 270.
Cock and the Mouse, story of the, 252.
Cock that wished to become Pope, story of
the, 272.
Constantine's leprosy healed by St. Silvester,
202.
Cook, story of the, 275.
Crab, story of, 314.
Crivoliu, story of, 198.
Cross protects child against Devil, 137.
Crumb in the Beard, story of the, no.
Crystal Casket, story of the, 326.
^ukasaptati, Oriental collection of tales, 167,
359-
Cupid and Psyche, 1, 77.
Cure by laughing, 119, 347.
Curse of the Seven Children, story of the,
Cymbal, prince concealed in, 64.
Danae, 336.
Dante, 309, 381.
Daughters, two, good and bad, 100.
Der Kaiser und der Abt, Burger's poem of,
275.
Devil, how the, married Three Sisters, story
of, 7S.
Disciplina Clericalis of Petrus Alphonsi, 154,
157. 352, 355.
Doctor's Apprentice, story of the, 287.
Dog's face, by witch's imprecation, 29; dogs
substituted for queen's children, 19.
Doll which moves, sees, and dresses itself,
114; king's son in love with, 117, 180.
Don Firiulieddu, story of, 241.
Don Joseph Pear, story of, 127.
Don Juan, 235.
Don Quixote, 155.
Doves recall forgotten bride, 75; indicate
future Pope, 200.
Eagle carries hero up from cave, 40.
Eat, My Clothes! story of, 296.
Egg which kills fairy, 32.
Eyes, diseased, cured by feather of griffin, 40.
Fables of Oriental origin, 150, 353.
Fabliaux, French, 149, 352.
Fair Brow, story of, 131.
Fairies' gifts, 19, 99, 100, 102.
Fate personified, 105.
Feast Day, a, story of, 261.
Figs producing horns, 121.
Fiorita, the Fair, story of, 61.
Firrazzanu, stories of, 289, 290 ; Firrazzami's
Wife and the Queen, 288.
/
388
INDEX.
Flesh of hero given to eagle, 40.
Flight of lovers and pursuit by witch, 28, 74,
335-
Fool, story of the, 302.
Forbidden chamber, 77, 79.
Fountain of wine and oil, 72.
Fox as Puss in Boots, 127.
Gentleman who kicked a Skull, story of the,
236.
Gesta Romanorum, 183.
Giant with no heart in his body, 32, 335, 355;
giant outwitted by men, 89, 94, 95.
Giufa's Exploits, story of, 297.
Giufa and the Judge, story of, 293.
Giufa and the Plaster Statue, story of, 291.
Goat and the Fox, story of the, 375.
Goat, the Iron, 256.
Godfather and Godmother of St. John who
made love, story of, 228.
Godfather Misery, story of, 221.
Godmother Fox, 254.
Gold, magician's body turned to, 333.
Gossips of St. John, story of the, 369.
Gregory on the Stone, 198, 363.
Griffin, story of the, 40.
Grimm's Tales cited in text : Allerleirauh, 42 ;
Brother Lustig, 215; Clever Alice, 279;
Clever People, 279 ; Doctor Knowall, 314;
Faithful John, 85 ; Feather Bird [Fitcher's
Bird], 77 ; Golden Goose, 261 ; Goose-Girl,
57 ; Handless Maiden, 25 ; King Thrush-
beard, 109 ; Little Mouse, Little Bird, and
the Sausage, 260 ; Master Thief, 215 ; Rob-
ber Bridegroom, 77 ; Spider and the Flea,
■ 256 ; White and the Black Bride, 58 ; Wood-
cutter's Child [Our Lady's Child], 77.
Groomsman, story of the, 231.
Hair, tresses used as ladder, 3, 27, 72, 83,
335-
Hands, clasped, prevent child's birth, 6.
Heart of saint eaten by maiden produces child,
208.
Hermit as adviser, 7, 14, 20.
Horn that blows out soldiers, 123.
House that Jack built, 247.
Humpbacks, the Two, story of, 103.
Hump removed by fairies, 103 ; added to
humpback, 104.
In this World one weeps and another laughs,
story of, 190.
Ingrates, story of the, 150.
Joseph and his Brethren, 211.
Journey of our Saviour on Earth, 189.
Judas, story of, 195.
Just Man, story of the, 226.
King Bean, story of, 12.
King, Crystal, story of the, 6.
King John and the Abbot of Canterbury, Per-
cy's poem of, 275.
King Lear, 333.
King of Love, story of the, 1.
King who wanted a Beautiful Wife, story of
the, 97.
Kiss of mother makes hero forget bride, 71,
74, 343-
La Fontaine, fables of, cited, 149, 294.
Language of Animals, story of the, 161.
Leprosy healed by human blood, 207.
Life-giving ointment or leaves, 326.
Lionbruno, story of, 136.
Long May, 284.
Lord, St. Peter, and the Apostles, story of
the, 1 86.
Lord, St. Peter, and the Blacksmith, story of
the, 188.
Lord's Will, 192.
Love of the Three Oranges, story of the, 338.
Malchus at the Column, story of, 197.
Malchus, Desperate, story of, 196.
Man, the Serpent, and the Fox, story of the,
354-
Maria Wood, Fair, story of, 48.
Mason and his Son, story of the, 163.
Massariol, domestic spirit of the Venetians,
237-
Medusa, 336.
Melusina, 1.
Mother-in-law ill-treats son's wife, 56; killed
by boiling oil, 57.
Mr. Attentive, story of, 240.
Nala, story of, in Italian popular tale, 360.
Nero, 308.
Occasion, story of, 215.
Old Deccan Days, stories from, cited, 85.
Omelet, Little, story of the, 294.
Oraggio and Bianchinetta, story of, 58.
Oriental elements in Italian popular tales, 149,
352.
Orlanda, the Fairy, story of, 114.
Pandora's box, 5.
Pantschatantra, Italian versions of, 351.
Parish Priest of San Marcuola, story of, 234.
Parnell's Hermit, 210, 365.
Parrot, story of the, first version, 168 ; second
version, 169 ; third version, 173.
Peasant and the Master, story of the, 150.
Penance, Knight's, 227.
Pentamerone, xi.
Pepper-Corn, story of, 375.
Perrault, Charles, xii.
Persecution of innocent wife, 326.
Peter Fullone and the Egg, story of, 381.
Physician, wife disguised as, 15 ; princess dis-
guised as, 170.
Pier delle Vigne, 159.
Pig, little, that would not go over the stile,
247.
Pilate, story of, 194.
Pitidda, story of, 248.
Polyphemus, myth of, 89.
Pot that cooks without any fire, 305.
Proverbial sayings, 308, 309.
Purse always full of money, 19, 120, 143.
Puss in Boots, story of, 348;
Rabbit that carries things, 304.
Rain of figs and raisins, 380.
Rampsinitus, treasure house of, 163.
Riddle, bride won by solving, 66 ; proposed by
suitor, 68 ; in general, 343.
Ring, as means of recognition, 51 ; turns red
and stops steamer at owner's forgetfulness,
114; ring which causes sneezing, 119.
Rose discovers concealed princess, 65.
Ruby, magic, does all that owner asks, 138.
Saddaedda, story of, 238.
St. James of Galicia, story of, 202.
St. Oniric or Neria, 208.
St. Peter and the Robbers, 185.
St. Peter's Mamma, 192.
St. Peter and his Sisters, story of, 193.
Sanctuary, privilege of, 38.
Samelli, Pompeo, Bishop of Bisceglie, xii.
INDEX.
389
Scissors they were, story of, 285.
Sepher Haggadah, Jewish hymn in, 375.
Seven Wise Masters, the 159, 160, 161, 167,
168 ; Italian versions of, 351 ; in general,
358 ; Magyar version, 359.
Sexton's Nose, story of the, 250.
Shepherd, story of the, 156.
Shepherd who made the King's Daughter
laugh, story of the, 119.
Shoes, iron, worn out in search of husband, 7,
322; in search of wife, 142.
Sick prince and secret remedy, 325.
Silence of princess disenchants brothers, 55.
Sir Fiorante, Magician, story of, 322.
Sisters' envy, 7, 17.
Sisters, Two, 58, 338.
Skein of silk outweighs king's treasures, 108.
Sleep, magic, 82.
Slipper, lost by Cinderella, 46.
Snake, youngest daughter marries, 322.
Snow-White-Fire-Red, story of, 72.
Star on daughter's brow, 18, 101.
Statue, in love with? story of, 85 .
Statue, transformation into, 22, 34, 86.
Stepmother, story of the, 331.
Stepmother persecutes daughter-in-law, 326,
33'-
Stick, magic, beats thief, 125.
Straparola, Giovan Francesco, x.
Sultan's daughter, 132.
Swan-maidens, 76.
Sympathetic objects; ring, 11, 19; fishbone,
30 ; in general, 326.
Tablecloth, magic, producing food, 120, 125.
Tasks, 5, 7, 30; set suitor by father-in law, 65.
Thankful Dead, episode of, 131, 350, 364.
Thirteenth, story of, 90.
Thoughtless Abbot, story of the, 276.
Thousand and One Nights, stones from in
Italian popular tales, 151 ; Aladdin and the
Wonderful Lamp, 152; Forty Thieves, 152,
Third Calendar, 153; Two Envious Sisters,
153 ; The Hunchback, 153 ; The Ass, the
Ox, and the Peasant, 153; Prince Ahmed
and the Fairy Peribanu, 153 ; SinbacTs
Fourth Voyage, 153 ; The Second Royal
Mendicant, 153.
Three Brothers, story of the, 263.
Three Goslings, story of the, 267.
Tobit, 211.
Tokens, magic : apple, pomegranate, crown,
36.
Tom Thumb, 242, 372.
Torches, nuptial, 6.
Transformation of hero into bird, 2, 13 ; eagle,
32; ant, 32; lion, 33. See Statue.
Treasure, story of the, 156.
Treasure stories, 238.
True and untrue, 325.
Truthful Joseph, story of, 184.
Turkj in Sicilian tales, 1, 2, 178.
Turkish corsairs, 132.
Tuti-Nameh, 167, 359. v
Uncle Capriano, story of, 303.
Vineyard I was and Vineyard I am, story of,
159.
Wager, story of the, 284.
Wandering Jew, 197, 363.
Water and Salt, story of, 332.
Water, Dancing, the Singing Apple, and the
Speaking Bird, story of the, 17.
Water of life, 53.
Whistle that brings dead to life, 306 ; whistle
which makes people dance, 120.
Whittington and his Cat, 365.
Witches' council under tree, 14 ; imprecation,
338.
Wooden dress, disguise of heroine, 48.
Zelinda and the Monster, story of, 7.
TALES OF MANY COUNTRIES
AND
Books on Folk-Lore and Popular Traditions.
SELECTED FROM THE PUBLICATIONS OF
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,
Boston and New York.
iEsop.
The Fables of JEsop.
With one hundred and eleven Illustrations by H. W. HERRICK. i2mo,
$1.00.
The Book of Fables, chiefly from ALsop.
Chosen and Phrased by Horace E. Scudder. With Illustrations by H.
W. Herrick. i6mo, 40 cents.
Hans Christian Andersen.
Stories and Tales.
Popular Edition. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, $1.00.
Wonder Stories told for Children.
Popular Edition. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, $1.00.
Arabian Nights' Entertainments.
New Edition, revised, with Notes. With Illustrations by Houghton,
Dalziel, etc. i2mo, $1.00.
Six Stories from the Arabian Nights.
Selected and edited by Samuel Eliot. Crown 8vo, ornamental boards,
48 cents.
Ballads, English and Scottish Popular.
Edited by Prof. Francis J. Child.
An Edition de Luxe, strictly limited to one thousand copies. In eight
parts, each part containing about 250 pages. Imperial quarto, per part,
$5.00. Parts 1, 2, and 3, now ready.
(Sold only by Subscription.}
Bjornstjerne Bjornson.
Novels and Stoties.
American Edition. Sanctioned by the author, and translated by Prof. R.
B. Anderson, of the University of Wisconsin. i6mo, each $1.00.
The Same. New Edition, illustrated. In three volumes, i2mo, $4.50.
Synnove Solbakken. (With Portrait.)
Arne.
The Bridal March, and Other Stories.
A Happy Boy.
The Fisher Maiden.
Captain Mansana, and Other Stories.
Magnhild.
Thomas Frederick Crane.
Italian Popular Tales.
Translated from the Italian by Prof. T. F. Crane, of Cornell Univer-
sity. 8vo, $2.50.
John Fiske.
Myths and Mythmakers :
Old Tales and Superstitions interpreted by Comparative Mythology.
i2mo, $2.00.
G. Laurence Gomme.
The Gentleman 's Magazine Library.
Being a Classified Collection of the Chief Contents of the " Gentleman's
Magazine," from 173 1 to 1868. Edited by G. Laurence Gomme,
F. S. A. In fourteen volumes. Each volume, 8vo, $2.50.
The following volumes relate to Folk-Lore and Popular Traditions :
I. Manners and Customs.
II. Dialect, Proverbs, and Word-Lore.
III. Popular Superstitions.
IV. English Traditions and Foreign Customs.
Homer.
The Iliad. Translated by William Cullen Bryant.
Roslyn Edition. Crown 8vo, gilt top, $3.00. In two volumes. Crown
8vo, gilt top, $4.50.
The Same. In two volumes. Royal 8vo, gilt top, $9.00.
The Odyssey. Translated by William Cullen Bryant.
Roslyn Edition. Crown 8vo, gilt top, $3.00. In two volumes. Crown
8vo, gilt top, $4.50.
The Same. In two volumes. Royal 8vo, gilt top, $9.00.
The Odyssey. Translated by George H. Palmer.
The First Twelve Books translated into Rhythmic Prose by Prof. George
H. Palmer, of Harvard University. 8vo, $2.50.
Charles G. Leland.
The Gypsies.
Containing accounts of the Russian, Austrian, English, Welsh, and Amer-
ican Gypsies ; together with Papers on the Gypsies in the East, Gypsy
Names and Family Characteristics, the Origin of the Gypsies, a Gypsy
Magic Spell, Shelta, the Tinker's Talk ; beside Gypsy Stories in Rom-
any, with Translations. Crown 8vo, red edges, $2.00.
The Algonquin Legends of New England.
Myths and Folk-Lore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot
Tribes. Illustrated from Designs scraped upon birch bark by an Indian.
Crown 8vo, $2.00.
Mother Goose's Melodies for Children.
Or, Songs for the Nursery.
Complete Edition revised, with an account of the Goose or Vergoose Fam-
ily. Illustrated, and with music. Quarto, ornamental boards, $2.00.
Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Sam Lawson's Fireside Stories.
Illustrated. New Edition, enlarged. i2mo, $1.50.
Esaias Tegner.
Frithiofs Saga.
A Legend of Ancient Norway. Translated from the Swedish by L. A.
Sherman. Illustrated. 4*0, full gilt, $6.00.
Henry Watterson.
Oddities in Southern Life and Character.
Edited by Henry Watterson, Editor of the Louisville Courier- Journal.
With Illustrations by W. L Sheppard and F. S. Church. i6mo,
$1.50.
*#* For sale by all Booksellers. Sent, by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price
by the Publishers,
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,
BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
BOOKS ABOUT ITALY.
At Home in Italy.
By Mrs. E. D. R. Bianciardi. i6mo, $1.25.
Diary of an Ennuyee.
By Mrs. Anna Jameson. " Little Classic" style. i8mo, $1.50.
The Improvisatore ;
Or, Life in Italy. By Hans Christian Andersen. i2mo, $1.50.
Italian Journeys.
By W. D. Howells. i2mo, $1.50.
Italian Note-Books.
In "French and Italian Note-Books." By Nathaniel Hawthorne.
With etching and vignette. Riverside Edition. Crown 8vo, gilt top,
$2.00. " Little Classic" Edition. 2 vols. i8mo, $2.00.
Italian Popular Tales.
Translated from the Italian by Prof. T. F. Crane, of Cornell University.
8vo, $2.50.
Italy.
Vols. XI.-XIII. of " Poems of Places." Edited by H. W. Longfellow.
" Little Classic " style. i8mo, $3.00.
Journey into Italy.
By Michael de Montaigne. Included in Montaigne's Works, in four
volumes. i2mo, $7.50.
Notes of Travel and Study in Italy.
By Charles Eliot Norton. i6mo, $1.25.
Pictures from Italy.
By Charles Dickens. Illustrated. i2mo, $1.50.
Six Months in Italy.
By George S. Hillard. i2mo, $2.00.
Venetian Life.
By W. D. Howells. i2mo, $1.50.
The Same. In "Riverside Aldine Series." In two volumes. i6mo,
gilt top, $2.00.
A Year in a Venetian Palace.
By W. D. Howells. In "Modern Classics," No. 32. 32mo, orange
edges, 75 cents.
*** For sale by all Booksellers. Sent, post-paid, on receipt of price by the Pub-
lishers,
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO., Boston and New York.
%;
ammm
mSBSfaBB
LIBRARY OF
■Hi Bg
1H— i H
m
A
■
1
■ " - '.,■
Mcu«ffllMSHu«llB(l9naHbflHRHuNt^
VjuUCpCBDIBHIw HflHSBasM
Kn<u00(!W9DBSffi HnflKBKsH
Hffin finU BBS
1HHHB
III
ini
HH
Ai
mSKmmSSSm
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11