Italian Folktales
Chapter 16 The Twelve Oxen There were twelve brothers who fell out with their father, and all twelve of them left home. They built themselves a house in the woods and made their living as carpenters. Meanwhile their parents had a baby girl, who was a great comfort to them. The child grew up without ever meeting her twelve brothers. She had only heard them mentioned, and she longed to see them. One day she went to bathe at a fountain, and the first thing she did was remove her coral necklace and hang it on a twig. A raven came by, grabbed the necklace, and flew off with it. The girl ran into the woods after the raven and found her brothers' house. No one was at home, so she cooked the noodles, spooned them onto the brothers' plates, and hid under a bed. The brothers returned and, finding the noodles ready and waiting, sat down and ate. But then they grew uneasy, suspecting the witches had played a joke on them, for the woods were full of witches. One of the twelve kept watch the next day and saw the girl jump out from under the bed. When the brothers learned she was not a witch but their own little sister, they made a great to-do over her and insisted that she remain with them. But they cautioned her to speak to no one in the woods, because the place was full of witches. One evening when the girl went to prepare supper, she found that the fire had gone out. To save time, she went to a nearby cottage to get a light. An old woman at the cottage graciously gave her the light, but said that, in exchange, she would come to the girl on the morrow and suck a bit of blood from her little finger. "I can't let anyone in the house," said the girl. "My brothers forbid it." "You don't even have to open the door," replied the old woman. "When I knock, all you have to do is stick your little finger through the keyhole, and I'll suck it." So the old woman came by every evening to suck the blood from her, while the girl grew paler and paler. Her brothers noticed it and asked her so many questions that she admitted going to an old witch for a light and having to pay for it with her blood. "Just let us take care of her," said the brothers. The witch arrived, knocked, and when the girl failed to stick her finger through the keyhole, she poked her head through the cat door. One of the brothers had his hatchet all ready and chopped off her head. Then they pitched the remains into a ravine. One day on the way to the fountain, the girl met another old woman, who was selling white bowls. "I have no money," said the girl. "In that case I'll make you a present of them," said the old woman. So when the brothers came home thirsty, they found twelve bowels filled with water. They pitched in and drank, and instantly changed into a herd of oxen. Only the twelfth, whose thirst was slight, barely touched the water and turned into a lamb. The sister therefore found herself alone with eleven oxen and one lamb to feed every day. A prince out hunting went astray in the woods and, turning up at the girl's house, fell in love with her. He asked her to marry him, but she replied that she had to think of her oxen brothers and couldn't possibly leave them. The prince took her to his palace along with all the brothers. The girl became his princess bride, and the eleven oxen and the lamb were put into a marble barn with gold mangers. But the witches in the woods did not give up. One day the princess was strolling under the grape arbor with her lambkin brother that she always carried with her, when an old woman walked up to her. "Will you give me a bunch of grapes, my good princess?" "Yes, dear old soul, help yourself." "I can't reach up that high, please pick them for me." "Right away," said the princess, reaching up for a bunch. "Pick that bunch there, they're the ripest," said the old woman, pointing to a bunch above the cistern. To reach it, the princess had to stand on the rim of the cistern. The old woman gave her a push, and the princess fell in. The lamb started bleating, and bleated all around the cistern, but nobody understood what it was bleating about, nor did they hear the princess moaning down in the well. Meanwhile the witch had taken the princess's shape and got into her bed. When the prince came home, he asked, "What are you doing in bed?" "I'm sick," said the false princess. "I need to eat a morsel of lamb. Slaughter me that one out there that won't stop bleating." "Didn't you tell me some time ago," asked the prince, "that the lamb was your brother? And you want to eat him now?" The witch had blundered and was at a loss for words. The prince, sensing that something was amiss, went into the garden and followed the lamb that was bleating so pitifully. It approached the cistern, and the prince heard his wife calling. "What are you doing at the bottom of the cistern?" he exclaimed. "Didn't I just leave you in bed?" "No, I've been down here ever since this morning! A witch threw me in!" The prince ordered his wife pulled up at once. The witch was caught and burned at the stake. While the fire burned, the oxen and also the lamb slowly turned back into fine, strapping young men, and you'd have thought the castle had been invaded by a band of giants. They were all made princes, while I've stayed as poor a soul as ever. (Monferrato) NOTES: "The Twelve Oxen" (I dodici buoi) from Comparetti, 47, Monferrato, Piedmont. The folktales about the sister who rescues her brother or brothers changed into animals can be divided into two groups: the one where the seven sons are under a curse (as in Basile, IV, 8, or in Grimm, 9 and 25), and the other where the sole brother is transformed into a lamb (as in Grimm, 11, or in my no. 178). The brothers are most commonly transformed into birds (swans, ravens, doves), and the first literary manifestation of the motif dates back to the twelfth century; the latest is possibly Andersen's "Wild Swans." Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980 Chapter 17 Crack and Crook In a distant town there was a famous thief known as Crack, whom nobody had ever been able to catch. The main ambition of this Crack was to meet Crook, another notorious thief, and form a partnership with him. One day as Crack was eating lunch at the tavern across the table from a stranger, he went to look at his watch and found it missing. The only person in this world who could have taken it without my knowledge, he thought, is Crook. So what did Crack do but turn right around and steal Crook's purse. When the stranger got ready to pay for his lunch, he found his purse gone and said to his table companion, "Well, well, you must be Crack." "And you must be Crook." "Right." "Fine, we'll work together." They went to the city and made for the king's treasury, which was completely surrounded by guards. The thieves therefore dug an underground tunnel into the treasury and stole everything. Surveying his loss, the king had no idea how he might catch the robbers. He went to a man named Snare, who had been put in prison for stealing, and said, "If you can tell me who committed this robbery, I'll set you free and make you a marquis." Snare replied, "It can be none other than Crack or Crook, or both of them together, since they are the most notorious thieves alive. But I'll tell you how you can catch them. Have the price of meat raised to one hundred dollars a pound. The person who pays that much for it will be your thief." The king had the price of meat raised to one hundred dollars a pound, and everybody stopped buying meat. Finally it was reported that a friar had gone to a certain butcher and bought meat. Snare said, "That had to be Crack or Crook in disguise. I'll now disguise myself and go around to the houses begging. If anybody gives me meat, I'll make a red mark on the front door, and your guards can go and arrest the thieves." But when he made a red mark on Crack's house, the thief saw it and went and marked all the other doors in the city with red, so there was no telling in the end where Crack and Crook lived. Snare said to the king, "Didn't I tell you they were foxy? But there's someone else foxier than they are. Here's the next thing to do: put a tub of boiling pitch at the bottom of the treasury steps. Whoever goes down to steal will fall right into it, and his dead body will give him away." Crack and Crook had run out of money in the meantime and decided to go back to the treasury for more. Crook went in first, but it was dark, and he fell into the tub. Crack came along and tried to pull his friend's body out of the pitch, but it stuck fast in the tub. He then cut off the head and carried it away. The next day the king went to see if he had caught the thief. "This time we got him! We got him!" But the corpse had no head, so they were none the wiser about the thief or any accomplices he might have had. Snare said, "There's one more thing we can do: have the dead man dragged through the city by two horses. The house where you hear someone weeping has to be the thief's house." In effect, when Crook's wife looked out the window and saw her husband's body being dragged through the street, she began screaming and crying. But Crack was there and knew right away that would be their undoing. He therefore started smashing dishes right and left and thrashing the poor woman at the same time. Attracted by all that screaming, the guards came in and found a man beating his wife for breaking up all the dishes in the house. The king then had a decree posted on every street corner that he would pardon the thief who had robbed him, if the thief now managed to steal the sheets out from under him at night. Crack came forward and said he could do it. That night the king undressed and went to bed with his gun to wait for the thief. Crack got a dead body from a gravedigger, dressed it in his own clothes, and carried it to the roof of the royal palace. At midnight the cadaver, held by a rope, was dangling before the king's windows. Thinking it was Crack, the king fired one shot and watched him fall, cord and all. He ran downstairs to see if he was dead. While the king was gone, Crack slipped into his room and stole the sheets. He was therefore pardoned, and so that he wouldn't have to steal any longer, the king married his daughter to him. (Monferrato) NOTES: "Crack and Crook" (Cric e Croc) from Comparetti, 13, Monferrato, Piedmont. This is one of the oldest and most famous tales, which has occupied the attention of scholars for generations. The Piedmontese version I followed is faithful to the oldest tradition and includes the curious character-names and a brisk dose of rustic cunning. Herodotus (Histories) tells in detail about Egyptian King Rhampsinitus's treasure, chief source of the vast narrative tradition concerning wily robbers put to the test by a ruler. The beheading of a cadaver so it will not be recognized is also encountered in Pausanias, who presents the myth of Trophonius and Agamedes (Description of Greece, IX, 372). Either through the Greeks or through oriental tradition the tale entered medieval literature, in the various translations of the Book of the Seven Sages and other Italian, English, and German texts. Literary versions by Italian Renaissance story writers are numerous. Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980 Chapter 18 The Canary Prince There was a king who had a daughter. Her mother was dead, and the stepmother was jealous of the girl and always spoke badly of her to the king. The maiden defended herself as best as she could, but the stepmother was so contrary and insistent that the king, though he loved his daughter, finally gave in. He told the queen to send the girl away, but to some place where she would be comfortable, for he would never allow her to be mistreated. "Have no fear of that," said the stepmother, who then had the girl shut up in a castle in the heart of the forest. To keep her company, the queen selected a group of ladies-in-waiting, ordering them never to let the girl go out of the house or even to look out the windows. Naturally they received a salary worthy of a royal household. The girl was given a beautiful room and all she wanted to eat and drink. The only thing she couldn't do was go outdoors. But the ladies, enjoying so much leisure time and money, thought only of themselves and paid no attention to her. Every now and then the king would ask his wife, "And how is our daughter? What is she doing with herself these days?" To prove that she did take an interest in the girl, the queen called on her. The minute she stepped from her carriage, the ladies-in-waiting all rushed out and told her not to worry, the girl was well and happy. The queen went up to the girl's room for a moment. "So you're comfortable, are you? You need nothing, do you? You're looking well, I see; the country air is doing you good. Stay happy, now. Bye-bye, dear!" And off she went. She informed the king she had never seen his daughter so content. On the contrary, alwasy alone in the room, with ladies-in-waiting who didn't so much as look at her, the princess spent her days wistfully at the window. She sat there leaning on the windowsill, and had she not thought to put a pillow under them, she would have got calluses on her elbows. The window looked out on the forest, and all day long the princess saw nothing but treetops, clouds and, down below, the hunters' trail. Over that trail one day came the son of a king in pursuit of a wild boar. Nearing the castle known to have been unoccupied for no telling how many years, he was amazed to see washing spread out on the battlements, smoke rising from the chimneys, and open casements. As he looked about him, he noticed a beautiful maiden at one of the upper windows and smiled at her. The maiden saw the prince too, dressed in yellow, with hunter's leggings and gun, and smiling at her, so she smiled back at him. For a whole hour, they smiled, bowed, and curtsied, being too far apart to communicate in any other way. The next day, under the pretext of going hunting, the king's son returned, dressed in yellow, and they stared at each other this time for two hours; in addition to smiles, bows, and curtsies, they put a hand over their hearts and waved handkerchiefs at great length. The third day the prince stopped for three hours, and they blew each other kisses. The fourth day he was there as usual, when from behind a tree a witch peeped and began to guffaw: "Ho, ho, ho, ho!" "Who are you? What's so funny?" snapped the prince. "What's so funny? Two lovers silly enought to stay so far apart!" "Would you know how to get any closer to her, ninny?" asked the prince. "I like you both," said the witch, "and I'll help you." She knocked at the door and handed the ladies-in-waiting a big old book with yellow, smudgy pages, saying it was a gift to the princess so the young lady could pass the time reading. The ladies took it to the girl, who opened it at once and read: "This is a magic book. Turn the pages forward, and the man becomes a bird; turn them back, and the bird becomes a man once more." The girl ran to the window, placed the book on the sill, and turned the pages in great haste while watching the youth in yellow standing in the path. Moving his arms, he was soon flapping wings and changed into a canary, dressed in yellow as he was. Up he soared above the treetops and headed straight for the window, coming to rest on the cushioned sill. The princess couldn't resist picking up the beautiful canary and kissing him; then remembering he was a young man, she blushed. But on second thought she wasn't ashamed at all and made haste to turn him back into a youth. She picked up the book and thumbed backward through it; the canary ruffled his yellow feathers, flapped his wings, then moved arms and was once more the youth dressed in yellow with the hunter's leggings, who knelt before her, declaring, "I love you!" By the time they finished confessing all their love for one another, it was evening. Slowly, the princess leafed through the book. Looking into her eyes the youth turned back into a canary, perched on the windowsill, then on the eaves, then trusting to the wind, flew down in wide arcs, lighting on the lower limb of a tree. At that, she turned the pages back in the book and the canary was a prince once more who jumped down, whistled for his dogs, threw a kiss toward the window, and continued along the trail out of sight. So every day the pages were turned forward to bring the prince flying up to the window at the top of the tower, then turned backward to restore his human form, then forward again to enable him to fly away, and finally backward for him to get home. Never in their whole life had the two young people known such happiness. One day the queen called on her stepdaughter. She walked about the room, saying, "You're all right, aren't you? I see you're a trifle slimmer, but that's certainly no cause for concern, is it? It's true, isn't it, you've never felt better?" As she talked, she checked to see that everything was in place. She opened the window and peered out. Here came the prince in yellow along the trail with his dogs. "If this silly girl thinks she is going to flirt at the window," said the stepmother to herself, "she has another thought coming to her." She sent the girl for a glass of water and some sugar, then hurriedly removed five or six hairpins from her own hair and concealed them in the pillow with the sharp points sticking straight up. "That will teach her to lean on the windowsill!" The girl returned with the water and sugar, but the queen said, "Oh, I'm no longer thirsty; you drink it, my dear! I must be getting back to your father. You don't need anything, do you? Well, goodbye." And she was off. As soon as the queen's carriage was out of sight, the girl hurriedly flipped over the pages of the book, the prince turned into a canary, flew to the window, and struck the pillow like an arrow. He instantly let out a shrill cry of pain. The yellow feathers were stained with blood; the canary had driven the pins into his breast. He rose with a convulsive flapping, trusted himself to the wind, descended in irregular arcs, and lit on the ground with outstretched wings. The frightened princess, not yet fully aware of what had happened, quickly turned the pages back in the hope there would be no wounds when he regained his human form. Alas, the prince reappeared dripping blood from the deep stabs that had rent the yellow garment on his chest, and lay back surrounded by his dogs. At the howling of the dogs, the other hunters came to his aid and carried him off on a stretcher of branches, but he didn't so much as glance up at the window of his beloved, who was still overwhelmed with grief and fright. Back at his palace, the prince showed no promise of recovery, nor did the doctors know what to do for him. The wounds refused to heal over, and constantly hurt. His father the king posted proclamations on every street corner promising a fortune to anyone who could cure him, but not a soul turned up to try. The princess meanwhile was consumed with longing for her lover. She cut her sheets into thin strips which she tied one to the other in a long, long rope. Then one night she let herself down from the high tower and set out on the hunters' trail. But because of the thick darkness and the howls of the wolves, she decided to wait for daylight. Finding an old oak with a hollow trunk, she nestled inside and, in her exhaustion, fell asleep at once. She woke up while it was still pitch-dark, under the impression she had heard a whistle. Listening closely, she heard another whistle, then a third and a fourth, after which she saw four candle flames advancing. They were four witches coming from the four corners of the earth to their appointed meeting under that tree. Through a crack in the trunk the princess, unseen by them, spied on the four crones carrying candles and sneering a welcome to one another: "Ah, ah, ah!" They lit a bonfire under the tree and sat down to warm themselves and roast a couple of bats for dinner. When they had eaten their fill, they began asking one another what they had seen of interest out in the world. "I saw the sultan of Turkey, who bought himself twenty new wives." "I saw the emperor of China, who has let his pigtail grow three yards long." "I saw the king of the cannibals, who ate his chamberlain by mistake." "I saw the king of this region, who has the sick son nobody can cure, since I alone know the remedy." "And what is it?" asked the other witches. "In the floor of his room is a loose tile. All one need to do is lift the tile, and there underneath is a phial containing an ointment that would heal everyone of his wounds." It was all the princess inside the tree could do not to scream for joy. By this time the witches had told one another all they had to say, so each went her own way. The princess jumped from the tree and set out in the dawn for the city. At the first secondhand dealer's she came to, she bought an old doctor's gown and a pair of spectacles, and knocked at the royal palace. Seeing the little doctor with such scant paraphernalia, the servants weren't going to let him in, but the king said, "What harm could he do my son who can't be any worse off than he is now? Let him see what he can do." The sham doctor asked to be left alone with the sick man, and the request was granted. Finding her lover groaning and unconscious in his sickbed, the princess felt like weeping and smothering him with kisses. But she restrained herself because of the urgency of carrying out the witch's directions. She paced up and down the room until she stepped on a loose tile, which she raised and discovered a phial of ointment. With it she rubbed the prince's wounds, and no sooner had she touched each one with ointment than the wound disappeared completely. Overjoyed she called the king, who came in and saw his son sleeping peacefully, with the color back in his cheeks, and no trace of any of the wounds. "Ask for whatever you like, doctor," said the king. "All the wealth in the kingdom is yours." "I wish no money," replied the doctor. "Just give me the prince's shield bearing the family coat-of-arms, his standard, and his yellow vest that was rent and bloodied." Upon receiving the three items, she took her leave. Three days later, the king's son was again out hunting. He passed the castle in the heart of the forest, but didn't deign to look up at the princess's window. She immediately picked up the book, leafed through it, and the prince had no choice but change into a canary. He flew into the room, and the princess turned him back into a man. "Let me go," he said. "Isn't it enough to have pierced me with those pins of yours and caused me so much agony?" The prince, in truth, no longer loved the girl, blaming her for his misfortune. On the verge of fainting, she exclaimed, "But I saved your life! I am the one who cured you!" "That's not so," said the prince. "My life was saved by a foreign doctor who asked for no recompense except my coat-of-arms, my standard, and my bloodied vest!" "Here are your coat-of-arms, your standard, and your vest! The doctor was none other than myself! The pins were the cruel doing of my stepmother!" The prince gazed into her eyes, dumbfounded. Never had she looked so beautiful. He fell at her feet asking her forgiveness and declaring his deep gratitude and love. That very evening he informed his father he was going to marry the maiden in the castle in the forest. "You may marry only the daughter of a king or an emperor," replied his father. "I shall marry the woman who saved my life." So they made preparations for the wedding, inviting all the kings and queens in the vicinity. Also present was the princess's royal father, who had been informed of nothing. When the bride came out, he looked at her and exclaimed, "My daughter!" "What!" said the royal host. "My son's bride is your daughter? Why did she not tell us?" "Because," explained the bride, "I no longer consider myself the daughter of a man who let my stepmother imprison me." And she pointed at the queen. Learning of all his daughter's misfortune, the father was filled with pity for the girl and with loathing for his wicked wife. Nor did he wait until he was back home to have the woman seized. Thus the marriage was celebrated to the satisfaction and joy of all, with the exception of that wretch. (Turin) NOTES: "The Canary Prince" Il Principe canarino) from Rua (in Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari, Palermo-Turin, VI [1887], 401), Turin. This folktale from Turin, with its balladlike pathos, develops a medieval motif, which is also literary. (But Marie de France's lai, Yonec, is quite different, being the story of an adultery.) My personal touches here include the prince's yellow suit and leggings, the description of the transformation in a flutter of wings, the gossip of the witches who traveled the world over, and a bit of stylistic cunning. Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980 Chapter 19 King Crin Once there was a king who, for a son, had a pig named King Crin. King Crin would saunter through the royal chambers and usually behave beautifully, as befits anybody of royal birth. Sometimes, though, he was cross. On one such occasion, his father asked, while stroking his back, "What is the matter? Why are you so cross?"
"Oink, oink," grunted King Crin. "I
want a wife. Oink, oink, I want the baker's daughter!"
The king sent for the baker, who had
three daughters, and asked if his oldest daughter was willing to
marry his pig-son. Torn between the thrill of wedding the king's son
and the horror of marrying a pig, the daughter made up her mind to
accept the proposal.
Tickled pink, King Crin went wallowing
in the town thoroughfares on his wedding night and got all muddy. He
returned to the bridal chamber, where his bride was waiting for him.
Intending to caress her, he rubbed against her skirt. The bride was
disgusted and, instead of caressing him, gave him a kick. "Get away
from here, you nasty pig!"
King Crin moved away, grunting. "Oink!
You'll pay for that!"
That night the bride was discovered
dead in her bed.
The old king was quite distressed, but
a few months later when his son was again as cross as could be and
clamoring for a wife, he sent for the baker's second daughter, who
accepted.
The evening of the wedding King Crin
went back out and wallowed in the muddy roads, only to return and
rub against his bride, who drove him out of the room. "Scram, you
nasty pig!" In the morning she was found dead. This incident gave
the court a bad name, being the second of its kind.
More time went by, and King Crin began
acting up again. "Would you have the nerve," said his father, "to
ask for the baker's third daughter?"
"Oink, oink, I certainly would. Oink,
oink, I must have her!"
So they sent for the third girl to see
if she would marry King Crin. She was obviously quite happy to do
so. On his wedding night, as usual, King Crin went out to wallow,
then ran back inside all muddy to caress his wife. She responded
with caresses of her own and dried him off with fine linen
handkerchiefs, murmuring, "My handsome Crin, my darling Crin, I love
you so." King Crin was overjoyed.
Next morning at the court everybody
expected to hear that the third bride had been found dead, but out
she came in higher spirits than ever. That was a grand occasion for
celebration in the royal house, and the king gave a reception.
The next night the bride became
curious to see King Crin as he slept, because she had her
suspicions. She lit a taper and beheld a youth handsome beyond all
stretches of the imagination. But as she stood there rapt with
admiration, she accidentally dropped the taper on his arm. He woke
up and jumped out of bed, furious. "You broke the spell and will
never see me again, or only when you have wept seven bottles of
tears and worn out seven pairs of iron shoes, seven iron mantles,
and seven iron hats looking for me." At that, he vanished.
So deep was her distress that the
bride had no choice but to go in search of her husband. She had a
blacksmith forge seven pairs of iron shoes, seven iron mantles, and
seven iron hats for her, then departed.
She walked all day long until night
overtook her on a mountain, where she saw a cottage and knocked on
the door. "My poor girl," said an old woman, "I can't give you
shelter, since my son is the Wind who comes home and turns
everything upside down, and woe to anyone in his way!"
But she begged and pleaded until the
old woman brought her in and hid her. The Wind soon arrived and
sniffed all around, saying:
"Human, human, I smell a human."
But his mother quieted him down with
food. In the morning she rose at daybreak and softly awakened the
young lady, advising, "Flee before my son gets up and take along
this chestnut as a souvenir of me, but crack it open only in a
serious emergency."
She walked all day long and was
overtaken by night on top of another mountain. She spied a cottage,
and an old lady on the doorstep said, "I would gladly lodge you, but
I'm Lightning's mother, and poor you if my son came home and caught
you here!" But then she took pity on her and hid her. Lightning
arrived soon afterward:
"Human, human, I smell a human."
But he didn't find her and, after
supper, went to bed.
"Flee before my son wakes up," said
Lightning's mother in the morning, "and take along this walnut,
which might come in very handy."
She walked all day long and was
overtaken by night on top of another mountain. There stood the house
of Thunder's mother, who ended up hiding her. Thunder too came in
saying:
"Human, human, I smell a human."
But neither did he find her, and in
the morning she went off with a hazelnut as a present from Thunder's
mother.
After walking for miles and miles she
reached a city whose princess, she learned, would soon marry a
handsome young man staying at her castle. The young lady was sure
that was her own husband. What could she do to prevent the marriage?
How could she get into the castle?
She cracked open the chestnut and out
poured diamonds and other jewels, which she went off to sell under
the princess's windows. The princess looked out and invited her
inside. The young lady said, "I'll let you have all these gems for
nothing, if you allow me to spend one night in the bedchamber of the
young man staying at your palace." The princess was afraid the young lady would talk to him and maybe persuade him to flee with her, but her maid said, "Leave everything to me. We'll give him a sleeping potion and he won't wake up." They did just that, and as soon as the handsome youth went to sleep, the maid took the young lady into his bedchamber and left her. With her own eyes, the young lady saw that his(sic) was none other than her husband.
"Wake up, my love, wake up! I've
walked all over for you, wearing out seven pairs of iron shoes,
seven iron mantles, and seven iron hats: and I've wept seven bottles
of tears. Now that I've finally found you, you sleep and don't hear
me!"
And that went on till morning, when,
at her wit's end, she cracked the walnut. Out rolled exquisite gowns
and silks, each lovelier than the other. At the sight of all these
wonderful things, the maid called the princess, who simply had to
have them all and therefore granted the young lady another night
with the youth. But the young lady was taken into the bedchamber
later than the last time and brought out earlier in the morning.
Nor was this second night any more
fruitful than the first. The poor girl cracked the hazelnut and out
came horses and carriages. To acquire them, the princess again let
her spend the night with the young man.
But by this time he had grown tired of
drinking what they brought him every night, so he only pretended to
swallow it while actually emptying the glass over his shoulder. When
the young lady began talking to him, he made out as if he were
sleeping, but the moment he was sure it was his wife, he jumped to
his feet and embraced her. With all those horses and carriages they
had no problem getting away and back home, where there was a grand
celebration.
They put on the dog and high did they soar, (Colline del Po) NOTES: "King Crin" (Re Crin) from Pitrè (in Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari, I [1882], 424), Monteu da Po, Piedmont.
Of illustrious origin (since it is
certainly related--at least in the motif of the bridegroom who
cannot be seen in his true form--to the myth of Amor and Psyche),
the folktale about the swine king is one of the most widespread in
Italy. This Piedmontese version has a beginning full of brio. The
development repeats--with the walnuts to be cracked, spying on the
sleeper, etc.--a motif also common to other types and of which my
no. 140 presents a richer version.
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected
and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980 Chapter 20 Those Stubborn Souls, the Biellese A farmer was on his way down to Biella one day. The weather was so stormy that it was next to impossible to get over the roads. But the farmer had important business and pushed onward in the face of the driving rain. He met an old man, who said to him, "A good day to you! Where are you going, my good man, in such haste?" "To Biella," answered the farmer, without slowing down. "You might at least say, 'God willing.'" The farmer stopped, looked the old man in the eye, and snapped, "God willing, I'm on my way to Biella. But even if God isn't willing, I still have to go there all the same." Now the old man happened to be the Lord. "In that case you'll go to Biella in seven years," he said. "In the meantime, jump into this swamp and stay there for seven years." Suddenly the farmer changed into a frog and jumped into the swamp. Seven years went by. The farmer came out of the swamp, turned back into a man, clapped his hat on his head, and continued on his way to market. After a short distance he met the old man again. "And where are you going, my good man?" "To Biella." "You might say, 'God willing.'" "If God wills it, fine. If not, I know the consequence and can now go into the swamp unassisted." Nor for the life of him would he say one word more. (Biellese) NOTES: "Those Stubborn Souls, the Biellese" (I biellesi, gente dura) from Virginia Majoli Faccio (L'incantesimo della mezzanotte, [Il Biellese nelle sue leggende], Milan, 1941), Valdengo, Piedmont. This tale is also found in Trieste, starring the Friulians (Pinguenti, 51). Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980
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