PERUONTO

A good deed is never lost. He who sows courtesy reaps benefit; and he

who gathers kindness gathers love. Pleasure bestowed on a grateful mind

was never barren, but always brings a good recompense; and that is the

moral of the story I am going to tell you.

Once upon a time a woman who lived in a village, and was called

Ceccarella, had a son named Peruonto, who was one of the most stupid

lads that ever was born. This made his mother very unhappy, and all day

long she would grieve because of this great misfortune. For whether she

asked him kindly, or stormed at him till her throat was dry, the

foolish fellow would not stir to do the slightest hand's turn for her.

At last, after a thousand dinnings at his brain, and a thousand

splittings of his head, and saying "I tell you" and "I told you" day

after day, she got him to go to the wood for a faggot, saying, "Come

now, it is time for us to get a morsel to eat, so run off for some

sticks, and don't forget yourself on the way, but come back as quick as

you can, and we will boil ourselves some cabbage, to keep the life in

us."

Away went the stupid Peruonto, hanging down his head as if he was going

to gaol. Away he went, walking as if he were a jackdaw, or treading on

eggs, counting his steps, at the pace of a snail's gallop, and making

all sorts of zigzags and excursions on his way to the wood, to come

there after the fashion of a raven. And when he reached the middle of a

plain, through which ran a river growling and murmuring at the bad

manners of the stones that were stopping its way, he saw three youths

who had made themselves a bed of grass and a pillow of a great flint

stone, and were lying sound asleep under the blaze of the Sun, who was

shooting his rays down on them point blank. When Peruonto saw these

poor creatures, looking as if they were in the midst of a fountain of

fire, he felt pity for them, and cutting some branches of oak, he made

a handsome arbour over them. Meanwhile, the youths, who were the sons

of a fairy, awoke, and, seeing the kindness and courtesy of Peruonto,

they gave him a charm, that every thing he asked for should be done.

Peruonto, having performed this good action, went his ways towards the

wood, where he made up such an enormous faggot that it would have

needed an engine to draw it; and, seeing that he could not in any way

get in on his back, he set himself astride of it and cried, "Oh, what a

lucky fellow I should be if this faggot would carry me riding

a-horseback!" And the word was hardly out of his mouth when the faggot

began to trot and gallop like a great horse, and when it came in front

of the King's palace it pranced and capered and curvetted in a way that

would amaze you. The ladies who were standing at one of the windows, on

seeing such a wonderful sight, ran to call Vastolla, the daughter of

the King, who, going to the window and observing the caracoles of a

faggot and the bounds of a bundle of wood, burst out a-laughing--a

thing which, owing to a natural melancholy, she never remembered to

have done before. Peruonto raised his head, and, seeing that it was at

him that they were laughing, exclaimed, "Oh, Vastolla, I wish that I

could be your husband and I would soon cure you of laughing at me!" And

so saying, he struck his heels into the faggot, and in a dashing gallop

he was quickly at home, with such a train of little boys at his heels

that if his mother had not been quick to shut the door they would soon

have killed him with the stones and sticks with which they pelted him.

Now came the question of marrying Vastolla to some great prince, and

her father invited all he knew to come and visit him and pay their

respects to the Princess. But she refused to have anything to say to

either of them, and only answered, "I will marry none but the young man

who rode on the faggot." So that the King got more and more angry with

every refusal, and at last he was quite unable to contain himself any

longer, and called his Council together and said, "You know by this

time how my honour has been shamed, and that my daughter has acted in

such a manner that all the chronicles will tell the story against me,

so now speak and advise me. I say that she is unworthy to live, seeing

that she has brought me into such discredit, and I wish to put her

altogether out of the world before she does more mischief." The

Councillors, who had in their time learned much wisdom, said, "Of a

truth she deserves to be severely punished. But, after all, it is this

audacious scoundrel who has give you the annoyance, and it is not right

that he should escape through the meshes of the net. Let us wait, then,

till he comes to light, and we discover the root of this disgrace, and

then we will think it over and resolve what were best to be done." This

counsel pleased the King, for he saw that they spoke like sensible,

prudent men, so he held his hand and said, "Let us wait and see the end

of this business."

So then the King made a great banquet, and invited every one of his

nobles and all the gentlemen in his kingdom to come to it, and set

Vastolla at the high table at the top of the hall, for, he said, "No

common man can have done this, and when she recognises the fellow we

shall see her eyes turn to him, and we will instantly lay hold on him

and put him out of the way." But when the feasting was done, and all

the guests passed out in a line, Vastolla took no more notice of them

than Alexander's bull-dog did of the rabbits; and the King grew more

angry than ever, and vowed that he would kill her without more delay.

Again, however, the Councillors pacified him and said, "Softly, softly,

your Majesty! quiet your wrath. Let us make another banquet to-morrow,

not for people of condition but for the lower sort. Some women always

attach themselves to the worst, and we shall find among the cutlers,

and bead-makers, and comb-sellers, the root of your anger, which we

have not discovered among the cavaliers."

This reasoning took the fancy of the King, and he ordered a second

banquet to be prepared, to which, on proclamation being made, came all

the riff-raff and rag-tag and bob-tail of the city, such as rogues,

scavengers, tinkers, pedlars, sweeps, beggars, and such like rabble,

who were all in high glee; and, taking their seats like noblemen at a

great long table, they began to feast and gobble away.

Now, when Ceccarella heard this proclamation, she began to urge

Peruonto to go there too, until at last she got him to set out for the

feast. And scarcely had he arrived there when Vastolla cried out

without thinking, "That is my Knight of the Faggot." When the King

heard this he tore his beard, seeing that the bean of the cake, the

prize in the lottery, had fallen to an ugly lout, the very sight of

whom he could not endure, with a shaggy head, owl's eyes, a parrot's

nose, a deer's mouth, and legs bare and bandy. Then, heaving a deep

sigh, he said, "What can that jade of a daughter of mine have seen to

make her take a fancy to this ogre, or strike up a dance with this

hairy-foot? Ah, vile, false creature, who has cast so base a spell on

her? But why do we wait? Let her suffer the punishment she deserves;

let her undergo the penalty that shall be decreed by you, and take her

from my presence, for I cannot bear to look longer upon her."

Then the Councillors consulted together and they resolved that she, as

well as the evil-doer, should be shut up in a cask and thrown into the

sea; so that without staining the King's hands with the blood of one of

his family, they should carry out the sentence. No sooner was the

judgment pronounced, than the cask was brought and both were put into

it; but before they coopered it up, some of Vastolla's ladies, crying

and sobbing as if their hearts would break, put into it a basket of

raisins and dried figs that she might have wherewithal to live on for a

little while. And when the cask was closed up, it was flung into the

sea, on which it went floating as the wind drove it.

Meanwhile Vastolla, weeping till her eyes ran like two rivers, said to

Peruonto, "What a sad misfortune is this of ours! Oh, if I but knew who

has played me this trick, to have me caged in this dungeon! Alas, alas,

to find myself in this plight without knowing how. Tell me, tell me, O

cruel man, what incantation was it you made, and what spell did you

employ, to bring me within the circle of this cask?" Peruonto, who had

been for some time paying little attention to her, at last said, "If

you want me to tell you, you must give me some figs and raisins." So

Vastolla, to draw the secret out of him, gave him a handful of both;

and as soon as he had eaten them he told her truly all that had

befallen him, with the three youths, and with the faggot, and with

herself at the window: which, when the poor lady heard, she took heart

and said to Peruonto, "My friend, shall we then let our lives run out

in a cask? Why don't you cause this tub to be changed into a fine ship

and run into some good harbour to escape this danger?" And Peruonto

replied--

"If you would have me say the spell,

With figs and raisins feed me well!"

So Vastolla, to make him open his mouth, filled it with fruit; and so

she fished the words out of him. And lo! as soon as Peruonto had said

what she desired, the cask was turned into a beautiful ship; with sails

and sailors and everything that could be wished for; and guns and

trumpets and a splendid cabin in which Vastolla sat filled with delight.

It being now the hour when the Moon begins to play at see-saw with the

Sun, Vastolla said to Peruonto, "My fine lad, now make this ship to be

changed into a palace, for then we shall be more secure; you know the

saying, "Praise the Sea, but keep to the Land." And Peruonto replied--

"If you would have me say the spell,

With figs and raisins feed me well!"

So Vastolla, at once, fed him again, and Peruonto, swallowing down the

raisins and figs, did her pleasure; and immediately the ship came to

land and was changed into a beautiful palace, fitted up in a most

sumptuous manner, and so full of furniture and curtains and hangings

that there was nothing more to ask for. So that Vastolla, who a little

before would not have set the price of a farthing on her life, did not

now wish to change places with the greatest lady in the world, seeing

herself served and treated like a queen. Then to put the seal on all

her good fortune, she besought Peruonto to obtain grace to become

handsome and polished in his manner, that they might live happy

together; for though the proverb says, "Better to have a pig for a

husband, than a smile from an emperor," still, if his appearance were

changed, she should think herself the happiest woman in the universe.

And Peruonto replied as before--

"If you would have me say the spell,

With figs and raisins feed me well!"

Then Vastolla quickly opened his lips, and scarcely had he spoken the

words when he was changed, as it were from an owl to a nightingale,

from an ogre to a beautiful youth, from a scarecrow to a fine

gentleman. Vastolla, seeing such a transformation clasped him in her

arms and was almost beside herself with joy. Then they were married and

lived happily for years.

Meanwhile the King grew old and very sad, so that, one day, the

courtiers persuaded him to go a-hunting to cheer him up. Night overtook

him, and, seeing a light in a palace, he sent a servant to know if he

could be entertained there; and he was answered that everything was at

his disposal. So the King went to the palace and passing into a great

guest-chamber he saw no living soul, but two little boys, who skipped

around him crying, "Welcome, welcome!" The King, surprised and

astonished, stood like one that was enchanted, and sitting down to rest

himself at a table, to his amazement he saw invisibly spread on it a

Flanders tablecloth, with dishes full of roast meats and all sorts of

viands; so that, in truth, he feasted like a King, waited on by those

beautiful children, and all the while he sat at table a concert of

lutes and tambourines never ceased--such delicious music that it went

to the tips of his fingers and toes. When he had done eating, a bed

suddenly appeared all made of gold, and having his boots taken off, he

went to rest and all his courtiers did the same, after having fed

heartily at a hundred tables, which were laid out in the other rooms.

When morning came, the King wished to thank the two little children,

but with them appeared Vastolla and her husband; and casting herself at

his feet she asked his pardon and related the whole story. The King,

seeing that he had found two grandsons who were two jewels and a

son-in-law who was a fairy, embraced first one and then the other; and

taking up the children in his arms, they all returned to the city where

there was a great festival that lasted many days.