Troubles are usually the brooms and shovels that smooth the road to a
man's good fortune, of which he little dreams. Many a man curses the
rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance
to drive away hunger; as is seen in the person of a young man of whom I
will tell you.
It is said that there was once a very rich merchant named Antoniello,
who had a son called Cienzo. It happened that Cienzo was one day
throwing stones on the sea-shore with the son of the King of Naples,
and by chance broke his companion's head. When he told his father,
Antoniello flew into a rage with fear of the consequences and abused
his son; but Cienzo answered, "Sir, I have always heard say that better
is the law court than the doctor in one's house. Would it not have been
worse if he had broken my head? It was he who began and provoked me. We
are but boys, and there are two sides to the quarrel. After all tis a
first fault, and the King is a man of reason; but let the worst come to
the worst, what great harm can he do me? The wide world is one's home;
and let him who is afraid turn constable."
But Antoniello would not listen to reason. He made sure the King would
kill Cienzo for his fault and said, "Don't stand here at risk of your
life; but march off this very instant, so that nobody may hear a word,
new or old, of what you have done. A bird in the bush is better than a
bird in the cage. Here is money. Take one of the two enchanted horses I
have in the stable, and the dog which is also enchanted, and tarry no
longer here. It is better to scamper off and use your own heels than to
be touched by another's; better to throw your legs over your back than
to carry your head between two legs. If you don't take your knapsack
and be off, none of the Saints can help you!"
Then begging his father's blessing, Cienzo mounted his horse, and
tucking the enchanted dog under his arm, he went his way out of the
city. Making a winter of tears with a summer of sighs he went his way
until the evening, when he came to a wood that kept the Mule of the Sun
outside its limits, while it was amusing itself with Silence and the
Shades. An old house stood there, at the foot of a tower. Cienzo
knocked at the door of the tower; but the master, being in fear of
robbers, would not open to him, so the poor youth was obliged to remain
in the ruined old house. He turned his horse out to graze in a meadow,
and threw himself on some straw he found, with the dog by his side. But
scarcely had he closed his eyes when he was awakened by the barking of
the dog, and heard footsteps stirring in the house. Cienzo, who was
bold and venturesome, seized his sword and began to lay about him in
the dark; but perceiving that he was only striking the wind and hit no
one, he turned round again to sleep. After a few minutes he felt
himself pulled gently by the foot. He turned to lay hold again of his
cutlass, and jumping up, exclaimed, "Hollo there! you are getting too
troublesome; but leave off this sport and let's have a bout of it if
you have any pluck, for you have found the last to your shoe!"
At these words he heard a shout of laughter and then a hollow voice
saying, "Come down here and I will tell you who I am." Then Cienzo,
without losing courage, answered, "Wait awhile, I'll come." So he
groped about until at last he found a ladder which led to a cellar;
and, going down, he saw a lighted lamp, and three ghost-looking figures
who were making a piteous clamour, crying, "Alas, my beauteous
treasure, I must lose thee!"
When Cienzo saw this he began himself to cry and lament, for company's
sake; and after he had wept for some time, the Moon having now, with
the axe of her rays broken the bar of the Sky, the three figures who
were making the outcry said to Cienzo, "Take this treasure, which is
destined for thee alone, but mind and take care of it." Then they
vanished. And Cienzo, espying the sunlight through a hole in the wall,
wished to climb up again, but could not find the ladder, whereat he set
up such a cry that the master of the tower heard him and fetched a
ladder, when they discovered a great treasure. He wished to give part
of it to Cienzo, but the latter refused; and taking his dog and
mounting once more on his horse set out again on his travels.
After a while he arrived at a wild and dreary forest, so dark that it
made you shudder. There, upon the bank of a river, he found a fairy
surrounded by a band of robbers. Cienzo, seeing the wicked intention of
the robbers, seized his sword and soon made a slaughter of them. The
fairy showered thanks upon him for this brave deed done for her sake,
and invited him to her palace that she might reward him. But Cienzo
replied, "It is nothing at all; thank you kindly. Another time I will
accept the favour; but now I am in haste, on business of importance!"
So saying he took his leave; and travelling on a long way he came at
last to the palace of a King, which was all hung with mourning, so that
it made one's heart black to look at it. When Cienzo inquired the cause
of the mourning the folks answered, "A dragon with seven heads has made
his appearance in this country, the most terrible monster that ever was
seen, with the crest of a cock, the head of a cat, eyes of fire, the
mouth of a bulldog, the wings of a bat, the claws of a bear, and the
tail of a serpent. Now this dragon swallows a maiden every day, and now
the lot has fallen on Menechella, the daughter of the King. So there is
great weeping and wailing in the royal palace, since the fairest
creature in all the land is doomed to be devoured by this horrid beast."
When Cienzo heard this he stepped aside and saw Menechella pass by with
the mourning train, accompanied by the ladies of the court and all the
women of the land, wringing their hands and tearing out their hair by
handfuls, and bewailing the sad fate of the poor girl. Then the dragon
came out of the cave. But Cienzo laid hold of his sword and struck off
a head in a trice; but the dragon went and rubbed his neck on a certain
plant which grew not far off, and suddenly the head joined itself on
again, like a lizard joining itself to its tail. Cienzo, seeing this,
exclaimed, "He who dares not, wins not"; and, setting his teeth, he
struck such a furious blow that he cut off all seven heads, which flew
from the necks like peas from the pan. Whereupon he took out the
tongues, and putting them in his pocket, he flung the heads a mile
apart from the body, so that they might never come together again. Then
he sent Menechella home to her father, and went himself to repose in a
tavern.
When the King saw his daughter his delight is not to be told; and
having heard the manner in which she had been freed, he ordered a
proclamation to be instantly made, that whosoever had killed the dragon
should come and marry the Princess. Now a rascal of a country fellow,
hearing this proclamation, took the heads of the dragon, and said,
"Menechella has been saved by me; these hands have freed the land from
destruction; behold the dragon's heads, which are the proofs of my
valour; therefore recollect, every promise is a debt." As soon as the
King heard this, he lifted the crown from his own head and set it upon
the countryman's poll, who looked like a thief on the gallows.
The news of this proclamation flew through the whole country, till at
last it came to the ears of Cienzo, who said to himself, "Verily, I am
a great blockhead! I had hold of Fortune by the forelock, and I let her
escape out of my hand. Here's a man offers to give me the half of a
treasure he finds, and I care no more for it than a German for cold
water; the fairy wishes to entertain me in her palace, and I care as
little for it as an ass for music; and now that I am called to the
crown, here I stand and let a rascally thief cheat me out of my
trump-card!" So saying he took an inkstand, seized a pen, and spreading
out a sheet of paper, began to write:
"To the most beautiful jewel of women, Menechella--Having, by the
favour of Sol in Leo, saved thy life, I hear that another plumes
himself with my labours, that another claims the reward of the service
which I rendered. Thou, therefore, who wast present at the dragon's
death, canst assure the King of the truth, and prevent his allowing
another to gain this reward while I have had all the toil. For it will
be the right effect of thy fair royal grace and the merited recompense
of this strong hero's fist. In conclusion, I kiss thy delicate little
hands.
"From the Inn of the Flower-pot, Sunday."
Having written this letter, and sealed it with a wafer, he placed it in
the mouth of the enchanted dog, saying, "Run off as fast as you can and
take this to the King's daughter. Give it to no one else, but place it
in the hand of that silver-faced maiden herself."
Away ran the dog to the palace as if he were flying, and going up the
stairs he found the King, who was still paying compliments to the
country clown. When the man saw the dog with the letter in his mouth,
he ordered it to be taken from him; but the dog would not give it to
any one, and bounding up to Menechella he placed it in her hand. Then
Menechella rose from her seat, and, making a curtsey to the King, she
gave him the letter to read; and when the King had read it he ordered
that the dog should be followed to see where he went, and that his
master should be brought before him. So two of the courtiers
immediately followed the dog, until they came to the tavern, where they
found Cienzo; and, delivering the message from the King, they conducted
him to the palace, into the presence of the King. Then the King
demanded how it was that he boasted of having killed the dragon, since
the heads were brought by the man who was sitting crowned at his side.
And Cienzo answered, "That fellow deserves a pasteboard mitre rather
than a crown, since he has had the impudence to tell you a bouncing
lie. But to prove to you that I have done the deed and not this rascal,
order the heads to be produced. None of them can speak to the proof
without a tongue, and these I have brought with me as witnesses to
convince you of the truth."
So saying he pulled the tongues out of his pocket, while the countryman
was struck all of a heap, not knowing what would be the end of it; and
the more so when Menechella added, "This is the man! Ah, you dog of a
countryman, a pretty trick you have played me!" When the King heard
this, he took the crown from the head of that false loon and placed it
on that of Cienzo; and he was on the point of sending the imposter to
the galleys, but Cienzo begged the King to have mercy on him and to
confound his wickedness with courtesy. Then he married Menechella, and
the tables were spread and a royal banquet was set forth; and in the
morning they sent for Antoniello with all his family; and Antoniello
soon got into great favour with the King, and saw in the person of his
son the saying verified--
"A straight port to a crooked ship."