CORVETTO

I once heard say that Juno went to Candia to find Falsehood. But if any

one were to ask me where fraud and hypocrisy might truly be found, I

should know of no other place to name than the Court, where detraction

always wears the mask of amusement; where, at the same time, people cut

and sew up, wound and heal, break and glue together--of which I will

give you one instance in the story that I am going to tell you.

There was once upon a time in the service of the King of Wide-River an

excellent youth named Corvetto, who, for his good conduct, was beloved

by his master; and for this very cause was disliked and hated by all

the courtiers. These courtiers were filled with spite and malice, and

bursting with envy at the kindness which the King showed to Corvetto;

so that all day long, in every corner of the palace, they did nothing

but tattle and whisper, murmur and grumble at the poor lad, saying,

"What sorcery has this fellow practised on the King that he takes such

a fancy to him? How comes he by this luck that not a day passes that he

receives some new favours, whilst we are for ever going backward like a

rope-maker, and getting from bad to worse, though we slave like dogs,

toil like field-labourers, and run about like deer to hit the King's

pleasure to a hair? Truly one must be born to good fortune in this

world, and he who has not luck might as well be thrown into the sea.

What is to be done? We can only look on and envy." These and other

words fell from their mouths like poisoned arrows aimed at the ruin of

Corvetto as at a target. Alas for him who is condemned to that den the

Court, where flattery is sold by the kilderkin, malignity and

ill-offices are measured out in bushels, deceit and treachery are

weighed by the ton! But who can count all the attempts these courtiers

made to bring him to grief, or the false tales that they told to the

King to destroy his reputation! But Corvetto, who was enchanted, and

perceived the traps, and discovered the tricks, was aware of all the

intrigues and the ambuscades, the plots and conspiracies of his

enemies. He kept his ears always on the alert and his eyes open in

order not to take a false step, well knowing that the fortune of

courtiers is as glass. But the higher the lad continued to rise the

lower the others fell; till at last, being puzzled to know how to take

him off his feet, as their slander was not believed, they thought of

leading him to disaster by the path of flattery, which they attempted

in the following manner.

Ten miles distant from Scotland, where the seat of this King was, there

dwelt an ogre, the most inhuman and savage that had ever been in

Ogreland, who, being persecuted by the King, had fortified himself in a

lonesome wood on the top of a mountain, where no bird ever flew, and

was so thick and tangled that one could never see the sun there. This

ogre had a most beautiful horse, which looked as if it were formed with

a pencil; and amongst other wonderful things, it could speak like any

man. Now the courtiers, who knew how wicked the ogre was, how thick the

wood, how high the mountain, and how difficult it was to get at the

horse, went to the King, and telling him minutely the perfections of

the animal, which was a thing worthy of a King, added that he ought to

endeavour by all means to get it out of the ogre's claws, and that

Corvetto was just the lad to do this, as he was expert and clever at

escaping out of the fire. The King, who knew not that under the flowers

of these words a serpent was concealed, instantly called Corvetto, and

said to him, "If you love me, see that in some way or another you

obtain for me the horse of my enemy the ogre, and you shall have no

cause to regret having done me this service."

Corvetto knew well that this drum was sounded by those who wished him

ill; nevertheless, to obey the King, he set out and took the road to

the mountain. Then going very quietly to the ogre's stable, he saddled

and mounted the horse, and fixing his feet firmly in the stirrup, took

his way back. But as soon as the horse saw himself spurred out of the

palace, he cried aloud, "Hollo! be on your guard! Corvetto is riding

off with me." At this alarm the ogre instantly set out, with all the

animals that served him, to cut Corvetto in pieces. From this side

jumped an ape, from that was seen a large bear; here sprang forth a

lion, there came running a wolf. But the youth, by the aid of bridle

and spur, distanced the mountain, and galloping without stop to the

city, arrived at the Court, where he presented the horse to the King.

Then the King embraced him more than a son, and pulling out his purse,

filled his hands with crown-pieces. At this the rage of the courtiers

knew no bounds; and whereas at first they were puffed up with a little

pipe, they were now bursting with the blasts of a smith's bellows,

seeing that the crowbars with which they thought to lay Corvetto's good

fortune in ruins only served to smooth the road to his prosperity.

Knowing, however, that walls are not levelled by the first attack of

the battering-ram, they resolved to try their luck a second time, and

said to the King, "We wish you joy of the beautiful horse! It will

indeed be an ornament to the royal stable. But what a pity you have not

the ogre's tapestry, which is a thing more beautiful than words can

tell, and would spread your fame far and wide! There is no one,

however, able to procure this treasure but Corvetto, who is just the

lad to do such a kind of service."

Then the King, who danced to every tune, and ate only the peel of this

bitter but sugared fruit, called Corvetto, and begged him to procure

for him the ogre's tapestry. Off went Corvetto and in four seconds was

on the top of the mountain where the ogre lived; then passing unseen

into the chamber in which he slept, he hid himself under the bed, and

waited as still as a mouse, until Night, to make the Stars laugh, puts

a carnival-mask on the face of the Sky. And as soon as the ogre and his

wife were gone to bed, Corvetto stripped the walls of the chamber very

quietly, and wishing to steal the counterpane of the bed likewise, he

began to pull it gently. Thereupon the ogre, suddenly starting up, told

his wife not to pull so, for she was dragging all the clothes off him,

and would give him his death of cold.

"Why you are uncovering me!" answered the ogress.

"Where is the counterpane?" replied the ogre; and stretching out his

hand to the floor he touched Corvetto's face; whereupon he set up a

loud cry,--"The imp! the imp! Hollo, here, lights! Run quickly!"--till

the whole house was turned topsy-turvy with the noise. But Corvetto,

after throwing the clothes out of the window, let himself drop down

upon them. Then making up a good bundle, he set out on the road to the

city, where the reception he met with from the King, and the vexation

of the courtiers, who were bursting with spite, are not to be told.

Nevertheless they laid a plan to fall upon Corvetto with the rear-guard

of their roguery, and went again to the King, who was almost beside

himself with delight at the tapestry--which was not only of silk

embroidered with gold, but had besides more than a thousand devices and

thoughts worked on it. And amongst the rest, if I remember right, there

was a cock in the act of crowing at daybreak, and out of its mouth was

seen coming a motto in Tuscan: IF I ONLY SEE YOU. And in another part a

drooping heliotrope with a Tuscan motto: AT SUNSET--with so many other

pretty things that it would require a better memory and more time than

I have to relate them.

When the courtiers came to the King, who was thus transported with joy,

they said to him, "As Corvetto has done so much to serve you, it would

be no great matter for him, in order to give you a signal pleasure, to

get the ogre's palace, which is fit for an emperor to live in; for it

has so many rooms and chambers, inside and out, that it can hold an

army. And you would never believe all the courtyards, porticoes,

colonnades, balconies, and spiral chimneys which there are--built with

such marvellous architecture that Art prides herself upon them, Nature

is abashed, and Stupor is in delight."

The King, who had a fruitful brain which conceived quickly, called

Corvetto again, and telling him the great longing that had seized him

for the ogre's palace, begged him to add this service to all the others

he had done him, promising to score it up with the chalk of gratitude

at the tavern of memory. So Corvetto instantly set out heels over head;

and arriving at the ogre's palace, he found that the ogress, whilst her

husband was gone to invite the kinsfolk, was busying herself with

preparing the feast. Then Corvetto entering, with a look of compassion,

said, "Good-day, my good woman! Truly, you are a brave housewife! But

why do you torment the very life out of you in this way? Only yesterday

you were ill in bed, and now you are slaving thus, and have no pity on

your own flesh."

"What would you have me do?" replied the ogress. "I have no one to help

me."

"I am here," answered Corvetto, "ready to help you tooth and nail."

"Welcome, then!" said the ogress; "and as you proffer me so much

kindness, just help me to split four logs of wood."

"With all my heart," answered Corvetto, "but if four logs are not enow,

let me split five." And taking up a newly-ground axe, instead of

striking the wood, he struck the ogress on the neck, and made her fall

to the ground like a pear. Then running quickly to the gate, he dug a

deep hole before the entrance, and covering it over with bushes and

earth, he hid himself behind the gate.

As soon as Corvetto saw the ogre coming with his kinsfolk, he set up a

loud cry in the courtyard, "Stop, stop! I've caught him!" and "Long

live the King of Wide-River." When the ogre heard this challenge, he

ran like mad at Corvetto, to make a hash of him. But rushing furiously

towards the gate, down he tumbled with all his companions, head over

heels to the bottom of the pit, where Corvetto speedily stoned them to

death. Then he shut the door, and took the keys to the King, who,

seeing the valour and cleverness of the lad, in spite of ill-fortune

and the envy and annoyance of the courtiers, gave him his daughter to

wife; so that the crosses of envy had proved rollers to launch

Corvetto's bark of life on the sea of greatness; whilst his enemies

remained confounded and bursting with rage, and went to bed without a

candle; for--

"The punishment of ill deeds past,

Though long delay'd, yet comes at last."