The robber's wife does not always laugh; he who weaves fraud works his
own ruin; there is no deceit which is not at last discovered, no
treachery that does not come to light; walls have ears, and are spies
to rogues; the earth gapes and discovers theft, as I will prove to you
if you pay attention.
There was once in the city of Dark-Grotto a certain man named Minecco
Aniello, who was so persecuted by fortune that all his fixtures and
moveables consisted only of a short-legged cock, which he had reared
upon bread-crumbs. But one morning, being pinched with appetite (for
hunger drives the wolf from the thicket), he took it into his head to
sell the cock, and, taking it to the market, he met two thievish
magicians, with whom he made a bargain, and sold it for half-a-crown.
So they told him to take it to their house, and they would count him
out the money. Then the magicians went their way, and, Minecco Aniello
following them, overheard them talking gibberish together and saying,
"Who would have told us that we should meet with such a piece of good
luck, Jennarone? This cock will make our fortune to a certainty by the
stone which, you know, he has in his pate. We will quickly have it set
in a ring, and then we shall have everything we can ask for."
"Be quiet, Jacovuccio," answered Jennarone; "I see myself rich and can
hardly believe it, and I am longing to twist the cock's neck and give a
kick in the face of beggary, for in this world virtue without money
goes for nothing, and a man is judged of by his coat."
When Minecco Aniello, who had travelled about in the world and eaten
bread from more than one oven, heard this gibberish he turned on his
heel and scampered off. And, running home, he twisted the cock's neck,
and opening its head found the stone, which he had instantly set in a
brass ring. Then, to make a trial of its virtue, he said, "I wish to
become a youth eighteen years old."
Hardly had he uttered the words when his blood began to flow more
quickly, his nerves became stronger, his limbs firmer, his flesh
fresher, his eyes more fiery, his silver hairs were turned into gold,
his mouth, which was a sacked village, became peopled with teeth; his
beard, which was as thick as a wood, became like a nursery garden--in
short, he was changed to a most beautiful youth. Then he said again, "I
wish for a splendid palace, and to marry the King's daughter." And lo!
there instantly appeared a palace of incredible magnificence, in which
were apartments that would amaze you, columns to astound you, pictures
to fill you with wonder; silver glittered around, and gold was trodden
underfoot; the jewels dazzled your eyes; the servants swarmed like
ants, the horses and carriages were not to be counted--in short, there
was such a display of riches that the King stared at the sight, and
willingly gave him his daughter Natalizia.
Meanwhile the magicians, having discovered Minecco Aniello's great
wealth, laid a plan to rob him of his good fortune, so they made a
pretty little doll which played and danced by means of clockwork; and,
dressing themselves like merchants, they went to Pentella, the daughter
of Minecco Aniello, under pretext of selling it to her. When Pentella
saw the beautiful little thing she asked them what price they put upon
it, and they replied that it was not to be bought with money, but that
she might have it and welcome if she would only do them a favour, which
was to let them see the make of the ring which her father possessed, in
order to take the model and make another like it, then they would give
her the doll without any payment at all.
Pentella, who had never heard the proverb, "Think well before you buy
anything cheap," instantly accepted this offer, and, bidding them
return the next morning, she promised to ask her father to lend her the
ring. So the magicians went away, and when her father returned home
Pentella coaxed and caressed him, until at last she persuaded him to
give her the ring, making the excuse that she was sad at heart, and
wished to divert her mind a little.
When the next day came, as soon as the scavenger of the Sun sweeps the
last traces of the Shades from the streets and squares of Heaven, the
magicians returned, and no sooner had they the ring in their hands than
they instantly vanished, and not a trace of them was to be seen, so
that poor Pentella had like to have died with terror.
But when the magicians came to a wood, where the branches of some of
the trees were dancing the sword-dance, and the boughs of the others
were playing together at hot-cockles, they desired the ring to destroy
the spell by which the old man had become young again. And instantly
Minecco Aniello, who was just at that moment in the presence of the
King, was suddenly seen to grow hoary, his hairs to whiten, his
forehead to wrinkle, his eyebrows to grow bristly, his eyes to sink in,
his face to be furrowed, his mouth to become toothless, his beard to
grow bushy, his back to be humped, his legs to tremble, and, above all,
his glittering garments to turn to rags and tatters.
The King, seeing the miserable beggar seated beside him at table,
ordered him to be instantly driven away with blows and hard words,
whereupon Aniello, thus suddenly fallen from his good luck, went
weeping to his daughter, and asked for the ring in order to set matters
to rights again. But when he heard the fatal trick played by the false
merchants he was ready to throw himself out of the window, cursing a
thousand times the ignorance of his daughter, who, for the sake of a
silly doll had turned him into a miserable scarecrow, and for a paltry
thing of rags had brought him to rags himself, adding that he was
resolved to go wandering about the world like a bad shilling, until he
should get tidings of those merchants. So saying he threw a cloak about
his neck and a wallet on his back, drew his sandals on his feet, took a
staff in his hand, and, leaving his daughter all chilled and frozen, he
set out walking desperately on and on until he arrived at the kingdom
of Deep-Hole, inhabited by the mice, where, being taken for a big spy
of the cats, he was instantly led before Rosecone, the King. Then the
King asked him who he was, whence he came, and what he was about in
that country; and Minecco Aniello, after first giving the King a
cheese-paring, in sign of tribute, related to him all his misfortunes
one by one, and concluded by saying that he was resolved to continue
his toil and travel, until he should get tidings of those thievish
villains who had robbed him of so precious a jewel, taking from him at
once the flower of his youth, the source of his wealth, and the prop of
his honour.
At these words Rosecone felt pity nibbling at his heart, and, wishing
to comfort the poor man, he summoned the eldest mice to a council, and
asked their opinions on the misfortunes of Minecco Aniello, commanding
them to use all diligence and endeavour to obtain some tidings of these
false merchants. Now, among the rest, it happened that Rudolo and
Saltariello were present--mice who were well used to the ways of the
world, and had lived for six years at a tavern of great resort hard by;
and they said to Aniello, "Be of good heart, comrade! matters will turn
out better than you imagine. You must know that one day, when we were
in a room in the hostelry of the Horn,' where the most famous men in
the world lodge and make merry, two persons from Hook Castle came in,
who, after they had eaten their fill and had seen the bottom of their
flagon, fell to talking of a trick they had played a certain old man of
Dark-Grotto, and how they had cheated him out of a stone of great
value, which one of them, named Jennarone, said he would never take
from his finger, that he might not run the risk of losing it as the old
man's daughter had done."
When Minecco Aniello heard this, he told the two mice that if they
would trust themselves to accompany him to the country where these
rogues lived and recover the ring for him, he would give them a good
lot of cheese and salt meat, which they might eat and enjoy with his
majesty the King. Then the two mice, after bargaining for a reward,
offered to go over sea and mountain, and, taking leave of his mousy
majesty, they set out.
After journeying a long way they arrived at Hook Castle, where the mice
told Minecco Aniello to remain under some trees on the brink of a
river, which like a leech drew the moisture from the land and
discharged it into the sea. Then they went to seek the house of the
magicians, and, observing that Jennarone never took the ring from his
finger, they sought to gain the victory by stratagem. So, waiting till
Night had dyed with purple grape-juice the sunburnt face of Heaven, and
the magicians had gone to bed and were fast asleep, Rudolo began to
nibble the finger on which the ring was, whereupon Jennarone, feeling
the smart, took the ring off and laid it on a table at the head of the
bed. But as soon as Saltariello saw this, he popped the ring into his
mouth, and in four skips he was off to find Minecco Aniello, who, with
even greater joy than a man at the gallows feels when a pardon arrives,
instantly turned the magicians into two jackasses; and, turning his
mantle over one of them, he bestrode him like a noble count, then he
loaded the other with cheese and bacon, and set off toward Deep-Hole,
where, having given presents to the King and his councillors, he
thanked them for all the good fortune he had received by their
assistance, praying Heaven that no mouse-trap might ever lay hold of
them, that no cat might ever harm them, and that no arsenic might ever
poison them.
Then, leaving that country, Minecco Aniello returned to Dark-Grotto
even more handsome than before, and was received by the King and his
daughter with the greatest affection in the world. And, having ordered
the two asses to be cast down from a rock, he lived happily with his
wife, never more taking the ring from his finger that he might not
again commit such a folly, for--
"The cat who has been burnt with fire ever after fears the cold
hearthstone."