[10] Another Sicilian version is "_Re Sonnu_," in Pitre, _Nuovo Saggio_,

No. 1. To the references in Pitre, No. 36, and Gonz., No. 5, may be

added: _Fiabe Mant._ No. 14, only as far as abstraction of children are

concerned and accusation of murder against the mother; No. 46, a poor

version, the beginning of which is lost; Comparetti, Nos. 6

(Basilicata), and 30 (Pisa); No. 17 (Pisa) is a defective version, the

search for the marvellous objects being omitted; another distorted

version from Monferrato is found in the same collection, No. 25. See

also Prato, _Quattro nov. pop. livornesi_, No. 2, and Finamore, No. 39.

Two of the traits of our story are found in many others; they are:

"Sympathetic objects," ring, etc., and "Life-giving ointment or leaves."

For the former, see notes to next two stories, and in general, Brueyre,

p. 93; for the latter, see Gonz., No. 40; Comparetti, No. 32 (see Note

12); Bernoni, _Punt._ III. p. 84. In these stories the life-restoring

substance is an ointment; leaves possessing the same power are found in

Pitre, No. 11, _Pent._ I. 7, _La Posillecheata_, No. 1, and

Coronedi-Berti, No. 14. See also Grimm, No. 16, "The Three

Snake-Leaves;" _Basque Legends_, p. 117; Benfey, _Pant._ I. 454, Cox,

_Aryan Myth._ I. 160; and _Germania_, XXI. p. 68. For non-Italian

versions of the story in the text see Koehler's notes in _Melusine_, p.

213, to a Breton version, and _Indian Fairy Tales_, pp. 242, 277.

In the above formula are embraced several somewhat different stories in

which the persecution of innocent wife proceeds from various persons.

For instance, in the Italian legends Sta. Guglielma is persecuted by her

brother-in-law; Sta. Ulila by her father and mother-in-law; and Stella

by her stepmother. See D'Ancona, _op. cit._, pp. 199, 235, 317. A

popular version, somewhat distorted, of the second of the

above-mentioned legends may be found in Nerucci, No. 39; of the third in

Gonz., No. 24.

More commonly, however, the persecution is on the part of envious

sisters or wicked stepmother. The important role played by the last in

tales of the North of Europe has its counterpart in those of the South.

The following story from Siena (Pitre, _La Scatola di Cristallo_) will

sufficiently illustrate this class.

XXI. THE CRYSTAL CASKET.

There was once a widower who had a daughter. This daughter was between

ten and twelve years old. Her father sent her to school, and as she was

all alone in the world commended her always to her teacher. Now, the

teacher, seeing that the child had no mother, fell in love with the

father, and kept saying to the girl: "Ask your father if he would like

me for a wife." This she said to her every day, and at last the girl

said: "Papa, the school-mistress is always asking me if you will marry

her." The father said: "Eh! my daughter, if I take another wife, you

will have great troubles." But the girl persisted, and finally the

father was persuaded to go one evening to the school-mistress' house.

When she saw him she was well pleased, and they settled the marriage in

a few days. Poor child! how bitterly she had to repent having found a

stepmother so ungrateful and cruel to her! She sent her every day out on

a terrace to water a pot of basil, and it was so dangerous that if she

fell she would go into a large river.

One day there came by a large eagle, and said to her: "What are you

doing here?" She was weeping because she saw how great the danger was of

falling into the stream. The eagle said to her: "Get on my back, and I

will carry you away, and you will be happier than with your new mamma."

After a long journey they reached a great plain, where they found a

beautiful palace all of crystal; the eagle knocked at the door and said:

"Open, my ladies, open! for I have brought you a pretty girl." When the

people in the palace opened the door, and saw that lovely girl, they

were amazed, and kissed and caressed her. Meanwhile the door was closed,

and they remained peaceful and contented.

Let us return to the eagle, who thought she was doing a spite to the

stepmother. One day the eagle flew away to the terrace where the

stepmother was watering the basil. "Where is your daughter?" asked the

eagle. "Eh!" she replied, "perhaps she fell from this terrace and went

into the river; I have not heard from her in ten days." The eagle

answered: "What a fool you are! I carried her away; seeing that you

treated her so harshly I carried her away to my fairies, and she is very

well." Then the eagle flew away.

The stepmother, filled with rage and jealousy, called a witch from the

city, and said to her: "You see my daughter is alive, and is in the

house of some fairies of an eagle which often comes upon my terrace; now

you must do me the favor to find some way to kill this stepdaughter of

mine, for I am afraid that some day or other she will return, and my

husband, discovering this matter, will certainly kill me." The witch

answered: "Oh, you need not be afraid of that: leave it to me."

What did the witch do? She had made a little basketful of sweetmeats, in

which she put a charm; then she wrote a letter, pretending that it was

her father, who, having learned where she was, wished to make her this

present, and the letter pretended that her father was so glad to hear

that she was with the fairies.

Let us leave the witch who is arranging all this deception, and return

to Ermellina (for so the young girl was named). The fairies had said to

her: "See, Ermellina, we are going away, and shall be absent four days;

now in this time take good care not to open the door to any one, for

some treachery is being prepared for you by your stepmother." She

promised to open the door to no one: "Do not be anxious, I am well off,

and my stepmother has nothing to do with me." But it was not so. The

fairies went away, and the next day when Ermellina was alone, she heard

a knocking at the door, and said to herself: "Knock away! I don't open

to any one." But meanwhile the blows redoubled, and curiosity forced her

to look out of the window. What did she see? She saw one of the servant

girls of her own home (for the witch had disguised herself as one of her

father's servants). "O my dear Ermellina," she said, "your father is

shedding tears of sorrow for you, because he really believed you were

dead, but the eagle which carried you off came and told him the good

news that you were here with the fairies. Meanwhile your father, not

knowing what civility to show you, for he understands very well that you

are in need of nothing, has thought to send you this little basket of

sweetmeats." Ermellina had not yet opened the door; the servant begged

her to come down and take the basket and the letter, but she said: "No,

I wish nothing!" but finally, since women, and especially young girls,

are fond of sweetmeats, she descended and opened the door. When the

witch had given her the basket, she said: "Eat this," and broke off for

her a piece of the sweetmeats which she had poisoned. When Ermellina

took the first mouthful the old woman disappeared. Ermellina had

scarcely time to close the door, when she fell down on the stairs.

When the fairies returned they knocked at the door, but no one opened it

for them; then they perceived that there had been some treachery, and

began to weep. Then the chief of the fairies said: "We must break open

the door," and so they did, and saw Ermellina dead on the stairs. Her

other friends who loved her so dearly begged the chief of the fairies to

bring her to life, but she would not, "for," said she, "she has

disobeyed me;" but one and the other asked her until she consented; she

opened Ermellina's mouth, took out a piece of the sweetmeat which she

had not yet swallowed, raised her up, and Ermellina came to life again.

We can imagine what a pleasure it was for her friends; but the chief of

the fairies reproved her for her disobedience, and she promised not to

do so again.

Once more the fairies were obliged to depart. Their chief said:

"Remember, Ermellina: the first time I cured you, but the second I will

have nothing to do with you." Ermellina said they need not worry, that

she would not open to any one. But it was not so; for the eagle,

thinking to increase her stepmother's anger, told her again that

Ermellina was alive. The stepmother denied it all to the eagle, but she

summoned anew the witch, and told her that her stepdaughter was still

alive, saying: "Either you will really kill her, or I will be avenged on

you." The old woman, finding herself caught, told her to buy a very

handsome dress, one of the handsomest she could find, and transformed

herself into a tailoress belonging to the family, took the dress,

departed, went to poor Ermellina, knocked at the door and said: "Open,

open, for I am your tailoress." Ermellina looked out of the window and

saw her tailoress; and was, in truth, a little confused (indeed, anyone

would have been so). The tailoress said, "Come down, I must fit a dress

on you." She replied, "No, no; for I have been deceived once." "But I am

not the old woman," replied the tailoress, "you know me, for I have

always made your dresses." Poor Ermellina was persuaded, and descended

the stairs; the tailoress took to flight while Ermellina was yet

buttoning up the dress, and disappeared. Ermellina closed the door, and

was mounting the stairs; but it was not permitted her to go up, for she

fell down dead.

Let us return to the fairies, who came home and knocked at the door; but

what good did it do to knock! There was no longer any one there. They

began to weep. The chief of the fairies said: "I told you that she would

betray me again; but now I will have nothing more to do with her." So

they broke open the door, and saw the poor girl with that beautiful

dress on; but she was dead. They all wept, because they really loved

her. But there was nothing to do; the chief struck her enchanted wand,

and commanded a beautiful rich casket all covered with diamonds and

other precious stones to appear; then the others made a beautiful

garland of flowers and gold, put it on the young girl, and then laid her

in the casket, which was so rich and beautiful that it was marvellous to

behold. Then the old fairy struck her wand as usual and commanded a

handsome horse, the like of which not even the king possessed. Then they

took the casket, put it on the horse's back, and led him into the public

square of the city, and the chief of the fairies said: "Go, and do not

stop until you find some one who says to you: 'Stop, for pity's sake,

for I have lost my horse for you.'"

Now let us leave the afflicted fairies, and turn our attention to the

horse, which ran away at full speed. Who happened to pass at that

moment? The son of a king (the name of this king is not known); and saw

this horse with that wonder on its back. Then the king began to spur his

horse, and rode him so hard that he killed him, and had to leave him

dead in the road; but the king kept running after the other horse. The

poor king could endure it no longer; he saw himself lost, and exclaimed:

"Stop, for pity's sake, for I have lost my horse for you!" Then the

horse stopped (for those were the words). When the king saw that

beautiful girl dead in the casket, he thought no more about his own

horse, but took the other to the city. The king's mother knew that her

son had gone hunting; when she saw him returning with this loaded horse,

she did not know what to think. The son had no father, wherefore he was

all powerful. He reached the palace, had the horse unloaded, and the

casket carried to his chamber; then he called his mother and said:

"Mother, I went hunting, but I have found a wife." "But what is it? A

doll? A dead woman?" "Mother," replied her son, "don't trouble yourself

about what it is, it is my wife." His mother began to laugh, and

withdrew to her own room (what could she do, poor mother?).

Now this poor king no longer went hunting, took no diversion, did not

even go to the table, but ate in his own room. By a fatality it happened

that war was declared against him, and he was obliged to depart. He

called his mother, and said: "Mother, I wish two careful chambermaids,

whose business it shall be to guard this casket; for if on my return I

find that anything has happened to my casket, I shall have the

chambermaids killed." His mother, who loved him, said: "Go, my son, fear

nothing, for I myself will watch over your casket." He wept several days

at being obliged to abandon this treasure of his, but there was no help

for it, he had to go.

After his departure he did nothing but commend his wife (so he called

her) to his mother in his letters. Let us return to the mother, who no

longer thought about the matter, not even to have the casket dusted; but

all at once there came a letter which informed her that the king had

been victorious, and should return to his palace in a few days. The

mother called the chambermaids, and said to them: "Girls, we are

ruined." They replied: "Why, Highness?" "Because my son will be back in

a few days, and how have we taken care of the doll?" They said: "True,

true; now let us go and wash the doll's face." They went to the king's

room and saw that the doll's face and hands were covered with dust and

fly-specks, so they took a sponge and washed her face, but some drops of

water fell on her dress and spotted it. The poor chambermaids began to

weep, and went to the queen for advice. The queen said: "Do you know

what to do! call a tailoress, and have a dress precisely like this

bought, and take off this one before my son comes." They did so, and the

chambermaids went to the room and began to unbutton the dress. The

moment that they took off the first sleeve, Ermellina opened her eyes.

The poor chambermaids sprang up in terror, but one of the most

courageous said: "I am a woman, and so is this one; she will not eat

me." To cut the matter short, she took off the dress, and when it was

removed Ermellina began to get out of the casket to walk about and see

where she was. The chambermaids fell on their knees before her and

begged her to tell them who she was. She, poor girl, told them the whole

story. Then she said: "I wish to know where I am?" Then the chambermaids

called the king's mother to explain it to her. The mother did not fail

to tell her everything, and she, poor girl, did nothing but weep

penitently, thinking of what the fairies had done for her.

The king was on the point of arriving, and his mother said to the doll:

"Come here; put on one of my best dresses." In short, she arrayed her

like a queen. Then came her son. They shut the doll up in a small room,

so that she could not be seen. The king came with great joy, with

trumpets blowing, and banners flying for the victory. But he took no

interest in all this, and ran at once to his room to see the doll; the

chambermaids fell on their knees before him saying that the doll smelled

so badly that they could not stay in the palace, and were obliged to

bury her. The king would not listen to this excuse, but at once called

two of the palace servants to erect the gallows. His mother comforted

him in vain: "My son, it was a dead woman." "No, no, I will not listen

to any reasons; dead or alive, you should have left it for me." Finally,

when his mother saw that he was in earnest about the gallows, she rang a

little bell, and there came forth no longer the doll, but a very

beautiful girl, whose like was never seen. The king was amazed, and

said: "What is this!" Then his mother, the chambermaids, and Ermellina,

were obliged to tell him all that had happened. He said: "Mother, since

I adored her when dead, and called her my wife, now I mean her to be my

wife in truth." "Yes, my son," replied his mother, "do so, for I am

willing." They arranged the wedding, and in a few days were man and

wife.

* * * * *

Sicilian versions of this story may be found in Pitre, Nos. 57, 58;

Gonz., Nos. 2-4. To the copious references in the notes to the stories

just mentioned may be added: _Fiabe Mant._ No. 28; _Tuscan Fairy Tales_,

No. IX.; _Nov. fior._ pp. 232, 239; De Nino, XLI., XLIX., L.; _Nov.

tosc._ 9. Other European versions are: Grimm, No. 53, "Little

Snow-White;" Hahn, No. 103; _Lo Rondallayre_, No. 46: see also Koehler's

notes to Gonz., Nos. 2-4.

The last class of "stepmother" stories which we shall mention is Hahn's

Formula 15, "Phryxos and Helle," in which both brother and sister are

persecuted by stepmother. A good example of this class is Pitre, No.

283.

XXII. THE STEPMOTHER.

There was once a husband and a wife who had two children, a son and a

daughter. The wife died, and the husband married a woman who had a

daughter blind of one eye. The husband was a farmer, and went to work in

a field. The stepmother hated her husband's children, and to get rid of

them she baked some bread, and sent it by them to her husband, but

directed them to the wrong field, so that they might get lost. When the

children reached a mountain they began to call their father, but no one

answered. Now the girl was enchanted; and when they came to a spring and

the brother wanted to drink, she said to him: "Do not drink of this

fountain, or you will become an ass." Afterwards they found another

spring, and the brother wanted to drink; but his sister said to him: "Do

not drink of it, or you will become a calf." However, the boy would

drink, and became a calf with golden horns. They continued their

journey, and came to the sea-shore, where there was a handsome villa

belonging to the prince. When the prince saw the young girl, and beheld

how beautiful she was, he married her, and afterwards asked her what

there was about the little calf, and she replied: "I am fond of him

because I have brought him up."

Let us now return to her father, who, from the great grief he had on

account of his children's disappearance, had gone out to divert himself,

and wandered away, gathering fennel. He arrived at last at the villa,

where was his daughter who had married the king. His daughter looked out

of the window and said to him: "Come up, friend." His daughter had

recognized him, and asked: "Friend, do you not know me?" "No, I do not

recognize you." Then she said: "I am your daughter, whom you believed

lost." She threw herself at his feet, and said: "Pardon me, dear father;

I came by chance to this villa, and the king's son was here and married

me." The father was greatly consoled at finding his daughter so well

married. "Now, my father," said she, "empty this sack of fennel, for I

will fill it with gold for you." And then she begged him to bring his

wife, and the daughter blind of one eye. The father returned home with

his bag full of money, and his wife asked in terror: "Who gave you this

money?" He answered: "O wife! do you know that I have found my daughter,

and she is the king's wife, and filled this bag with money?" She,

instead of being happy, was angry at hearing that her stepdaughter was

still alive; however, she said to her husband: "I will go and take my

daughter." So they went, the husband, the wife, and the blind daughter,

and came to the husband's daughter, who received her stepmother very

kindly. But the latter, seeing that the king was away, and that her

stepdaughter was alone, seized her and threw her from a window into the

sea; and what did she do then? She took her blind daughter and dressed

her in the other's clothes, and said to her: "When the king comes and

finds you here weeping, say to him: 'The little calf has blinded me with

his horn, and I have only one eye!'" Then the stepmother returned to her

own house. The king came and found her daughter in bed weeping, and said

to her: "Why are you weeping?" "The little calf struck me with his horn

and put out one of my eyes." The king cried at once: "Go call the

butcher to kill the calf?" When the calf heard that he was to be killed,

he went out on the balcony and called to his sister in the sea:--

"Oh! sister,

For me the water is heated,

And the knives are sharpened."

The sister replied from the sea:--

"Oh! brother, I cannot help you,

I am in the dog-fish's mouth."

When the king heard the calf utter these words, he looked out of the

window, and when he saw his wife in the sea, he summoned two sailors,

and had them take her out and bring her up and restore her. Then he took

the blind girl and killed her and cut her in pieces and salted her like

tunny-fish, and sent her to her mother. When her husband found it out he

left her and went to live with his daughter.

* * * * *

It may not be amiss to mention here another class of stories which come

under the formula of "Persecuted Maiden." The class resembles in some

respects the story of King Lear. The youngest daughter is persecuted by

her father because he thinks she does not love him as much as her older

sisters. A good example of this class is Pitre, No. 10, _L'Acqua e lu

Sali_.

XXIII. WATER AND SALT.

A very fine story is related and told to your worships. Once upon a time

there was a king with three daughters. These three daughters being at

table one day, their father said: "Come now, let us see which of you

three loves me." The oldest said: "Papa, I love you as much as my eyes."

The second answered: "I love you as much as my heart." The youngest

said: "I love you as much as water and salt." The king heard her with

amazement: "Do you value me like water and salt? Quick! call the

executioners, for I will have her killed immediately." The other sisters

privately gave the executioners a little dog, and told them to kill it

and rend one of the youngest sister's garments, but to leave her in a

cave. This they did, and brought back to the king the dog's tongue and

the rent garment: "Royal Majesty, here is her tongue and garment." And

his Majesty gave them a reward. The unfortunate princess was found in

the forest by a magician, who took her to his house opposite the royal

palace. Here the king's son saw her and fell desperately in love with

her, and the match was soon agreed upon. Then the magician came and

said: "You must kill me the day before the wedding. You must invite

three kings, your father the first. You must order the servants to pass

water and salt to all the guests except your father." Now let us return

to the father of this young girl, who the longer he lived the more his

love for her increased, and he was sick of grief. When he received the

invitation he said: "And how can I go with this love for my daughter?"

And he would not go. Then he thought: "But this king will be offended if

I do not go, and will declare war against me some time." He accepted and

went. The day before the wedding they killed the magician and quartered

him, and put a quarter in each of four rooms, and sprinkled his blood in

all the rooms and on the stairway, and the blood and flesh became gold

and precious stones. When the three kings came and saw the golden

stairs, they did not like to step on them. "Never mind," said the

prince, "go up: this is nothing." That evening they were married: the

next day they had a banquet. The prince gave orders: "No salt and water

to that king." They sat down at table, and the young queen was near her

father, but he did not eat. His daughter said: "Royal Majesty, why do

you not eat? Does not the food please you?" "What an idea! It is very

fine." "Why don't you eat then?" "I don't feel very well." The bride and

groom helped him to some bits of meat, but the king did not want it, and

chewed his food over and over again like a goat (as if he could eat it

without salt!). When they finished eating they began to tell stories,

and the king told them all about his daughter. She asked him if he could

still recognize her, and stepping out of the room put on the same dress

she wore when he sent her away to be killed. "You caused me to be killed

because I told you I loved you as much as salt and water: now you have

seen what it is to eat without salt and water." Her father could not say

a word, but embraced her and begged her pardon. They remained happy and

contented, and here we are with nothing.

* * * * *

A Venetian version (Bernoni, No. 14) is translated in the _Cornhill

Magazine_, July, 1875, p. 80, a Bolognese version may be found in

Coronedi-Berti, No. 5, and from the Abruzzi in Finamore, Nos. 18, 26.

Compare also _Pomiglianesi_, p. 42. For transmutation of magician's body

see _Zool. Myth._ I. p. 123, Benfey, _Pant._ I. pp. 477, 478, Ralston,

_R. F. T._ p. 223, and _Indian Fairy Tales_, p. 164.

Other Sicilian versions are in Gonz., Nos. 48, 49. A Neapolitan is in

_Pent._ V. 8; a Mantuan, in _Fiabe Mant._ No. 16; a Tuscan, in _Archivio

per le Trad. pop._ I. p. 44, and one from the Abruzzi in _Archivio_,

III. 546. The same story is in Grimm, Nos. 11 and 141. "The Little

Brother and Sister" and "The Little Lamb and the Little Fish." See also

Hahn, No. 1. The latter part of the story is connected with "False

Bride." See note 21 of this chapter.

[11] Other Italian versions are: Pitre, No. 20; _Pent._ II. 1;

_Pomiglianesi_, pp. 121, 130, 136, 188, 191; Busk, p. 3; _Nov. fior._ p.

209; Gargiolli, No. 2; _Fiabe Mant._ No. 20; Bernoni, No. 12;

_Archivio_, I. 525 (Tuscan), III. 368 (Abruzzi), and De Nino, XX. Some

points of resemblance are found also in _Pent._ V. 4; Coronedi-Berti,

No. 8; and Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. 12.

Other stories in which children are promised to ogre, demon, etc., are

to be found in Pitre, No. 31, Widter-Wolf, No. XIII., and in the various

versions of the story of "Lionbruno." See Chap. II., note 13.

For other European versions of the story in the text, see Ralston's _R.

F. T._ p. 141; Grimm, No. 12, "Rapunzel," and _Basque Legends_, p. 59.

For child promised to demon, see _Romania_, No. 28, p. 531; Grimm, Nos.

31 ("The Girl Without Hands") 55, ("Rumpelstiltskin") 92, ("The King of

the Golden Mountain"), and 181 ("The Nix of the Mill-Pond"). See also

Hahn, I. p. 47, No. 8.

Some of the incidents of this story are found in those belonging to

other classes. The girl's face changed to that of dog, etc., is in

Comparetti, No. 3 (furnished with a long beard), and Finamore, _Trad.

pop. abruzzesi_, No. 1, _Pent._ I. 8 (goat), Nerucci, Nos. 30 (sheep's

neck), 37 (buffalo), and _Nov. pop. toscani_, in _Archivio per la Trad.

pop._ No. 1 (goat). For "flight and obstacles," see _Nov. fior._ pp. 12,

415, _Pent._ II. 1, and stories cited by Pitre in his notes to No. 13,

also note 25 to this chapter, _Basque Legends_, p. 120, _Orient und

Occident_, II. p. 103, and Brueyre, p. 111. For "ladder of hair," see

_Pomiglianesi_, p. 126.

[12] Other Italian versions are: _Pent._ I, 9; Gonz., Nos. 39, 40;

Comparetti, No. 46 (Basilicata); De Gub., _Sto. Stefano_, Nos. 17, 18;

Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. 22; De Nino LXV.; _Nov. fior_, pp.

375, 387 (Milan); Coronedi-Berti, No. 16; _Fiabe Mant._ No. 19; and

Schneller, No. 28. This story, as far as the two brothers (not born

miraculously) and liberation of princess are concerned, is in _Pent._ I.

7, and Widter-Wolf, No. 8.

References to other European versions may be found in the _Romania_,

Nos. 19, pp. 336, 339; 28, p. 563; 32, p. 606: _Orient und Occident_,

II. p. 115 (Koehler to Campbell, No. 4), and Blade, _Agenais_, No. 2 (p.

148).

As regards the separate traits, as usual many of them are found in other

classes of stories: the cloud occurs in Comp., No. 40; children born

from fish, De Gub., _Zool. Myth._ II. 29; for sympathetic objects and

life-giving ointment, see last two stories. For "kindness to animals,"

and "thankful beasts," see _Fiabe Mant._ Nos. 37, 26, Gonz., No. 6, and

the stories belonging to the class "Giant with no heart in his body"

mentioned below. The gratitude and help of an animal form the subject of

some independent stories, _e. g._, Strap. III. 1; _Pent._ I. 3; and

Gonz., No. 6, above mentioned; and are also found in the formula "Animal

Brothers-in-law." See note 23. For European versions see _Orient und

Occident_, II. p. 101; Brueyre, p. 98; Ralston, _R. F. T._ p. 98;

Benfey, _Pant._ I. p. 193 _et seq._; _Basque Legends_, p. 81, and _Zool.

Myth._ I. p. 197; II. 45. For transformation into statues, see stories

mentioned in note 10, Bernoni, _Punt._ III. p. 89, _Nov. fior._ p. 112,

and Ortoli, pp. 10, 34.

The most interesting episode, however, is that of "Magician (or Giant)

with no heart in his body" (see Chap. III., note 8), which is in the

following Italian tales: Pitre, No. 81, Busk, p. 158; _Nov. fior._ pp.

7, 347; Gonz., Nos. 6, 16; _Fiabe Mant._ No. 37; and _Pomiglianesi_, No.

2, p. 21 (v. p. 41). For other references, see _Basque Legends_, p. 83;

Brueyre, pp. 81-83; Ralston, _R. F. T._, Am. ed., pp. 119-125; _Orient

und Occident_, II. p. 101; Hahn, I. p. 56, No. 31; and _Romania_, No.

22, p. 234. See also note 18 of this chapter.

The story in our text is not a good example of Hahn's Form. 13,

"Andromeda, or Princess freed from Dragon." Some of the other stories

cited are much better, notably Widter-Wolf, No. 8, Gonz., Nos. 39, 40,

and also Strap., X. 3, and Schneller, No. 39. Hahn's Danae Form. 12 is

represented by _Nov. tosc._ No. 30. The allied myth of Medusa by _Nov.

tosc._ No. 1, and _Archivio_, I. p. 57.

[13] Versions of this wide-spread story are in Pitre, _Otto Fiabe_, No.

1; Gonz., Nos. 58, 59, 61, 62, 63 (partly), and 64; Koehler, _Italien

Volksm._ (Sora) No. 1, "_Die drei Brueder und die drei befreiten

Koenigstochter_" (_Jahrb._ VIII. p. 241); Widter-Wolf, No. 4 (_Jahrb._

VII. p. 20); Schneller, No. 39; _Nov. fior._ p. 70, and De Gub., _Zool.

Myth._ II. 187 (Tuscan). Part of our story is also found in Schneller,

pp. 188-192, and Pitre, Nos. 83, 84 (var.). To these references, which

are given by Pitre, may be added the following: Comparetti, Nos. 19

(Monferrato) partly, 35 (Monferrato), and 40 (Pisa); De Gub., _Sto.

Stefano_, No. 19; _Fiabe Mant._ Nos. 18, 32 (the latter part), 49

(partly); _Tuscan Fairy Tales_, No. 3; Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_,

No. 29; and _Nov. tosc._ No. 3.

The trait "underground world" is also found in Busk, p. 141. These

stories illustrate sufficiently Hahn's Form. 40, "Descent into the

Nether World."

[14] To the stories in Note 13 containing "liberation of hero by eagle"

may be added Comparetti, No. 24 (Monferrato). See in general: De Gub.,

_Zool. Myth._ II. 186; Benfey, _Pant._ I. pp. 216, 388; _Rivista

Orientale_, I. p. 27; _Orient und Occident_, II. p. 299; and _Basque

Legends_, p. 110.

[15] Another version from Avellino is in the same collection, p. 201.

Other Italian versions are: Pitre, No. 79; Gonz., No. 51; De Gub., _Sto.

Stefano_, No. 20; De Nino, No. 2; Comparetti, No. 28 (Monferrato); Ive,

_Fiabe pop. rovignesi_, p. 20; No. 3, "_El Pumo de uoro_;" Schneller,

No. 51; and Corazzini, p. 455 (Benevento).

In general see Ive's and Koehler's notes to stories above cited, and

_Romania_, No. 24, p. 565. The corresponding Grimm story is No. 28, "The

Singing Bone."

[16] Other Italian versions are: Pitre, Nos. 41, 42; _Pent._ I. 6; Busk,

pp. 26, 31; Comp., No. 23 (Pisa); _Fiabe Mant._ No. 45; _Nov. fior._ p.

162 (Milan); Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. II.; and _Archivio_,

II. 185 (Sardinia).

Schneller, No. 24, and Bernoni, No. 8, are connecting links between

"Cinderella" and "Allerleirauh." In the former, Cinderella's father asks

his three daughters what present he shall make them. Cinderella asks for

a sword, and shortly after leaves her home and obtains a situation in a

city as servant. In the palace opposite lives a young count, with whom

Cinderella falls in love. She obtains a situation in his house. Her

sword, which is enchanted, gives her beautiful dresses, and she goes to

the balls as in the other versions. The third evening the count slips a

costly ring on her finger, which Cinderella uses to identify herself

with. Bernoni, No. 8, is substantially the same. After the death of

their mother and father Cinderella's sisters treat her cruelly, and she

obtains a place as servant in the king's palace, and is aided by the

fairies, who take pity upon her. She is identified by means of a ring,

and also by her diamond slipper, which she throws to the servants, who

are following her to see where she lives.

European versions will be found in the notes to Grimm, No. 21

("Cinderella"), and W. R. S. Ralston's article, "Cinderella," in the

_Nineteenth Century_, November, 1879.

[17] Other Italian versions are: Pitre, No. 43; Gonz., 38; _Pent._ II.

6; Busk, pp. 66, 84, 90, 91; Comparetti, No. 57. (Montale); De Gub.,

_Sto. Stefano_, No. 3 (see also _Rivista di Lett. Pop._ I. p. 86);

Gradi, _Saggio_, p. 141; _Fiabe Mant._ No. 38; _Nov. fior._ p. 158

(Milan), Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. 3; De Nino, No. 17, and

_Archivio_, I. 190 (Tuscany), II. 26 (Sardinia). Straparola, I. 4,

contains the first part of our story, which is also partly found in

Coronedi-Berti, No. 3, and Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. 13.

The gifts, which in the story in the text are given the day of the

wedding, in the other versions are bestowed before marriage by father,

in order to overcome daughter's opposition. The recognition by means of

ring is found in the last two stories mentioned in Note 16, in _Fiabe

Mant._ No. 38, above cited, and _Nov. fior._ p. 158 (Milan). See also

Grimm, Nos. 93 ("The Raven"), 101 ("Bearskin"); Hahn, No. 25; Asbj., No.

71 (_Tales from the Field_, p. 130); and _Romania_, No. 23, p. 359.

Other European versions of our story will be found mentioned in the

notes to Grimm, No. 65 ("Allerleirauh"), to Gonz., No. 38 (II. 229);

_Orient und Occident_, II. 295; D'Ancona, _Sacre Rappresent._ III. 238;

_Romania_, No. 24, 571; _Basque Legends_, p. 165, and Ralston's _R. F.

T._ p. 159.

[18] See Gonz., No. 26, and Widter-Wolf, No. 8 (_Jahrb._ VII. p. 128).

For story in general, see notes to stories just cited, and Cox, _Aryan

Myth._ vol. I. p. 224; II. p. 261, "The Myth of Nisos and Skylla;" Hahn,

I. p. 52; and De Gub., _Zool. Myth._ I. p. 211 _et seq._

[19] Pitre, in his notes to No. 71, gives two variants of his story, and

mentions a Piedmontese version yet unpublished. Comparetti, No. 54, an

analysis of which is given in the text, represents sufficiently Hahn's

Form. No. 37, "Strong Hans."

[20] In the version in _Pent._ IV. 8, after the seven sons have

disappeared, their sister goes in search of them, finds them, and they

all live happily together until by her fault they are changed into

doves, and she is obliged to go to the house of the Mother of Time and

learn from her the mode of disenchantment. In a story in Pitre, No. 73,

a husband threatens to kill his wife if she does not give birth to a

male child.

For other European versions of our story, see Grimm, No. 9, "The Twelve

Brothers;" No. 25, "The Seven Ravens;" and No. 49, "The Six Swans;"

_Melusine_, p 419, and _Basque Legends_, p. 186. Part of the story in

text belongs to the Genevieve formula, see notes 8, 10, of this chapter.

[21] The first trait, "Two Sisters," is also found as an independent

story, see Chap. II., p. 100, and note 2. "Substitution of false bride"

is found without "Two Sisters" in Comp., Nos. 53 (Montale) and 68

(Montale); _Fiabe Mant._ No. 16; and Gradi, _Saggio_, p. 141. See note

10 of this chapter. The best example of "substitution" is, as we have

said before, Grimm, No. 89, "The Goose-Girl;" see also _Romania_, No.

24, p. 546. The same trait is found also in a very extensive and

interesting class of stories which may be termed, from the usual titles

of the stories, "The Three Citrons," some of the versions of which

belong to "Forgotten Bride." We give here, however, a version belonging

to the class above-mentioned, and which we have taken, on account of its

rarity, from Ive, _Fiabe pop. rovignesi_, p. 3.

XXIV. THE LOVE OF THE THREE ORANGES.

Once upon a time there was a king and queen who had a half-witted son.

The queen was deeply grieved at this, and she thought to go to the Lord

and ask counsel of him what she was to do with this son. The Lord told

her to try and do something to make him laugh. She replied: "I have

nothing but a jar of oil, unfortunately for me!" The Lord said to her:

"Well, give this oil away in charity, for there will come many people;

some bent, some straight, some humpbacked, and it may happen that your

son will laugh." So the queen proclaimed that she had a jar of oil, and

that all could come and take some. And everybody, indeed, hurried there

and took the oil down to the last drop. Last of all came an old witch,

who begged the queen to give her a little, saying: "Give me a little

oil, too!" The queen replied: "Ah, it is all gone, there is no more!"

The queen was angry and full of spite because her son had not yet

laughed. The old witch said again to the queen: "Let me look in the

jar!" The queen opened the jar, and the old woman got inside of it and

was all covered with the dregs of the oil; and the queen's son laughed,

and laughed, and laughed. The old woman came out, saw the prince

laughing, and said to him: "May you never be happy until you go and find

the Love of the three Oranges." The son, all eager, said to his mother:

"Ah, mother, I shall have no more peace until I go and find the Love of

the three Oranges." She answered: "My dear son, how will you go and find

the Love of the three Oranges?" But he would go; so he mounted his horse

and rode and rode and rode until he came to a large gate. He knocked,

and some one within asked: "Who is there?" He replied: "A soul created

by God." The one within said: "In all the years that I have been here no

one has ever knocked at this gate." The prince repeated: "Open, for I am

a soul created by God!" Then an old man came down and opened the gate.

He had eyelids that reached to his feet, and he said: "My son, take down

those little forks, and lift up my eyelids." The prince did so, and the

old man asked: "Where are you going, my son, in this direction?" "I am

going to find the Love of the three Oranges." The old man answered: "So

many have gone there and never returned! Do you wish not to return, too?

My son, take these twigs: you will meet some witches who are sweeping

out their oven with their hands; give them these twigs, and they will

let you pass." The prince very gratefully took the twigs, mounted his

horse and rode away. He journeyed a long time, and at last saw in the

distance the witches of immense size who were coming towards him. He

threw them the twigs, and they allowed him to pass.

He continued his journey, and arrived at a gate larger than the first.

Here the same thing occurred as at the first one, and the old man said:

"Well! since you will go, too, take these ropes, on your way you will

encounter some witches drawing water with their tresses; throw them

these ropes, and they will let you pass."

Everything happened as the old man said; the prince passed the witches,

continued his journey and came to a third gate larger than the second.

Here an old man with eyelids longer than the other two gave him a bag of

bread, and one of tallow, saying: "Take this bag of bread; you will meet

some large dogs; throw them the bread and they will let you pass; then

you will come to a large gate with many rusty padlocks; then you will

see a tower, and in it the Love of the three Oranges. When you reach

that place, take this tallow and anoint well the rusty padlocks; and

when you have ascended the tower, you will find the oranges hanging from

a nail. There you will also find an old woman who has a son who is an

ogre and has eaten all the Christians who have come there; you see, you

must be very careful!"

The prince, well contented, took the bag of bread and the tallow and

rode away. After a long journey, he saw at a distance, three great dogs

with their mouths wide open coming to eat him. He threw them the bread,

and they let him pass.

He journeyed on until he came to another large gate with many rusty

padlocks. He dismounted, tied his horse to the gate, and began to anoint

the locks with the tallow, until, after much creaking, they opened. The

prince entered, saw the tower, went up and met an old woman who said to

him: "Dear son, where are you going? What have you come here for? I have

a son who is an ogre, and will surely eat you up." While she was

uttering these words, the son arrived. The old woman made the prince

hide under the bed; but the ogre perceived that there was some one in

the house, and when he had entered, he began to cry:--

"_Gein gein_, I smell a Christian,

_Gian gian_, I smell a Christian!"

"Son," his mother said, "there is no one here." But he repeated his cry.

Then his mother, to quiet him, threw him a piece of meat, which he ate

like a madman; and while he was busy eating, she gave the three oranges

to the prince, saying: "Take them, my son, and escape at once, for he

will soon finish eating his meat, and then he will want to eat you,

too." After she had given him the three oranges, she repented of it, and

not knowing what else to do, she cried out: "Stairs, throw him down!

lock, crush him!" They answered: "We will not, for he gave us tallow!"

"Dogs, devour him!" "We will not, for he gave us bread!" Then he mounted

his horse and rode away, and the old woman cried after him: "Witch,

strangle him!" "I will not, for he gave me ropes!" "Witch, kill him!" "I

will not, for he gave me twigs!" The prince continued his journey, and

on the way became very thirsty, and did not know what to do. Finally he

thought of opening one of the oranges. He did so, and out came a

beautiful girl, who said to him:

"Love, give me to drink!"

He replied:

"Love, I have none!"

And she said:

"Love, I shall die!"

And she died at once. The prince threw away the orange, and continued

his journey, and soon became thirsty again. In despair he opened another

orange, and out sprang another girl more beautiful than the first. She,

too, asked for water, and died when the prince told her he had none to

give her. Then he continued his way, saying: "The next time I surely do

not want to lose her." When he became thirsty again, he waited until he

reached a well; then he opened the last orange and there appeared a girl

more beautiful than the first two. When she asked for water, he gave her

the water of the well; then took her out of the orange, put her on

horseback with himself, and started for home. When he was nearly there,

he said to her: "See, I will leave you here for a time under these two

trees;" one had leaves of gold and silver fruit, and the other gold

fruit and silver leaves. Then he made her a nice couch, and left her

resting between the two trees. "Now," said he, "I must go to my mother

to tell her that I have found you, then I will come for you and we shall

be married!" Then he mounted his horse and rode away to his mother.

Now while he was gone an old witch approached the girl and said: "Ah,

dear daughter, let me comb your hair." The young girl replied: "No, the

like of me do not wish it." Again she said: "Come, my dear daughter, let

me comb you!" Tired of being asked so often by the old woman, the girl

at last allowed her to comb her hair, and what did that monster of an

old witch take it into her head to do. She stuck a pin through the

girl's temples from side to side, and the girl at once was changed into

a dove. What did this wretch of an old woman then do? She got into the

couch in the place of the young girl, who flew away.

Meanwhile the prince reached his mother's house, and she said to him:

"Dear son, where have you been? how have you spent all this time?" "Ah,

my mother," said he "what a lovely girl I have for my wife!" "Dear son,

where have you left her?" "Dear mother, I have left her between two

trees, the leaves of one are of gold and the fruit is silver, the leaves

of the other one are silver and the fruit gold."

Then the queen gave a grand banquet, invited many guests, and made ready

many carriages to go and bring the young girl. They mounted their

horses, they entered their carriages, they set out, but when they

reached the trees they saw the ugly old woman, all wrinkled, in the

couch between the trees, and the white dove on top of them.

The poor prince, you can imagine it! was grieved to the heart, and

ashamed at seeing the ugly old woman. His father and mother, to satisfy

him, took the old woman, put her in a carriage, and carried her to the

palace, where the wedding-feast was prepared. The prince was

downhearted, but his mother said to him: "Don't think about it, my son,

for she will become beautiful again." But her son could not think of

eating or of talking. The dinner was brought on and the guests placed

themselves at the round table. Meanwhile, the dove flew up on the

kitchen balcony, and began to sing:

"Let the cook fall asleep,

Let the roast be burned,

Let the old witch be unable to eat of it."

The guests waited for the cook to put the roast on the table. They

waited, and waited and waited, and at last they got up and went to the

kitchen, and there they found the cook asleep. They called and called

him, and at last he awoke, but soon became drowsy again. He said he did

not know what was the matter with him, but he could not stand up. He put

another roast on the spit, however. Then the dove again flew on the

balcony and sang:

"Let the cook fall asleep,

Let the roast be burned,

Let the old witch be unable to eat of it."

Again the guests waited until they grew weary, and then the groom went

to see what was the matter. He found the cook asleep again, and said:

"Cook, good cook, what is the matter with you that you sleep?" Then the

cook told him that there was a dove that flew on the balcony and

repeated:--

"Let the cook fall asleep,

Let the roast be burned,

Let the old witch be unable to eat of it."--

and that he was immediately seized with drowsiness, and fell asleep at

once. The bridegroom went out on the balcony, saw the dove, and said to

it: "_Cuocula_, pretty _cuocula_, come here and let me see you!" The

dove came near him and he caught it, and while he was caressing it he

saw the pins planted in its head, one in its forehead, and one in each

of its temples. What did he do? He pulled out the pin in the forehead!

Then he caressed it again, and pulled out the pins from its temples.

Then the dove became a beautiful girl, more beautiful than she was

before, and the prince took her to his mother and said: "Here, my

mother, this is my bride!" His mother was delighted to see the beautiful

girl, and the king, too, was well pleased. When the old witch saw the

girl, she cried: "Take me away, take me away, I am afraid!" Then the

fair girl told the whole secret how it was. The guests who were present

wished to give their opinions as to what should be done with the old

woman. One of the highest rank said: "Let her be well greased, and

burned!" "Bravo, bravo!" exclaimed the others, "burn her; she must be

burned!" So they seized the old woman, had wood brought, and burned her

in the midst of the city. Then they returned home, and had a finer

wedding than before.

* * * * *

The following are the Italian versions of the above: _Pent._ IV. 9;

Pitre, _Otto Fiabe_, II. "_La Bella di li setti Citri_;" Gonz., No. 13;

Busk, p. 15; _Nov. fior._ pp. 305, 308 (Milan); Comparetti, No. 68 (also

in Nerucci, p. 111); De Gub., _Sto. Stefano_, Nos. 4, 5; Prato, _Quattro

nov. pop. livornesi_, No. 1; _Archivio_, I. 525 (Tuscan); II. 204

(Sardinian); Piedmontese in Mila y Fontanals _Observaciones sobre la

poesia popular_, Barcelona, 1853, p. 179; Coronedi-Berti, No. 11;

Corazzini (Benevento), p. 467; and Schneller, No. 19. Part of our story

is the same as Pitre, No. 13, "Snow-white-fire-red," given in full in

our text. See also Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. 15.

Copious references to other European versions will be found in the notes

of Ive, Koehler, etc., to the above versions; to these may be added, _Lo

Rondallayre_, Nos. 18, 37, Liebrecht to Simrock's _Deut. Maerchen_ in

_Orient und Occident_, III. p. 378 (Kalliopi), No. 3, and _Indian Fairy

Tales_, pp. 253, 284.

[22] See _Pent._ IV. 7; Gonz., Nos. 33, 34; Pitre, Nos. 59, 60 (61);

_Archivio_, II. 36 (Sardinia); De Nino, No. 19; and Schneller, No. 22.

The corresponding Grimm story is No. 135, "The White Bride and the Black

One." For other European references, see Koehler to Gonz., Nos. 33, 34

(II. p. 225), and _Romania_, No. 24, pp. 546, 561. See also Chapter II.,

note 1.

[23] The best version is in the _Pent._ IV. 3, where the three

daughters are married to a falcon, a stag, and a dolphin, who, as in

our story, assist their brother-in-law, but are disenchanted without his

aid. Other Italian versions are: Pitre, No. 16, and _Nov. pop. sicil._,

Palermo, 1873, No. 1; Gonz., No. 29; Knust (Leghorn), No. 2 (_Jahrb._

VII. 384); Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. 23; _Nov. fior._ p.

266; Comparetti, Nos. 4, 58; _Archivio_, II, p. 42 (Tuscan); _Nov.

tosc._ No. 11.

For other European versions see, besides references in notes to above

stories, Hahn, No. 25; Grimm, vol. II. p. 510, to Musaeus' "_Die drei

Schwestern_," and No. 197, "The Crystal Ball;" Benfey, _Pant._ I. p.

534; and Ralston, _R. F. T._ p. 96. See also note 12 of this chapter.

As usual, many of the incidents of our stories are found in those

belonging to other classes; among the most important are: Prince hidden

in musical instrument, Pitre, No. 95; finding princess' place of

concealment, Pitre, Nos. 95, 96; Gonz., No. 68; and Grimm, No. 133; "The

Shoes which were danced to Pieces;" princess recognized among others

dressed alike, or all veiled; _Nov. fior._ p. 411 (Milan); Grimm, No.

62, "The Queen Bee," Ralston, _R. F. T._ p. 141, note; _Basque Legends_,

p. 125; _Orient und Occident_, II. pp. 104, 107-114; tasks set hero to

win wife, Pitre, Nos. 21, 95, 96; Gonz., No. 68; De Gub., _Sto.

Stefano_, No. 8; _Basque Legends_, p. 120; _Orient und Occident_, II.

103; and _Romania_, No. 28, p. 527. This last incident is found also in

"Forgotten Bride," see note 25 of this chapter.

[24] For other European references to the first class, "riddle solved by

suitor," see _Jahrb._ V. 13; Grimm, No. 114, "The Cunning Little

Tailor," and Hahn, I. p. 54.

Other Italian versions of the second class are: Comparetti, Nos. 26

(Basilicata), 59 (Monferrato); Nerucci, p. 177 (partly); and

Widter-Wolf, No. 15 (_Jahrb._ VII. 269). See also Koehler's notes to

last-mentioned story, and also to Campbell, No. 22, in _Orient und

Occident_, II. 320; Grimm, No. 22, "The Riddle;" and Prof. F. J. Child,

_English and Scottish Popular Ballads_, Part II. p. 414.

For other stories containing riddles belonging to other classes than the

above, see Bernoni, _Punt._ II. p. 54; Gradi, _Vigilia_, p. 8;

Corazzini, p. 432; Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. 7; and Koehler's

article, _Das Raethselmaerchen von dem ermordeten Geliebten_ in the

_Rivista di Lett. pop._ I. p. 212. A peculiar version of the second

class may be found in Ortoli, p. 123, where a riddle very much like the

one in the text is proposed by suitor to princess' father.

[25] Other Italian versions are: Gonz., Nos. 14, 54, 55; _Pent._ II. 7,

III. 9 (forgets bride on touching shore); _Pomiglianesi_, p. 136 (the

first part belongs to the class of "Fair Angiola;") Busk, p. 3 (first

part same as last story); De Gub., _Sto. Stefano_, No. 5 (see also

_Rivista di Lett. pop._ I. p. 84); Coronedi-Berti, No. 13 (this is one

of the few "Three Citrons" stories containing episode of bride forgotten

at mother's kiss); Schneller, No. 27; Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_,

No. 4 (mother's kiss); Pitre, vol. IV. p. 285, gives an Albanian version

of our story. The imprecation and mother's kiss are also found in

another of the "Three Citrons" stories, Gonz., No. 13. For obstacles to

flight, see Note 11 of this chapter.

For other European versions see Koehler's notes to Gonz., No. 14; to

Campbell, No. 2 (_Orient und Occident_, II. 103); to Kreutzwald-Loewe,

No. 14; Hahn, I. p. 55; _Romania_, Nos. 19, p. 354, 20, p. 527; Grimm,

Nos. 56, ("Sweetheart Roland"), 113 ("The Two Kings' Children"), 186

("The True Bride"), 193 ("The Drummer;") _Basque Legends_, p. 120;

Ralston, _R. F. T._ pp. 119, 131; Brueyre, p. 111; and B. Schmidt,

_Griechische Maerchen, Sagen und Volkslieder_, Leipzig, 1877, cited by

Cosquin, _Romania_, No. 28, p. 543. See also in general, Cox, _Aryan

Myth._ I. p. 158.

[26] The same incident is found in Gonz., No. 6, and Pitre, No. 61. See

Koehler's notes to Gonz., No. 6; Grimm, No. 193 ("The Drummer");

_Romania_, No. 28, p. 527; and Hahn, No. 15.

[27] Another Venetian version is in Bernoni, No. 3. See also _Nov.

fior._ p. 290; Gradi, _Vigilia_, p. 53; _Fiabe Mant._ No. 39; and

Schneller, No. 32.

For other European versions, see Grimm, No. 46 ("Fitcher's Bird"),

Koehler's notes to Widter-Wolf, No. 11 (_Jahrb._ VII. 148); and Ralston,

_R. F. T._ p. 97.

[28] See Pitre, No. 19, _Nuovo Saggio_, No. 4; _Nov. fior._ pp. 7, 12;

and Nerucci, No. 49. Compare also Gonz., Nos. 10 and 22 (already

mentioned, "The Robber who had a Witch's Head"), and Comparetti, No. 18

(Pisa).

For other references to this class, see Grimm, No. 40 ("The

Robber-Bridegroom") and _Romania_, No. 22, p. 236.

[29] See Chap. II., note 4. For other references to this class, see

Grimm, No. 3 ("Our Lady's Child"), and _Romania_, No. 28, p. 568.

[30] The seventh version is from Bologna and is entitled _La Fola del

Muretein_ ("The Story of the Little Moor"), and was published by

Coronedi-Berti in the _Rivista Europea_, Florence, 1873. It is briefly

as follows: A queen has no children and visits a witch who gives her an

apple to eat, telling her that in due time she will bear a son. One of

the queen's maids eats the peel and both give birth to sons; the maid's

being called the Little Moor from resembling the dark red color of the

apple peel. The two children grow up together, and when the prince goes

off on his travels his friend the little Moor accompanies him. They

spend the night in an enchanted castle and the friend hears a voice

saying that the prince will conquer in a tournament and marry the king's

daughter, but on their wedding night a dragon will devour the bride, and

whoever tells of it will become marble. The friend saves the princess'

life, but is thrown into prison, and when he exculpates himself becomes

marble. He can only be restored to life by being anointed with the

blood of a cock belonging to a wild man (_om salvadgh_) living on a

certain mountain. The prince performs the difficult feat of stealing the

cock and healing his friend.

For other European versions, see Grimm, No. 6 ("Faithful John"); Hahn,

No. 29; Wolf, _Proben Port. und Cat. Volksm._ p. 52; _Lo Rondallayre_,

No. 35 ("_Lo bon criat_"); _Old Deccan Days_, p. 98; and in general,

Benfey, _Pant._ I. p. 417, and Koehler in _Weimarische Beitraege zur Lit.

und Kunst_, Weimar, 1865, p. 192 _et seq._

[31] See Pitre, vol. I. pp. xcix., ciii.; IV. pp. 382, 430, and

Comparetti, No. 44. A version from the Abruzzi may be found in Finamore,

No. 38. See also Grimm, No. 191 ("The Robber and his Sons"); _Basque

Legends_, p. 4; _Dolopathos_ ed. Oesterley, pp. xxii., 65; and in

general, _Orient und Occident_, II. 120, and Benfey, _Pant._ I. 295.

[32] Another Sicilian version is in Gonz., No. 83. Other versions are:

_Pent._ III. 7; Nerucci, p. 341; De Nino, No. 30; _Fiabe Mant._ No. 4;

_Nov. fior._ p. 340 (Milan); and Widter-Wolf, No. 9 (_Jahrb._ VII. p.

134). There are other similar stories in which a person is forced by

those envious of him to undertake dangerous enterprises: see Pitre, Nos.

34, 35; Comparetti, No. 16; _Tuscan Fairy Tales_, No. 8, De Nino, No.

39, etc. Strap., I. 2, also offers many points of resemblance to our

story.

For other versions, see Grimm, No. 192 ("The Master-Thief"), and

Koehler's notes to Widter-Wolf, No. 9.

[33] The version in _Nov. fior._ p. 574, is from Florence, the others,

pp. 575 (the story in our text), 577, 578, 579, are from Milan, and

closely resemble each other.

[34] Compare Pitre, No. 83, and De Nino, No. 43. Tyrolese versions are

in Schneller, Nos. 53, 54. See also Widter-Wolf, No. 2 (_Jahrb._ VII.

13), and _Jahrb._ VIII. p. 246, _Italien. Maerchen aus Sora_, No. 2. For

additional European versions, see _Jahrb. ut supra_, and V. 7;

_Romania_, Nos. 19, p. 350; 24, p. 562; 28, p. 556; and Grimm, Nos. 20

("The Valiant Little Taylor"), and 183 ("The Giant and the Tailor") Some

of the episodes mentioned in the text may be found in a Corsican story

in Ortoli, p. 204, where, however, instead of a giant, a priest is

outwitted by his servant.

CHAPTER II.

FAIRY TALES CONTINUED.

[1] This story is found in the _Pent._ I. 10. In Schneller, No. 29, the

king falls in love with a frog (from hearing its voice without seeing

it) which is transformed by the fairies into a beautiful girl. The good

wishes of the fairies are found in Pitre, Nos. 61, 94. See also _Pent._

I. 3; III. 10, and Chap. I. of the present work, note 22. For gifts by

the fairies, see Pitre, vol. I. p. 334, and the following note.

[2] This story is often found as an introduction to "False Bride;" see

Chap. I., note 21. Sicilian versions may be found in Pitre, Nos. 62, 63;

Neapolitan, _Pent._ III. 10; from the Abruzzi in Finamore, No. 48; De

Nino, No. 18; Tuscan, Gradi, _Vigilia_, p. 20, De Gub., _Sto. Stefano_,

No. 1, _Zool. Myth._ II. p. 62, note, _Tuscan Fairy Tales_, pp. 9, 18,

Corazzini, p. 409, _Nov. tosc._ No. 8, _La Tinchina dell' alto Mare_;

Venetian, Bernoni, XIX.; and Tyrolese, Schneller, Nos. 7, 8.

In several of the Tuscan versions (Gradi, _Zool. Myth., Tuscan Fairy

Tales_, p. 9, and _Nov. fior._ p. 202, which is composed of "Two

Sisters" and "True Bride") instead of fairies the sisters find cats who

bestow the varying gifts.

Other European versions of this story will be found in Grimm, No. 24,

"Old Mother Holle;" Norwegian in Asbj. & Moe, No. 15; [Dasent, _Pop.

Tales from the Norse_, p. 103, "The Two Step-Sisters"] French in Blade,

_Contes agen._ p. 149, and Cosquin, _Contes pop. lorrains_, No. 48

(_Romania_, No. 32, p. 564). The Oriental versions are mentioned by

Cosquin in his notes to the last named story; see also Benfey, _Pant._

I. p. 219.

[3] Other Tuscan versions are in Gradi, _Saggio di Letture varie_, p.

125, and _Nov. tosc._ No. 22; Sicilian and Roman versions may be found

in Pitre, No. 64, and Busk, p. 96.

French versions will be found in _Melusine_, pp. 113 (_conte picard_)

and 241 (_conte de l' Amienois_). A Japanese version is given in the

same periodical, p. 161. An Irish version is in Croker, _Fairy Legends_

etc. (translated in Brueyre, p. 206); and a Turkish version is given in

_The Wonder World Stories_, New York, Putnam, 1877, p. 139. Other French

and Oriental versions are noticed in _Melusine_, pp. 161, 241. A

somewhat similar German version is in Grimm, No. 182. "The Presents of

the Little Folk."

[4] This story somewhat resembles Gonz., No. 20, mentioned in Chap. I.,

note 29. Another Sicilian version is in Pitre, No. 86. I have been

unable to find any other Italian parallels. Personification of one's

Fate maybe found in Gonz., Nos. 52, 55, Pitre, No. 12; and of Fortune in

Pitre, No. 29, and Comparetti, No. 50. See _Indian Fairy Tales_, p. 263.

[5] Sicilian versions are in Pitre, No. 105, and Gonz., No. 18. In the

latter version the king drives his daughter from the palace and the

rejected suitor disguises himself, follows her, and marries her. A

Neapolitan version is in the _Pent._ IV. 10; Tuscan in Gradi, _Vigilia_,

p. 97; Nerucci, p. 211; and _Jahrb._ VII. p. 394 (Knust, No. 9).

Other European versions are: Grimm No. 52, "King Thrushbeard;"

Norwegian, Asbj. & Moe, No. 45, and Grundtwig, III. [1]; French,

_Romania_, No. 32, p. 552 (_Contes pop. lorrains_, No. 45); and Greek,

Hahn, No. 113. See also _Tibetan Tales_, London, 1882, Ralston's notes,

p. lviii.

[6] Other versions of this story are: Sicilian, Pitre, No. 67, and

Gonz., No. 28; Tuscan, _Archivio_, I. pp. 41, 65, _Nov. tosc._ No. 7,

Abruzzi, De Nino, No. 1. For the first part of the story, see _Nov.

fior._ pp. 332-333.

[7] I have followed in this division Imbriani, _Pomiglianesi_, p. 89.

[8] Another Sicilian version, which, however, does not contain the trait

"cure by laughing," is in Pitre, No. 28. Gonz., No. 30, may be mentioned

here, as it contains a part of our story. The magic gifts in it are a

carpet that transports the owner wherever he wishes to go, a purse

always full, and a horn that when one blows in the little end covers the

sea with ships, when one blows in the big end, the ships disappear.

Neapolitan versions are in Imbriani, _Pomiglianesi_, pp. 62, 83; Roman

in Busk, pp. 129, 136, comp. p. 146; and Tuscan in Frizzi, _Novella

montanina_, Florence, A. Ciardelli e C. 1876, Nerucci, p. 471 _Archivio

per le Trad. pop._ I. p. 57, and _Nov. tosc._ No. 16. De Gub., _Zool.

Myth._ I. p. 288, n. 3, gives a version from the Marches, and there is a

Bolognese version in Coronedi-Berti, No. 9. Other versions may be found

in Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. 30, and Bolognini, p. 21. For

other European versions, see _Gesta Rom._ ed. Oesterley, cap. cxx.;

Grimm, No. 122; Campbell, No. 10, "The Three Soldiers" (see Koehler's

notes to this story in _Orient und Occident_, II. p. 124, and Brueyre,

p. 138); Cosquin, _Contes pop. lorrains_, Nos. 11 (_Rom._ No. 19, p.

361) and 42 (_Rom._ No. 28, p. 581); and finally, Kreutzwald,

_Ehstnische Maerchen_, No. 23. Comp. also De Gub., _Zool. Myth._ I. p.

182, and Ralston's notes to Schiefner's _Tibetan Tales_, p. liv.

[9] I have been unable to find any European parallels to this form of

the story.

[10] Another version of this story is found in the same collection, p.

359. Other Tuscan versions are found in De Gub., _Sto. Stefano_, No. 21,

Gradi, _Saggio di Letture varie_, p. 181, _Nov. tosc._ No. 29, and

Comparetti, No. 7 (Mugello). The other versions are as follows:

Sicilian, Pitre, No. 29 (comp. No. 30), Gonz., No. 52; Neapolitan,

_Pent._ I. 1 (Comp. _Pomiglianesi_, p. 116); Abruzzi, Finamore, No. 37;

De Nino, No. 6; Ortoli, pp. 171, 178; Venetian, Bernoni, No. 9; the

Marches, Comp., No. 12; and Tyrolese, Schneller, p. 28.

For the other European parallels, see Grimm, No. 36, "The Table, the

Ass, and the Stick;" _Melusine_ (_conte breton_), p. 130; Cosquin,

_Contes pop. lorrains_, No. 14 (_Rom._ No. 19, p. 333); De Gub., _Zool.

Myth._ II. p. 262 (Russian); Brueyre, p. 48 (B. Gould, Yorkshire,

Appendix to Henderson's _Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of

England_); Asbj. & Moe, No. 7 [Dasent, _Pop. Tales from the Norse_, p.

261, "The Lad who went to the North Wind"], and _Old Deccan Days_, No.

12.

[11] Another Sicilian version is in Gonz., No. 65, with same title and

contents. A Neapolitan version is in the _Pent._ II. 4, where the fox

is replaced by a cat. This is also the case in the versions from the

Abruzzi, Finamore, No. 46, De Nino, No. 53; in the Florentine versions

in _Nov. fior._ p. 145, _Nov. tosc._ No. xii. var.; and in the Tyrolese

given by Schneller, p. 122 ("_Il Conte Martin dalla gatta_"). In another

story in Schneller, p. 124 ("_L'Anello_"), a youth possesses a magic

ring and a dog and cat which recover the ring when stolen from its

owner. Older and more interesting than the above versions is the one in

Straparola, XI. 1. We give it here in full in order that our readers may

compare with it the version in our text and Perrault's "Puss in Boots,"

which is the form in which the story has become popular all over Europe.

The following translation is from the edition of 1562 (Venice).

XXXIV. PUSS IN BOOTS.

SORIANA DIES AND LEAVES THREE SONS: DUSOLINO, TESIFONE, AND

CONSTANTINE THE LUCKY, WHO, BY VIRTUE OF A CAT, ACQUIRES A

POWERFUL KINGDOM.

There was once in Bohemia a very poor lady named Soriana, who had three

sons: one was called Dusolino, the other Tesifone, and the third

Constantine the Lucky. She owned nothing valuable in the world but three

things: a kneading-trough, a rolling-board, and a cat. When Soriana,

laden with years, came to die, she made her last testament, and left to

Dusolino, her eldest son, the kneading-trough, to Tesifone the

rolling-board, and to Constantine the cat. When the mother was dead and

buried, the neighbors, as they had need, borrowed now the

kneading-trough, now the rolling-board; and because they knew that the

owners were very poor, they made them a cake, which Dusolino and

Tesifone ate, giving none to Constantine, the youngest brother. And if

Constantine asked them for anything, they told him to go to his cat,

which would get it for him. Wherefore poor Constantine and his cat

suffered greatly. Now the cat, which was enchanted, moved to compassion

for Constantine, and angry at the two brothers who treated him so

cruelly, said: "Constantine, do not be downcast, for I will provide for

your support and my own." And leaving the house, the cat went out into

the fields, and, pretending to sleep, caught a hare that passed and

killed it. Thence, going to the royal palace and seeing some of the

courtiers, the cat said that she wished to speak with the king, who,

when he heard that a cat wished to speak to him, had her shown into his

presence, and asked her what she wished. The cat replied that her

master, Constantine, had sent him a hare which he had caught. The king

accepted the gift, and asked who this Constantine was. The cat replied

that he was a man who had no superior in goodness, beauty, and power.

Wherefore the king treated the cat very well, giving her to eat and

drink bountifully. When the cat had satisfied her hunger, she slyly

filled with her paw (unseen by any one) the bag that hung at her side,

and taking leave of the king, carried it to Constantine. When the

brothers saw the food over which Constantine exulted, they asked him to

share it with them; but he refused, rendering them tit for tat. On which

account there arose between them great envy, that continually gnawed

their hearts. Now Constantine, although handsome in his face,

nevertheless, from the privation he had suffered, was covered with scabs

and scurf, which caused him great annoyance. But going with his cat to

the river, she licked him carefully from head to foot, and combed his

hair, and in a few days he was entirely cured.

The cat (as we said above) continued to carry gifts to the royal palace,

and thus supported her master. But after a time she wearied of running

up and down so much, and feared that she would annoy the king's

courtiers; so she said to her master: "Sir, if you will do what I order,

I will make you rich in a short time." "How?" said her master. The cat

replied: "Come with me, and do not ask any more, for I am ready to

enrich you." So they went together to the stream, which was near the

royal palace, and the cat stripped her master, and with his agreement

threw him into the river, and then began to cry out in a loud voice:

"Help! help! Messer Constantine is drowning." The king hearing this, and

remembering that he had often received presents from him, sent his

people at once to aid him. When Messer Constantine was taken out of the

water and dressed in fine clothes, he was taken to the king, who

received him cordially, and asked him why he had been thrown into the

river. Constantine could not answer for grief; but the cat, which was

always at his side, said: "Know, O king, that some robbers learned from

spies that my master was loaded with jewels, which he was coming to

present to you. They robbed him of all, and threw him into the river,

thinking to kill him, but thanks to these gentlemen he has escaped from

death." The king, hearing this, ordered that he should be well cared

for; and seeing that he was handsome, and knowing him to be wealthy, he

concluded to give him Elisetta, his daughter, for a wife, endowing her

with jewels and most beautiful garments. After the wedding festivities

had been ended, the king had ten mules loaded with money, and five with

costly apparel, and sent his daughter to her husband's home, accompanied

by a great retinue. Constantine, seeing that he had become so wealthy

and honored, did not know where to lead his wife, and took counsel with

his cat, which said: "Do not fear, my master, for we shall provide for

everything." So they all set out gayly on horseback, and the cat ran

hastily before them; and having left the company some distance behind,

met some horsemen, to whom she said: "What are you doing here, wretched

men? Depart quickly, for a large band of people are coming, and will

take you prisoners. They are near by: you can hear the noise of the

neighing horses." The horsemen said in terror: "What must we do, then?"

The cat replied: "Do this,--if you are asked whose horsemen you are,

answer boldly, Messer Constantine's, and you will not be molested." Then

the cat went on, and found a large flock of sheep, and did the same with

their owners, and said the same thing to all those whom she found in the

road. The people who were escorting Elisetta asked the horsemen: "Whose

knights are you," and "whose are so many fine flocks?" and all with one

accord replied: "Messer Constantine's." Then those who accompanied the

bride said: "So then, Messer Constantine, we are beginning to enter your

territory." And he nodded his head, and replied in like manner to all

that he was asked. Wherefore the company judged him to be very wealthy.

At last the cat came to a very fine castle, and found there but few

servants, to whom she said: "What are you doing, good men; do you not

perceive the destruction which is impending?" "What?" asked the

servants. "Before an hour passes, a host of soldiers will come here and

cut you to pieces. Do you not hear the horses neighing? Do you not see

the dust in the air? If you do not wish to perish, take my advice and

you will be saved. If any one asks you whose this castle is, say, Messer

Constantine's." So they did; and when the noble company reached the

handsome castle they asked the keepers whose it was, and all answered

boldly Messer Constantine the Lucky's. Then they entered, and were

honorably entertained. Now the castellan of that place was Signor

Valentino, a brave soldier, who, a short time before, had left the

castle to bring home the wife he had lately married; and to his

misfortune, before he reached the place where his wife was he was

overtaken on the way by a sudden and fatal accident, from which he

straightway died, and Constantine remained master of the castle. Before

long, Morando, King of Bohemia, died, and the people elected for their

king Constantine the Lucky because he was the husband of Elisetta, the

dead king's daughter, to whom the kingdom fell by right of succession.

And so Constantine, from being poor and a beggar, remained Lord and

King, and lived a long time with his Elisetta, leaving children by her

to succeed him in the kingdom.

* * * * *

For copious references to other European versions, see Koehler's notes to

Gonz., No. 65 (II. p. 242), and Benfey, _Pant._ I. p. 222.

[12] The earliest Italian versions are in the _Cento nov. ant., Testo

Papanti_ (_Romania_, No. 10, p. 191), and Straparola, XI. 2. Later

popular versions, besides the Istrian one in the text, are: Nerucci, p.

430, and Bernoni, III. p. 91, both of which are much distorted. Some of

the episodes are found in other stories, as, for instance, the division

of the property, including the wife, which occurs in Gonz., No. 74. "The

Thankful Dead" is also the subject of an Italian novel, _Novella di

Messer Danese e di Messer Gigliotto_, Pisa, 1868 (privately printed),

and of a popular poem, _Istoria bellissima di Stellante Costantina_

composta da Giovanni Orazio Brunetto.

The extensive literature of this interesting story can best be found in

D'Ancona's notes to the version in the _Cento nov. ant._, cited above.

To these may be added: Ive's notes to the story in the text, Cosquin's

notes to No. 19 of the _Contes pop. lorrains_ (_Rom._ No. 24, p. 534),

and Nisard, _Hist. des Livres pop._ II. p. 450. Basque and Spanish

versions have been published recently, the former in Webster's _Basque

Legends_, pp. 146, 151, and the latter in Caballero, _Cuentos,

oraciones_, etc., Leipzig, 1878, p. 23. A version from Mentone may be

found in the _Folk-Lore Record_, vol. III. p. 48, "John of Calais."

[13] In the original it is _la Voria_, which in Sicilian means "breeze,"

but I take it to be the same as _Boria_ in Italian (Lat. _Boreas -ae_),

the North Wind.

[14] Other Italian versions are: _Nov. fior._ p. 440; _Archivio_, III.

542 (Abruzzi); Pitre, No. 31; _Tuscan Fairy Tales_, No. 10, p. 102; De

Nino, No. 69; and Widter-Wolf, No. 10 (_Jahrbuch_, VII. 139). See also

Prato, _Una nov. pop. monferrina_, Como, 1882; and Finamore, _Trad. pop.

abruzzesi_, Nos. 17, 19.

References to other European versions will be found in Koehler's notes to

Widter-Wolf, No. 10. See also Grimm, No. 92; Ralston's _R. F. T._ p.

132, and Chap. I., note 11, of the present work.

[15] A work of this kind, similar in scope to Nisard's _Hist. des Livres

populaires_, is greatly to be desired, and ought to be undertaken before

the great changes in the social condition of Italy shall have rendered

such a task difficult, if not impossible.

CHAPTER III.

STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN.

[1] There are three Italian translations of the _Pantschatantra_, all of

the XVI. century. Two, _Discorsi degli Animali_, by Angelo Firenzuola,

1548, and _La Filosofia Morale_, by Doni, 1552, represent the Hebrew

translation by Rabbi Joel (1250), from which they are derived through

the _Directorium humanae vitae_ of Johannes de Capua (1263-78); the

third, _Del Governo de' Regni_, by G. Nuti, 1583, is from the Greek

version of Simeon Seth (1080). A full account of the various

translations of the _Pantschatantra_ may be found in Max Mueller's

_Chips_, Vol. IV. p. 165, "The Migration of Fables." See also Benfey,

_Pant._ I. pp. 1-19, _Buddhist Birth Stories_; or, _Jataka Tales_, By

V. Fausboell and T. W. Rhys Davids, Boston, 1880, p. xciii., and Landau,

_Die Quellen des Decamerone_, mentioned in the following note.

_The Seven Wise Masters_ was also translated into Italian at an early

date. One version, _Il Libro dei Sette Savj di Roma_, Pisa, 1864, edited

by Prof. A. D'Ancona, is a XIII. century translation from a French prose

version (Cod. 7974, _Bib. nat._); another, of the same date, _Storia d'

una crudele Matrigna_, Bologna, 1862, is from an uncertain source, from

which is probably derived a third version, _Il Libro dei Sette Savi di

Roma tratto da un codice del secolo XIV._ per cura di Antonio Cappelli,

Bologna, 1865. The MS. from which the version edited by Della Lucia in

1832 (reprinted at Bologna, 1862) was taken has been recently discovered

and printed in _Operette inedite o rare, Libreria Dante_, Florence,

1883, No. 3. A fourth version of the end of the XIII. or the beginning

of the XIV. century is still inedited, it is mentioned by D'Ancona in

the _Libro dei Sette Savj_, p. xxviii., and its contents given. The

latest and most curious version is _I Compassionevoli Avvenimenti di

Erasto_, a work of the XVI. century (first edition, Venice, 1542) which

contains four stories found in no other version of the Seven Wise

Masters. The popularity of this version, the source of which is unknown,

was great. See D'Ancona, _op. cit._, pp. xxxi.-xxxiv.

The _Disciplina Clericalis_ was not known, apparently, in Italy as a

collection, but the separate stories were known as early as Boccaccio,

who borrowed the outlines of three of his stories from it (VII. 4; VIII.

10: X. 8). Three of the stories of the _Disc. Cler._ are also found in

the Ital. trans. of Frate Jacopo da Cessole's book on Chess

(_Volgarizzamento del libro de' Costumi e degli offizii de' nobili sopra

il giuoco degli Scachi_, Milan, 1829) and reprinted in _Libro di Novelle

Antiche_, Bologna, 1868, Novelle III., IV., and VI. This translation is

of the XII. century. Other stories from the _Disc. Cler._ are found in

the _Cento nov. ant._, Gualt., LIII., XXXI., LXVI., Borg., LXXIV.

(_Cent. nov._, Biagi, pp. 226, 51, 58); and in Cintio, _Gli Ecatommiti_,

I, 3; VII. 6.

[2] It has been generally supposed that the Oriental element was

introduced into European literature from Spain through the medium of the

French. We shall see later that this was the case with the famous

collection of tales just mentioned, the _Disciplina Clericalis_.

Oriental elements are also found in the French _fabliaux_ which are

supposed to have furnished Boccaccio with the plots of a number of his

novels. See Landau, _Die Quellen des Decamerone_, 2d ed., Vienna, 1884,

p. 107. Professor Bartoli in his _I Precursori del Boccaccio e alcune

delle sue Fonti_, Florence, 1876, endeavors to show that Boccaccio may

have taken the above mentioned novels from sources common to them and

the French _fabliaux_. It is undeniable that there was in the Middle

Ages an immense mass of stories common to the whole western world, and

diffused by oral tradition as well as by literary means, and it is very

unsafe to say that any one literary version is taken directly from

another. Sufficient attention has not been paid to the large Oriental

element in European entertaining literature prior to the Renaissance. In

early Italian literature besides Boccaccio, the _Cento novelle antiche_

abound in Oriental elements. See D'Ancona, _Le Fonti del Novellino_, in

the _Romania_, vol. III. pp. 164-194, since republished in _Studj di

Critica e Storia Letteraria_, Bologna, 1880, pp. 219-359.

[3] See Introduction, Notes 3, 7.

[4] In the _Pantschatantra_ (Benfey's trans, vol. II. p. 120) this story

is as follows: A merchant confides to a neighbor some iron scales or

balances for safe-keeping. When he wishes them back he is told that the

mice have eaten them up. The merchant is silent, and some time after

asks his neighbor to lend him his son to aid him in bathing. After the

bath the merchant shuts the boy up in a cave, and when the father asks

where he is, is told that a falcon has carried him off. The neighbor

exclaimed: "Thou liar, how can a falcon carry away a boy?" The merchant

responded: "Thou veracious man! If a falcon cannot carry away a boy,

neither can mice eat iron scales. Therefore give me back my scales if

you desire your son." See also Benfey, _Pant._ I. p. 283. La Fontaine

has used the same story for his fable of _Le Depositaire infidele_

(livre IX. 1): see also references in _Fables inedites_, vol. II. p.

193.

[5] The fables in Pitre of non-Oriental origin may be mentioned here;

they are: No. 271, "_Brancaliuni_," found also in Straparola, X. 2; No.

272, "The Two Mice," compare Aesop, ed. Furia, 198, and Schneller, No.

59; No. 274, "Wind, Water, and Honor," found in Straparola, XI. 2; No.

275, "Godfather Wolf and Godmother Fox"; No. 276, "The Lion, the Wolf,

and the Fox," Aesop, ed. Furia, 233; No. 277, "The Fox," see _Roman du

Renart_, Paris, 1828, I. p. 129, and _Nov. tosc._ No. 69; No. 278,

"L'Acidduzzu (Pretty Little Bird)," compare Asbj. & Moe, No. 42,

Bernoni, _Punt._ III. p. 69, "_El Galo_," Nerucci, _Cincelle da

Bambini_, p. 38; No. 279, "The Wolf and the Finch," Gonz., No. 66, _Nov.

tosc._ No. 52 (add to Koehler's references: Asbj. & M., Nos. 42, 102,

[Dasent, _Tales from the Fjeld_, p. 35, "The Greedy Cat,"] and Bernoni,

_Punt._ III. p. 69); and finally No. 280, "The Cricket and the Ants,"

see Aesop, ed. Furia, 121, La Fontaine, _La Cigale et la Fourmi_, livre

I. 1: see copious references in Robert, _Fables inedites_, I. p. 2. For

Bernoni, III. p. 69, "_El Galo_," and Pitre, No. 279, see Chap. V. pp.

270, 272.

There are two fables in Coronedi-Berti's collection: No. 20: "_La Fola

del Corov_," and No. 21, "_La Fola dla Voulp_." The first is the

well-known fable of the crow in the peacock's feathers; for copious

references see Robert, _Fables inedites_, I. p. 247, to La Fontaine's

_Le Geai pare des plumes du Paon_, livre IV, fab. IX., and Oesterley to

Kirchhof's _Wendunmuth_, 7, 52. In the second fable the fox leaves her

little ones at home, bidding them admit no one without a counter-sign.

The wolf learns it from the simple little foxes themselves, gains

admission, and eats two of them up. The mother takes her revenge in

almost the same way as does the fox in Pitre's fable, No. 277.

[6] This fable is also found in Pitre, No. 273, "The Man, the Wolf, and

the Fox," and in Gonz., No. 69, "Lion, Horse, and Fox:" see Benfey,

_Pant._ I. 113, and Koehler's references to Gonz., No. 69.

There is also a version of this fable in Morosi, p. 75, which is as

follows:--

XLIX. THE MAN, THE SERPENT, AND THE FOX.

There was once a huntsman, who, in passing a quarry, found a serpent

under a large stone. The serpent asked the hunter to liberate him, but

the latter said: "I will not free you, for you will eat me." The serpent

replied: "Liberate me, for I will not eat you." When the hunter had set

the serpent at liberty, the latter wanted to devour him, but the hunter

said: "What are you doing? Did you not promise me that you would not eat

me?" The serpent replied that hunger did not observe promises. The

hunter then said: "If you have no right to eat me, will you do it?"

"No," answered the serpent. "Let us go, then," said the hunter, "and ask

three times." They went into the woods and found a greyhound, and asked

him, and he replied: "I had a master, and I went hunting and caught

hares, and when I carried them home my master had nothing too good to

give me to eat; now, when I cannot overtake even a tortoise, because I

am old, my master wishes to kill me; for this reason I condemn you to be

eaten by the serpent; for he who does good finds evil." "Do you hear? We

have one judge," said the serpent. They continued their journey, and

found a horse, and asked him, and he too replied that the serpent was

right to eat the man, "for," he said, "I had a master, who fed me when I

could travel; now that I can do so no longer, he would like to hang me."

The serpent said: "Behold, two judges!" They went on, and found a fox.

The huntsman said: "Fox, you must aid me. Listen: I was passing a

quarry, and found this serpent dying under a large stone, and he asked

aid from me, and I released him, and now he wants to eat me." The fox

answered: "I will be the judge. Let us return to the quarry, to see how

the serpent was." They went there, and put the stone on the serpent, and

the fox asked: "Is that the way you were?" "Yes," answered the serpent.

"Very well, then, stay so always!" said the fox.

[7] The individual stories of the _Thousand and One Nights_ were known

in Europe long before the collection, which was not translated into

French until 1704-1717. This is shown by the fact that some of the XIII.

century _fabliaux_ embody stories of the _Thousand and One Nights_. See

Note 10. An interesting article by Mr. H. C. Coote on "Folk-Lore, the

source of some of M. Galland's Tales," will be found in the _Folk-Lore

Record_, vol. III. pp. 178-191.

[8] The Sicilian versions are in Pitre, No. 81. The version from

Palermo, of which Pitre gives only a _resume_, is printed entire in F.

Sabatini, _La Lanterna, Nov. pop. sicil._ Imola, 1878. The Roman

version, "How Cajusse was married," is in Busk, p. 158; and the Mantuan

in Visentini, No. 35. Tuscan versions may be found in the _Rivista di

Lett. pop._ p. 267; De Nino, No. 5; and a version from Bergamo in the

same periodical, p. 288. For the episode of the "Magician with no heart

in his body," see Chap. I. note 12.

[9] See Pitre, No. 36, and Gonz., No. 5, with Koehler's copious

references. As this story is found in Chap. I. p. 17, it is only

mentioned here for the sake of completeness.

There is another complete version of "The Forty Thieves" in Nerucci, No.

54, _Cicerchia, o i ventidua Ladri_. The thieves are twenty-two, and

_cicerchia_ is the magic word that opens and shuts the robbers' cave. A

version in Ortoli, p. 137, has seven thieves.

[10] Pitre, No. 164, "The Three Hunchbacks;" Straparola, V. 3. It is

also found in the _fabliau_, _Les Trois Bossus_, Barbazan-Meon, III.

245; for copious references see Von der Hagen, _Gesammtabenteuer_, III.

p. xxxv. _et seq._ Pitre, No. 165, "_Fra Ghiniparu_," is a variation of

the above theme, and finds its counterpart in the _fabliau_ of _Le

Sacristain de Cluni_: see _Gesammtabenteuer_, _ut sup._ Other versions

are in Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, No. 9, and _Nov. tosc._ No. 58.

[11] The story is, properly speaking, in the introduction to the

_Thousand and One Nights_: see Lane, _The Thousand and One Nights_,

London, 1865, I. 10. See Straparola, XII. 3, and _Schmipf und Ernst_ von

Johannes Pauli, herausgegeben von Hermann Oesterley (_Bibliothek des

litt. Vereins_, LXXXV.), Stuttgart, 1866, No. 134, "_Ein boesz weib

tugenhaft zemachen_."

[12] For the first story, see _Thousand and One Nights_ (ed. Breslau),

IX. 129; _Pent._ V. 7; Gonz., No. 45; Hahn, No. 47; and Grimm, No. 129.

For the second, see _Thousand and One Nights_ (ed. Breslau), II. 196;

ed. Lane, III. 41.

[13] See Lane, I. 140, and, for the transformations, p. 156. This story

is also in Straparola, VIII. 5. It is well known in the North of Europe

from the Grimm tale (No. 68), "The Thief and his Master," To the

references in Grimm, II. p. 431, may be added: _Revue Celtique_, I. 132,

II.; Benfey, _Pant._ I. p. 410; Brueyre, 253; Ralston, _R. F. T._ 229;

Asbj. & M., No. 57 [Dasent, _Pop. Tales_, No. XXXIX.] (comp. Nos. 9, 46

[Dasent, _Pop. Tales_, Nos. XXIII., IX.]); Hahn, No. 68; Bernhauer,

_Vierzig Viziere_, p. 195; _Orient und Occident_, II. 313; III. 374;

Grundtvig, I. 248; Juelg, _Kalmuekische Maerchen, Einleitung_, p. 1; and F.

J. Child, _English and Scottish Popular Ballads_, Part II. p. 399, "The

Twa Magicians."

[14] The principal sources of information in regard to the _Disciplina

Clericalis_ and its author are the two editions of Paris and Berlin:

_Disciplina Clericalis_: auctore Petro Alphonsi, Ex-Judaeo Hispano,

Parisiis, MDCCCXXIV. 2 vols. (Societe des Bibliophiles francais); Petri

Alfonsi Disciplina Clericalis, zum ersten Mal herausgegeben mit

Einleitung und Anmerkungen von Fr. Wilh. Val. Schmidt, Berlin, 1827. The

first edition was edited by J. Labouderie, Vicar-general of Avignon, and

as only two hundred and fifty copies were printed, it is now very

scarce. Schmidt even had not seen it: and when he published his own

edition, three years later, thought it the first. The Paris edition

contains the best text, and has besides two Old-French translations, one

in prose, the other in verse. The Berlin edition is, however, more

valuable on account of the notes.

[15] This is the story shortly after mentioned, Pitre, No. 138, "The

Treasure." The date of the _Cento nov. ant._ cannot be accurately fixed;

the compilation was probably made at the end of the XIII. cent.,

although individual stories may be of an earlier date.

[16] See _Disciplina Cler._ ed. Schmidt, pp. 63 and 142. For copious

references see Oesterley's _Gesta Rom._ cap. 106.

[17] There are several literary Italian versions of this story: one in

Casalicchio, VI., I., VI.; and in Cintio, _Ecatommiti_, I. 3. There is

another popular version in Imbriani's _Nov. fior._ p. 616, "The Three

Friends."

[18] See _Disc. Cler._ ed. Schmidt, pp. 50 and 128. The version in the

_Cento nov. ant._ ed. Gualt, No. 31, is as follows: Messer Azzolino had

a story-teller, whom he made tell stories during the long winter nights.

It happened one night that the story-teller had a great mind to sleep,

and Azzolino asked him to tell stories. The story-teller began to relate

a story about a peasant who had a hundred bezants. He went to market to

buy sheep, and had two for a bezant. Returning home with his sheep, a

river that he had crossed was greatly swollen by a heavy rain that had

fallen. Standing on the bank he saw a poor fisherman with an exceedingly

small boat, so small that it would only hold the peasant and one sheep

at a time. Then the peasant began to cross with one sheep, and began to

row: the river was wide. He rows and crosses. And the story-teller

ceased relating. Azzolino said: "Go on." And the story-teller answered:

"Let the sheep cross, and then I will tell the story." For the sheep

would not be over in a year, so that meanwhile he could sleep at his

leisure.

The story passed from the _Disc. Cler._ into the Spanish collection _El

Libro de los Enxemplos_, No. 85. A similar story is also found in Grimm,

No. 86, "The Fox and the Geese."

[19] The word translated bank (_bancu_) is here used to indicate a

buried treasure. The most famous of these concealed treasures was that

of Ddisisa, a hill containing caves, and whose summit is crowned by the

ruins of an Arab castle. This treasure is mentioned also in Pitre, No.

230, "The Treasure of Ddisisa," where elaborate directions are given for

finding it.

[20] See Pitre, vol. IV. p. 401, and _Nov. fior._ p. 572.

[21] See _Disc. Cler._ ed. Schmidt, pp. 64 and 147, where the story is

as follows: A certain tailor to the king had, among others, an

apprentice named Nedui. On one occasion the king's officers brought warm

bread and honey, which the tailor and his apprentices ate without

waiting for Nedui, who happened to be absent. When one of the officers

asked why they did not wait for Nedui, the tailor answered that he did

not like honey. When Nedui returned, and learned what had taken place,

he determined to be revenged; and when he had a chance he told the

officer who superintended the work done for the king that the tailor

often went into a frenzy and beat or killed the bystanders. The officer

said that if they could tell when the attack was coming on, they would

bind him, so that he could not injure any one. Nedui said it was easy to

tell; the first symptoms were the tailor's looking here and there,

beating the ground with his hands, and getting up and seizing his seat.

The next day Nedui securely hid his master's shears, and when the latter

began to look for them, and feel about on the floor, and lift up his

seat, the officer called in the guard and had the tailor bound, and, for

fear he should beat any one, soundly thrashed. At last the poor tailor

succeeded in obtaining an explanation; and when he asked Nedui: "When

did you know me to be insane?" the latter responded: "When did you know

me not to eat honey?" See also references in Kirchhof's _Wendunmuth_, I.

243.

[22] In the original the admonitions are in the form of a verse, as

follows:--

"_Primu:_ Cu' cancia la via vecchia pi la nova,

Le guai ch' 'un circannu dda li trova.

_Secunnu:_ Vidi assai e parra pocu.

_Terzu:_ Pensa la cosa avanti chi la fai,

Ca la cosa pinsata e bedda assai."

[23] See _Disc. Cler._ ed. Schmidt, pp. 61 and 141. This story is also

found in the _Gesta Romanorum_, cap. 103; Gonz., No. 81, where copious

references by Oesterley and Koehler may be found; in Nerucci, No. 53; and

in a distorted version in Ortoli, p. 118: see also _Giornale Napoletano

della Domenica_, August 20, 1882; Pitre, "_I Tre Pareri_," and _Notes

and Queries_, London, February 7, March 14, 1885.

[24] See Note 1 of this chapter.

[25] In the original, what the husband, wife, and king, say, is in

verse, as follows:--

"Vigna era e Vigna son,

Amata era e piu non son;

E non so per qual cagion,

Che la Vigna a perso la so stagion."

"Vigna eri e Vigna sei,

Amata eri e piu non sei:

Per la branca del leon

La Vigna a perso la so stagion."

"Ne la Vigna io son intrato,

Di quei pampani n' o tocato;

Ma lo guiro per la corona che porto in capo,

Che de quel fruto no ghe n' o gustato."

This story is also found in Pitre, No. 76, "_Lu Bracceri di manu manca_"

("The Usher on the Left Hand," _i. e._, of the king, who also had one on

his right hand); _Pomiglianesi_, No. 6, "_Villa_;" and, in the shape of

a poetical dialogue, in Vigo, _Raccolta amplissima di Canti popolari

siciliani_. Secunda ediz. Catania, 1870-1874, No. 5145.

The story is told of Pier delle Vigne by Jacopo d'Aqui (XIII. cent.) in

his _Chronicon imaginis mundi_, and of the Marchese di Pescara by

Brantome, _Vie des Dames galantes_. These versions will be found with

copious references in Pitre and Imbriani as cited above: see also,

_Cantilene e Ballate, Strambotti e Madrigali nei Secoli XIII. e XIV._, A

cura di Giosue Carducci, Pisa, 1871, p. 26. The story is discussed in an

exhaustive manner by S. Prato in the _Romania_, vol. XII. p. 535; XIV.

p. 132, "_L' Orma del Leone_."

[26] For the Oriental versions see _Essai sur les Fables indiennes_,

_par_ A. Loiseleur Deslongchamps, Paris, 1838, p. 96; _Das Buch von den

sieben weisen Meistern_, aus dem Hebraeischen und Griechischen zum ersten

Male uebersetzt von H. Sengelmann, Halle, 1842, p. 40 (_Mischle

Sandabar_), p. 87 (_Syntipas_), _Tausend und Eine Nacht_, Deutsch von

Max Habicht, Von der Hagen und Schall, Breslau, 1836, vol. XV. p. 112

(Arabic); _Li Romans des Sept Sages_, nach der Pariser Handschrift

herausgegeben von H. A. Keller, Tuebingen, 1836, p. cxxxviii.;

_Dyocletianus Leben_, von Hans von Buehel, herausgegeben von A. Keller,

Quedlinburg und Leipzig, 1841, p. 45. All students of this subject are

acquainted with Domenico Comparetti's masterly essay _Ricerche intorno

al Libro di Sindibad_, Milan, 1869, which has recently been made

accessible to English readers in a version published by the English

Folk-Lore Society in 1882. The Persian and Arabic texts may be consulted

in an English translation, reprinted with valuable introduction and

notes in the following work: _The Book of Sindibad; or, The Story of

the King, his Son, the Damsel, and the Seven Vazirs_, From the Persian

and Arabic, with Introduction, Notes, and an Appendix, by W. A.

Clouston. Privately printed, 1884 [Glasgow], pp. xvii.-lvi.

[27] For the original version in the various forms of the Western _Seven

Wise Masters_, see Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, p. 162; Keller, _Romans_, p.

ccxxix., and _Dyocletianus_, p. 63; and D'Ancona, _Il Libro dei Sette

Savi di Roma_, p. 121. To the references in D'Ancona may be added: _Deux

Redactions du Roman des Sept Sages_, G. Paris, Paris, 1876, pp. 47, 162;

Benfey, in _Orient und Occident_, III. 420; _Romania_, VI. p. 182;

_Melusine_, p. 384; and _Basque Legends_, collected by Rev. W. Webster,

London, 1879, pp. 136, 137.

[28] See Grimm, No. 33, "The Three Languages;" Hahn, No. 33; _Basque

Legends_, p. 137; and _Melusine_, p. 300. There is a verbose version in

the _Fiabe Mantovane_, No. 23, "_Bobo_."

[29] See Herodotus, with a commentary by J. W. Blakesley, London, 1854,

I. p. 254, n. 343. For the literature of this story, and for various

other Italian versions, see _La Leggenda del Tesoro di Rampsinite_,

Stanislao Prato, Como, 1882; and Ralston's notes to Schiefner's _Tibetan

Tales_, p. xlvii.

[30] For the story in the _Seven Wise Masters_, see D'Ancona, _op. cit._

p. 108; Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, p. 146; Keller, _Romans_, p. cxciii.,

and _Dyoclet_. p. 55.

Besides the popular versions in Italian, the story is also found in

Bandello, I., XXV., who follows Herodotus closely.

[31] For the story in the _Seven Wise Masters_ see D'Ancona, _op. cit._

p. 120; Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, p. 158; Keller, _Romans_, p. ccxxxvii.,

and _Dyoclet._ p. 61. Literary versions of this story are in Straparola,

II. 11; _Pecorone_, II. 2; Malespini, 53; Bandello, I. 3; and Sercambi,

XIII. See Pitre, IV. pp. 407, 442.

[32] The literature of this famous collection of tales will best be

found in an article by Wilhelm Pertsch, "_Ueber Nachschabi's

Papagaienbuch_" in the _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlaendischen

Gesellschaft_, Bd. XXI. pp. 505-551. Prof. H. Brockhaus discovered that

the eighth night of Nachschabi's version was nothing but a version of

the _Seven Wise Masters_ containing seven stories. Nachschabi, in

preparing his work, used probably the oldest version of the _Seven Wise

Masters_ of which we have any knowledge. Professor Brockhaus made this

discovery known in a brief pamphlet entitled: _Die Sieben Weisen Meister

von Nachschabi_, Leipzig, 1843, of which only twelve copies were

printed. The above, except the Persian text, was reprinted in the

_Blaett. fuer lit. Unterhaltung_, 1843, Nos. 242, 243 (pp. 969 _et seq._);

and, in an Italian translation, in D'Ancona's _Il Libro dei Sette Savi

di Roma_.

The Persian version of Qadiri (a compend of Nachschabi's) is the one

most frequently translated. The German translation: _Toutinameh_. Eine

Sammlung pers. Maerchen, von C. J. L. Iken, mit einem Anhange von J. G.

L. Kosegarten, Stuttgart, 1822, is easily found. The Turkish version is

elegantly translated by G. Rosen: _Tuti-nameh, das Papagaienbuch_, eine

Sammlung orientalischer Erzaehlungen nach der tuerkischen Bearbeitung zum

ersten Male uebersetzt von G. Rosen, Leipzig, 1858, 2 vols.

[33] The preservation of the frame of the _Cukasaptati_ in Italian

popular tales is only paralleled, to our knowledge, by the preservation

of the _Seven Wise Masters_ in a Magyar popular tale. See _La Tradizione

dei Sette Savi nelle Novelline magiare_. Lettera al Prof. A. D'Ancona di

E. Teza, Bologna, 1864.

It is possible that the Italian stories containing the frame of the

_Cukasaptati_ may have been developed from the story in the _Seven Wise

Masters_ which is found in both the Oriental and Occidental versions.

The spirit of Folk-tales seems to us averse to expansion, and that

condensation is the rule. We think it more likely that it was by way of

oral tradition, or from some now lost collection of Oriental tales once

known in Italy.

[34] It is in the work by Teza mentioned in the last note, p. 52.

[35] See Pitre, vol. I. p. 23. The three stories in one are called

_Donna Viulanti_ (Palermo) and _Lu Frati e lu Soru_ (Salaparuta).

[36] See Chapter I. note 7.

[37] The Italian versions are: Pitre, No. 78, "_Lu Zu Viritati_" ("Uncle

Truth"); Gonz., No. 8, "_Bauer Wahrhaft_" ("Farmer Truth"); _XII. Conti

Pomiglianesi_, p. 1, "_Giuseppe 'A Vereta_" ("Truthful Joseph," the

version translated by us); p. 6, another version from same place and

with same name; and in Straparola, III. 5. References to Oriental

sources maybe found in Koehler's notes to Gonz., No. 8, and Oesterley's

notes to _Gesta Rom._ cap. 111.

* * * * *

In addition to the Oriental elements mentioned in the third chapter,

Stanislao Prato has discovered the story of Nala in a popular tale from

Pitigliano (Tuscany), see S. Prato, _La Leggenda indiana di Nala in una

novella popolare pitiglianese_, Como, 1881. (Extracted from _I Nuovi

Goliardi_.)

CHAPTER IV.

LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES.

[1] It is the LXXV. novel of the _Testo_ Gualteruzzi (Biagi, p. 108):

_Qui conta come Domeneddio s' accompagno con un giullare_. The Lord once

went in company with a jester. One day the former went to a funeral, and

the latter to a marriage. The Lord called the dead to life again, and

was richly rewarded. He gave the jester some of the money with which he

bought a kid, roasted it and ate the kidneys himself. His companion

asked where they were, and the jester answered that in that country the

kids had none. The next time the Lord went to a wedding and the jester

to a funeral, but he could not revive the dead, and was considered a

deceiver, and condemned to the gallows. The Lord wished to know who ate

the kidneys, but the other persisted in his former answer; but in spite

of this the Lord raises the dead, and the jester is set at liberty. Then

the Lord said he wished to dissolve their partnership, and made three

piles of money, one for himself, another for the jester, and the third

for the one who ate the kidneys. Then the jester said: "By my faith, now

that you speak thus, I will tell you that I ate them; I am so old that

I ought not to tell lies now." So some things are proved by money, which

a man would not tell to escape from death. For the sources and

imitations of this story see D'Ancona, _Le Fonti del Novellino_, in the

_Romania_, No. 10, p. 180, (_Studj_, p. 333). To D'Ancona's references

may be added the following: Grimm, 147, "The Old Man made young again";

Asbjornsen and Moe, No. 21 [Dasent, _Pop. Tales_, No. XIV.], _Ny Samm._

No. 101 [Dasent, _Tales from the Fjeld_, p. 94, "Peik"]; Ralston, _R. F.

T._ p. 350; Simrock's _Deutsche Maerchen_, Nos. 31^b (p. 148), 32;

_Romania_, No. 24, p. 578, "_Le Foie de Mouton_" (E. Cosquin, _Contes

pop. lorrains_, No. 30); Brueyre, p. 330; and an Italian version, which

is simply an amplification of the one in the _Cento nov. ant._, in the

recently published _Sessanta Nov. pop. montalesi_, Nerucci, No. 31.

[2] See _Jahrbuch_, VII. pp. 28, 396. The professional pride of the

smith finds a parallel in an Irish story in Kennedy, "How St. Eloi was

punished for the sin of Pride." Before the saint became religious he was

a goldsmith, but sometimes amused himself by shoeing horses, and boasted

that he had never found his master in anything. One day a stranger

stopped at his forge and asked permission to shoe his horse. Eloi

consented, and was very much surprised to see the stranger break off the

horse's leg at the shoulder, carry it into the smithy and shoe it. Then

the stranger put on again the horse's leg, and asked Eloi if he knew any

one who could do such a good piece of work. Eloi tries himself, and

fails miserably. The stranger, who is Eloi's guardian angel, cures the

horse, reproves the smith for his pride, and disappears. See Brueyre, p.

329, and Blade, _Agenais_, p. 61, and Koehler's notes, p. 157.

[3] Bernoni, _Punt._ I. p. 1, "_I cinque brazzi de Tela_." See Benfey,

_Pant._ I. p. 497, where the same story (without the coarseness of the

Italian version) is related of Buddha, who tells the hospitable woman

that "what she begins shall not end until sunset." She begins to measure

linen and it lengthens in her hands so that she continues to measure it

all day. The envious neighbor receives the same gift, but before she

begins to measure the linen, she thinks she will water the swine; the

bucket does not become empty until evening, and the whole neighborhood

is inundated. See Benfey's parallels, _ut. sup._ pp. 497-98, and Grimm,

No. 87, notes.

[4] These four legends are in Pitre, _Cinque Novelline popolari

siciliane_, Palermo, 1878. In the third story, "_San Pietru e so

cumpari_," St. Peter gets something to eat from a stingy man by a play

on the word _mussu_, "snout," and _cu lu mussu_, "to be angry." For a

similar story see Pitre, III. 312. A parallel to the first of the above

legends may be found in Finamore, No. 34, IV., where are also some other

legends of St. Peter.

Since the above note was written, some similar legends have been

published by Salomone Marino in the _Archivio per lo Studio delle

Tradizioni popolari_, vol. II. p. 553. One "The Just suffers for the

Sinner" ("_Chianci lu giustu pri lu piccaturi_") relates how St. Peter

complained to our Lord that the innocent were punished with the guilty.

Our Lord made no answer, but shortly after commanded St. Peter to pick

up a piece of honey-comb filled with bees, and put it in the bosom of

his dress. One of the bees stung him, and St. Peter in his anger killed

them all, and when the Lord rebuked him, excused himself by saying: "How

could I tell among so many bees which one stung me?" The Lord answered:

"Am I wrong then, when I punish men likewise? _Chianci lu giustu pri lu

piccaturi._"

Another legend relates the eagerness of St. Peter's sister to marry.

Thrice she sent her brother to our Lord to ask his consent, and thrice

the Lord, with characteristic patience, answered: "Tell her to do what

she wishes."

A third legend explains why some are rich and some are poor in this

world. Adam and Eve had twenty-four children, and one day the Lord

passed by the house, and the parents concealed twelve of their children

under a tub. The Lord, at the parents' request, blessed the twelve with

riches and happiness. After he had departed, the parents realized what

they had done, and called the Master back. When he heard that they had

told him a falsehood about the number of their children, he replied that

the blessing was bestowed and there was no help for it. "Oh!" said Adam

in anguish, "what will become of them?" The Lord replied: "Let those who

are not blessed serve the others, and let those who are blessed support

them." "And this is why in the world half are rich and half are poor,

and the latter serve the former, and the former support the latter."

The last of these legends which I shall mention is entitled: "All things

are done for money." ("_Tutti cosi su' fatti pri dinari._") There once

died a poor beggar who had led a pious life, and was destined for

paradise. When his soul arrived at the gate and knocked, St. Peter asked

who he was and told him to wait. The poor soul waited two months behind

the gate, but St. Peter did not open it for him. Meanwhile, a wealthy

baron died and went, exceptionally, to paradise. His soul did not need

even to knock, for the gate was thrown open, and St. Peter exclaimed:

"Throw open the gate, let the baron pass! Come in Sir Baron, your

servant, what an honor!" The soul of the beggar squeezed in, and said to

himself: "The world is not the only one who worships money; in heaven

itself there is this law, that all things are done for money."