Read Ebook: On the Variation of Species with Especial Reference to the Insecta Followed by an Inquiry into the Nature of Genera by Wollaston Thomas Vernon

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Ebook has 368 lines and 53346 words, and 8 pages

FAVOLE. PAGE

Filagranata 3 The Three Love-Oranges 15 Palombelletta 22 La Cenorientola 26 Vaccarella 31 Giuseppe L'Ebreo 39 The King who goes out to Dinner 40 The Pot of Marjoram 46 The Pot of Rue 57 King Otho 63 Maria Wood 66 Second Version 84 Third Version 90 La Candeliera 91 The Two Hunchbacked Brothers 96 The Dark King 99 Monsu Mostro 109 The Enchanted Rose Tree 115 Scioccolone 119 Twelve Feet of Nose 129 A Yard of Nose 136 The Chicory-seller and the Enchanted Princess 141 The Transformation-Donkey 146 Signor Lattanzio 155 How Cajusse was Married 158

LEGENDARY TALES AND ESEMPJ.

When Jesus Christ Wandered on Earth 173 Pietro Baillardo 189 S. Giovanni Bocca D'oro 196 Don Giovanni 202 The Penance of San Giuliano 203 The Pilgrims 208 Santa Verdana 213 San Sidoro 214 The Fishpond of St. Francis 214 St. Anthony 215 St. Margaret of Cortona 222 St. Theodora 225 Nun Beatrice 228 Padre Filippo 231 The Pardon of Asisi 244 Padre Vincenzo 246 Padre Fontanarosa 248 S. Giuseppe Labre 251 The Twelve Words of Truth 254

GHOST AND TREASURE STORIES AND FAMILY AND LOCAL TRADITIONS.

The Dead Man in the Oak-Tree 259 The Dead Man's Letter 261 The White Soul 264 The White Serpent 267 The Procession of Velletri 271 Smaller Ghost and Treasure Stories and Family and Local Traditions 273 Sciarra Colonna 284 Donna Olimpia 287 The Munificence of Prince Borghese 291 'Pope Joan' 293 Giacinta Marescotti 294 Pasquino 296 C?cing?lo 300 The Wooing of Cassandro 301 I Cocorni 305 The Beautiful Englishwoman 305 The Englishman 308 The Marriage of Signor Cajusse 309 The Daughter of Count Lattanzio 311 Bellacuccia 313 The Satyr 315 The Satyrs 317 Amadea 320 The King of Portugal 322

CIARPE.

The Two Friars 327 The Preface of a Franciscan 333 The Lenten Preacher 334 Ass or Pig 336 The Seven Clodhoppers 339 The Little Bird 341 The Devil who took to Himself a Wife 343 The Root 346 The Queen and the Tripe-seller 348 The Bad-tempered Queen 354 The Simple Wife 357 The Foolish Woman 367 The Booby 371 The Gluttonous Girl 375 The Greedy Daughter 380 The Old Miser 382 The Miserly Old Woman 385 The Beggar and the Chick-Pea 388 Doctor Grillo 392 Nina 396 The Good Grace of the Hunchback 399 The Value of Salt 403 The Princess and the Gentleman 406 The Happy Couple 411 Una Camera di Locanda 416 The Countess's Cat 419 Why Cats and Dogs always Quarrel 421 The Cats who Made their Master Rich 422

APPENDICES.

Appendix A. p. xx. 425 Appendix B. 452 Appendix C. p. 195 431 Appendix D. p. 196 431 Appendix E. p. 208 432 Appendix F. p. 392 433

FAVOLE.

FILAGRANATA.

Once upon a time there was a poor woman who had a great fancy for eating parsley. To her it was the greatest luxury, and as she had no garden of her own, and no money to spend on anything not an absolute necessity of life, she had to go about poaching in other people's gardens to satisfy her fancy.

Near her cottage was the garden of a great palace, and in this garden grew plenty of fine parsley; but the garden was surrounded by a wall, and to get at it she had to carry a ladder with her to get up by, and, as soon as she had reached the top of the wall, to let it down on the other side to get down to the parsley-bed. There was such a quantity of parsley growing here that she thought it would never be missed, and this made her bold, so that she went over every day and took as much as ever she liked.

But the garden belonged to a witch, who lived in the palace, and, though she did not often walk in this part of the garden, she knew by her supernatural powers that some one was eating her parsley; so she came near the place one day, and lay in wait till the poor woman came. As soon, therefore, as she came, and began eating the parsley, the witch at once pounced down, and asked her, in her gruff voice, what she was doing there. Though dreadfully frightened, the poor woman thought it best to own the whole truth; so she confessed that she came down by the ladder, adding that she had not taken anything except the parsley, and begged forgiveness.

'I know nothing about forgiveness,' replied the witch. 'You have eaten my parsley, and must take the consequences; and the consequences are these: I must be godmother to your first child, be it boy or girl; and as soon as it is grown to be of an age to dress itself without help, it must belong to me.'

When, accordingly, the poor woman's first child was born, the witch came, as she had declared she would, to be its godmother. It was a fine little girl, and she gave it the name of Filagranata; after that she went away again, and the poor woman saw her no more till her little girl was grown up old enough to dress herself, and then she came and fetched her away inexorably; nor could the poor mother, with all her tears and entreaties, prevail on her to make any exchange for her child.

So Filagranata was taken to the witch's palace to live, and was put in a room in a little tower by herself, where she had to feed the pigeons. Filagranata grew fond of her pigeons, and did not at all complain of her work, yet, without knowing why, she began to grow quite sad and melancholy as time went by; it was because she had no one to play with, no one to talk to, except the witch, who was no very delightful companion. The witch came every day, once in the day, to see that she was attending properly to her work, and as there was no door or staircase to the tower--this was on purpose that she might not escape--the witch used to say when she came under the tower--

Filagranata, so fair, so fair, Unloose thy tresses of golden hair: I, thy old grandmother, am here;

and as she said these words, Filagranata had to let down her beautiful long hair through the window, and by it the witch climbed up into her chamber to her. This she did every day.

Now, it happened that about this time a king's son was travelling that way searching for a beautiful wife; for you know it is the custom for princes to go searching all over the world to find a maiden fit to be a prince's wife; at least they say so.

Well, this prince, travelling along, came by the witch's palace where Filagranata was lodged. And it happened that he came that way just as the witch was singing her ditty. If he was horrified at the sight of the witch, he was in proportion enchanted when Filagranata came to the window. So struck was he with the sight of her beauty, and modesty, and gentleness, that he stopped his horse that he might watch her as long as she stayed at the window, and thus became a spectator of the witch's wonderful way of getting into the tower.

The prince's mind was soon made up to gain a nearer view of Filagranata, and with this purpose he rode round and round the tower seeking some mode of ingress in vain, till at last, driven to desperation, he made up his mind that he must enter by the same strange means as the witch herself. Thinking that the old creature had her abode there, and that she would probably go out for some business in the morning, and return at about the same hour as on the present occasion, he rode away, commanding his impatience as well as he could, and came back the next day a little earlier.

Though he could hardly hope quite to imitate the hag's rough and tremulous voice so as to deceive Filagranata into thinking it was really the witch, he yet made the attempt and repeated the words he had heard--

Filagranata, thou maiden fair, Loose thy tresses of golden hair: I, thy old grandmother, am here.

Filagranata, surprised at the soft modulation of voice, such as she had never heard before, ran quickly to the window with a look of pleasure and astonishment which gave her face a more winning expression than ever.

The prince looked up, all admiration and expectation; and the thought quickly ran through Filagranata's head--'I have been taught to loose my hair whenever those words are said; why should not I loose it to draw up such a pleasant-looking cavalier, as well as for the ugly old hag?' and, without waiting for a second thought, she untied the ribbon that bound her tresses and let them fall upon the prince. The prince was equally quick in taking advantage of the occasion, and, pressing his knees firmly into his horse's flanks, so that it might not remain below to betray him, drew himself up, together with his steed, just as he had seen the witch do.

Filagranata, half frightened at what she had done the moment the deed was accomplished, had not a word to say, but blushed and hung her head. The prince, on the other hand, had so many words to pour out, expressive of his admiration for her, his indignation at her captivity, and his desire to be allowed to be her deliverer, that the moments flew quickly by, and it was only when Filagranata found herself drawn to the window by the power of the witch's magic words that they remembered the dangerous situation in which they stood.

Another might have increased the peril by cries of despair, or lost precious time in useless lamentations; but Filagranata showed a presence of mind worthy of a prince's wife by catching up a wand of the witch, with which she had seen her do wonderful things. With this she gave the prince a little tap, which immediately changed him into a pomegranate, and then another to the horse, which transformed him into an orange. These she set by on the shelf, and then proceeded to draw up the witch after the usual manner.

The old hag was not slow in perceiving there was something unusual in Filagranata's room.

'What a stink of Christians! What a stink of Christians!' she kept exclaiming, as she poked her nose into every hole and corner. Yet she failed to find anything to reprehend; for as for the beautiful ripe pomegranate and the golden orange on the shelf, the Devil himself could not have thought there was anything wrong with them. Thus baffled, she was obliged to finish her inspection of the state of the pigeons, and end her visit in the usual way.

As soon as she was gone Filagranata knew she was free till the next day, and so once more, with a tap of the wand, restored the horse and his rider to their natural shapes.

'And this is how your life passes every day! Is it possible?' exclaimed the prince; 'no, I cannot leave you here. You may be sure my good horse will be proud to bear your little weight; you have only to mount behind me, and I will take you home to my kingdom, and you shall live in the palace with my mother, and be my queen.'

It is not to be supposed but that Filagranata very much preferred the idea of going with the handsome young prince who had shown so devoted an appreciation of her, and being his queen, to remaining shut up in the doorless tower and being the witch's menial; so she offered no opposition, and the prince put her on to his good horse behind him, and away they rode.

On, on, on, they rode for a long, long way, until they came at last to a wood; but for all the good horse's speed, the witch, who was not long in perceiving their escape and setting out in pursuit, was well nigh overtaking them. Just then they saw a little old woman standing by the way, making signs and calling to them to arrest their course. How great soever was their anxiety to get on, so urgent was her appeal to them to stop and listen to her that they yielded to her entreaties. Nor were they losers by their kindness, for the little old woman was a fairy, and she had stopped them, not on her own account, but to give them the means of escaping from the witch.

To the prince she said: 'Take these three gifts, and when the witch comes very near throw down first the mason's trowel; and when she nearly overtakes you again throw down the comb; and when she nearly comes upon you again after that, throw down this jar of oil. After that she won't trouble you any more.' And to Filagranata she whispered some words, and then let them go. But the witch was now close behind, and the prince made haste to throw down the mason's trowel. Instantly there rose up a high stone wall between them, which it took the witch some time to climb over. Nevertheless, by her supernatural powers she was not long in making up for the lost time, and had soon overtaken the best speed of the good horse. Then the prince threw down the comb, and immediately there rose up between them a strong hedge of thorns, which it took the witch some time to make her way through, and that only with her body bleeding all over from the thorns. Nevertheless, by her supernatural powers she was not long in making up for the lost time, and had soon overtaken the best speed of the good horse. Then the prince threw down the jar of oil, and the oil spread and spread till it had overflowed the whole country side; and as wherever you step in a pool of oil the foot only slides back, the witch could never get out of that, so the prince and Filagranata rode on in all safety towards the prince's palace.

'And now tell me what it was the old woman in the wood whispered to you,' said the prince, as soon as they saw their safety sufficiently secured to breathe freely.

'It was this,' answered Filagranata; 'that I was to tell you that when you arrive at your own home you must kiss no one--no one at all, not your father, or mother, or sisters, or anyone--till after our marriage. Because if you do you will forget all about your love for me, and all you have told me you think of me, and all the faithfulness you have promised me, and we shall become as strangers again to each other.'

'How dreadful!' said the prince. 'Oh, you may be sure I will kiss no one if that is to be the consequence; so be quite easy. It will be rather odd, to be sure, to return from such a long journey and kiss none of them at home, not even my own mother; but I suppose if I tell them how it is they won't mind. So be quite easy about that.'

Thus they rode on in love and confidence, and the good horse soon brought them home.

On the steps of the palace the chancellor of the kingdom came out to meet them, and saluted Filagranata as the chosen bride the prince was to bring home; he informed him that the king his father had died during his absence, and that he was now sovereign of the realm. Then he led him in to the queen-mother, to whom he told all his adventures, and explained why he must not kiss her till after his marriage. The queen-mother was so pleased with the beauty, and modesty, and gentleness of Filagranata, that she gave up her son's kiss without repining, and before they retired to rest that night it was announced to the people that the prince had returned home to be their king, and the day was proclaimed when the feast for his marriage was to take place.

Then all in the palace went to their sleeping-chambers. But the prince, as it had been his wont from his childhood upwards, went into his mother's room to kiss her after she was asleep, and when he saw her placid brow on the pillow, with the soft white hair parted on either side of it, and the eyes which were wont to gaze on him with so much love, resting in sleep, he could not forbear from pressing his lips on her forehead and giving the wonted kiss.

Instantly there passed from his mind all that had taken place since he last stood there to take leave of the queen-mother before he started on his journey. His visit to the witch's palace, his flight from it, the life-perils by the way, and, what is more, the image of Filagranata herself,--all passed from his mind like a vision of the night, and when he woke up and they told him he was king, it was as if he heard it for the first time, and when they brought Filagranata to him it was as though he knew her not nor saw her.

'But,' he said, 'if I am king there must be a queen to share my throne;' and as a reigning sovereign could not go over the world to seek a wife, he sent and fetched him a princess meet to be the king's wife, and appointed the betrothal. The queen-mother, who loved Filagranata, was sad, and yet nothing that she could say could bring back to his mind the least remembrance of all he had promised her and felt towards her.

But Filagranata knew that the prince had kissed his mother, and this was why the spell was on him; so she said to her mother-in-law: 'You get me much fine-sifted flour and a large bag of sweetmeats, and I will try if I cannot yet set this matter straight.' So the queen-mother ordered that there should be placed in her room much sifted flour and a large bag of sweetmeats. And Filagranata, when she had shut close the door, set to work and made paste of the flour, and of the paste she moulded two pigeons, and filled them inside with the comfits. Then at the banquet of the betrothal she asked the queen-mother to have her two pigeons placed on the table; and she did so, one at each end. But as soon as all the company were seated, before any one was helped, the two pigeons which Filagranata had made began to talk to each other across the whole length of the table: and everybody stood still with wonder to listen to what the pigeons of paste said to each other.

'Do you remember,' said the first pigeon, 'or is it possible that you have really forgotten, when I was in that doorless tower of the witch's palace, and you came under the window and imitated her voice, saying,--

Filagranata, thou maiden fair, Loose thy tresses of golden hair: I, thy old grandmother, am here,

till I drew you up?'

And the other pigeon answered,--

'Si, signora, I remember it now.'

And as the young king heard the second pigeon say 'Si, signora, I remember it now,' he, too, remembered having been in a doorless tower, and having sung such a verse.

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