Italian Folktales (16 page)

They played their game, which the young man won.

The stranger said, “Fine. I am the king of the Sun. I'll write to you without delay.” Then he left.

From one day to the next the youth expected the mailman to bring him a letter from the king of the Sun, but no letter ever came. He therefore set out in search of the king. Every Sunday he stopped in a different city, waited for the people to come out of Mass, and asked the oldtimers if they knew where the king of the Sun kept himself. No one had any idea, but once an old man said to him, “I'm sure he exists, but his whereabouts are a complete mystery to me.”

The youth journeyed for another week, and at last met a second old man coming out of Mass in another city. This old man directed him to still another city, where he arrived on Sunday and asked an old man coming out of Mass if he knew where the king of the Sun lived. “Just a stone's throw from here,” said the old man. “At the end of this street, on the right, you will see his palace. You can't miss it, for it has no doors.”

“How do you get in?”

“How would I know? I suggest you wait in yonder grove. You'll see a pool there where the king of the Sun's three daughters swim every day at noon.”

The youth hid in the grove. Precisely at noon, here came the king of the Sun's three daughters. They undressed, dove into the pool, and began their swim. Meanwhile the young man sneaked up to the clothes of the prettiest girl and made off with them.

The three girls came out of the water and went to put their clothes back on. But the prettiest girl's clothes were missing.

“Hurry up,” said her sisters, “we're all dressed. What's keeping you?”

“I can't find my clothes. Wait for me!”

“Look more carefully. We have to go.” And they went off without her. The maiden started to cry.

Out jumped the youth. “If you take me to your father, I'll give you your clothes back.”

“Who are you?”

“I beat the king of the Sun at billiards, so now I'm supposed to marry his daughter.”

The two young people looked at each other and fell in love. The girl said, “You must marry me. But my father will blindfold you and tell you to choose one of us. You can pick me out by touching the hands of all three of us: one of my fingers was cut off.” Then she took him into the king of the Sun's palace.

“I am here to marry your daughter,” said the young man to the king of the Sun.

“Very well, you will marry her tomorrow,” replied the king. “Meanwhile select the one you want.” And he had him blindfolded.

The first girl came in. He touched her hands and said, “This one doesn't suit me.”

The king sent him the second girl. The youth felt her hands and said, “Neither will this one do.”

In came the third girl. The young man touched her hands just to be sure she was the one missing a finger. He said, “This is the maiden I wish to marry.”

The wedding was celebrated, and the bride and groom retired to their own room in the palace. At midnight the bride said, “I can't hide it from you any longer that my father is planning to have you killed.”

“Let us flee, then,” he replied.

They got up early, took a horse apiece, and galloped away. The king also rose, entered the bridal chamber, and found the couple gone. He rushed to the stable and discovered his two finest horses missing. Then he sent out a troop of mounted soldiers after the newlyweds.

In the midst of their flight the king of the Sun's daughter, hearing hoofbeats behind them, looked around and saw a troop of soldiers advancing. So she took the comb out of her hair and flung it to the ground. The comb changed into a forest, in which a man and a woman were busy digging up tree stumps.

The soldiers asked them, “Did you see the king of the Sun's daughter go by with her husband?”

The man and the woman replied, “We're getting up stumps. When nighttime comes, we'll go home.”

The soldiers raised their voices. “We asked if you saw the king of the Sun's daughter and her husband go by!”

The couple said, “Yes, when we have a cartload we go home.”

Exasperated, the soldiers returned to the king, who asked, “Did you find them?”

“We were just about to lay hold of them, when all of a sudden we found ourselves in a forest and face to face with a man and a woman who gave us only foolish answers.”

“You should have seized them. They were the newlyweds!”

So the pursuit resumed. The soldiers had almost caught up with the couple, when the king of the Sun's daughter again threw down her comb, which changed into a garden where a man and a woman were busy gathering chicory and radishes. The soldiers asked, “Did you see the king's daughter go by with her husband?”

“The radishes are a dime a bunch, and the chicory a nickel.”

The soldiers repeated their question, while those two chattered on about radishes and chicory. The troops gave up and went home.

“We were within two feet of them,” they told the king, “when all of a sudden we found ourselves in a garden and face to face with a man and a woman who gave us the most foolish of answers.”

“You should have seized them! They were the newlyweds!”

After a mad chase, the soldiers were again on the heels of the couple, when the girl once more threw down her comb. The men found themselves before a church, where two sacristans were ringing the bells. The soldiers asked if they had seen the king of the Sun's daughter.

The sacristans said, “We're now ringing the second bell, next we'll ring the third, then comes Mass.”

The soldiers gave up.

“You should have seized them! They were the newlyweds!” screamed the King. Then he too gave up.

 

(
Milan
)

23

A rich merchant had a son named Bobo, who was both quick-witted and eager to learn. The father therefore put the boy in the charge of a learned teacher, who was to teach him all the languages.

When his studies were completed, Bobo came home. One evening he was walking with his father in the garden, where the sparrows were twittering so loudly in one of the trees that you couldn't hear yourself think. “These sparrows shatter my eardrums every evening,” said the merchant, sticking his fingers in his ears.

“Shall I tell you what they are saying?” asked Bobo.

His father looked at him in amazement. “How would you know what the sparrows are saying? You're not a soothsayer, are you?”

“No, but my teacher taught me the languages of the various animals.”

“Don't tell me that's where my money went!” said the father. “What was that teacher thinking of? I meant for him to teach you the languages of men, not of dumb beasts!”

“The tongues of animals are harder, so the teacher decided to start with them.”

At that moment the dog ran up barking, and Bobo asked, “Shall I tell you what he's saying?”

“No, indeed! Don't let me hear another word about your dumb beasts' talk! Oh, the money I've thrown away!”

They were walking alongside the moat by now, and heard the frogs croaking. “The frogs also get on my nerves,” grumbled the father.

“Father let me tell you what they . . . ”

“The devil take you and the man who taught you!”

Angry over having thrown away his money to educate his son and associating this knowledge of animal speech with witchcraft, the father called in two servants and gave them secret instructions for the next morning.

Bobo was awakened at dawn, when one of the servants put him into the carriage and climbed in beside him. The other servant took a seat on the box, cracked his whip, and off they galloped. Bobo had no idea where they were going, but he noticed the sorrowful and swollen eyes of the servant beside him. “Where are we going?” asked Bobo. “Why are you so sad?” But the servant made no reply.

Then the horses began neighing, and Bobo understood what they were saying. “Gloomy is our trip, we are carrying young master to his death.”

And the other horse answered, “Cruel indeed was his father's order.”

“So you were ordered by my father to take me out and kill me!” said Bobo to the servants.

They shuddered. “How did you know?”

“The horses told me so,” said Bobo. “Go ahead and kill me right now. Why torture me with a long wait?”

“We don't have the heart to kill you,” said the servants. “How can we get around it?”

While they were talking, the dog ran up barking. He had chased the carriage all the way from home. Bobo listened to what he was saying. “I would give my life to save young master!”

“Even if my father is cruel,” said Bobo, “there are still loyal beings such as you, dear servants, and this dog who declares himself ready to die for me.”

“In that case,” replied the servants, “we will kill the dog and carry his heart back to master. Flee for your life, young master.”

Bobo embraced the servants and the faithful dog and wandered off. At nightfall he came to a farmhouse and asked for shelter. As everybody sat around the supper table, a dog began barking outside. Bobo went to the window to listen, then said, “Hurry, send the women and children off to bed and arm yourselves to the teeth and stay on the alert. A band of robbers will strike at midnight.”

The people thought he had lost his mind. “How can you say such a thing? Who told you?”

“I learned it from the dog who was just now barking a warning. Poor animal, if I wasn't here, he'd only be wasting his breath. Listen to me and you'll be safe.”

The farmers took their guns and hid behind a hedge, while their wives and children locked themselves in the house. At midnight there was a whistle, than another, then a third, followed by the sound of rushing feet. From the hedge came a volley of gunfire, and the thieves took to their heels. Two were killed and lay in the mud clutching their knives.

A big to-do was made over Bobo, and the farmers wanted him to stay on with them, but he said goodbye and continued on his way.

After miles and miles he came to another farmhouse in the evening. As he debated whether to knock, he heard frogs croaking in the ditch. He listened closely and heard: “Come on, throw me the Host! Throw it to
me
! If you don't I won't play any more! You won't catch it, and it will break in two! We've kept it whole all these years!” He went up and peered into the ditch: the frogs were playing ball with a consecrated wafer. Bobo made the sign of the cross.

“For six years now it's been in the ditch!” said one frog.

“Ever since the farmer's daughter was tempted by the Devil. Instead of swallowing the Host at communion, she hid it in her pocket and then threw it into the ditch here on her way home from church.”

Bobo knocked on the door and was invited in to supper. Speaking with the farmer, he learned that the man had a daughter who had been sick for the last sue years, but no doctor knew what ailed her and now she was dying.

“I should think so!” exclaimed Bobo. “She's being punished by God. Six years ago she threw the sacred Host into the ditch. You must find that Host and have her make a devout communion, at which she will get well.”

The farmer was amazed. “Who told you all that?”

“Frogs,” replied Bobo.

Doubtful, the farmer nevertheless searched the ditch, found the Host, and had his daughter receive communion, at which she got well. They had no idea how to repay Bobo for what he had done for them. But wanting nothing, he said goodbye and left.

One very hot day he met two men resting under a chestnut tree. He asked if he might join them, and stretched out beside them.

“Where are you gentlemen going?”

“To Rome. Haven't you heard the Pope is dead and a new one is being elected?”

Overhead, a flight of sparrows lit in the chestnut tree. “These sparrows are also going to Rome,” said Bobo.

“How do you know?” asked the two men.

“I understand their speech.” He listened closely and added, “Guess what they are saying.”

“What?”

“They say that one of us three will be elected Pope.”

In those days they chose the Pope by letting a dove loose in St. Peter's Square, where crowds of people waited. The man on whose head the dove lit would be the new Pope. The three men reached the packed square and made their way into the crowd. Round and round flew the dove and finally lit on Bobo's head.

In the midst of cheers and hymns of joy, he was lifted onto a throne and vested in rich robes. He stood to bless the crowd, when the hush that fell over the square was suddenly pierced by a cry. An old man had fallen unconscious to the ground, where he lay like a corpse. The new Pope rushed up to him and recognized his father. The old man was dying of remorse and just had time to ask his son's forgiveness before expiring in his arms.

Bobo forgave him and turned out to be one of the best popes the church has ever had.

 

(
Mantua
)

24

A poor woman who was dying called her three daughters to her bedside and said, “Dear daughters, it won't be long now before I die and leave you all by yourselves. When I'm gone, call on your uncles to build you each a little house. Love one another. Farewell.” She then drew her last breath, and the three girls burst into tears.

They went out on the street, where they happened to meet one of their uncles who wove mats. Catherine, the oldest daughter, said, “Uncle, our mother has just died. Since you are so kind-hearted, will you build me a cottage out of rushes?”

So the uncle who wove mats built her a cottage out of rushes.

The other two sisters walked on until they met another uncle, who was a carpenter. Julia, the middle girl, said, “Uncle, our mother has just died. Since you are so kind-hearted, will you build me a wooden cottage?”