Chapter 2 fearless little giovanni

The Fearless Little Giovanni & Italian Fairy Tales Once upon a time, there was a young man who was fearless and fearless, and was called the fearless little Giovanni.He traveled the world, and once came to a small shop for the night.The owner said: "There are no vacancies here, but if you are not afraid, I will take you to live in a building." "Why should I be afraid? No one can come out alive. Every morning, the monks take the coffin to collect the corpses of those who dare to spend the night in the building." Good boy!Went away with a lamp, a bottle of wine and a sausage.

In the middle of the night, as he was sitting at the table eating, a voice came from the chimney: "Shall I come down?" Little Giovanni replied: "Come down!" A human leg fell from a chimney.Little Giovanni drank a glass of wine. Then the voice said, "I'm coming down?" "Come down!" said little Giovanni, and the other leg fell off too.Little Giovanni took a bite of the sausage. "I come down?" "Come down!" An arm fell.Little Giovanni whistled. "I come down?" "Come down!" Dropped the other arm. "I come down?"

"Come down!" A body fell down, joined with arms and legs, and stood up like a headless person. "I come down?" "Come down!" The head fell off and jumped onto the body.It was a giant, and Giovanni the Younger raised his glass and said, "To your health!" The giant said, "Take the lamp and come." Little Giovanni took up the lamp, but did not move it. "Go ahead!" said the Giant. "You go first," said little Giovanni. "You go first!" said the giant. "You go first," said little Giovanni. So the giant moved first, and passed through the building from room to room, with little Giovanni following behind to shine a light.When you come to a small room under the stairs, there is a small door in front of you.

"Open!" said the giant to little Giovanni. Little Giovanni said: "Go and drive!" The giant shouldered the door open.There is a small spiral staircase inside. "Go down," said the giant. "You go first," said little Giovanni. When they came to the basement, the giant pointed to a stone slab on the ground: "Move it up!" "You move!" said little Giovanni.The giant moved the slab like a pebble. Below are three pots of gold coins."Lift up!" said the Giant. "Put it up!" said little Giovanni.The giant lifted them up one at a time.

When they returned to the drawing-room with the chimney, the giant said, "Little Giovanni, my powers have failed!" As he said this, he untied his leg and kicked it up the chimney. "I'll give you one of these three pots of gold coins," he said, taking off an arm and climbing up the chimney on his arm. "The other one is for the monks who come to collect your body." The other arm dropped and followed the one in front up the chimney. "The third pot of gold coins is given to the first poor man who passes here." The other leg was also unloaded, and the giant's body sat on the ground. "This building will belong to you," said the giant's body, leaving only his head standing on the ground. "Because the family that owned this building is gone forever." With that, the giant's head rose up the chimney.

Just before dawn, I heard someone singing: God have mercy on us, God have mercy on us.It was the priests who came to collect the body of Giovanni the Younger with the coffin.They saw the lad smoking his pipe at the window. Fearless little Giovanni was rich with those gold coins, and he lived happily in that building.Until one day, just because he turned around and saw his own shadow, he was frightened to death. Dauntless Little John There was once a lad from whom everyone called Dauntless Little John, since he was afraid of nothing. Traveling about the world, he came to an inn, where he asked for lodgings. "We have no room here," said the innkeeper, "but If you are not afraid, I will direct you to a certain palace where you can stay."

"Why should I be afraid?" "People shudder at the thought of that palace, since nobody whos gone in has come out alive. In the morning the friars go up with the bier for anyone brave enough to spend the night inside." So what did Little John do but pick up a lamp, a bottle, and a sausage, and march straight to the palace. At midnight he was sitting at the table eating, when he heard a voice in the chimney. "Shall I throw it down?" "Go ahead!" replied Little John. Down the chimney into the fireplace fell a mans leg. Little John drank a glass of wine.

Then the voice spoke again. "Shall I throw it down?" "Go ahead!" So another leg dropped into the fireplace. Little John bit into the sausage. "Shall I throw it down?" "Go ahead!" So down came an arm. Little John began whistling a tune. "Shall I throw it down?" "By all means!" And there was another arm. "Shall I throw it down?" "Yes!" Then came the trunk of a body, and the arms and legs stuck onto it, and there stood a man without a head. "Shall I throw it down?" "Throw it down!"

Down came the head and sprang into place atop the trunk. He was truly a giant, and Little John raised his glass and said, "To your health!" The giant said, "Take the lamp and come with me." Little John picked up the lamp, but didn't budge. "You go first!" said the giant. "No, after you," insisted Little John. "After you!" thundered the giant. "You lead the way!" yelled Little John. So the giant went first, with Little John behind him lighting the way, and they went through room after room until they had walked the whole length of the palace. Beneath one of the staircases was a small door.

"Open it!" ordered the giant. "You open it!" replied Little John. So the giant shoved it open with his shoulder. There was a spiral staircase. "Go on down," directed the giant. "After you," answered Little John. They went down the steps into a cellar, and the giant pointed to a stone slab on the ground. "Raise that!" "You raise it!" replied Little John, and the giant lifted it as though it were a mere pebble. Beneath the slab there were three pots of gold. "Carry those upstairs!" ordered the giant. "You carry them up!" answered Little John. And the giant carried them up one by one.

When they were back in the hall where the great fireplace was, the giant said, "Little John, the spell has been broken!" At that, one of his leg came off and kicked its way up the chimney. "One of these pots of gold is for you." An arm came loose and climbed up the chimney. "The second pot of gold is for the friars who come to carry away your body, believing you perished." The other arm came off and followed the first. "The third pot of gold is for the first poor man who comes by." Then the other leg dropped off, leaving the giant seated on the floor. "Keep the palace for yourself." The trunk separated from the head and vanished." The owners of the palace and their children are now gone forever." At that, the head disappeared up the chimney. As soon as it was light, a dirge arose: "Miserere mei, miserere mei." The friars had come with the bier to carry off Little Johns body. But there he stood, at the window, smoking his pipe! Dauntless Little John was a wealthy youth indeed with all those gold pieces, and he lived happily in his palace. Then one day what should he do but look behind him and see his shadow: he was so frightened he died. NOTES: "Dauntless Little John" (Giovannin senza paura) I begin with a folktale for which I do not indicate, in contrast to my procedure in all the other tales, the particular version I followed. As the versions of it from the various regions of Italy are all quite similar, I let myself be freely guided by common tradition. Not only for that reason have I put this tale first, but also because it is one of the simplest and, in my view, one of the most beautiful folktales. Italian tradition sharply diverges from the Grimms "Tale of a Boy Who Set Out to Learn Fear" (Grimm no.4) which is no doubt closer to my no.80. The type of tale is of European origin and not found in Asia. The disappearance of the man limb by limb is not traditional, but a personal touch of my own, to balance his arrival piece by piece. I took the finishing stroke of the shadow from a Sienese version (De Gubernatis, 22), and it is merely a simplification of the more common ending, where Little John is given a salve for fastening heads back on. He cuts his head off and puts it on again--backward; the sight of his rear end so horrifies him that he drops dead. Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980