Chapter 3 man covered in seaweed

The Man in Seaweed & Italian Fairy Tales There was a king who asked people to shout in every square that whoever could find his missing daughter would be rewarded.But the king's orders were in vain, for no one knew where to find his daughter.One night, she was kidnapped, and the king searched all corners but could not find her. An experienced captain suddenly thought that if there was no trace on land, it might be at sea.So he prepared a boat and planned to go to sea to find it.But when he tried to recruit sailors, he couldn't find one: no one wanted to take part in this odyssey with no return date in sight.

The captain stood on the embankment and watched, no one approached, and no one dared to take the lead on board.Batchchin Triboldo was on the dike too, a notorious drunk, a notorious bum who no one wanted to hire. "Well, would you like to come aboard?" said the captain to him. "Me? Yes." "Then get on board." Bachichin Triboldo was the first to board.In this way, some other sailors became more courageous and boarded the deck. On board Bachichin Triboldo kept his hands in his pockets all day long, nostalgic for the taverns on shore.Everyone scolded him because the voyage was so far away and the food stores were limited, but he still had to support such an idler.The captain decides to ditch him. "Did you see that small island?" The captain pointed to a rocky island on the sea and said, "Paddle the small sampan to check it out, and we'll walk around."

Bachichin Triboldo went down to the sampan, but the ship sailed away at full speed, leaving him alone in the sea, and Bachichin rowed to the reef.He saw a big cave on the rock, and went into it.At the end of the cave was tied a very beautiful girl, the king's daughter. "How did you find me?" she asked Batchchin Triboldo. "I'm here to fish for octopus," Batchchin said. "I was caught and imprisoned here by a gigantic octopus," said the king's daughter. "Hide yourself before it comes back. But remember, for three hours every day this octopus becomes Red carp, it was easy to catch it at that time, but you must kill it immediately, otherwise, it will turn into a red-billed gull and fly away."

Bachichin Triboldo hid himself and the boat on the small island.At this time, the huge octopus drilled out of the sea, and each of its claws could circle the island for a week.He smelled a stranger on the island, and all the suckers squirmed.Coincidentally, it was time for it to turn into a fish. In a blink of an eye, it turned into a red carp and disappeared into the sea.Batchchin Triboldo cast his net immediately, but every time the net came up with mullet, sturgeon, toothfish, and finally, red carp trembling all over.Baricin swung his oar immediately, wanting to give it a fatal blow, but what he hit was not a red carp, but a seagull that was about to fly up from the net, and the red carp was gone.The gull could not fly because the oar had scratched one of its wings.So the seagull turned into an octopus again, but its claws were full of wounds, and black blood dripped out.Bachichin jumped on the octopus' back and beat it to death with his oar.The king's daughter, as a token of her eternal gratitude, gave him a diamond ring.

He said: "Let's go, I'll take you back to meet your father." The two of them got on the sampan.In the vast sea, the sampan moved very slowly. They paddled, paddled, and finally saw a big ship in the distance.Bachichin picked up the girl's clothes with a paddle.They were found by the men of the big ship, who took them on deck.This was the same boat that had thrown Bachichin earlier, and the captain, seeing him bring back the King's daughter, said, "Oh, poor Bachichin Triboldo! We all thought you were lost, and everywhere I'm looking for you! I didn't expect you to find the king's daughter! Come, let's have a few drinks and congratulate you on your success!" Bachichin Triboldo didn't believe what the captain said, but after a long time without a drink, He couldn't hold back anymore.

The pier when we went out to sea could already be vaguely seen. The captain persuaded Bachichin to drink, and he drank and drank until he was so drunk that he fell to the ground.The captain said to the king's daughter, "Don't tell your father that the drunkard saved you! You should say that I saved you, because I am the captain of the ship, and the drunkard is only one of my mates. Everything is at my command." The king's daughter said neither good nor bad, but replied, "I know what to say." The captain then thought of getting rid of Batchchin Triboldo, and that was it.Late that night, they picked up Bachichin, who was so drunk, and threw him into the sea.At dawn, the big ship approached the pier and notified the shore with semaphore that they had rescued the king's daughter safely.On the pier, the band played triumphantly, and the king and all the court came.

The wedding of the king's daughter to the captain was fixed.On the day of the wedding, the sailors on the pier saw a man emerging from the sea, covered from head to toe with green seaweed, with small fish and crabs jumping out of the pockets and torn holes of his clothes.This man was Batchchin Triboldo. He was covered with seaweed, hung on his head, wrapped around his body, and dragged under his feet. He went ashore and walked towards the center of the city.At this moment, the wedding procession came towards them, and when they saw a man in green water plants standing in front of them, the procession stopped. "Who is there? Take him!" ordered the king.The guards were about to make arrests when Batchchin Triboldo raised a hand and saw a diamond ring gleaming in the sun.

"My daughter's ring!" cried the king. "Yes, this is my savior, he is my bridegroom." said the king's daughter. Batchchin Triboldo narrated his experience from beginning to end.The captain was arrested.In this way, Bachchin approached the bride in a white dress with green seaweed and held a wedding ceremony with her. The Man Wreathed in Seaweed A king had his crier announce in the town squares that whoever found his missing daughter would be rewarded with a fortune. But the announcement brought no results, since no one had any idea of ​​the girls wherever abouts. She had been kidnapped one night, and they had already looked the world over for her.

A sea captain suddenly had the thought that since she wasn't on land she might well be on the sea, so he got a ship ready to go out in search of her. But when the time came to sign up the crew, not one sailor stepped forward, since no one wanted to go on a dangerous expedition that would last no telling how long. The captain waited on the pier, but fearful of being the first to embark, no one approached his ship. Also on the pier was Samphire Starboard, a reputed tramp and tippler, of whom no ship captain was ever willing to sign on. "Listen," said our captain, "how would you like to sail with me?"

"Id like to very much." "Come aboard, then." "So Samphire Starboard was the first to embark. After that, other sailors took heart and boarded the ship. Once he was on the ship, Samphire Starboard did nothing but stand around all day long with his hands in his pockets and dream about the taverns he had left behind. The other sailors cursed him because there was no knowing when the voyage would end, provisions were scarce, and he did nothing to earn his keep. The captain decided to get rid of him. "See that little island?" he asked, pointing to an isolated reef in the middle of the sea. "Get into a rowboat and go explore it. Well be cruising right around here."

Samphire Starboard stepped into the rowboat, and the ship sailed away at full speed, leaving him stranded in the middle of the sea. He approached the reef, spied a cave, and went in. Tied up inside was a very beautiful maiden, who was none other than the kings daughter. "How did you manage to find me?" she asked. "I was fishing for octopi," explained Samphire. "I was kidnapped by a huge octopus, whose prisoner I now am," said the kings daughter. "Flee before it returns. But note that for three hours a day it changes into a red mullet and can be caught. But your have to kill the mullet at once, or it will change into a sea gull and fly away." Samphire Starboard hid his boat and waited out of sight on the reef. From the sea emerged the octopus, which was so large that it could reach clear around the island with its tentacles. All its suckers shook, having smelled a man on the reef. But the hour arrived when it had to change into a fish, and suddenly it became a red mullet and disappeared into the sea. Samphire Starboard lowered fishing nets and pulled them back up full of gurnard, surgeon, and dentex. The last haul produced the red mullet, shaking like a leaf. Samphire raised his oar to kill it, but instead of the red mullet he struck the sea gull flying out of the net and broke its wing. The gull then changed back into an octopus, whose wounded tentacles spurted dark red blood. Samphire was upon it instantly and beat it to death with the oar. The kings daughter gave him a diamond ring as a token of the gratitude she would always feel toward him. "Come and Ill take you to your father," he said, showing her into his boat. But the boat was tiny and they were out in the middle of the sea. After rowing and rowing they sped a ship in the distance. Samphire signaled to it with an oar draped with the kings daughters gown. The ship spotted them and took them aboard. It was the same ship that had earlier discharged and abandoned Samphire. Seeing him back with the kings daughter, the captain said, "Poor Samphire Starboard ! Here we thought you were lost and now, after looking all over for you, we see you return with the kings daughter! That calls for a real celebration!" To Samphire Starboard, whod not touched a drop of wine for months on end, that seemed too good to be true. They were almost in sight of their home port when the captain led Samphire to a table and placed several bottles of wine before him. Samphire drank and drank until he fell unconscious to the floor. Then the captain said to the kings daughter, "Don't you dare tell your father that drunkard freed you. Tell him that I freed you myself, since Im the captain of the ship and ordered him to rescue you." The kings daughter neither agreed nor disagreed. "I know what Ill tell him," she answered. To be on the safe side, the captain decided to do away with Samphire Starboard once and for all. That night, they picked him up, still as drunk as could be, and threw him into the sea. At dawn the ship was in sight of port. With flags they signaled they were bringing home the kings daughter safe and sound. A band played on the pier, where the king waited with the entire court. A date was chosen for the kings daughter to wed the captain. On the day of the wedding, the mariners in port saw a man emerge from the water. He was covered from head to foot with seaweed, and out of his pockets and the holes in his clothes swam fish and shrimps. It was none other than Samphire Starboard. He climbed out of the water and went ambling through the city streets, with seaweed draping his head and body and dragging along behind him. was moving through the street and came face to face with the man wreathed in seaweed. Everyone stopped. "Who is this?" asked the king. "Seize him!" The guards came up, but Samphire Starboard raised a hand and the diamond on his finger sparkled in the sunlight. "My daughters ring!" exclaimed the king. "Yes," said the daughter, "this man was my rescuer and will be my bridegroom." Samphire Starboard told the story, and the captain was imprisoned. Green though he was with seaweed, Samphire took his place beside the bride clad in white and was joined to her in matrimony. (Riviera ligure di ponente) NOTES: "The Man Wreathed in Seaweed" (Luomo verde dalghe) from Andrews, 7, Menton, told by the widow Lavigna. This sea tale transfers to an unusual setting a plot well known throughout Europe: that of the younger brother who goes down into the well to free the princess and is subsequently abandoned there himself (cf. my no.78). Andrewss collection of tales presents no more than brief summaries in French; for this tale, then, as well as the following, taken from the same compilation, I gave free rein to my imagination in supplying details, while adhering to the basic plot. I chose the name Baciccin Tribordo (Giovanni Battista Starboard) to replace the original name whose meaning is not very clear. In the original text, the princess is abducted by a dragon instead of by an octopus, and the dragon changes into a barnacle, which seemed to me too easy to catch. Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980