Chapter 4 ship with three cargo compartments

The Ship with Three Holds & Italian Fairy Tales Once upon a time, there lived a poor couple in a remote country.They had a son, but there was no one around to be their godfather.They want to go to the city to find them, but they have no acquaintance there; without a godfather, they cannot baptize the child.On the steps of the church door they saw a man in a black cloak, and they asked, "Good sir, will you be godfather to this child?" The man agreed, and the child was thus baptized. They walked out of the church, and the stranger said, "Now, I want to give a gift to my godson. Please accept this purse, and use it to support him and send him to school. When he can read, send this letter to him." Give him the letter." The child's parents were shocked, and before they could ask his name or thank him, he had disappeared.

The wallet is full of gold kroner, which is used for the children to study later.When the child could write and read, the parents gave him the letter, which read: Dear Godson: After a long exile, I have now returned to assume the reins of government.I need an heir.After you have read this letter, set out immediately to find your dear godfather, the King of England. Also, during the journey, you must beware of three people: a cross-eyed man, a lame man and a diarrhoea. After reading the letter, the young man said: "Father, mother, goodbye, I have to find my godfather." After walking for a few days, he met a passer-by on the road."Where are you going, young man?" asked the man.

"To England." "It happens to be on the same road as me, let's go together." The young man saw that the man had one eyeball turned to the left and the other to the right, and realized that it was the cross-eyed person he wanted to beware of.So he made an excuse, stopped, and later walked the other way. He came across a pedestrian resting on a rock. "Are you going to England? Let's go together," said the stranger.He stood up and limped forward on crutches.The young man thought: He is a lame man, I must avoid him, so he went another way. The third pedestrian he met had normal eyes, legs and feet, and had black shiny hair.It was also going to England, so they traveled together.They spend the night in a hotel.As a precaution against accident, the young man left his purse and the king's letter with the innkeeper for safekeeping.At night, while everyone was fast asleep, the stranger got up, asked the boss for the young man's wallet, letter, and horse, and ran away.The next morning, the young man found himself alone, without any money, the letter and the horse.

"Your servant came to me at night," the boss explained, "he took your belongings and left..." The young man had to go on foot, and when he came to a fork in the road, he suddenly found his horse tied to a tree in the field.He was about to let go of the reins when suddenly his companion came running out from behind the tree with a pistol in his hand. "If you want to live," he said, "you'll have to be my servant, and say I'm the godson of the King of England." Then he took off his black wig, revealing a bald head covered with scars . Riding on horseback, the young man followed on foot, and at last came to England.The king welcomed the mutton with open arms, and regarded him as his godson, while the real godson was sent to the stables to be a stable boy.However, Li Litou was impatient and wanted to get rid of the real godson.Soon, the opportunity came.One day, the king said to the boy: "My daughter has been spellbound and imprisoned on an island. If you can rescue her, I will marry her to you as my wife. However, it is not easy. Do it, none of the people who went to save her before could come back alive." After hearing this, Li Li quickly replied, "Send my servant to try it, he can definitely do it."

Immediately the king called the young man and asked him, "Can you save my daughter?" "Your daughter? Your Majesty, please tell me where she is!" The king just said, "I warn you, if you don't get back, I'll cut off your head." The young man arrived at the pier and watched the ships sailing.He didn't know how to get to the island where the princess lived.An old sailor with a beard down to his knees came up to him and said, "Go and ask for a ship with three holds." The young man went to the king and asked for a ship with three holds.When the ship was in port ready to sail, the old sailor reappeared."You have cheese rinds in one hold, bread crumbs in another, rotten meat in a third," he said.

The young man asked someone to fill the three cargo holds with these goods. "Now," said the old man, "when the king says, 'Choose the sailors you want,' you answer, 'I only want one sailor,' and take me." And the young man did so.When the ship sailed out to sea, all the citizens of the city came out to see it: the ship was loaded with strange and strange goods; there was only one sailor, and he was an old man who was dying. They sailed together for three months.One night they found a lighthouse and sailed into the harbor.All they could see were some very low houses on the bank, and some small things moving furtively to and fro.Then they heard a voice asking, "What's on board?"

"Cheese rinds," answered the old sailor. "Excellent," said the voice on shore, "just what we need." This is a rat island, full of rats.They say, "We're going to buy the whole thing, but we don't have the money to pay you. But whenever you need us, just say, 'O mouse, sweet mouse, help us!' and we'll help right away." Yours." The young man and the old sailor let down the gangway, the mouse got on board, and in a second the cheese rinds were all unloaded. After setting sail from Mouse Island, the two went to another island.It was late at night, and there was nothing in the harbor; it was worse than the last time, and there was not a house or tree in sight. "What did you bring?" In the dark night, several voices asked at the same time.

"Bread crumbs," answered the old sailor. "Brilliant, just what we need." This is an ant island, and the island is full of ants.They couldn't pay either, but they said, "Whenever you need us, just say, 'Ants, sweet ants, come help us!' Wherever you are, we'll be there right away." Ants crawled all over the boat, unloading all the crumbs.Then the ship set sail again. The boat came to an island with a cliff again, and the harbor was just below the cliff. "What did you bring?" A voice came from above the cliff. "Smelly meat!"

"Wonderful, this is exactly what we need." Several huge shadows flitted over the ship. This is a vulture island, the island is full of this greedy giant bird.They took all the rotten meat from the ship; they promised to come to the old sailors and young men when they needed help if they just called out, "Vulture, sweet vulture, come to our aid." After sailing for several more months, they arrived at the island where the daughter of the King of England was imprisoned.They landed, walked through a long cave, and came suddenly to a palace in a garden.A dwarf came out of the palace to greet them. "Is the King of England's daughter here?" asked the young man.

"Come in and ask the fairy Sebiana!" replied the dwarf.He took young men and old sailors into his palace, which had floors of gold and walls of crystal.The nymph Cybeanna sat on a throne made of gold and crystal. "Many kings and princes have come to fetch the princess with large armies," said the Fairy, "but they all died here." "What I bring is my will and my courage," the young man said. "Well, then, you must pass three trials. If you fail, you will not get out of here alive. Do you see the mountain ahead of me that blocks the sun? You must level it by tomorrow morning. When I wake up, I'm going to let the sun shine into my room."

The dwarf came out with a pickaxe, and led the young man down the hill.The young man hoeed hard, and the blade of the hoe broke in two. "How can I dig this?" He didn't know what to do.Suddenly, he remembered the mouse on another island. "O mouse, cute mouse, help me!" Before he finished speaking, groups of rats were wriggling everywhere from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain.They dug, bit, and planed, and the mountain became smaller and smaller as they dug it, and the smaller it was bitten, the smaller it was planed. The next morning, as soon as the sun shone into the room, the fairy Cybiana awoke. "Congratulations!" she said to the young man, "but the matter is not over yet." She led the young man into the cellar; in the center of this great cellar was a room with a ceiling as high as a church .It was piled high with peas and lentils up to the ceiling. "Tonight you are to divide this mixed pile of beans into two distinct piles: a pile of peas and a pile of lentils. If you leave a lentil in a pea, or a pea Stay in the lentils and you'll be fucked." The dwarf left him a candle, and he went away with the fairy.When the candle was burned out, the young man was still staring at the pile of beans in a daze, thinking that no one could do such a difficult job!At this time, he thought of the ants on another island. "Ants, cute ants! Come and help me!" As soon as he finished speaking, the entire cellar was densely covered with ants.They gather on a heap of beans and methodically and carefully divide them into two piles; one team of ants is dedicated to the peas, the other to the lentils. "I don't give up yet," said the Fairy to the young man when she saw that this was accomplished. "There is a greater test before you. You must bring me a bucket of long-lived water before dawn." .” Longevity Spring is on the top of a steep mountain, and the mountain is full of ferocious beasts.Can't even climb up, let alone carry a bucket.But the young man called out, "O vulture, dear vulture! Come and help me!" At this moment, many vultures flew to the ground in a circle covering the sky.The young man tied a small bottle around the neck of each bird, so these vultures flew straight to the top of the mountain in a mighty procession.The vials were filled with spring water, and later they returned to the young man; and he waited on the ground, pouring the water of longevity into the pail he had brought with him. When the bucket was filled with water, there was a sound of horseshoes in the distance.It turned out that the fairy Saibiana ran away in a panic, followed by the dwarf.At this moment, the daughter of the King of England ran out of the palace, crying happily: "I am free from the spell! You have freed me!" The young man returned to his ship with the King's daughter and the Water of Longevity, and the old sailor was ready to set sail. The king of England watches the sea carefully every day with a telescope.When he saw a ship flying the British flag approaching, he ran happily to the port.And the head of the cat was very angry when he saw the young man returning victoriously with the king's daughter.He made up his mind to kill the young man. The king held a grand banquet to celebrate his daughter's rescue.During the dinner, two men with fierce faces called the young man out, saying that they had to discuss with him a matter of life and death.The young man didn't know what was going on, so he followed them.When they got to the woods, the two guys drew their knives and stabbed the young man to death.It turned out that they were murderers hired by the head of the disease. At this time, the king's daughter was very anxious at the banquet. The young man went out with those two fierce guys, and why did he never come back.So she went out to look for him, and when she found the wood, she found the young man lying there with many stab wounds.Fortunately, the old sailor had brought with him a bucket of long-lived water, and he dipped the young man's body into the bucket.In a few moments she saw the young man spring to his feet, healthy and handsome, and the King's daughter threw her arms round his neck. Li Litou was so angry that his face was livid, and he asked, "What's in the bucket?" "Hot oil," answered the old sailor. So, I got a bucket of boiling oil and said to the princess: "If you don't love me, I will jump in." After that, he stabbed himself with a dagger, and then jumped into the boiling oil. Immediately burned to death.As he jumped into the oil, his black wig fell off, revealing a bald head. "Well, it's the diarrhoea!" exclaimed the king. "He was my worst enemy. He has killed himself, and he deserved it. Brave young man, you are my godson! You will be my godson with my daughter." Marry and inherit my throne!" Later, the young man married the princess and became king. (Ligurian Coast) Notes: Source: Nos. 2 and 27 of Ligurian Tales, edited by James Andrews (Paris, 1892); Collection area: Mantown; Narrator: Joannina Piombo and Angelina Moretti. A steady stream of rare goods are shipped to ports where they can fetch high prices for sale-most people compare this prosperous maritime trade to prosperity.Describing maritime trade is found in folktales everywhere, and is arranged in different plots (compare the 173rd chapter of this book, "Cargo Ship").This story is from the Riviera, a border region in Italy.It combines the two quirky themes of a ship with three cargo holds and an island inhabited by animals.This kind of story is widely circulated, and it features descriptions of enchanted mare (in one story selected by Andrews, the pony gives advice) and grateful animals (cf. A Cabin" and Chapter 79 "Fiorevante and the Beauty Isolina").In writing this story, I combined two synopses written by Andrews in French. The Ship with Three Decks Once there was a poor couple who lived way out in the country. A baby boy was born to them, but there was no one anywhere around to be his godfather. They went into town, but they didnt know a soul there and couldnt have the child baptized without a godfather. They saw a man wrapped in a black cloak on the church doorstep and asked, "Kind sir, would you please be this boys godfather?" The man agreed, and the child was baptized. When they came out of the church, the stranger said, "I now must give my godson his present. Take this purse, which is to be used to raise and educate him. And give him this letter when he has learned to read." The father and mother were thunderstruck, but before they could find words of thanks and ask the man his name, he had disappeared. The purse was full of gold crowns, which paid for the boys education. Once he could read, his parents gave him the letter, which said: Dear Godson, I am going back to repossess my throne after a long exile, and I need an heir. As soon as you read this letter, set out on a journey to your dear godfather, the king of England. PS Along the way, beware of a cross-eyed man, a cripple, and a mangy character. The youth said, "Father, Mother, farewell. I must go to my godfather." After a few days of walking, he met a traveler who asked, "Where are you going, my lad?" "To England." "So am I. We shall travel together." The youth noticed the mans eyes: one of them looked east, and the other west, so the boy realized this was the cross-eyed man he must avoid. He found a pretext for stopping, then took another road. He met another traveler sitting on a stone. "Are you going to England? Well therefore travel together," said the stranger, who got up and limped along, leaning on a stick. Hes the cripple, thought the youth, and changed roads again . He met a third traveler, whose eyes, like his legs, bespoke perfect health. As for any scalp disease, this man had the thickest and cleanest head of black hair you ever saw. As the stranger was also on his way to England, they traveled together. They stopped for the night at an inn, where the youth, wary of his companion, handed over his purse and the letter for the king to the innkeeper for safekeeping. During the night while everybody was sleeping, the stranger rose and went to the innkeeper for the purse, letter, and horse. In the morning the young man found himself alone, penniless, on foot, and with no letter for the king. "Your servant came to me in the night," explained the innkeeper, "for all your belongings. Then he left..." The youth set out on foot. At a bend in the road he sped his horse tethered to a tree in a field. He was about to untie it, when from behind the tree rushed last nights companion armed with a pistol. "If your dont want to die on the spot," he said, "you must become my servant and pretend Im the king of England godson." As he spoke, he removed his black wig, revealing a scalp completely covered with mange. They set out, the mangy one on horseback, the youth on foot, and at last reached England. With open arms the king welcomed the mangy one, taking him for his godson, while the real godson was assigned to the stables as stable boy. But the mangy one couldn't wait to get rid of his companion, and the opportunity soon presented itself. The king one day said to the false godson, "If you could free my daughter from the spell that holds her prisoner on a certain island, Id give her to you in marriage. The only difficulty is that nobody who has attempted to free her has ever come back alive." The mangy one lost no time in replying. "Try sending my servant, who is surely capable of setting her free. " The king summoned the youth at once and asked, "Can you set my daughter free?" "Your daughter? Tell me where she is, Majesty!" The king would only say, "I warn you that you'll lose your head if you come back to me without her." The youth went to the pier and watched the ships sail away. He had no idea how to reach the princesss island. An old sailor with a beard down to his knees approached him and said, "Ask for a ship with three decks." The youth went to the king and had a ship with three decks rigged. When it was in port and ready to weigh anchor, the old sailor reappeared. "Now have one deck loaded with cheese rinds, another with bread crumbs, and the third with stinking carrion." The youth had the three decks loaded. "Now," said the old man, "when the king says, Choose all the sailors you want, you will reply, I need only one, and select me." That he did, and the whole town turned out to watch the ship sail off with that strange cargo and a crew of one, who also happened to be on his last legs. They sailed for three months straight, at the end of which time they sped a lighthouse in the night and entered a port. All they could make out on shore were low, low houses and stealthy movement. At last a voice asked, "What cargo do you carry?" "Cheese rinds," replied the old sailor. "Fine," they said on shore. "That's what we need." It was the Island of Rats, where all the inhabitants were rats, who said, "Well buy the entire cargo, but we have no money with which to pay you. But any time you need us, you have only to say, Rats, fine rats, help us! and well be right there to help you." The youth and the sailor dropped the gangplank, and the rats came aboard and unloaded the cheese rinds in a flash. From there the men sailed to another island. It was also night and they could make out nothing at all in port. It was worse than the other place, with not a house or a tree anywhere in sight. "What cargo do you bring? " asked voices in the dark. "Bread crumbs," replied the sailor. "Fine! That's just what we need!" It was the Island of Ants, where all the inhabitants were ants. Nor did they have any money either, but they said, "Whenever you need us, you have only to say, Ants, fine ants, help us! and well be right there, no matter where you are." The ants carried all the bread crumbs down the fore and aft moorings, and the ship cast off again. It came to an island of rocky cliffs that dropped straight down to port. "What cargo do you bring?" cried voices from above. "Stinking carrion!" "Excellent! Thats just what we need," and huge shadows swooped down on the ship. It was the Island of Vultures, inhabited entirely by those greedy birds. They flew off with every ounce of carriage, promising in return to help the men whenever they called, "Vultures, fine vultures, help us!" After several more months of sailing, they landed on the island where the king of Englands daughter was a prisoner. They disembarked, walked through a long cave, and emerged before a palace in a garden. A dwarf walked out to meet them. the king of Englands daughter here?" asked the youth. "Come in and ask Fairy Sibiana," replied the dwarf, showing them into the palace, which had gold floors and crystal walls. Fairy Sibiana sat on a throne of crystal and gold. "Kings and princes have brought entire armies to free the princess," said the fairy, "and every last one of them died." "All I have are my will and my courage," said the youth. "Well, then, you must undergo three trials. If you fail, you'll not get away from here alive. Do you see that mountain shutting out the sun from my view? You must level it by tomorrow morning. When I wake up I want the sunlight streaming into my room." The dwarf came out with a pickax and led the youth to the foot of the mountain. The young man brought the pickax down once, and the blade snapped in two. "Now how am I going to dig?" he wondered, then remembered the rats on the other island. "Rats, fine rats, help me!" Hed not got the words out of his mouth before the mountain was swarming with rats from top to bottom. They dug and gnawed and clawed, while the mountain dwindled and dwindled and dwindled... Next morning Fairy Sibiana was awakened by the first rays of sun streaming into her room. "congratulations!" she said to the youth, "but you're not done yet." She led him to the palaces underground vaults, in the center of which was a room with a ceiling as high as a churchs and containing one big heap of peas and lentils that reached the ceiling. "You have this whole night to separate the peas from the lentils into two distinct piles. Heaven help you if you leave one single lentil in the pea pile, or one single pea in the lentil pile." The dwarf left him a candle wick and went off with the fairy. As the wick burned down to nothing, the youth continued to stare at the huge pile, wondering how any human could ever accomplish so intricate a task. Then he remembered the ants on the other island. "Ants, fine ants," he called, "help me!" No sooner had he said those words than the entire cellar teemed with those tiny insects. They converged on the heap and, with order and patience, made two separate piles, one team of ants carrying peas and the other lentils. "Im still not defeated," said the fairy when she saw the task completed. "A far more difficult trial now awaits you. You have from now till dawn to fetch me a barrel of the water of long life." The spring of long life was at the top of a steep mountain infested with savage beasts. Scaling the mountain was out of the question, much less while carrying a barrel. But the youth called, "Vultures, fine vultures, help me!" the sky darkened with vultures circling down to earth. The youth attached a phial to the neck of each, and the vultures soared in a grand formation straight to the spring on the mountaintop, filled their phials, and flew back with them to the youth, who poured the water into the barrel he had waiting. When the barrel was full, hoofbeats were heard retreating. Fairy Sibiana was fleeing for dear life, followed by her dwarfs, while out of the palace ran the king of Englands daughter, cheering: "Im safe at last! You set me free!" With the kings daughter and the water of long life, the youth returned to his ship, where the old sailor was all ready to weigh anchor. The king of England scanned the sea every day through his telescope. Seeing a ship approach that was flying the English flag, he ran to port overjoyed. When the mangy one beheld the youth safe and sound and escorting the kings daughter, he was fit to be tied and resolved to have him killed. While the king was celebrating his daughters return with a grand banquet, two grim-looking fellows came to get the youth, saying it was a matter of life and death. Puzzled, he followed them. When they got to the woods, the two fellows , who were assassins hired by the mangy one, drew their knives and cut the youths throat. Meanwhile at the banquet, the kings daughter was more and more worried, since the youth had gone off with that sinister pair and not returned. She went out looking for him and, reaching the woods, found his body covered with wounds. sailor had brought along the barrel containing the water of long life, in which he immersed the youths body, only to see him jump right back out as sound as ever and so handsome that the kings daughter threw her arms around his neck. The mangy one was livid with rage. "Whats in that barrel?" he asked. "Boiling oil," replied the sailor. So the mangy one had a barrel of oil heated to boiling and announced to the princess: "If you dont love me Ill kill myself." He stabbed himself with his dagger and leaped into the boiling oil. his black wig had flown off when he leaped, revealing his mangy head. "Ah, the mangy one!" exclaimed the king of England. "The cruelest of all my enemies. He finally got what was coming to him. So you, valiant youth, are my godson! You shall marry my daughter and inherit my kingdom !” And so it was. (Riviera ligure di ponente) NOTES: "The Ship with Three Decks" (Il bastimento a tre piano) from Andrews, 2 and 27, Menton, told by Giuanina Piombo dite La Mova, and by Angelina Moretti. Prosperous sea trading, with unusual cargos coming into ports where the merchandise is highly prized, is a metaphor of luck in the popular mind. It recurs in diverse folktales and is woven into various plots (cf. my no.173, from Sicily). In this tale from the Italian Riviera border, the curious motifs of the ship with three decks and of the isles inhabited by animals are incorporated into the widespread type featuring the enchanted filly (in one of Andrewss versions, advice is given by the horse) and grateful animals (cf. my nos. 24 and 79). I have freely rendered the two versions summarized in French by Andrews. Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980