Chapter 13 snake

Snakes & Italian Fairy Tales There was a farmer who went to the field to weed every day. At noon, his three daughters took turns to bring him food.One day the eldest daughter came to deliver food, and when she was walking through the woods, she was tired from walking, so she sat on a rock to rest.As soon as I sat down, I heard a loud knocking sound from the ground, and a snake came out from under the stone.The girl was so frightened that she dropped the basket of rice, shouted for help, and ran away.As a result, the father was hungry all day, returned home at night, and severely reprimanded the three daughters.

The next day, it was the turn of the second daughter to deliver meals.She also sat on the rock to rest, saw the snake, and ran away in fright.So the third daughter said, "I'll go, I'll go! I'm not afraid." She brought two baskets of food, and when she heard the sound and saw the snake come out, she handed it a basket of food.The snake said to her, "Take me back to your house, and I will bring you good luck." The girl hid it in her apron, and after sending another lunch to her father in the field, she returned home and put the The snake put it under his bed.The snake grew up day by day and could no longer stay under the bed.It was about to leave, and before it left, it gave the girl three magic weapons as a reward: when the girl cried, the tears shed would turn into strings of pearls and silver; of golden pomegranate seeds; and as she washed her hands, all sorts of fish would fall from between her fingers.

One day, there was nothing to eat at home, and my father and sisters were listless from hunger.The third daughter suddenly tried to wash her hands, and sure enough, the washbasin was immediately full of fish.The two sisters were jealous, and insisted that there must be some kind of witchcraft in it, and that the father had better shut her up in the attic. From the window of the attic, the girl could see the garden of the palace, where the king's son was playing football.Kicking and kicking, accidentally, the prince slipped and fell, and fell to his buttocks.The girl couldn't help laughing.She smiled, and golden pomegranate seeds fell like raindrops.The prince could not tell where the golden pomegranate seeds had fallen, for the girl quickly closed the window.

The next day, the prince came to the garden to play football again. He found a pomegranate tree growing in the garden. The pomegranate tree grew very tall and bore fruit.The prince asked people to pick the pomegranate fruit, but the pomegranate tree grew taller, just higher than a palm;Seeing that people couldn't even pick a single leaf, the king summoned some wise men around him and asked them to figure out what the magical power of this tree was.One of the oldest wise men said that only a girl can pick these pomegranates, and this girl will be the prince's bride. The king immediately sent someone to post a notice, asking every girl to be married to try to pick pomegranates in the palace garden, and those who disobeyed the order would be beheaded.As a result, girls from every household came, but no matter how high the ladders they used, they couldn't reach the fruit.The farmer's two eldest daughters also came, but soon fell off the ladder.The king sent people to continue to search each house to see if there was any missing girl. In this way, the girl who was locked in the attic was found.No sooner had she been brought to the tree than the branch dropped down and delivered pomegranates to her hands.Everyone shouted in amazement: "She is the bride! She is the bride!" Among them, the prince shouted the most.

The wedding was ready, and the two sisters, who had always been jealous, were invited to the wedding.The three sisters entered the palace in the same carriage.When the carriage passed through a forest, it stopped.The two sisters let the younger sister get out of the car, cut off her hands, gouged out her eyes, and threw her in the bushes as a dead person.The eldest sister put on the bride's clothes and went to meet the prince.The prince was puzzled when he saw that the bride had become so ugly for a moment, but because the elder sister and the younger sister looked alike, the prince felt that he had been mistaken.

The girl who lost her eyes and hands was crying in the woods.At this time a groom happened to pass by. He took pity on her and helped her onto his donkey so that he could take her home.The girl asked the groom to look at the ground, and saw that the ground was covered with pearls and silver turned from the girl's tears. The groom sold these things and got more than a thousand lire.In this way, although the girl has no hands, eyes, can't work, and can't take care of the family, her life is quite satisfactory. One day, the girl felt a snake wrapped around one of her legs. It was her old friend, the snake she had taken care of.The snake said to her, "Do you know that your sister married the prince, and when the old king died, she became queen, and now she is pregnant, and she wants figs very much."

Then the girl said to the groom, "Take a bag of figs on your back and send it to the queen at the palace." The groom said: "How can you find figs in this season?" It was winter. However, in the morning, the groom came to the garden to have a look, and found that the fig tree had really produced fruit, and there were only fruits without a leaf.He filled two baskets and put them on the donkey's back. "What should I charge for these winter figs?" asked the groom. The girl said, "You just said that you want to change a pair of eyeballs." The groom made a request according to the girl's words, but neither the queen, the king, nor the queen's sister were willing to gouge out their own eyeballs.The two sisters discussed it and said, "Then give him the pair of little sister's eyeballs. What's the use of keeping them?" In this way, they exchanged the sister's pair of eyeballs for two baskets of figs.

The groom brought back the pair of eyeballs and gave them to the girl. After the girl put them back together, she could see things again as before. Later, the queen wanted to eat peaches again, so the king sent someone to the groom and asked him if he could find peaches like he found figs.The next morning, the peach tree in the courtyard of the groom's house really grew peaches, and he immediately carried them to the palace with his donkey.The king and queen asked him how much he wanted, and the groom said, "I need to change hands." But no one wants to cut off his own hands, not even those who want to please the king.The queen sisters discussed in private again: "Give him the hands of the younger sister."

The girl got her own hands, which were reattached to her arms, and she moved as before. Soon the queen went into labor and gave birth to a scorpion.Nevertheless, the king also held a feast in her honor, and invited all the people to it.The little sister dressed like a queen and was the prettiest girl at the party.The king fell in love with her, and when he fell in love with her, he found that she was the bride he had set his eyes on earlier.The girl told the king about her experiences, laughing and crying while laughing, golden pomegranate seeds fell from her head when she laughed, and tears turned into strings of pearls when she cried , When washing hands, the basin is full of live fish.

The two vicious older sisters and the newly born scorpion were dragged to a high pile of firewood and burned to death.On the same day, the king and his younger sister held a grand wedding ceremony. They lived a life of luxury and cruelty I hide behind the door and starve, I went back to the inn to eat My story ends here. (Monferrato area) The Snake A farmer went out mowing everyday, and at noon one or the other of his three daughters would bring him his lunch. On a certain day it fell to the oldest girl to go. By the time she reached the woods, though, she was tired and sat down on a stone to rest a minute before proceeding to the meadow. No sooner had she took a seat than she felt a strong thud underneath, and out crawled a snake. The girl dropped the basket and ran home as fast as her legs would carry her. That day the father went hungry and when he came in from the field he scolded his daughters angrily.

The next day the middle girl started out. She too sat down on the stone, and the same thing occurred as the day before. Then the third girl said, "Its my turn now, but Im not afraid." Instead of one lunch basket , she prepared two. When she felt the thud and saw the snake, she gave it one of the baskets of food, and the snake spoke. "Take me home with you, and I will bring you luck." The girl put the snake in her apron and then went on to her father with his lunch. When she got back home, she placed the snake under her bed. It grew so rapidly that soon it was too big to fit under the bed, so it went away. Before leaving, however, it bestowed three charms on the girl: weeping, she would shed tears of pearl and silver; laughing, she would see golden pomegranate seeds fall from her head; and washing her hands, she would produce fish of every kind. That day there was nothing in the house to eat, and her father and sisters were weak from the hunger, so what did she do but wash her hands and see the basin fill up with fish! Her sisters became envious and convinced their father that there was something strange behind all this and that he would be wise to lock the girl up in the attic. From the attic window the girl looked into the kings garden, where the kings son was playing ball. Running after the ball, he slipped and fell, sending the girl into peals of laughter. As she laughed, gold pomegranate seeds rained from her head on the garden. The kings son had no idea where they came from, for the girl had slammed the window. Returning to the garden next day to play ball, the kings son noticed that a pomegranate tree had sprung up. It was already quite tall and laden with fruit. He went to pick the pomegranates, but the tree grew taller right before his eyes, and all he had to do was reach for a pomegranate and the branches would rise a foot beyond his grasp. Since nobody managed to pluck so much as one leaf of the tree, the king assembled the wise men to explain the magic spell. they all said that only one maiden would be able to pick the fruit and that she would become the bride of the kings son. So the king issued a proclamation for all marriageable girls to come to the garden, under pain of death, to try to pick the pomegranates. Girls of every race and station showed up, but no ladders were ever long enough for them to reach the fruit Among the contestants were the farmers two older daughters, but they fell off the ladder and landed flat on their backs. The king had the houses searched and found other girls, including the one locked up in the attic. As soon as they took her to the tree, the branches bent down and placed the pomegranates right in her hands. Everyone cheered, "Thats the bride, thats the bride!" with the kings son shouting loudest of all. Preparations were made for the wedding, to which the sisters, as envious as ever, were invited. They all three rode in the same carriage, which drew to a halt in the middle of a forest. The older girls ordered the younger one out of the carriage, cur off her hands, gouged out her eyes, and left her lying unconscious in the bushes. Then the oldest girl dressed in the wedding gown and went to the kings son. He couldn't understand why shed became so ugly, but since she Faintly resembled the other girl, he decided hed been mistaken all along about her original beauty. Eyeless and handleless, the maiden remained in the forest weeping. A carter came by and had pity on her. He seated her on his mule and took her to his house. She told him to look down: the ground was strewed with silver and pearls , which were none other than the girls tears. The carter took them and sold them for more than a thousand crowns. How glad he was to have taken the poor girl in, even if she was unable to work and help the family. One day the girl felt a snake wrap around her leg: it was the snake she had once befriended. "Did you know your sister married the kings son and became queen, since the old king died? Now shes expecting a baby and wants figs. " The girl said to the carter, "Load a mule with figs and take them to the queen." "Where am I going to get figs this time of year?" asked the carter. It happened to be winter. But the next morning he went into the garden and found the fig tree laden with fruit, even though there wasn't a leaf on the tree. He filled up two baskets and loaded them onto his donkey. "How high a price can I ask for figs in winter?" said the carter. "Ask for a pair of eyes," replied the maiden. That he did, but neither the king nor the queen nor her other sister would have ever gouged out their eyes. So the sisters talked the matter over. "Lets give him our sisters eyes, which are of no use to us." With those eyes they purchased the figs. The carter returned to the maiden with the eyes. She put them back in place and saw again as well as ever. Then the queen had a desire for peaches, and the king sent to the carter asking if he couldn't find some peaches the way he found figs. The next morning the peach tree in the carts garden was laden with peaches, and he took a load to court at once on his donkey. When they asked him what he wanted for them, he replied, "A pair of hands." But nobody would cut off their hands, not even to please the king. Then the sisters talked the matter over. "Lets give him our sisters." When the girl got her hands back, she reattached them to her arms and was as sound as ever. Not long afterward, the queen went into labor and brought forth a scorpion. The king nonetheless gave a ball, to which everybody was invited. The girl went dressed as a queen and was the belle of the ball. The king fell in love with her and realized she was his true bride. She laughed golden seeds, wept pearls, and washed fish into the basin, as she told her story from start to finish. The two wicked sisters and the scorpion were burned on a pyre skyhigh. On the same day the grand wedding banquet took place. They put on the dog and high did they soar; I saw, I heard, I hid behind the door. Then to dine repaired I to the inn, And there my story draws to an end. (Monferrato) NOTES: "The Snake" (La Biscia) from Comparetti, 25, Monferrato, Piedmont. The luxuriant story from The Facetious Nights (III, 3) about Biancabella and the serpent, one of Straparolas finest, is here told, on the contrary, in bare rustic simplicity, in the midst of meadows ready for a mowing, fruits, and seasons . The episode of the pomegranate tree with its fruit that cannot be plucked was added by me to fill out a somewhat sketchy passage in the Piedmontese version. I took it from a Tuscan variant (Gradi), based on motifs from this tale and others, where supernatural help comes from a red and gold fish. Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980