Chapter 17 twelve cows

Twelve Cows & Italian Fairy Tales There were once twelve brothers who quarreled with their father and left home together.They built a house in the forest and made a living as carpenters.The parents gave birth to another daughter, and she became the sustenance of the two elders' life.The younger sister has grown up, she has only heard about the twelve brothers, but she has never met them, and she is very eager to see them. Once, when the younger sister went to the spring to take a bath, she first took off the coral necklace she was wearing and hung it on a branch.Just a crow flew by, picked up the necklace and flew away.The younger sister ran into the forest after the crow, and met the house where the older brothers lived.There was no one in the room, so the little girl cooked a pot of noodles, put them on a plate, and hid under the bed.When the twelve brothers came home, they saw that the noodles were cooked and served on a plate, so they ate them.After eating, they were all a little scared, worried that the witch was playing a trick on them, because there were many witches in this forest.

The next day, the twelve brothers left one person guarding the room when he found a girl jumping out from under the bed.When the brothers knew that she was not a witch but a little sister they had never met, they all cheered for joy, and they wanted her to stay and live with them.But they told her not to speak to anyone in the forest, for the forest was full of witches. One evening, the fire went out, but the younger sister wanted to prepare dinner for her brothers.In order to save time, she went to a nearby hut to borrow a fire.An old woman lived in the hut. She enthusiastically agreed to lend the little sister a fire, but offered an exchange: the next day she would come and suck some blood from the little sister's little finger.

The younger sister said: "I can't open the door to anyone, my brothers don't agree." The old woman said: "You don't need to open the door. When you hear the knock on the door, just put your little finger into the keyhole and let me suck a few times." In this way, the old woman came to suck the younger sister's blood every night, and the younger sister's face became paler and paler.The elder brothers felt that something was wrong, so they asked the younger sister, and the younger sister told her about letting the witch suck her blood in exchange for borrowing fire from the witch.The brothers said, "Let us deal with this matter."

The witch came again. After knocking on the door, she didn't see the girl's finger sticking out, so the witch stuck her head in through the cat hole under the door.A brother was waiting for her with an axe, and when the ax fell, the witch's head was chopped off.Then the brothers threw the witch's body down the valley. One day, Xiaomei went to the spring and met another old woman who was selling white bowls. "I have no money for it," said the girl. "I'll give it to you for nothing," said the old woman. In this way, when the brothers returned home with thirsty mouths, they saw twelve white bowls filled with water at a glance. They drank them all in one gulp, and all of them turned into cows at once.Only the twelfth brother, who was not as thirsty as the others, drank only a sip of water and turned into a sheep.The little girl had to live alone with the eleven cows and one sheep, feeding them every day.

On this day, a prince went hunting in the forest and lost his way. He went to the little sister's house and fell in love with her.The prince told her that he wanted to marry her, and she replied that she must take her twelve oxen and goats with her, and could not leave them alone.The prince returned to the palace with her and her twelve elder brothers, and the younger sister became his bride and princess, and the eleven cows and one sheep were put into a stable made of marble and made of gold. trough.But the witch in the forest is not reconciled.One day, the princess took the sheep brother—she always carried it with her—to a walk under the grape arbor, and an old woman appeared.

"Good princess, can you give me a bunch of grapes?" "Okay, old lady, you can pick whatever you want." The princess replied. "I can't build a grape trellis, kind princess, help me pick it." "Here we come." The princess said, reaching out to pick a bunch of grapes. "Pick the bunch of ripe grapes over there." The old woman pointed to the bunch of grapes on the pond. The princess climbed up the side wall of the pond in order to get the bunch of grapes, when the old woman went up and pushed her, and the princess fell down.When Brother Yang saw it, he bleated around the pond, but no one could understand what it was calling, and they couldn't hear the princess moaning under the pond.At this time, the witch turned into a princess and lay on the bed.The prince came home and asked, "Why are you lying on the bed, are you uncomfortable?"

The fake princess replied, "I'm not feeling well and I need some lamb. You have that sheep that screeches and kills me." The prince said, "Do you remember what you said to me before? You said that sheep was your brother, and now you are going to eat it?" The witch has shown her feet!She froze there not knowing what to say.The prince realized that something was wrong. He came to the garden and followed the desperately screaming sheep to the pond.When he reached the pond, the prince heard his wife calling to him.The prince exclaimed: "Why did you get to the bottom of the pond? You were still on the bed just now. Didn't I just leave you?"

"No, I've been down here since morning, and a witch pushed me down." The prince rescued his wife immediately.He sent someone to catch the witch and burn her to death.As the fire burned to the witch's hands, legs, and elbows little by little, one cow became human again, and the other became human again, and all the cows and sheep became human again, and they were all very strong, as if A band of mighty giants broke into the castle.They were all crowned princes, and I was as poor a man as ever. (Monferrato area) The Twelve Oxen There were twelve brothers who fell out with their father, and all twelve of them left home. They built themselves a house in the woods and made their living as carpenters. Meanwhile their parents had a baby girl, who was a great comfort to them. The child grew up without ever meeting her twelve brothers. She had only heard them mentioned, and she longed to see them.

One day she went to bathe at a fountain, and the first thing she did was remove her coral necklace and hang it on a twig. A raven came by, grabbed the necklace, and flew off with it. The girl ran into the woods after the raven and found her brothers house. No one was at home, so she cooked the noodles, spooned them onto the brothers plates, and hid under a bed. The brothers returned and, finding the noodles ready and waiting, sat down and ate. But then they grew uneasy, suspecting the witches had played a joke on them, for the woods were full of witches. One of the twelve kept watch the next day and saw the girl jump out from under the bed. When the brothers learned she was not a witch but their own little sister, they made a great to-do over her and insisted that she remained with them. But they cautioned her to speak to no one in the woods, because the place was full of witches.

One evening when the girl went to prepare supper, she found that the fire had gone out. To save time, she went to a nearby cottage to get a light. An old woman at the cottage graciously gave her the light, but said that, In exchange, she would come to the girl on the morrow and suck a bit of blood from her little finger. "I cant let anyone in the house," said the girl. "My brothers forbid it." "You dont even have to open the door," replied the old woman. "When I knock, all you have to do is stick your little finger through the keyhole, and Ill suck it."

So the old woman came by every evening to suck the blood from her, while the girl grew paler and paler. Her brothers noticed it and asked her so many questions that she admitted going to an old witch for a light and having to pay for it with her blood. "Just let us take care of her," said the brothers. The witch arrived, knocked, and when the girl failed to stick her finger through the keyhole, she poked her head through the cat door. One of the brothers had his hatchet all ready and chopped off her head. ravine. One day on the way to the fountain, the girl met another old woman, who was selling white bowls. "I have no money," said the girl. "In that case I'll make you a present of them," said the old woman. So when the brothers came home thirsty, they found twelve bowls filled with water. They pitched in and drank, and instantly changed into a herd of oxen. Only the twelfth, whose thirst was slight, barely touched the water and turned into a lamb. The sister therefore found herself alone with eleven oxen and one lamb to feed every day. A prince out hunting went astray in the woods and, turning up at the girls house, fell in love with her. He asked her to marry him, but she replied that she had to think of her oxen brothers and couldn't possibly leave them. prince took her to his palace along with all the brothers. The girl became his princess bride, and the eleven oxen and the lamb were put into a marble barn with gold mangers. But the witches in the woods did not give up. One day the princess was strolling under the grape arbor with her lambkin brother that she always carried with her, when an old woman walked up to her. "Will you give me a bunch of grapes, my good princess?" "Yes, dear old soul, help yourself." "I can't reach up that high, please pick them for me." "Right away," said the princess, reaching up for a bunch. "Pick that bunch there, they're the ripest," said the old woman, pointing to a bunch above the cistern. To reach it, the princess had to stand on the rim of the cistern. The old woman gave her a push, and the princess fell in. The lamb started bleating, and bleated all around the cistern, but nobody understood what it was bleating about , nor did they hear the princess moaning down in the well. Meanwhile the witch had taken the princesss shape and got into her bed. When the prince came home, he asked, "What are you doing in bed?" "Im sick," said the false princess. "I need to eat a morsel of lamb. Slaughter me that one out there that wont stop bleating." "Didn't you tell me some time ago," asked the prince, "that the lamb was your brother? And you want to eat him now?" The witch had blundered and was at a loss for words. The prince, sensing that something was amiss, went into the garden and followed the lamb that was bleating so pitifully. It approached the cistern, and the prince heard his wife calling. "What are you doing at the bottom of the cistern?" he exclaimed. "Didn't I just leave you in bed?" "No, I've been down here ever since this morning! A witch threw me in!" The prince ordered his wife pulled up at once. The witch was caught and burned at the stake. While the fire burned, the oxen and also the lamb slowly turned back into fine, strapping young men, and youd have thought the castle had been invaded by a band of giants. They were all made princes, while Ive stayed as poor a soul as ever. (Monferrato) NOTES: "The Twelve Oxen" (I dodici buoi) from Comparetti, 47, Monferrato, Piedmont. The folktales about the sister who rescues her brother or brothers changed into animals can be divided into two groups: the one where the seven sons are under a curse (as in Basile, IV, 8, or in Grimm, 9 and 25), and the other where the sole brother is transformed into a lamb (as in Grimm, 11, or in my no. 178). The brothers are most commonly transformed into birds (swans, ravens, doves), and the first literary manifestation of the motif dates back to the twelfth century; the latest is possibly Andersens "Wild Swans." Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino, translated by George Martin, Pantheon Books, New York 1980