Chapter 74 73. Travelers in Turin

Once upon a time there lived a gentleman in the city of Turin who had three sons.The eldest was Giuseppe, a quick-witted young man who often dreamed of traveling: he longed to see Constantinople.His father didn't want him to go, he wanted him to marry and have children so that his property could be passed on to him; but Giuseppe was obsessed with traveling.Later, the second son got married, and the father felt that the second son could inherit his career and continue to spread his reputation; so he agreed to let Giuseppe travel.Giuseppe took a large trunk full of luggage, trinkets, and money, and set sail for Constantinople.

There was a great storm on the sea, the ship pitched up and down, and the sailors could no longer control it.The boat deviated from its course and hit the rocks.All the people were swept away by the big waves and drowned.Giuseppe left the sinking ship and rode on the big box which he refused to leave for half a step, so he was tossed and tossed by the storm all night, until the wind took him to the sand of an island, when When the sun rose from the sea, the sea returned to calm.The island seemed uninhabited, and was covered with green trees, and the trees were full of fruit. When Giuseppe was looking around the island, a group of natives wearing animal skins suddenly appeared.Giuseppe approached them, begged to stay on the island, and asked if they would carry the box for him, but he could not make them understand what he meant.Giuseppe took out a gold coin to the natives, but they stood there bewildered.He showed them the watch again, and they remained unmoved, as if he had shown them a shoe heel.He also took out a pocket knife, and he used it to cut the branches. Only then did the group of natives show interest, and they all stretched out their hands for the pocket knife.Giuseppe hastily gestured that he would only give the knife to their chief.So they helped him carry the box, and brought him to the cave where the king lived.Giuseppe soon befriended the king and taught them the language in the king's cave.He also taught the natives how to do many things they didn't understand. For example, he found mud and clay on the island, and he taught them how to burn bricks and build houses.The king appointed him governor, and married his daughter to Giuseppe.This gave Giuseppe a dilemma: he had fallen in love with a beautiful girl on the island, and the king's daughter was the ugliest woman he had ever seen.But he was alone among a group of savages, living on an island from which he could not escape, so he dared not offend the king.He must agree to the marriage.He can only part with the girl he loves sadly, but they have made a lifelong promise in private.Giuseppe married the king's daughter, while his pretty girl married an old fisherman, so as not to attract suspicion.The man of Turin lived as well as a king, and was as good as he could be; what was lacking in him was happiness, and he felt like a prisoner there.He regretted not listening to his father.

Suddenly, the king's daughter fell ill and died.The whole country held a great funeral, and the king was so distraught that he couldn't stop crying.To comfort him, Giuseppe said: "Your Majesty, please listen to me, you must endure this pain. You have lost your daughter, but I am with you." "Ah!" said the king, "I cry not only for the loss of my daughter, but also for the loss of you!" "Losing me?" cried Giuseppe, "what do you mean, sire?" "Don't you understand our laws here?" asked the king. "If one of the husband and wife dies, the other must be buried with him. This is the law and custom, and you are no exception."

Giuseppe cried and screamed, but to no avail.The funeral procession began to set off.People carried the coffin of the wife dressed as a queen in front, followed by Giuseppe who was already frightened out of his wits, and finally the mourning crowd.The tomb is a huge underground cave, which is usually covered with a large stone slab.The slabs were opened and the dead and their belongings were placed inside for burial.Giuseppe wanted his great chest full of treasures to be buried with him, and he was given enough food for five days and a lamp.After the ceremony, people sealed the hole with large stone slabs and left Giuseppe in the tomb with the dead body.

Giuseppe tried to see what was going on in the cave by the light.It was full of dead bodies, some of which had just died, and some of which were nothing but a pile of bones.The dead were surrounded by piles of gold, silver and jewels.All wealth, Giuseppe thought, meant nothing to a man who had been ruined by barbaric customs here.Frustrated and exhausted, he sat on his suitcase while pulling his watch out of his pocket, looking at the time, and preparing himself for death.After midnight, he thought he heard footsteps. He opened his eyes and looked around, and saw an animal like a big bull go into the hole.The animal approached a corpse, took its teeth between the dead man's hair, flung it through the air, hoisted the corpse on its back, and disappeared into the darkness.The next night at the same time, the animal came again and took another carcass.This time, Giuseppe followed it.At the end of the cave was a passage that went down and, judging from the churning waters at the bottom of the passage, led down to the sea.This discovery made him elated, and now he had the confidence to escape from the grave alive, but with a lot of treasure at hand, he didn't want to go out empty-handed.So he decided to postpone his escape until the next day, because it was almost dawn now, and he didn't want to be discovered by the people on the island.

All day he was busy collecting the treasure he was going to take away.At this time, he heard the dirge sung at funerals, the large stone slab at the entrance of the cave was opened, and the body of a man was thrown down, followed by a living woman with a lamp and a basket of food in her hand.Giuseppe hid behind a large rock, ready to reappear after the funeral.When the woman saw Giuseppe's box in the tomb, she went over and cried: "My poor Giuseppe! You may be dead now, and I have suffered the same unfortunate fate!" Sepe recognized the woman as his former lover.He jumped out, hugged her and said, "No, I'm not dead yet, and I don't want to die either. I want to escape from this grave with you."

The woman was startled by Giuseppe's presence, and when she saw that he was still alive, she said, "No one ever gets out of here alive. Why do you think so?" Giuseppe gave her Explaining his discovery, they ate together the food the woman had brought, and waited for the bull to arrive. The bull came and carried the corpse on its back, and Giuseppe followed it quietly. Finally, he saw the moonlight shining on the sea at the bottom of the cave, and the bull swam away with the corpse on its back.Giuseppe also jumped into the sea, swam around the island for a while, then landed in the dark, and came to the mouth of the tomb. Going down, the woman was waiting anxiously at the bottom of the cave. When she saw the rope, she tied things on the rope as much as possible.He drew up the hide bag full of gold, silver and jewels, then his great chest, and finally his lover.

After the two of them escaped from the cave with their things, they ran directly to another country on the island, and reached there before dawn.They met the king, told their stories, and they were invited to live in the king's palace. Giuseppe lived there for many years and had three boys.Although he had everything there and became an important minister, he often wanted to return to Turin, his birthplace.So he played around and built a big ship.He took his wife to sea, and returned that evening, dispelling the king's suspicions.But one calm night he took his wife and son and his great chest and all his gold and jewels aboard, and they sailed farther and farther, till the island was far behind and out of sight.He vaguely saw a big ship in the distance under the moonlight, so he blew on the Seaman for help.This is a ship going to Constantinople.Giuseppe's youthful dreams finally come true when he arrives there and opens a jewelry store with jewels brought from the graves of the dead.Afterwards he returned happily to Turin with his treasure, where his old father was still waiting for him.

(Montale Pistoia area)