Chapter 110 109. Beautiful Venice

Once upon a time, a mother and daughter opened an elegant small hotel, and the king and prince always stopped here when they passed by.The hostess is called Belle Venezia, and when the tourists sit down at the table, she always goes up to them and asks, "Where are you from?" "Milan." "Did you ever see a more beautiful woman than me in Milan?" "No, I've never seen a more beautiful woman than you." When paying the bill, Beautiful Venice said: "It should be ten scudos, well, you can give me five." Because whoever tells her that she has never seen a more beautiful woman than her, she will be happy. Make people pay half price.

"Where are you from?" "Turin." "Is there a more beautiful woman in Turin than I am?" "No, we've never seen a more beautiful woman than you." Finally, when it was time to pay the bill, she said, "It should be six scudos, but you can give me three." One day, the hostess asked a traveler as usual: "Have you ever seen a woman more beautiful than me?" At this time, her daughter happened to pass by the hall, and the guest replied: "Yes, I have." "who is it?" "Your daughter." This time, Beautiful Venice said at the checkout: "It should be eight scutos, but you have to give me sixteen."

In the evening, the female shopkeeper called a man who was washing dishes, "Go to the beach and build me a hut with only one small window, and then shut my daughter in." In this way, the daughter of the beautiful Venice was shut up in that hut by the sea all day long, listening to the tide of the sea, but seeing no one.Only the boy who washed the dishes brought her bread and water every day.But even though she was locked up, she became more and more beautiful every day. A stranger rode by the seaside on horseback, saw this closed hut, and walked over.Through the small window he saw the girl's face in the dark, the most beautiful face he had ever seen.He was a little overwhelmed, and hurried the horse away.

In the evening, he lodged in a small hotel in beautiful Venice. "Where do you come from?" the shopkeeper asked him. "Rome." "Have you ever seen a more beautiful woman than me?" "Yes, I have." The stranger replied. "Where?" "Shut up in a hut by the sea." "Here is the bill: there are ten scutos, and I have to charge you thirty." At night, Beautiful Venice asked the guy, "I said, do you want to marry me?" Being able to marry the shopkeeper, the boy couldn't believe his ears. "If you want to marry me, you have to take my daughter into the forest and kill her. If you can bring back her eyes and a bottle full of her blood, I will marry you."

The boy wanted very much to marry the shopkeeper.However, he really couldn't bear to kill the beautiful and kind girl, so he took her into the forest and released her. In order to bring back eyes and blood to the beautiful Venice, he killed a purebred kid.In this way, the shopkeeper married him. The girl was crying and shouting alone in the forest, but no one heard her.As night fell, she saw a little light in the distance, and she walked over. She heard many people talking, and she was terrified, and hid behind a big tree.This is a rocky, inaccessible place, twelve thieves stopped in front of a white rock.One of them said: "Desert, open the door!" The white rock opened like a gate, and the inside was brightly lit, like a big palace.Twelve thieves entered, and the last one said: "Desert, close the door!" The rock closed behind him.The girl hid behind a big tree and waited.After a while, someone in the cave shouted: "Desert, open the door!" The door opened, and twelve thieves came out in a file, and the last one who came out shouted: "Desert, close the door!"

After the thieves had gone far, the girl came to the white rock and shouted: "Desert, open the door!" The door opened for her, and the lights inside were brightly lit.She walked in and said, "Desert, close the door!" In the cave was a dining table that could seat twelve people. On the table were twelve plates, twelve loaves of bread, and twelve bottles of wine.In the kitchen, a dozen chickens sit on a skewer ready to be baked.The girl put everything in order, made twelve beds, and roasted twelve chickens.Hungry, she ate a wing of each chicken, took a bite out of each piece of bread, and drank a sip from each cup.When she heard the thieves coming back, she hurriedly hid under the bed.The twelve thieves were bewildered to find everything in order, the beds remade and the chickens cooked.Then, they found that every chicken was missing a wing, every piece of bread was bitten off, and every glass of wine was missing a bite, so they said: "Someone must have been here." One of them stayed on guard.

The one who remained was the shortest of the thieves, and while he was on guard outside the cave, the girl came out from under the bed, packed up all her things, and ate twelve chicken wings, biting each on twelve pieces of bread. One sip, twelve sips of wine. "You trash!" said the leader of the thieves when he came back and saw that his home had been visited again.He sent another man to keep watch.But this man also went outside the cave entrance, but the girl was inside the cave. In this way, for eleven consecutive days, all the thieves tried to keep the house safe, but each time they humiliated themselves and did not find the girl.

On the twelfth day, the leader of the thieves stood guard in person. Instead of going out, he stayed in the cave. When he saw the girl crawling out from under the bed, he grabbed her by the arm and said, "Don't be afraid. Since you are here, Just stay, we'll treat you like a little sister." So the girl stayed, and stayed with the thieves, and took care of everything for them, and they brought her jewels, gold coins, rings, and earrings every night. The youngest of the thieves always likes to dress up like a lord to steal, and he always stays in high-end hotels.One evening he came to dine at an inn in beautiful Venice.

"Where do you come from?" the shopkeeper asked him. "From the depths of the wood," replied the thief. "Have you ever seen a more beautiful woman than me?" "Yes, I have." said the thief. "Who is she?" "A girl with us." In this way, Beautiful Venice knew that her daughter was still alive. Every day an old woman came to the inn to beg. The old woman was a witch.Beautiful Venice promised the witch half of her property on the condition that the witch must find her daughter and kill her. One day, when all the thieves were out, the girl sang at the window.At this time, an old woman passed by and shouted: "Broches for sale! Brooches for sale! Pretty girl, let me in, please? I'll show you a hairpin, it's amazing to wear it on your head."

The girl let her in, and the old woman pretended to put a hairpin in the girl's hair, but actually stuck the hairpin into the girl's head.The girl is dead. When the thieves came back and found the girl dead, they all wept, although they were usually hard-hearted.They chose a large hollow tree trunk and buried the girl in it. The king's son went hunting.He came running when he heard the hounds howling, and all the hounds were pawing at a tree trunk.The king's son looked inside, and there was a very beautiful girl who was dead. "If you lived, I would marry you," said the king's son, "but though you are dead, I cannot part with you." He blew his horn, and summoned his hunters, and told them to carry the girl back to royal palace.He locked the girl in a room, of which the queen, his mother, knew nothing, and spent the whole day in that room, gazing at the dead beauty.

Suspicious, his mother broke into the room suddenly: "Ah! That's why you don't want to go out! But she's dead! What else can you do to her?" "Whether she is dead or alive, I can't live without her!" "At least you should have her hair combed!" said the queen, and sent for the court barber.The court barber began to comb her hair, but the comb broke in two.So he took another comb, which was also broken.In this way, the combs broke one after another, seven in a row. "What's on this girl's head?" said the court barber, "I'd like to see." He found a hairpin and carefully took it off. It also opened, and began to breathe again. She let out a long sigh of relief: "Oh!" and stood up. So, the prince and the girl held a wedding.The wedding banquet has been placed in the street.Whoever wants to eat is free to eat, or not to eat. O God! Please give every sinner a hen! I am a little sinner, Please give me a hen and a chick! (Abruzzo region)