The Tale of Tales

by Giambattista Basile

  27. I.e., to be hung from the two posts and crossbeam of the gallows.

  28. A game in which one top is spun violently against another top that is already spinning on the ground, until it breaks. By association, “at random” or “by chance” (Croce 584).

  29. The gallows, here compared to a sewing mistress who orders the hanged to do the hem-stitch with his dangling feet (which make the same rapid movements as the hands of a seamstress) (Guarini and Burani 421; Rak 698).

  30. capo de la Rota (Neap.): “The tribunal of the Vicaria in Naples was divided into four sections, or ruote, two civil and two criminal, and each was headed by a councilor (caporota)” (Croce 366).

  31. Again, the three posts of the gallows.

  32. Macaronic Latin for “throwing out a hook” (i.e., stealing) (Croce 367).

  *. AT 552A: Three Animals as Brothers-in-Law. Penzer comments, “This tale of the animal princes is a great favorite, and is found, in some form or other, in all the most important collections.” In Grimm it is no. 197 (“The Crystal Ball”), and in Italy variants can be found in Crane, Pitrè (Fiabe, nov. e racc. sic. 16 and Nov. tosc. 11), and Gonzenbach (29), among others. Penzer also discusses the “ring of recognition” motif, common in folktales the world over and present, in Italy, in tale 10.9 of Boccaccio’s Decameron. “It is one of the accepted methods of ‘declaring presence,’ and becomes a most useful deus ex machina to introduce at critical moments. In some cases the ring is merely handed by one person to another, but more often it is slipped unawares into a cup of wine by the lover or husband in disguise. In some cases the ring is broken and each person keeps half” (2:26).

  1. “A formula used when shaking hands” (Rak 714).

  2. “When someone loves it can be felt even through a gloved handshake” (Croce 372), or “a formula used to apologize for not taking off one’s glove before shaking hands” (Rak 914).

  3. See eclogue 1 (“The Crucible”) n13.

  4. A game consisting in getting an adversary to guess if one’s closed fist has something in it or not (as in the introduction to day 4) (Rak 714).

  5. Expression used to describe horses that make turns in a very small space (Croce 374).

  6. Tavern graffiti are also mentioned in tale 3.7.

  *. AT 501: The Three Old Women Helpers. The tale as a whole is quite similar to Grimm 14 (“The Three Spinners”), and also recalls 55 (“Rumpelstiltskin”) and 128 (“The Lazy Spinners”). See also Pitrè, Fiabe, nov. e racc. sic. 93, and Marie-Jeanne Lhéritier, “Ricdin-Ricdon” (in The Great Fairy Tale Tradition).

  1. Il lamento de Ianni, Antuoni e Parmieri de le lor disgrazie alla Napolitana was a popular booklet that was widely circulated at this time (Rak 48).

  2. Numerous chapbooks used by mountebanks and others had the land of Cockaigne as their subject. This was a utopian land of plenty in which the entire landscape offered itself up to be eaten. See, for example, the land of Bengodi described by Boccaccio in Decameron 8.3, in which “vines are tied with sausages and you could get a goose and a duck besides for a half penny, and there was a mountain entirely made of grated Parmesan cheese, on top of which there were people who did nothing but make macaroni and ravioli and cook them in capon broth, and then they rolled them down the mountain, and whoever grabbed the most, had the most; and down at the bottom there was a little river of the best Vernaccia wine that was ever drunk, without a drop of water in it” (908). See also Penzer’s extensive discussion of this topos, in which he offers examples of how it can be used “to describe abundance, plenty, peaceful ease and laziness; [or] as synonymous with what is impossible or non-existent” (2:32), and Giuseppe Cocchiara’s classic Il paese di Cuccagna.

  3. The proverb continues: “and by deceit and craft the rest of the time” (Croce 378).

  4. Metaphors for the sexual act.

  5. The mother of the bride held out her daughter’s finger for the wedding ring to be slipped on (Croce 584).

  6. vinte decina (Neap.): a decina was the equivalent of four rolls, or bolts.

  7. corinola (Neap.): wordplay with core (heart).

  8. See tale 2.10 n19.

  9. A devil, witch, or the like (Croce 381).

  10. I.e., to get diarrhea.

  11. For wetting one’s fingers while spinning.

  12. The doctor. For Galen (below), See tale 2.2 n5. The Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos lived from circa 460 to 370 BC.

  13. Like fresh feces (Guarini and Burani 438).

  14. Since the land where cabbages are grown cannot be used for cultivation of the precious grieco wine (Croce 383).

  *. “In the critical appendix to the Kinder- und Hausmärchen (3rd ed., 1856), Jacob Grimm noted a number of analogies between this tale and the saga of Siegfried: the secret birth of the hero, his humble first job, the bird’s advice and help, the enemy queen who instigated the hero to confront the dragon (who is her brother and whose life is tied to hers), and finally, the regenerative power of the dragon’s blood” (Guarini and Burani 450).

  1. The motif of the vengeful slaying of hundreds of women after their rape brings to mind the actions of King Shahriyar in the frame story of the Arabian Nights.

  2. a rollo (Neap.): “As in IV.2, to go down the list of the victims? Or in the sense of having made her pass through the cylinder (Span. rulo), or penis?” (Rak 750).

  3. I.e., hang him.

  4. Penzer notes how the motif of building castles in the air is renowned in Arabia, Syria, and the Near East and was familiar to the author of the books of Tobit and perhaps Daniel. It was known to Mohammed, is mentioned in the Koran, and appears in the Arabian Nights. Miuccio’s approach to the problem, however, differs from many other versions of the motif in that “by a cunning device [he] conformed to the words of the command, if not to its intended meaning” (2:41).

  5. da quatto pane a parte (Neap.): “of the sort who get four loaves of bread each.” “This would seem to be related to the name of settepanelle [seven little loaves of bread] that was given to servants. Here it is used to mean that due to the state of need to which the king was reduced, his servants each received 4, not 7, loaves of bread a week” (Croce 388).

  6. “Probably a popular saying that meant ‘what a skilled person like me is capable of’” (Croce 389).

  7. “As only some noblemen could do in the presence of the king, according to the dress code of the time” (Rak 750).

  8. See Penzer on the motifs of the “external soul” and the dragon’s blood. Regarding the first, he notes that it “occurs twice in our tale, but in two very different forms. Of these the first is the most curious: the life of the sorceress depending on her eyesight. It rather reminds us of the heel of Achilles. The second is the more usual form: when the dragon is slain, the Queen must die. However, the most usual form of all is where an individual hides his ‘soul’ in some object in an inaccessible place” (2:41).

  9. See tale 1.7 n29.

  10. contrapise (Neap.): lit., counterweights.

  11. Card games.

  12. fra nacca e pacca (Neap.): an expression taken from the chorus of a tarantella from Salerno that goes “fra nacca e pacca e nierve de vacca” (between the hip and the buttocks and the nerves of a cow) (Guarini and Burani 447).

  13. The mythological Giants Otus and Ephialtes attempted to climb mounts Olympus, Ossa, and Pelion, which were piled one on top of the other, in order to overthrow the gods (see Homer, Odyssey 11.305–20, among others; cit. Rak 750).

  14. On the poisonous effects of bull’s blood, see, e.g., Pliny, Natural History 11.90, 28.41 (cit. Croce 393).

  15. Wordplay: tumolo (grave) vs. tommola (a measure roughly equivalent to a bushel).

  *. Penzer discusses the motifs of longing for a child (also found in tales 1.2, 1.9, and 2.5), escaping one’s fate, a woman di
sguised as a man, and the forbidden door. The last motif often derives from a ritual or tribal taboo, and the imposer of the taboo is typically either a Bluebeard type, in which case the ending is most likely tragic, or a generic magic power, in which case the fatal curiosity may result in hardship but ultimately leads to a happy ending (2:52). For similar motifs, see Straparola 4.1 (“Costanza and Costanzo”); Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, “Belle-belle; or, “The Chevalier Fortuné”; Henriette Julie de Murat, “The Savage” (the last two in The Great Fairy Tale Tradition), Gonzenbach 9; and Pitrè, Fiabe, nov. e racc. sic. 75.

  1. “Allusion to the shoddy way that ‘modern’ harquebuses, or rifles, were constructed” (Croce 395). Basile served time as a soldier on Crete and thus had firsthand experience with firearms.

  2. Wordplay: busciardo (liar) vs. abruscia (burn).

  3. “Probably an allusion to the pygmy populations that were thought to exist in the Americas” (Croce 585).

  4. “The myth of Python, the serpent that infected the earth with his fumes and was killed by Apollo’s arrow, also symbolized the victory of the Sun over the winter (Ovid, Metamorphoses I, 434–47)” (Guarini and Burani 454).

  5. strangolaprievete (Neap.): “Today called strozzapreti [priest stranglers], this is a small, short pasta, similar in form to gnocchi, with a hollow pressed in the middle; it is cooked and treated like macaroni” (Croce 399).

  6. “Perhaps epithets that were given to Naples, such as the three of the expression ‘Gentile, Sirena e Sacra.’ Or, perhaps, an allusion to the proverb ‘Those who stay in Naples need three things: broccoli, wooden shoes, and traps’” (Croce 586).

  7. For the last two, see the frame tale (introduction to day 1 n21). “The first was called ‘of the wheelbarrow’ due perhaps to the cart that he either pushed or rode in because he was crippled or paralytic. Three chapbooks authored by Giovanni were reprinted without interruption until the 19th century: a Dialogo del povero e del ricco, a contrasto, Sdegno d’amanti, and the Istoria di Marzia Basile, the account of a murderess who was executed in 1603 [no relation to Giambattista]” (Croce 586).

  8. The echo was a favorite device in the poetry of the time, especially in pastoral dramas. Basile’s own marine pastoral, Le avventurose disavventure, has an echo scene (4.2).

  9. The winged staff entwined by two serpents that is carried by Mercury.

  10. Horns; i.e., to cuckold.

  11. The original reads: “Chi mi libera da sta forca?” (“Who will free me from these gallows?”), to which the echo answers: “Orca” (“ogress”).

  12. I.e., the executioner.

  *. AT 403: The Black and the White Bride, and AT 480: The Spinning-Women by the Spring and the Kind and the Unkind Girls (2:60). Penzer offers a number of variants of the “true bride” motif, both in Italian and non-Italian sources, and notes the resemblance to Grimm 135 (“The White Bride and the Black Bride”) and 24 (“Mother Holle”) (2:60). See also Straparola 3.3 (“Biancabella”), Perrault, “The Fairies,” Gonzenbach 33 and 34, Pitrè, Fiabe, nov. e racc. sic. 60, and Imbriani 25.

  1. “The resta was the hook found on armor that was used as support for the lance in the course of tournaments or battles. Here, the reference is to a ring contest” (Rak 786).

  2. damme e dotte (Neap.): “Perhaps in imitation of the sound of bells” (Croce 586).

  3. “Doctors would travel by mule, accompanied by their assistants on foot” (Croce 408).

  4. “Mercury was used to treat lice. But they are so copious in this case that they would counter mercury and, as if by alchemy, stop its actions” (Croce 409).

  5. “In the first eclogue of the Muse napolitane Basile calls someone who thinks he’s great the ‘mayor of Chiunzo.’ The Chiunzo was a mountain near Tramonti (on the Amalfi coast), and its name appears in various proverbial sayings” (Croce 587). Today chiunzo or chionzo means “idiot” (Guarini and Burani 466).

  6. See tale 3.3 n20.

  7. Lice offend—offendono (but also bite) the witnesses—testimoni (but also testicles) (Rak 786).

  8. A type of almond paste made in Naples, especially during the Christmas period (Rak 786).

  9. Venus, mother of the blindfolded Cupid.

  10. capopuopolo (Neap.): “The ‘leaders of the people’ who incited the lower classes were familiar to Neapolitans, who might remember, among others, Fucillo, whom the viceroy Pedro de Toledo had had strangled and exhibited to the rioters. More recent capipopolo took part in demonstrations at the time of the viceroy Ossuna, and were the predecessors of Masaniello [who would attempt to orchestrate a full-scale popular revolt in 1647]” (Croce 587).

  11. Another dance similar to the Sfessania (see introduction to day 1 n6).

  12. Sappers were regular members of armies.

  13. “Incendiary barrels were among the most popular spectacles in nocturnal light shows” (Rak 787).

  *. AT 451: The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brother. Penzer notes similarities with a Bolognese story, as well as with Grimm 9 (“The Twelve Brothers”), 25 (“The Seven Ravens”), and 29 (“The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs”) (2:71).

  1. Cato Dionysius, Disticha 3.20: “In conversations among table companions make sure you keep a moderate tone; / do not be too chatty if you want your speech to be elegant and urbane” (cit. Croce 414).

  2. A village, and now commune, in the province of Naples, district of Casoria (8.5 kilometers from Naples).

  3. “A playful expression; as if children lost their ears as they do their teeth” (Croce 415).

  4. See tale 4.1 n5.

  5. Words of a game. See also introduction to day 2.

  6. Traditional land of exile. See tale 1.5 n8.

  7. The sun enters the constellation of Taurus on April 20.

  8. See tale 2.7 n24.

  9. Gaea (or Gea, or Gaia), Earth, was the mother of Cronus and the other Titans.

  10. The oak is worshiped worldwide; according to Virgil, e.g., the human race originated from it. It is also a symbol of strength and triumph, characteristics that Basile sees as sorely lacking in his own time.

  11. confiette (Neap.): not paper confetti, but white sugared almonds, distributed (and sometimes thrown) at weddings in Italy. “Plaster imitations were used at Carnival, being known by the name of coriandoli. As time went on these coriandoli gave place to the bits of colored paper that we, quite erroneously, still call confetti. Our word ‘confectionary,’ however, preserves the original meaning” (Penzer 2:66).

  12. “Symbols of return, speed, and rebirth” (Croce 422).

  13. “All of the great cities of antiquity, whose power was consumed by Time” (Rak 812).

  14. From the Spanish cuello de lechuguillas (Rak 812).

  15. “Pliny (Natural History IX, 88), discussing animal fiends and enemies, writes of the ‘exemplary friendship’ between the whale and the mouse” (cit. Croce 587).

  16. “There was a fresh outbreak of banditry in the Kingdom of Naples during the last decades of the 16th century, and stories of banditry circulated widely in chapbooks of the time” (Rak 813).