Book of Stolen Tales

by D J Mcintosh

  There she saw the young girl … asleep.

  Giambattista Basile, “The Young Slave” (Day 2, Tale 8), N.M. Penzer, editor, The Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile, translated by Benedetto Croce (New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1932), 193.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Feast with that sprig of parsley at the banquet of love.

  Giovan Battista Basile, in N.M. Penzer, editor, The Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile, Vol. 2, translated by Benedetto Croce (New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1932).

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  For the scourges of the conflagration … Giovan Battista Basile.

  N.M. Penzer, editor, introduction to The Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile, translated by Benedetto Croce (New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1932), xxx.

  Part Three Opener

  To the land of no return, the land of darkness … dust has gathered.

  Mesopotamian myth, “The Descent of the Goddess Ishtar into the Lower World,” in Morris Jastrow, The Civilization of Babylon and Assyria (Philadelphia and London: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1915).

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  The cruel man is his own executioner.

  Giovan Battista Basile, in N.M. Penzer, editor, The Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile, Vol. 2, translated by Benedetto Croce (New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1932), 129.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Noctes atque dies patet atri ianua ditis.

  Virgil, The Aeneid, Book 6, line 127, in J.B. Greenough, editor, Bucolics, Aeneid and Georgics of Vergil (Boston: Ginn & Co., 1900).

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Her breasts sagged, she had nails … like leeks.

  “Inanna’s Descent to the Nether World,” The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Oxford University, 2001, http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr141.htm

  Chapter Fifty-One

  There once was a great lord … of his sorrow and suffering.

  Giambattista Basile, “Sun, Moon and Talia” (Day 5, Tale 5), N.M. Penzer, editor, The Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile, translated by Benedetto Croce (New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1932), 130.

  Bibliography

  I wouldn’t have been able to write The Book of Stolen Tales without the wealth of information provided by Nancy Canepa in Giambattista Basile’s The Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones. Her expert translation brings Basile’s stories—lost treasures in themselves—brilliantly to the forefront. So, too, The Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile, edited by N.M. Penzer and based on the introduction and Italian translation by Benedetto Croce. Although a relatively rare book, it’s well worth the search.

  Books

  Abbattutis, Gian Alessio. Lo Cunto deli Cunti. Vol. 1. Naples: Beltrano, 1637.

  Beecher, Donald, editor, and Luigi Ballerini and Massimo Ciavollela, general editors. The Pleasant Nights by Giovan Francesco Straparola. Vols. 1 and 2. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012.

  Canepa, Nancy L. Giambattista Basile’s The Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2007.

  Heiner, Heidi Anne, editor. Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White Tales from Around the World. Nashville, TN: SurLaLune Press, 2010.

  Lang, Andrew; illustrations by Henry Justice Ford. The Yellow Fairy Book. London: Longmans Green & Co., 1894.

  Lyons, Jonathan. The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009.

  Penzer, N.M., editor; based on the introduction and translation by Benedetto Croce. The Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1932.

  Peterson, Joseph H., editor and translator. Grimorium Verum: A Handbook of Black Magic. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace, 2007.

  Pullman, Phillip. Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version. New York: Viking, 2012.

  Riverbend. Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq. New York: The Feminist Press, 2005.

  Articles and Websites

  Allen, Christopher. “Into the Inferno of the Art of Francis Bacon,” www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/into-the-inferno-ofthe-art-of-francis-bacon/story-fn9n8gph-1226531228863, December 8, 2012.

  al-Hadi, Laith. “Baghdad’s al-Rashid Street—from Perfume and Music to Motor Oil and Mortars,” Iraq Updates, September 3, 2011, www.iraqupdates.com/free-news/culture-tourism/baghdad’sal-rashid-street-from-perfume-and-music-to-motor-oil-and-mortars/2011-03-10#.UUhwhb-uGjo

  “Al-Maidan Square—A Tale of Baghdad’s Times,” Iraq Updates, January 26, 2008, www.iraqupdates.com/free-news/culture-tourism/al-maidan-square-a-tale-of-baghdads-times/2008-01-26#.UUeNib-uGjo

  “Alpilles, Provence,” French Moments, 2012, www.frenchmoments.eu/?p=1836

  Ashliman, D.L. “Sleeping Beauty,” Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, May 5, 2009, www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0410.html

  Ashliman, D.L. “Snow-White,” Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, April 11, 2011, www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0709.html

  “Babylon,” Global Security.org, September 7, 2011, www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/babylon.htm

  Barbot de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne. “Beauty and the Beast,” Amalia, n.d., www.maerchenlexikon.de/texte/te425C-007.htm

  “Beautiful but Cursed Island of Gaiola,” Travelogue of an Armchair Traveller, February 8, 2011, http://armchairtravelogue.blogspot.ca/2011/02/beautiful-but-cursed-island-of-gaiola.html

  Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli home page, 2013, www.bnnonline.it

  Black, J.A., G. Cunningham, E. Fluckiger-Hawker, E. Robson, and G. Zólyomi. “Ningishzida’s Journey to the Nether World: Translation,” The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Oxford, 1998–, http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr173.htm

  Brothers Grimm, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm

  Cartwright, Garth. “Partying with the Gypsies in the Camargue,” The Guardian, March 26, 2011, www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/mar/26/saintes-maires-gypsy-festival-camargue

  “Castle of the Week: Gravensteen Castle, Ghent, Belgium,” Heraldic Times Blog, July 26, 2012, www.heraldicjewelry.com/2/post/2012/07/july-26th-2012.html

  “Chesapeake PERL to Produce Nerve Agent Bioscavenger for DTRA,” PR Newswire, October 24, 2012, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chesapeake-perl-to-produce-nerve-agent-bioscavenger-for-dtra-175659501.html

  Davis, John K. “The Story behind Snow White,” Suite101.com, February 9, 2009, http://john-k-davis.suite101.com/the-story-behind-snow-white-a95097

  Deeb, Mary-Jane. “Report on the National Library and the House of Manuscripts,” The Library of Congress, October 27– November 3, 2003, www.loc.gov/rr/amed/iraqreport/iraqreport.html

  “Diwani,” Wikipedia, February 26, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwani

  Elf Presents Alf Layla Wa Layla (A Thousand Nights and a Night), n.d., www.arabiannights.org/index2.html

  English, Sandy. “Unesco Report on Babylon,” Red Ice Creations, August 19, 2009, www.redicecreations.com/article.php?idc7677

  “Finger Licking Poison,” TV Tropes, n.d., http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FingerLickingPoison

  “Fontanelle Cemetery,” Napoli Unplugged, 2013, www.napoliunplugged.com/location/fontanelle-cemetery-naples

  Gray, Richard. “Biblical Plagues Really Happened Say Scientists,” The Telegraph, March 27, 2010, www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7530678/Biblical-plagues-really-happened-say-scientists.html

  Greenway, H.D.S. “The War Hotels: Iraq’s Palestine Hotel,” GlobalPost, February 27, 2009, www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/090103/the-war-hotels-part-v-iraq

  Heiner, Heidi Anne. “Fairy Tale Timeline,” SurLaLune Fairy Tales, www.surlalunefairytales.com/introduction/timeline.html

  Hendawi, Hamza. “Baghdad’s Antique Shops Tell Sad Story,” The Guardian, July 14, 2009, www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8607102

  Hilton, Ronald. “Iraq: The Burning of Libraries,” WAIS Forum on Iraq, April 17, 2003, http://wais.stanford.edu/Iraq/iraq_burningoflibra
ries41703.html

  “History and Traditions of the House of Savoy, the Royal Family of Italy,” Regalis, n.d., www.regalis.com/savoy.htm

  “Jusepe de Ribera,” Artble.com, 2013, www.artble.com/artists/jusepe_de_ribera

  “Kutha,” Wikipedia, February 26, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kutha

  Langewiesche, William. “Welcome to the Green Zone,” The Atlantic, November 1, 2004, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/11/welcome-to-the-green-zone/303547/

  The Legend and the History of the Pied Piper of Hameln, February 2006, www.triune.de/legend

  Lloyd, Seton, Fuad Safar, and H. Frankfort. “Tell Uqair: Excavations by the Iraq Government Directorate of Antiquities in 1940 and 1941,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 2, no. 2 (April 1943), pp. 131–158.

  Mari, Francesca. “Shelf-Conscious,” The Paris Review, December 27, 2012, www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/12/27/shelf-conscious/

  “Mashkan-shapir,” Wikipedia, February 27, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashkan-shapir

  “Olympia Mancini,” Wikipedia, February 26, 2013, http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_Mancini

  Matthews, Jeff. “Virgins,” Around Naples Encyclopedia, October 2009, http://ac-support.europe.umuc.edu/~jmatthew/naples/virgin.htm

  Mendola, L. “Italian Titles of Nobility,” Regalis, 1997, www.regalis.com/nobletitles.htm

  National Earth Science Teachers Association. “1631 Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius,” Windows to the Universe, www.windows2universe.org/earth/interior/Mt_Vesuvius_1631.html&edu=high

  “Nergal and Ereshkigal,” Lykeion Regis, August 10, 2008, http://lykeionregis.blogspot.com/2008/08/nergal-and-ereshkigal.html

  “Nergal: Lord of the Underworld,” Gateways to Babylon, n.d., www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/undernergal.html

  Nurse, Paul McMichael. “Why Has the Arabian Nights Proved So Enduring?” The Globe and Mail, August 14, 2012, www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/bookreviews/why-has-the-arabian-nights-proved-so-enduring/article4480676

  Park, Alice. “The ‘Killer Fungus’: Should We Be Scared?” Time, April 23, 2010, www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1984337,00.html

  “The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” Dark-Stories.com, April 29, 2007, www.dark-stories.com/eng/the_pied_piper_of_hamelin.htm

  Reeves, Phil. “True Story of the Battle of Samarra,” Arab News, December 7, 2003, www.arabnews.com/node/241235

  “Saturday Stroll—Through the Valley of the Dead,” Napoli Unplugged, May 24, 2010, www.napoliunplugged.com/saturday-stroll-through-the-valley-of-the-dead-html

  Spessart Museum, Snow White—a native girl from Lohr am Main, www.spessartmuseum.de/seiten/schneewitchen_engl.html

  “1655: Massacre of the Waldensians,” ExecutedToday.com, April 24, 2011, www.executedtoday.com/2011/04/24/1655-massacre-of-waldensians/

  “Thuc. 2.47–55: The Plague,” Perseus Digital Library, n.d., http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/GreekScience/Thuc.+2.47-55.html

  “U.S. Troops Accused of Damaging Babylon’s Ancient Wonder,” CNN.com/world, July 31, 2009, http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/31/

  iraq.babylon.damage/index.html

  Waugh, Liz-Anna. “How to Pick Your Own Paper,” Northword, fall 2002, www.northword.ca/connections/Past_Issue/fall_02/howto.html

  Credits

  Map of contemporary cities, ancient sites (Dino Pulerà, Artery Studios, Toronto)

  Map of European destinations (Dino Pulerà, Artery Studios, Toronto)

  Babylonian horse (Permission from Made 4 Museum, California, U.S.A.)

  Frontispiece, Lo Cunto de li Cunti (E.P. Dutton and Company, 1932)

  Design for metalwork book cover (Hans Holbein the Younger, 1498–1543; public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

  Portrait of Giambattista Basile (E.P. Dutton and Company, 1932)

  Portrait of José de Ribera (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

  Mesopotamian spindle whorl (Permission from Barakat Gallery, California, U.S.A.)

  Pied Piper (August von Moersperg, copy of a glass window in Market Church, Lower Saxony, Germany, 1532; public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

  “The Witch Comes on Board” (Henry Justice Ford, illustrator, The Yellow Fairy Book; public domain)

  Mary Magdalene in the Desert (José de Ribera, 1641; public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

  Waldensians Massacre (Samuel Morland, The History of the Evangelical Churches of Piedmont, 1658; public domain)

  The Talking Mirror of Lohr (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

  Il Morbetto (Marcantonio Raimondi, 1515–1516; public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

  The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night (Henry Justice Ford, illustrator, Richard Burton, translator, 1850; public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

  Acknowledgments

  I imagine you, the reader, like me, have a collection of books that were precious possessions in childhood, evocative of the time our imagination first spread its wings. This second novel—the middle child in the Mesopotamian Trilogy—was a real thrill to write, in part because it took me back to those childhood stories and introduced me to a fascinating historical character, the gallant and courtly writer Giambattista Basile.

  A whole team of people have devoted generous amounts of time, attention, and care to bring this “middle child” to life. President and Publisher Nicole Winstanley and Senior Editor Adrienne Kerr bring out great books time after time and have helped so many Canadian authors start out on a firm footing. Adrienne’s sales intuition and admirable editorial skills are a rare combination in our world of books.

  It is a privilege to work with the publishing team at Penguin Group (Canada), one I’m very grateful for. Don Robinson and Penguin’s superb sales staff ; Beth Lockley and the talented marketing and publicity staff : Charidy Johnston, Robin Dutta-Roy, Laura Meyer, Phil Clarke, Rachel Geertsma, Giselle San Miguel, and Amy Smith. Copy editor Marcia Gallego and Managing Editor Mary Ann Blair, who does such a grand job on the production side. A real pleasure to work with you all.

  Special thanks go to Victoria Skurnick (North America) and Elizabeth Fisher (International) at the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. Gifted agents I feel so lucky to have.

  The sage advice of friends, family, and supporters made all the difference to me on this second journey to publication. Thank you for holding my hand through the roller coaster ride: my sister Ellen Wall and daughter Kenlyn Hughson, Max Allen, Pat Armstrong, Jan Armstrong, Cathy Astolfo, Jayne Barnard, Martha Paley Francescato, Ilkona Halsband, Jane Burfield, Barbara Callway, Madeleine Harris-Callway, Melodie Campbell, Donna Carrick, Vicki Delany, Lisa De Nikolits, Warren and Christine John, Tanis Mallow, Rosemary McCracken, Teresa Pagnutti, John Pendergrast, Lisbie Rae, Jan Raymond, Robert Rotenberg, Linda Smith, Martha Tracey, Christine Von Aesch, Rob and Caroline Wall, and Denise Wilson.

  Many thanks to Stephen Mader of Artery Studios and Dino Pulerà for his excellent illustrations.

  Fayez Barakat of Barakat Gallery in Beverly Hills, California, has been most generous in allowing me to use his image of the Mesopotamian spindle whorl. I also greatly appreciate the help of Marodeen from Made 4 Museum in Claremont, California, who provided the Assyrian horse image.

  Getting to know the city of Naples, Italy, was a real bonus in the writing of this book. One of the highlights of my trip was a one-day custom tour by Limo Service of Naples. I recommend them to anyone traveling there.

  Libraries play an important role in this novel and in real life—the Toronto Public Library has been such a useful resource. Finding a rare copy of Norman Penzer’s English translation of The Tale of Tales and holding an even rarer edition of Straparola in the library’s Osborne Collection were both essential to my work. So, too, the magnificent Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III di Napoli, where I saw Giambattista Basile’s book firsthand. Whether owing to destruction during wartime or economic and ideological pressures, libraries around the world are facing many challenges. May they remain strong.

   

  D J Mcintosh, Book of Stolen Tales