The spring of long life was at the top of a steep mountain infested with savage beasts. Scaling the mountain was out of the question, much less while carrying a barrel. But the youth called, "Vultures, fine vultures, help me!" and the sky darkened with vultures circling down to earth. The youth attached a phial to the neck of each, and the vultures soared in a grand formation straight to the spring on the mountaintop, filled their phials, and flew back with them to the youth, who poured the water into the barrel he had waiting.
When the barrel was full, hoofbeats were heard retreating. Fairy Sibiana was fleeing for dear life, followed by her dwarfs, while out of the palace ran the king of England's daughter, cheering: "I'm safe at last! You set me free!"
With the king's daughter and the water of long life, the youth returned to his ship, where the old sailor was all ready to weigh anchor.
The king of England scanned the sea every day through his telescope. Seeing a ship approach that was flying the English flag, he ran to port overjoyed. When the mangy one beheld the youth safe and sound and escorting the king's daughter, he was fit to be tied and resolved to have him killed.
While the king was celebrating his daughter's return with a grand banquet, two grim-looking fellows came to get the youth, saying it was a matter of life and death. Puzzled, he followed them. When they got to the woods, the two fellows, who were assassins hired by the mangy one, drew their knives and cut the youth's throat.
Meanwhile at the banquet, the king's daughter was more and more worried, since the youth had gone off with that sinister pair and not returned. She went out looking for him and, reaching the woods, found his body covered with wounds. But the old sailor had brought along the barrel containing the water of long life, in which he immersed the youth's body, only to see him jump right back out as sound as ever and so handsome that the king's daughter threw her arms around his neck.
The mangy one was livid with rage. "What's in that barrel?" he asked.
"Boiling oil," replied the sailor.
So the mangy one had a barrel of oil heated to boiling and announced to the princess: "If you don't love me I'll kill myself." He stabbed himself with his dagger and leaped into the boiling oil. He was instantly scalded to death. Also his black wig had flown off when he leaped, revealing his mangy head.
"Ah, the mangy one!" exclaimed the king of England. "The cruelest of all my enemies. He finally got what was coming to him. So you, valiant youth, are my godson! You shall marry my daughter and inherit my kingdom!" And so it was.
(Riviera ligure di ponente)
NOTES:
"The Ship with Three Decks" (Il bastimento a tre piani) from Andrews, 2 and 27, Menton, told by Giuanina Piombo dite La Mova, and by Angelina Moretti.
Prosperous sea trading, with unusual cargos coming into ports where the merchandise is highly prized, is a metaphor of luck in the popular mind. It recurs in diverse folktales and is woven into various plots (cf. my no.173, from Sicily). In this tale from the Italian Riviera border, the curious motifs of the ship with three decks and of the isles inhabited by animals are incorporated into the widespread type featuring the enchanted filly (in one of Andrews's versions, advice is given by the horse) and grateful animals (cf. my nos. 24 and 79). I have freely rendered the two versions summarized in French by Andrews.
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
夜游人
很久以前，有一个渔夫，他很穷，三个女儿都已长大了。有个年轻人向三姊妹求婚。但是这里的人们都很讨厌他，因为他在夜晚才出来转悠。大姑娘和二姑娘都拒绝了他，但三姑娘却答应了。婚礼是在夜间举行的。闹新房的人走后，新郎诚恳地对新娘说：“我把这个秘密告诉你吧：我被一个邪恶的符咒镇住了，白天变成乌龟，只能在夜里恢复成人。要破除这个符咒，只有一个办法：结婚后我马上离开自己的妻子，到外面去闯荡，夜间作人，白天作乌龟。等我回来的时候，如果妻子一直对我忠实，而且为我还忍受了种种艰难困苦，我就能永远恢复成人了。”
“我心甘情愿！”新娘说。
新郎便摘下一只鉆石戒指，给她戴在手指上，说：“如果用它来做好事的话，不论你碰到什么困难，它都会帮助你你的。”
天亮时，新郎变成乌龟爬出去，开始了他到外面闯荡的旅程。
新娘进城去寻找工作。路上，她还到一个哇哇大哭的孩子，便对他的母亲说：“让我来抱抱他吧，好教他不闹。”
“你是头一个这样做的好人！”孩子的妈妈说，“他一天到晚都在哭闹。”
新娘低声说：“让鉆石戒指的魔力使孩子欢笑、跳跃吧！”话刚说完，孩子便嬉笑欢跳起来。
接著，新娘走到一家面包房里，对老板娘说：“你要是雇我给你干活，我不会使你后悔的。”于是，老板娘雇用了她，她开始做面包，并轻声细语地说：“我在这个面包房里干活期间，让鉆石戒指指的魔力使全城的人，都到这里来买面包吧！”从这时起，人们络绎不绝地在这个面包房里进进出出，这儿的生意十分兴隆。在这些人中间，有三个小伙子，他们爱上了她。
“如果你跟我过一夜，”一个小伙子说：“我就给你一千法郎。”
“我给你两千法郎！”另一个小伙子说。
“我加到三千法郎！”第三个小伙子说。
当天晚上，她收了第三个小伙子三千法郎，偷偷地把他带进了面包房。
“我马上就跟你在一起，”她对这个小伙子说，“先让我把发酵粉放到面粉里。你等我的时候，等你帮我揉一下面团好吗？”
这个人开始揉面团。他揉啊，揉啊，揉啊。由于鉆石戒指的魔力，他无论怎样也不能从面团里拔出手来。就这样，他一直揉到了天亮。
“哟，你已经干好啦！”她对他说，“你干活真卖力。”
于是，她把这个人打发走了。
接著，她又答应了那个出两千法郎的小伙子。天一黑，她就把他带进面包房，叫他帮忙吹火，不要让它熄灭。他吹啊，吹啊，吹啊。由于鉆石戒指的魔力，他一直不停地吹到第二天早晨，脸都吹得浮肿起来，象个皮酒囊。
“你真干得好呀！”清晨，她对这个小伙子说，“你是来看我的，可整夜帮著我吹火！”
于是，她把这个人打发走了。
又一个夜晚，她把那个出一千法郎的小伙子带了进来。“我要在面粉里加发酵粉，”她对他说，“你去把大门关上吧。”
这个人关上了门，可是由于鉆石戒指的魔力，门马上又开了。他整夜都在关门，门关了又开，开了又关，不知不觉地太阳升起来，天亮了。
“你到底把门关上了没有？好啦，你现在可以把门打开啦，滚吧！”
三个小伙子憋了一肚子的气，到官府去告发她。那时候，不光有男警察，还有女警察，捉拿女犯要派女警察。于是，四个女警察前来逮捕新娘。
“让鉆石戒指指的魔力使这四个女人相互打耳光吧，”新娘说，“一直打到明天早晨。”
这四个女警察便相互打起耳光来。她们打得很重，一个个头肿得象大南瓜，可是还拚命地互打著。
四个女警察没有带回犯人来，四个男警察就去寻找她们。新娘见他们来了，便说：“让鉆石戒指的魔力使这些人玩跳蛙游戏吧！”于是，一个警察马上四肢著地，匍匐下来。另一个警察向前俯身，将手搭在头一个警察背上，跳了过去。第三、第四个警察也跟著照做。这样，他们连续做起跳蛙游戏来了。
就在这个节骨眼儿上，一只乌龟爬了过来。这正是新娘的丈夫，从外面归来了。他一见自己的妻子，瞧，他又变成了漂亮的年轻人！从此，他不再变化，跟妻子生活在一起，白头偕老。
（利古里亚海岸）
注释：
材料来源：詹姆士·安德鲁斯编《利古里亚故事集》（巴黎，1892年版）第十四和第二十一篇；搜集地区：曼敦；讲述者：艾琳·吉纳和艾琳·潘杜鲁。
这是一篇充满稀奇古怪的故事。它最引人注目的是关于女警察的描写。女警察是作为特殊警察制度这样一种历史事实来叙述的。在安德鲁斯的第一种异文里，新郎变成了癞蛤蟆。
The Man Who Came Out Only at Night
Long ago there lived a poor fisherman with three marriageable daughters. A certain young man asked for the hand of one of them, but people were wary of him since he came out only at night. The oldest daughter and then the middle daughter both said no to him, but the third girl said yes. The wedding was celebrated at night, and as soon as the couple was alone, the bridegroom announced to his bride: "I must tell you a secret: I am under an evil spell and doomed to be a tortoise by day and a man at night. There's only one way to break the spell: I must leave my wife right after the wedding and travel around the world, at night as a man and by day as a tortoise. If I come back and find that my wife has remained loyal to me all along and endured every hardship for my sake, I'll become a man again for good."
"I am willing," said the bride.
The bridegroom slipped a diamond ring on her finger. "If you use it to a good end, this ring will help you in whatever situation you find yourself."
Day had dawned, and the bridegroom turned into a tortoise and crawled off to begin his journey around the world.
The bride went about the city in search of work. Along the way, she came across a child crying and said to his mother, "Let me hold him in my arms and calm him."
"You'd be the first person to do that," answered the mother. "He's been crying all day long."
"By the power of the diamond," whispered the bride, "may the child laugh and dance and frolic!" At that, the child started laughing, dancing, and frolicking.
Next, the bride entered a bakery and said to the woman who owned it, "You'll have no regrets if you hire me to work for you." The owner hired her, and she began making bread, saying under her breath, "By the power of the diamond, let the whole town buy bread at this bakery as long as I work here!" From then on, people poured in and out with no sign of a letup. Among the customers were three young men who saw the bride and fell in love with her.
"If you let me spend a night with you," one of them said to her, "I'll give you a thousand francs."
"I'll give you two thousand," said another.
"And I'll make it three thousand," said the third.
She collected the three thousand francs from the third man and smuggled him into the bakery that very night.
"I'll be with you in a minute," she told him, "after I've put the yeast into the flour. While you're waiting, would you please knead the dough a little bit for me?"
The man began kneading, and kneaded and kneaded and kneaded. By the power of the diamond, he couldn't for the life of him take his hands out of the dough, and therefore went on kneading till daylight.
"So you finally finished!" she said to him. "You really took your time!"
And she sent him packing.
Then she said yes to the man with the two thousand francs, brought him in as soon as it grew dark, and told him to blow on the fire a moment so that it wouldn't go out. He blew and blew and blew. By the power of the diamond, he had to keep right on blowing up to the next morning, with his face bulging like a wineskin.
"What a way to behave!" she said to him in the morning. "You come to see me, but spend the night blowing on the fire!"
And she sent him packing.
The next night she brought in the man with the thousand francs. "I have to add the yeast," she told him. "While I'm doing that, go shut the door."
The man shut the door, which by the power of the diamond came open again right away. All night long he closed it only to see it immediately reopen, and in no time the sun was up.
"Did you finally close this door? Well, you may now open it again and get out."
Seething with rage, the three men denounced her to the authorities. In that day and time there were, in addition to policemen, women officers who were called whenever a woman was to be brought into custody. So four women officers went to apprehend the bride.
"By the power of the diamond," said the bride, "let these women box one another's ears until tomorrow morning."
The four women officers began boxing one another's ears so hard that their heads swelled up like pumpkins, and they still went on striking each other for all they were worth.
When the women officers failed to return with the culprit, four male officers were sent out to look for them. The bride saw them coming and said, "By the power of the diamond, let those men play leapfrog." One of the male officers dropped down at once on all fours; a second one moved up, put his hands on the officer's back, and leaped over him, with the third and fourth following in his tracks. Thus began a game of leapfrog.
Right at that point, a tortoise came crawling into view. It was the husband returning from his trip around the world. He saw his wife, and behold! He was again a handsome young man, and a handsome young man he remained, by his wife's side, up to a ripe old age.
(Riviera ligure di ponente)
NOTES:
"The Man Who Came Out Only at Night" (L'uomo che usciva solo di notte) from Andrews, 14 and 21, Menton, told by Iren Gena and Irene Panduro.
A tale full of oddities, the most striking of which is that of women constables, given as a historical fact regarding a particular police system. In Andrews's first variant, the bridegroom turns into a toad.
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
七！
从前有一对母女，女儿又高又胖，吃得又多。妈妈端上的肉汁菜汤，她吃了一盘、两盘、三盘，还不停地要。而妈妈边为她盛，边说：“三！……四！……五！……”当女儿要第七盘汤的时候，妈妈没有盛，而是用棍子敲了一下女儿的头，大喊：“七！”
一个穿着体面的小伙子从这里路过，从窗外看见妈妈打着女儿喊：“七！”
看见这个高大丰满的姑娘挺漂亮，小伙子一下子就喜欢上了，他走进姑娘的家，问道：“七个什么？”
妈妈因为自己有这么个贪吃的女儿而羞愧，就说：“七个线槌啊！我的女儿是个工作狂，她甚至能到羊身上去纺毛线！这不，今天早上她已经纺了七槌线了，可是还没完没了地干！为了让她停手，我才打了她一下！”
小伙子说：“要是这样，您把她交给我吧，我试试她，看她是不是真的这么能干，如果是真的，我就娶她为妻。”
小伙子把她领回家，关进一间屋子，里面堆满了要纺的麻，他说：“我是一个船长，马上要出海。如果我出海回来你已经纺好这些线，我就娶你。”
房间里还有很多漂亮的衣服和珠宝，因为船长非常有钱。“如果你成为我的妻子，这些东西就是你的了。”说完，他就走了。
姑娘每天对着镜子试那些衣服和珠宝，让家里的仆人为她做吃的。而麻还在那里没有纺。剩下最后一天了，明天船长就回来了，姑娘想到永远不会成为船长的新娘了，就失望地哭了起来。正当她失望哭泣的时候，一个破布口袋从窗口飞落进房间。破布口袋站立起来，原来是一个长着长眉毛的老妇人。老妇人说：“你别怕，我是来帮你的。你把线分成缕，我来替你纺。”
从没见过比这老妇人更快的纺织女了，她只用了一刻钟，所有的麻都被纺好了。但是，越纺，她的眉毛长得越长，长过了鼻子，长过了下巴，最后长得超过了一掌长，而且她的眼皮也跟着变长了。
当活干完了，姑娘说：“好心的夫人，我怎么才能报答您呢？”
“我不想要报答，你跟船长结婚的时候，能邀请我参加结婚宴会，我就很满足了。”
“那我怎么邀请你呢？”
“你只要念：‘哥隆比娜！’我就会来。不过，我可提醒你，千万别忘记我的名字。如果忘了，我就不会再帮助你了。你也就完了。”
第二天船长回来了，看到所有的麻都纺好了，就说：“你真能干，我相信你就是我想娶的新娘。这是我为你买回来的珠宝和衣服。但我还必须再出去一次。我们来试第二次。这里的麻有上次的两倍，当我回来的时候，你能把它纺完，我就会跟你结婚。”
像上次一样，姑娘每天试着不同的珠宝和衣服，吃着汤和面包，这样打发着时间。又到了最后一天，一根线也没纺。她又哭了起来，这时她听到从烟囱上掉下来一个东西，一看是一个破布包滚到屋子里来了。破布包站了起来，原来是一个耷拉着嘴唇的老妇人。这个老妇人也愿意帮助她，开始帮她纺线，纺得比上次那个老妇人还快，但是越纺，她的嘴唇长得越长，她只用了半小时就把所有的麻纺完了。老妇人同样不要回报，只要求姑娘邀请她参加婚宴。“你只要念：‘哥隆巴拉’我就会出现。你千万别忘记我的名字。不然我给你的帮助就会失效，你小心记着！”
船长回来了，还没进门就问：“你全都纺完了吗？”
姑娘说：“咳，早就完了！”
“这是给你带回来的珠宝和衣服。这一次，如果我第三次出海回来的时候，你能纺完比上两次都多的麻，我向你保证马上举行婚礼。”
这一次也跟以前一样，姑娘一根线也没纺，当只剩最后一天的时候，从屋檐下掉下来一个破布包，一个露着牙齿的老妇人从破布包里面走了出来。她开始替姑娘纺线，她纺得很快，而且越纺越快，并且她的牙齿就长得越长。
老妇人说：“你想邀请我参加你的婚宴，就必须喊：‘哥隆布恩！’不过你要是忘了我的名字，你会后悔今天遇见了我。”
船长回来的时候，看到所有的麻又都纺好了，非常满意。他说：“好了，现在你就是我的妻子了。”他马上让人开始准备婚礼，并邀请当地所有的大人物。
新娘正在全身心地筹备婚礼，一直就没有想到那三个老妇人。婚礼那天的早晨，她想起应该邀请她们。但当她试图写出她们的名字的时候，才发现她把三人的名字忘得一干二净，她绞尽脑汁地回忆，但连一个名字也想不起来。
新娘从喜悦中一下子掉进了无底的悲哀中，船长也发现了新娘的情绪低落，就去问她，而她沉默不语。新郎找不到新娘情绪忧伤的起因，就想：也许今天不宜结婚。他吩咐把婚礼推迟到第二天。到了第二天，情况更糟。第三天的情况就更别提了。总之，日子一天天过去，新娘越来越忧伤、越来越沉默，她紧皱眉头，好像要集中注意力，思考什么。新郎想方设法让她高兴，用笑话逗她开心，给她讲故事，但是一点用也没有。
新郎看到自己无法宽慰新娘，便试图宽慰自己，一天早上，他出去打猎。在树林中，突然遇上了暴风雨，他急忙躲进了一间小茅屋。小茅屋里一片漆黑，他听到有人在说话：
“噢，哥隆比娜！”
“噢，哥隆巴拉！”
“噢，哥隆布恩！”
“把锅架上，熬玉米粥吧！这个该死的新娘不会邀请我们赴宴了。”
船长转过身，看见三个老妇人：一个眉毛拖到地上，另一个嘴唇耷拉到脚背，第三个牙齿可以蹭到膝盖。
新郎想：“看吧，我可找到逗新娘高兴的事了，如果我这次看到的事还不能逗她笑，那就不会再有别的事能逗她笑了！”
他回到家，对新娘说：“我告诉你，今天我在树林里，为了避雨我进了一间茅屋，你猜我看见了什么？三个老妇人！一个眉毛拖到地上，另一个嘴唇耷拉到脚背，第三个牙齿可以蹭到膝盖。她们互相叫着名字：‘噢，哥隆比娜！’‘噢，哥隆巴拉！’‘噢，哥隆布恩！’”
新娘脸上的愁容顿时消失了，笑个不停，说：“马上举行婚礼吧，不过我有个请求。既然是你看见的那三个老妇人让我开心，那就让她们也被请来参加婚宴吧。”
船长派人去了。他们为这三个老妇人专门安排了一张圆桌子，但在三个妇人长长的眉毛、嘴唇和牙齿之间，这张桌子就显得太小了，人们不理解她们是如何吃饭的。
婚宴结束以后，新郎问哥隆比娜：“好心的夫人，请告诉我，您怎么会有这么长的眉毛呢？”
“是因为纺线的时候要盯着细细的线看才会这样。”哥隆比娜说。
“那您呢，您的嘴唇怎么会这么长呢？”
“是因为捻线的时候要不停地在嘴唇上沾湿手指。”哥隆巴拉说。
“那您呢，您怎么会有这么长的牙齿呢？”
“因为老是要用牙齿咬线结。”哥隆布恩说。
“我懂了，”新郎说道，他转向妻子，“你去把那些线槌拿来。”新娘把线槌拿了出来交给新郎，新郎把它们扔进壁炉的火里，说：“你这一生中再也不要纺线了！”
从那以后，这位又高又胖的姑娘就这样幸福美满地生活着。
And Seven!
A woman had a daughter who was big and fat and so gluttonous that when her mother brought the soup to the table she would eat one bowl, then a second, then a third, and keep on calling for more. Her mother filled her bowl, saying, "That makes three! And four! And five!" When the daughter asked for a seventh bowl of soup, her mother, instead of filling the bowl, whacked her over the head, shouting, "And seven!"
A well-dressed young man was passing by just then and saw the mother through the window hitting the girl and crying, "And seven!"
As the big fat young lady captured his fancy immediately, he went in and asked, "Seven of what?"
Ashamed of her daughter's gluttony, the mother replied, "Seven spindles of hemp! I have a daughter so crazy about work that she'd even spin the wool on the sheep's back! Can you imagine that she's already spun seven spindles of hemp this morning and still wants to spin? To make her stop, I have to beat her."
"If she's that hard-working, give her to me," said the young man. "I'll try her out to see if you're telling the truth and then I'll marry her."
He took her to his house and shut her up in a room full of hemp waiting to be spun. "I'm a sea captain, and I'm leaving on a voyage," he said. "If you've spun all this hemp by the time I return, I'll marry you."
The room also contained exquisite clothes and jewels, for the captain happened to be very rich. "When you become my wife," he explained, "these things will all be yours." Then he left her.
The girl spent her days trying on dresses and jewels and admiring herself in the mirror. She also devoted much time to planning meals, which the household servants prepared for her. None of the hemp was spun yet, and in one more day the captain would be back. The girl gave up all hope of ever marrying him and burst into tears. She was still crying when through the window flew a bundle of rags and came to rest on its feet: it was an old woman with long eyelashes. "Don't be afraid," she told the girl. "I've come to help you. I'll spin while you make the skein."
You never saw anyone spin with the speed of that old woman. In just a quarter of an hour she had spun every bit of hemp. And the more she spun, the longer her lashes became; longer than her nose, longer than her chin, they came down more than a foot; and her eyelids also grew much longer.
When the work was finished, the girl said, "How can I repay you, my good lady?"
"I don't want to be repaid. Just invite me to your wedding banquet when you marry the captain."
"How do I go about inviting you?"
"Just call 'Columbina' and I'll come. But heaven help you if you forget my name. It would be as though I'd never helped you, and you'd be undone."
The next day the captain arrived and found the hemp all spun. "Excellent!" he said. "I believe you're just the bride I was seeking. Here are the clothes and jewels I bought for you. But now I have to go on another voyage. Let's have a second test. Here's twice the amount of hemp I gave you before. If you spin it all by the time I return, I'll marry you."
As she had done before, the girl spent her time trying on gowns and jewels, eating soup and lasagna, and got to the last day with all the hemp still waiting to be spun. She was weeping over it when, lo and behold, something dropped down the chimney, and into the room rolled a bundle of rags. It came to rest on its feet, and there stood an old woman with sagging lips. This one too promised to help, began spinning, and worked even faster than the other old woman. The more she spun, the more her lips sagged. When the hemp was all spun in a half-hour, the old woman asked only to be invited to the wedding banquet. "Just call 'Columbara.' But don't forget my name, or my help will have been in vain and you will suffer."
The captain returned and asked before he even got into the house, "Did you spin it all?"
"I just now finished!"
"Take these clothes and jewels. Now, if I come back from my third voyage and find you've spun this third load of hemp, which is much bigger than the other two, I promise we'll get married at once."
As usual, the girl waited until the last day without touching the hemp. Down from the roof's gutter fell a bundle of rags, and out came an old woman with buckteeth. She began spinning, spinning even faster, and the more she spun, the longer grew her teeth.
"To invite me to your wedding banquet," said the old woman, "you must call 'Columbun.' But if you forget my name, it would be better if you'd never seen me."
When the captain came home and found the hemp all spun, he was completely satisfied. "Fine," he said, "now you will be my wife." He ordered preparations made for the wedding, to which he invited all the nobility in town.
Caught up in the preparations, the bride thought no more of the old women. On the morning of the wedding she remembered that she was supposed to invite them, but when she went to pronounce their names, she found they had slipped her mind. She cudgeled her brains but, for the life of her, couldn't recall a single name.
From the cheerful girl she was, she sank into a state of bottomless gloom. The captain noticed it and asked her what the matter was, but she would say nothing. Unable to account for her sadness, the bridegroom thought, This is perhaps not the right day. He therefore postponed the wedding until the day after. But the next day was still worse, and the day following we won't even mention. With every day that passed, the bride became gloomier and quieter, with her brows knit in concentration. He told her jokes and stories in an effort to make her laugh, but nothing he said or did affected her.
Since he couldn't cheer her up, he decided to go hunting and cheer himself up. Right in the heart of the woods he was caught in a storm and took refuge in a hovel. He was in there in the dark, when he heard voices:
"O Columbina!"
"O Columbara!"
"O Columbun!"
"Put on the pot to make polenta! That confounded bride won't be inviting us to her banquet after all!"
The captain wheeled around and saw three crones. One had eyelashes that dragged on the ground, another lips that hung down to her feet, and the third teeth that grazed her knees.
Well, well, he thought to himself. Now I can tell her something that will make her laugh. If she doesn't laugh over what I've just seen, she'll never laugh at anything!
He went home and said to his bride, "Just listen to this. Today I was in the woods and went into a hovel to get out of the rain. I go in and what should I see but three crones: one with eyelashes that dragged on the ground, another with lips that hung down to her feet, and the third with teeth that grazed her knees. And they called each other: 'O Columbina,' 'O Columbara,' 'O Columbun!'"
The bride's face brightened instantly, and she burst out laughing, and laughed and laughed. "Order the wedding banquet right away. But I'm asking one favor of you: since those three crones made me laugh so hard, let me invite them to the banquet."
Invite them she did. For the three old women a separate round table was set up, but so small that what with the eyelashes of one, the lips of the other, and the teeth of the third, you no longer knew what was what.
When dinner was over, the bridegroom asked Columbina, "Tell me, good lady, why are your lashes so long?"
"That's from straining my eyes to spin fine thread!" said Columbina.
"And you, why are your lips so thick?"
"That comes from always rubbing my finger on them to wet the thread!" said Columbara.
"And you, how on earth did your teeth get so long?"
"That's from biting the knot of the thread!" said Columbun.
"I see," said the bridegroom, and he turned to his wife. "Go get the spindle." When she brought it to him, he threw it into the fire. "You'll spin no more for the rest of your life!"
So the big, fat bride lived happily ever after.
(Riviera ligure di ponente)
NOTES:
"And Seven!" (E sette!) from Andrews, 4, 23, 47. (The first two were collected in Menton, the third near Ventimiglia.)
Marriage anecdotes and fairy-tale initiation motifs (the secret name to remember) are blended in this old story widespread in Europe (of English, Swedish, or German origin, according to scholars), subjected to literary treatment in the seventeenth century in Naples (Basile, IV, 4) and well known throughout Italy.
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
无灵之体
从前有一个寡妇，带着一个儿子，儿子名字叫朱瓦宁。当他十三岁的时候，就想出去周游世界碰运气。妈妈对他说：“你要出去干什么？你不知道你还小吗？到了你能把我们家屋后的那棵松树一脚踹倒的时候，你就出去。”
从那天起，每天早上，朱瓦宁一起床就对着那棵松树，助跑、起跳，用双脚猛力地踹向树干。松树一动不动，他却四脚朝天地摔在地上。他站起来，掸掸背上的土，又回到了自己的房间。
终于在一天早上，他使尽全力跳向松树，松树弯了，慢慢地倒了下来，树根也从地下露了出来，整个松树连根拔起地倒下了。朱瓦宁跑着去告诉妈妈，妈妈来到树前仔细地看了看，对他说：“我的儿子，现在你可以去你想去的地方了。”朱瓦宁告别了妈妈，出发了。
他走了一天又一天，来到一座城市。这里的国王有一匹马，名字叫巡逻道，没有人能骑它。那些来尝试的人一开始都觉得能驯服它，最后都被它甩下马背。朱瓦宁站在旁边先观察了一会，发现这匹马怕见自己的影子。于是他去自荐，要驯服巡逻道。他走近马厩，唤着它的名字，抚摸它，然后，突然一闪身跳上马鞍，他小心地让马的面部对着太阳，骑着它出来。这匹马看不到自己的影子，就不会受惊。朱瓦宁用双膝夹住马肚子，勒紧缰绳，放马奔驰起来。不消一刻钟，巡逻道就被驯服了，温顺得像一只小绵羊，但是除了朱瓦宁，它还是不让别人骑。
从那天起，国王就让朱瓦宁跟随他，并且对他特别好，别的侍从都很嫉妒他，开始刁难他。他们想设计赶走他。
应该交待的是这个国王有一个女儿，前些年被一个叫做“无灵之体”的巫师掳走了，谁也说不清被掳到哪里去了。仆人们对国王说，朱瓦宁向大家吹嘘要去解救公主。国王派人把朱瓦宁叫了来。朱瓦宁被蒙在鼓里，对国王说他对这些事毫不知情。国王却认为他是用这样的托词与他开玩笑，什么也不顾了，对他说：“要么你把我的女儿救回来，要么我就砍下你的脑袋！”
朱瓦宁看到没有办法让国王相信自己，就向国王请求把挂在墙上的那把生了锈的剑赐给他，然后，骑上巡逻道，出发了。穿过一片森林的时候，他看到一只狮子向他示意，让他停下来。朱瓦宁虽然有点怕狮子，但也不愿逃走，就从马鞍上下来，问狮子需要什么。
狮子说：“朱瓦宁，你看，我们这里有四个伙伴：我、狗、鹰和蚂蚁。我们要分吃这头死了的驴子，你有剑，你给我们把它分成四份吧！”朱瓦宁砍下驴头，扔给蚂蚁，说：“这是你的，它可以给你做现成的洞穴，在里边，你随时可以找到吃的。”随后，他又砍下驴子的四个蹄子，抛给狗，说：“这是你的，你慢慢地啃吧。”然后他又掏出驴子的内脏，递给鹰，说：“这些东西是给你的，你可以把它带到你住的树顶上。”最后，他把剩下的东西全部分给了狮子，它是四个动物中最大的，并且尊重他。分好后，他上了马，刚要继续出发，就听到狮子在叫他，他想：完了，我分得不公平。但是狮子对他说：“你是一个公正的人，你给我们分得很好，我们怎么才能报答你呢？这样吧，我送给你我的一只爪子，当你戴上它的时候，你会变成一只世界上最凶猛的狮子。”狗对他说：“我给你我的一根须子，当你把它放在鼻子的下边，你会变成一只世界上最快的狗。”鹰对他说：“我给你我翅膀上的一根羽毛，你可以用它变成一只世界上最大最强的鹰飞上天空。”蚂蚁对他说：“我呢，我给你我的一条细腿，你可以用它变成一只蚂蚁，但是很小很小，即使用放大镜也看不到它。”
朱瓦宁收下了这些礼物，向四只动物表示了谢意，又出发了。对这四个礼物的效力他还不知道是否该信，因为它们可能是在跟他开玩笑。不过他刚一走出动物们的视线，就停了下来，试起了这些礼物的效力。他变成了狮子、狗、鹰和蚂蚁，然后变成了蚂蚁、鹰、狗和狮子，然后变成鹰、蚂蚁、狮子和狗，然后变成了狗、蚂蚁、狮子和鹰，他确信了这些礼物都很灵，满心喜欢地又启程了。
森林的尽头出现了一个湖，湖中有一座城堡，那就是无灵之体巫师的城堡。朱瓦宁变成一只鹰飞到城堡上一个关着的窗户的窗台上，然后变成一只蚂蚁从窗户缝中钻进了房间。依旧还是只蚂蚁的朱瓦宁的腿，变回人形，一个英俊的小伙子瞬间出现在国王的女儿面前。
“你别怕！”朱瓦宁做着别出声的手势，对她说，“我是来救你的！你必须骗巫师说出怎么才能杀死他。”
巫师回来了，朱瓦宁又变成蚂蚁。国王的女儿使出千娇百媚，迎接巫师，她让他坐在她的脚下，让他把头靠在她的膝盖上。然后便对他说：“我亲爱的巫师，我知道你是一个无灵魂的躯体，所以是不会死的。但是我总担心让别人发现你放灵魂的地方，把你杀死，这样我会感到很痛苦。”
于是巫师回答她说：“对你我不保密，反正你被关在这里不可能出卖我。要想杀我首先需要有一只非常凶猛的狮子去杀死森林中的一只黑狮子；杀死这只黑狮子之后，会从它的肚子里钻出一只黑色的狗，它跑得非常快，只有世界上最快的狗才能追上它。杀死这只黑狗以后，会从狗的肚子里飞出一只黑鹰，我不知道天空中还有什么别的鹰能跟上它。不过即使这只黑鹰被杀了，还需要从它肚子里取出一只黑蛋，在我的额头上打破这只黑蛋，我的灵魂就会飞走，我就会死去。你觉得容易吗？你觉得会有机会让你痛苦吗？”
朱瓦宁用他那对小小的蚂蚁耳朵，听到了一切，他又小步跑着从窗户缝中爬了出去，回到窗台上。在那里，他重新变回一只鹰，飞到森林中。到森林后，他又变成一只狮子，在树林中四处巡游，终于碰到了那只黑狮子。黑狮子向他猛扑过来，可朱瓦宁是世界上最凶猛的狮子，很快就撕碎了它。（巫师在城堡里觉得一阵头晕。）朱瓦宁打开黑狮子的肚子，从里面冲出一只跑得极快的黑狗，但朱瓦宁变成了世界上最快的狗，追上去，与黑狗滚咬在一起，不一会，黑狗就倒在地上死了。（巫师在城堡里疼得不得不倒在床上。）朱瓦宁又打开黑狗的肚子，从里面飞出一只黑鹰，朱瓦宁立即变成世界上最大的鹰，跟随着黑鹰在天空中盘旋，不停地冲向黑鹰，用嘴啄他、用爪攻击它，黑鹰很快就收起了翅膀，摔到地上。（巫师在城堡里发起了高烧，在棉被里缩成一团，瑟瑟发抖。）
朱瓦宁变回人形，打开黑鹰的肚子，从里面掏出一只黑蛋，然后来到城堡，把它交给了满心欢喜的国王的女儿。
国王的女儿问他：“你怎么做到的？”
朱瓦宁说：“这不算什么，现在该你了。”
国王的女儿走进巫师的房间，问：“你好点了吗？”
“啊，我真倒楣，有人背叛了我……”
“我给你做了一碗汤，快喝了吧。”
巫师直起身，坐在床上，低下头正要喝汤。
“等一下，让我往汤里打一个鸡蛋，这样，更有营养。”国王的女儿边说边在他的额头上打碎了那只黑蛋。无灵之体巫师当即就死了。
朱瓦宁把公主带回到国王身边，父女重聚，高兴极了，国王马上就把女儿嫁给了朱瓦宁。
（利古里亚西海岸）
Body-without-Soul
There was a widow with a son named Jack, who at thirteen wanted to leave home to seek his fortune. His mother said to him, "What do you expect to do out in the world? Don't you know you're still a little boy? When you're able to fell that pine tree behind our house with one kick, then you can go."
Every day after that, as soon as he rose in the morning, Jack would get a running start and jump against the trunk of the tree with both feet, but the pine never budged an inch and he fell flat on his back. He would get up again, shake the dirt off, and go back inside.
At last one fine morning he jumped with all his might, and the tree gave way and toppled to the ground, his roots in the air. Jack ran and got his mother who, surveying the felled tree, said, "You may now go wherever you wish, my son." Jack bid her farewell and set out.
After walking for days and days he came to a city whose king had a horse named Rondello that no one had ever been able to ride. People constantly tried, but were thrown just when it appeared they would succeed. Looking on, Jack soon realized that the horse was afraid of its own shadow, so he volunteered to break Rondello himself. He began by going up to the horse in the stable, talking to it and patting it; then he suddenly jumped into the saddle and rode the animal outside straight into the sun. That way it couldn't see any shadow to frighten it. Jack took a steady hold of the reins, pressed his knees to the horse, and galloped off. A quarter of an hour later Rondello was as docile as a lamb, but let no one ride him after that but Jack.
From then on, Jack served the king, who was so fond of him that the other servants grew jealous and plotted to get rid of him.
Now the king had a daughter who had been kidnapped in her infancy by the sorcerer Body-without-Soul, and no one had heard of her since. The servants went to the king claiming Jack had boasted to everybody he would free her. The king sent for him. Jack was amazed and said this was the first he had even heard of the king's daughter. But the fact that anyone had dared make light of the episode concerning his daughter so infuriated the king that he said, "Either you free her, or I'll have you beheaded."
Since there was no calming the king now, Jack asked for a rusty sword they kept hanging on the wall, saddled Rondello, and rode off. Crossing a forest, he saw a lion motioning him to stop. Although a bit uneasy, Jack disliked the idea of running away, so he dismounted and asked what the lion wanted.
"Jack," said the lion, "as you can see, there are four of us here: myself, a dog, an eagle, and an ant. We have a dead donkey to parcel among us. Since you have a sword, carve the animal and give us each a portion." Jack cut off the donkey's head and gave it to the ant. "Here you are. This will make you a nice home and supply you with all the food you'll ever want." Next he cut off the hoofs and gave them to the dog. "Here's something to gnaw on as long as you like." He cut out the entrails and gave them to the eagle. "This is your food, which you can carry to the treetops where you perch." All the rest he gave to the lion, which as the biggest of the four deserved the largest portion. He got back on his horse and started off, only to hear his name called. "Dear me," he thought, "I must have made some mistake in dividing the parts." But the lion said to him, "You did us a big favor and you were very fair. As one good deed deserves another, I'm giving you one of my claws which will turn you into the fiercest lion in the world when you wear it." The dog said, "Here is one of my whiskers, which will turn you into the fastest dog on earth, whenever you place it under your nose." The eagle said, "Here is a feather from my wings which can change you into the biggest and strongest eagle in the sky." The ant said, "I'm giving you one of my tiny legs. Put it on and you will become an ant so small that no one can see you, even with a magnifying glass."
Jack took his presents, thanked the four animals, and departed. As he was uncertain whether the gifts were magic or not, thinking the animals might have played a joke on him, he stopped as soon as he was out of sight to test them. He became lion, dog, eagle, and ant; next ant, eagle, dog, and lion; then eagle, ant, lion, and dog; finally dog, lion, ant, and eagle. Yes, everything worked like a charm! All smiles, he moved onward.
Beyond the forest was a lake, on whose shore stood the castle of Body-without-Soul. Jack changed into an eagle and flew straight to the edge of a closed window. Then he changed into an ant and crawled into the room. It was a beautiful bedchamber where, beneath a canopy, lay the king's daughter asleep. Still an ant, Jack went crawling over her cheek until she awakened. Then he removed the tiny ant leg, and the king's daughter suddently beheld a handsome youth at her side.
"Don't be afraid," he said, signaling silence. "I've come to free you. You must get the sorcerer to tell you what could kill him."
When the sorcerer returned, Jacked changed back into an ant. The king's daughter made a big to-do over Body-without-Soul, seating him at her feet and drawning his head onto her lap. Then she began: "My darling sorcerer, I know you're a body without a soul and therefore incapable of dying. But I live in constant fear of someone finding your soul and putting you to death."
"I can tell you the secret," replied the sorcerer, "since you're imprisoned here and can't possibly betray me. To slay me would require a lion mighty enough to kill the black lion in the forest. Out of the belly of the dead lion would leap a black dog so swift that only the fastest dog on earth could catch it. Out of the belly of the dead black dog would fly a black eagle that could withstand every eagle under the sun. But if by chance that eagle were slain, a black egg would have to be taken out of its craw and cracked over my brow for my soul to fly away and leave me dead. Does all that seem easy? Do you have any real grounds for worry?"
With his tiny ant ears, Jack took in every word, then crawled back under the window to the ledge, where he again turned into an eagle and soared into the forest. There he changed into a lion and stalked the underbrush until he came face to face with the black lion. The black lion jumped him, but Jack, being the strongest lion in the world, tore it to bits. (Back at the castle, the sorcerer felt his head spin.) The lion's belly was slit open, and out bolted a swift-footed black dog, but Jack turned into the fastest dog on earth, caught him, and they rolled together in a ball, biting each other until the black dog lay dead. (Back at the castle, the sorcerer had to take to his bed.) The dog's belly was slit open and out flew a black eagle, but Jack became the most powerful eagle under the sun and they soared through the sky pecking and clawing each other until the black eagle folded its wings and fell to earth. (At the castle, the sorcerer ran a high fever and curled up under the bedclothes.)
Jack changed back into a man, opened the eagle's craw, and removed the black egg. He returned to the castle and gave it to the king's daughter, who was overjoyed.
"How on earth did you do it?" she asked.
"Nothing to it," replied Jack. "The rest is now up to you."
The king's daughter entered the sorcerer's bedchamber, asking, "How do you feel?"
"Woe's me! I've been betrayed..."
"I brought you a cup of broth. Drink some."
The sorcerer sat up in his bed and bent over to drink the broth.
"Here, let me break an egg into it and give it more body." At that, the king's daughter broke the black egg over his brow and Body-without-Soul died on the spot.
Jack took the king's daughter home to her father. Everyone was overjoyed, and the young couple was married forthwith.
(Riviera ligure di ponente)
NOTES:
"Body-without-Soul" (Corpo-senza-l'anima) from Andrews, 46, Riviera ligure.
This Ligurian Jack differs from fellow heroes and liberators of princesses by his systematic cautiousness bordering on distrust (he is one of the few who, the minute he receives a magic gift, must test it before he is able to believe in it). In that respect he takes after his mother, who will not let him go out into the world until he has given proof of perseverance by felling the tree with his kicks. I have been faithful to the original version while aiming to endow it with a particular rhythm.
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
有钱能使鬼推磨
从前有一位十分富有的王子，他要在王宫的对面造一座宫殿，而且造得比王宫还要宏伟富丽。宫殿一落成，他就在门前写了“有钱能使鬼推磨”几个大字。
国王外出巡游，看见了写在门前的这些字，马上召见王子。这时，王子刚到都城不久，还没有去拜见国王。
“恭喜你啦，”国王说，“你的宫殿真是富丽堂皇啊，相比之下，我的小宫不过是茅庐寒舍。真是恭喜你了！不过，在门前写的‘有钱能使鬼推磨’是你出的主意吗？”
王子意识到，自己可能做得太过份了。
“是的，是我，”王子答覆说，“可是，如果陛下不喜欢，我就派人把这些字刮掉，这很方便。”
“哦，不必了。我并不打算让你刮掉，只是想叫你亲自告诉我，你那句话的意思是什么。比如说，你有钱就可以派人行刺我吗？”
王子感觉到，他的处境不妙了。
“哦，陛下，请您恕罪。我立刻将那些字刮掉。如果您不喜欢这座宫殿的话，您只管说，我可把它拆毁。”
“不，不，不要动它。可是，既然你说，有钱什么事都能办到，那么你就得向我证实这话是不是真的。我限你三天之内同我女儿谈话，如果办到了，我就让你跟她结婚。要不，我就砍掉你的脑袋！懂吗？”
王子愁得吃不下饭，睡不著觉。他日夜想的是怎样才能保住自己的脑袋。到了第二天，他确信自己无路可走了，就决定写遗嘱。他一筹莫展，因为国王的女儿被关在一座城堡里，周围有一百名卫兵看守著。王子脸色苍白，无精打采，躺在床上等死；就在这时候，他的老奶妈走进屋来。王子从小是她奶大的，后来她一直服侍他，现在已是个老态龙钟的老太婆了。老奶妈看见王子面容憔悴，便问他有什么不舒服。王子哼哼唧唧地把事情一五一十全都告诉了她。
“就这件事？”老奶妈说，“你就毫无办法了吗？真让人笑掉大牙！让我想想看，能帮你什么忙呢。”
老奶妈颤颤巍巍地走了出去，到了城里最出名的银匠家里。她向银匠定做了一只银鹅；这只银鹅做得要象人一般大，肚子里是空的，还要会张嘴、闭嘴。“必须明天做好！”她又加了一句。
“明天？你说胡话！”银匠惊叫起来。
“明天必须做好！”老奶妈掏出一个装著金币的钱包，接著说：“你再想想吧。这是现钱，剩下的钱等你明天交货时再付给你。”
银匠惊呆了，“这样的话，咱们好商量，好商量，我尽量照办，明天交货。”
第二天，银鹅做好了，做得非常漂亮。
老奶妈对王子说：“带上你的提琴，鉆到鹅肚子里去。我们一到街上，你就在里面拉琴。”
老奶妈在前面用一根缎带拖著银鹅，王子在里面拉著提琴，他们在城里走街串巷地兜著圈子。人们夹道观看这只漂亮的银鹅，城里的人没有不跑出来看的。消息传到了关著国王女儿的城堡里，她要求父亲准许她出去看一看这只银鹅。
国王说：“明天，那个牛皮王子的死期就到了，那时你再出去看银鹅吧。”
可是公主听说，那个拖著银鹅的老婆婆明天就要离开了。国王只好叫人把银鹅带到城堡里来，让他女儿看一眼。这正是老奶妈巴不得的事。公主独自看著这只银鹅，听著从它嘴里传出的琴声，感到十分惬意。这时，银鹅突然打开了，一个男人走了出来。
“别害怕，”这个男人说，“我是一位王子，必须跟您说话，否则明天早晨您父亲就要杀我的头了。请您对您父亲说，说您跟我已谈过话了，这样就救了我的命。”
第二天，国王召见了王子。“喂，钱使你跟我女儿谈话了吗？”
“是的，陛下，”王子回答说。
“怎么？你是说，你跟她谈过话了？”
“问她吧。”
公主走了进来，讲了王子藏在银鹅中的事，而银鹅却又是国王亲自下令让带入城堡的。
听到这里，国王摘下王冠，戴到王子头上。“这样看来，你不但有钱，而且还有个聪明的头脑！我把女儿嫁给你，你们幸福地生活吧！”
（热那亚地区）
注释：
材料来源：詹姆士·安德鲁斯编《利古里亚故事集》（巴黎，1892年版）第六十四篇；搜集地区：热那亚；讲述者：凯特瑞纳·格兰迪。
这是一篇起源于东方的故事（收集在用梵语写的动物故事集中）。在热那亚人的传说里，这篇故事有自己的独特之处，它强调了功利主义和商业道德（那位国王的最后一句评语与整个故事不协调，我决定赞颂聪明；再说，这也是适当的……）
Money Can Do Everything
There was once a prince as rich as cream, who took it into his head to put up a palace right across the street from the king's, but a palace far more splendid than the king's. Once it was finished, he put on its front in bold lettering: MONEY CAN DO EVERYTHING.
When the king came out and saw that, he sent immediately for the prince, who was new in town and hadn't yet visited the court.
"Congratulations," the king said. "Your palace is a true wonder. My house looks like a hut compared with it. Congratulations! But was it your idea to put up the words: Money can do everything?"
The prince realized that maybe he had gone too far.
"Yes it was," he answered, "but if Your Majesty doesn't like it, I can easily have the letters stripped off."
"Oh, no, I wouldn't think of having you do that. I merely wanted to hear from your own lips what you meant by such a statement. For instance, do you think that, with your money, you could have me assassinated?"
The prince realized he had got himself into a tight spot.
"Oh, Majesty, forgive me. I'll have the words removed at once. And if you don't like the palace, just say so, and I'll have it torn down too."
"No, no, leave it the way it is. But since you claim a person with money can do anything, prove it to me. I'll give you three days to try to talk to my daughter. If you manage to speak to her, well and good; you will marry her. If not, I'll have you beheaded. Is that clear?"
The prince was too distressed to eat, drink, or sleep. Day and night, all he thought of was how he might save his neck. By the second day he was certain of failure and decided to make his will. His plight was hopeless, for the king's daughter had been closed up in a castle surrounded by one hundred guards. Pale and limp as a rag, the prince lay on his bed waiting to die, when in walked his old nurse, a decrepit old soul now who had nursed him as a baby and who still worked for him. Finding him so haggard, the old woman asked what was wrong. Hemming and hawing, he told her the whole story.
"So?" said the nurse. "And you're giving up, like that? You make me laugh! I'll see what I can do about all this!"
Off she wobbled to the finest silversmith in town and ordered him to make a solid silver goose that would open and close its bill. The goose was to be as big as a man and hollow inside. "It must be ready tomorrow," she added.
"Tomorrow? You're crazy!" exclaimed the silversmith.
"Tomorrow I said!" The old woman pulled out a purse of gold coins and continued, "Think it over. This is the down payment. I'll give you the rest tomorrow when you deliver the goose."
The silversmith was dumbfounded. "That makes all the difference in the world," he said. "I'll do my best to have the goose tomorrow."
The next day the goose was ready, and it was a beauty.
The old woman said to the prince, "Take your violin and get inside the goose. Play as soon as we reach the road."
They wound their way through the city, with the old woman pulling the silver goose along by a ribbon and the prince inside playing his violin. The people lined the streets to watch: there wasn't a soul in town that didn't come running to see the beautiful goose. Word of it reached the castle where the king's daughter was shut up, and she asked her father to let her go and see the unusual sight.
The king said, "Time's up for that boastful prince tomorrow. You can go out then and see the goose."
But the girl had heard that the old woman with the goose would be gone by tomorrow. Therefore the king had the goose brought inside the castle so his daughter could see it. That's just what the old woman was counting on. As soon as the princess was alone with the silver goose and delighting in the music pouring from its bill, the goose suddenly opened and out stepped a man.
"Don't be afraid," said the man. "I am the prince who must either speak to you or be decapitated by your father tomorrow morning. You can say you spoke to me and save my life."
The next day the king sent for the prince. "Well, did your money make it possible for you to speak to my daughter?"
"Yes, Majesty," answered the prince.
"What! Do you mean you spoke to her?"
"Ask her."
The girl came in and told how the prince was hidden in the silver goose which the king himself had ordered brought inside the castle.
The king, at that, removed his crown and placed it on the prince's head. "That means you have not only money but also a fine head! Live happily, for I am giving you my daughter in marriage."
(Genoa)
NOTES:
"Money Can Do Everything" (Il danaro fa tutto) from Andrews, 64, Genoa, told by Caterina Grande.
This story, of oriental origin (found in the Panchatantra), stresses in its Genoese version a utilitarian and commercial moral all its own. (The final remark of the king was even too harsh along that line, so I decided to give credit also, as it meet, to cleverness...)
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
小羊倌
从前有个小羊倌，他的个儿长得很小，很是调皮捣蛋。一天，他赶著羊去草地时，看到一个小贩头顶一篮子鸡蛋从也他身旁经过，他将一块石头扔进人家的篮子里，把鸡蛋全砸碎了。可怜的卖蛋女人气坏了，尖著嗓子诅咒说：“你呀这辈子莫想再长大了，除非你找到可爱的巴格琳娜，她有三只会唱歌的苹果。”
从此，小羊倌变得又瘦又小。他妈妈越是疼爱他，他越变得瘦小。最后，他妈妈问道：“你到底出了什么事？你是不是做了坏事，人家诅咒你啦？”于是，他把对卖蛋小贩恶作剧的事讲了出来，把那个女人诅咒他的话又讲了一遍：“你呀这辈子莫想再长大了，除非你找到可爱的巴格琳娜，她有三只会唱歌的苹果。”
“这样的话，”妈妈说，“你别无办法，只好去寻找可爱的巴格琳娜了。”
小羊倌离开了家。他来到一座桥上，看见一个小女人坐在榛子壳里来回地摇晃著。
“那边是谁呀？”小女人问。
“一位朋友。”
“向上拨一下我的眼皮，好让我看一看你。”
“我正在寻找有三只会唱歌的苹果的、可爱的巴格琳娜，你知道她的一点情况吗？”
“不知道，不过你可以带著这块石头，它迟早会有用的。”
羊倌又走到另一座桥边，看见一个小女人正在一个鸡蛋壳里洗澡。
“那边是谁呀？”小女人问。
“一位朋友。”
“向上拨一下我的眼皮，好让我看一看你。”
“我正在寻找有三只会唱歌的苹果的、可爱的巴格琳娜，你听说过有关她的消息吗？”
“没有。不过你可以把这把象梳子拿去，它早晚会有用的。”
羊倌把梳子装入口袋，接著继续赶路，后来走到一条小溪边，看见一个人正在将雾装入袋子。当小羊倌问这个人是否知道可爱的巴格琳娜时，他回答说一无所知，但给了小羊倌一口袋雾，说它总会有用的。
接著，他走到一座磨坊，磨坊主是一只会说话的狐狸。它说：“我知道可爱的巴格琳娜是谁，但你要找到她却十分困难。你一直朝前走，走到一所敞开著大门的房子。走进去，你就会看到一只挂著许多小铃铛的水晶鸟笼。笼子里就放著会唱歌的苹果。你要拿走这只鸟笼，可要留神看管它的老婆婆。如果她的两眼睁著，那说明她睡著了；如果她的两眼闭著，她肯定醒著。”
羊倌继续赶路。到了那里他发现老婆婆的眼睛闭著，知道她并没有睡觉。“小伙子，”老婆婆说，“低下头看看我的头发，找找里面有没有虱子。”
当羊倌低著头给她捉虱子的时候，老婆婆睁开了双眼，他知道她睡著了。他连忙拿起水晶鸟笼逃走了。可是，笼子上的小铃铛叮叮噹噹地响起来，老婆婆惊醒了。她派了一百名骑兵去追他。听到尾随而来的骑兵马上要追上了，小羊倌掏出口袋里的那块石头丢了出去，石头马上变成了一座陡壁悬崖的大山，追来的马全倒在地上，跌断了腿。
这些骑兵失去了马，便步行回到老婆婆那儿。接著，老婆婆又派了二百名骑兵去追赶。小羊倌眼看自己又处在危险之中，便将那一把象牙梳子扔了出去，它变成了一座象玻璃山一样光滑的高山，那些马和骑兵全都滑下来摔死了。
接著，老婆婆又派了三百名骑兵去追赶。小羊倌又掏出那一口袋雾来，向身后猛掷出去，这支三百人的骑兵队全都被大雾迷住了，失去了方向。跑了这么一阵子，羊倌感到口渴，但身边没有什么可解渴的东西，便将鸟笼中的三只苹果拿出一只来，准备切开。这时他听到一个细微的声音说道：“请轻轻切，否则你要刺伤我啦。”他轻轻切开苹果，吃了一半，将另一半装到口袋里。最后，他来到自己家附近的一口井旁，伸手去摸口袋里的一半苹果，却掏出来一个很小、很小的小姑娘。
“我就是可爱的巴格琳娜，”她说，“我喜欢吃饼，去给我拿只饼来，我饿极啦。”
这口井的井口加了盖，中间有一个圆洞可以汲水。羊倌让小姑娘坐在井边上，叫她等著，自己便去拿饼了。
这时，一个大家叫做“丑奴隶”的仆人前来打水。她发现这个小姑娘，便说：“你怎么会长得这么小巧、这么漂亮，而我却生得这么粗、这么丑呢？”她越说越生气，竟把这个小东西扔进了井里。
羊倌回来后发现可爱的巴格琳娜不见了，他的心都碎啦。
小羊倌的母亲也是在这口井里打水用的。有一天，她发现自己的桶里有一条鱼。她把鱼拿回家，用油煎好。他们母子吃了鱼，把骨头丢在窗外。后来，丢鱼骨头的地方长出一棵树来，它长得很高大，把整所房子的光线都挡住了。于是，羊倌把树砍倒，劈成木柴后搬到家里。那时，他的母亲已经去世，羊倌独自一人住在这儿。如今，他比以往更瘦小了，不管怎么想方设法，他总是长不大。他每天外出放羊，晚上回家。可是他每天回到家里时，发现早晨用过的锅碗瓢勺都已洗好了，这是多么令人惊奇的事啊！他想不出是谁帮他做的这些。最后，他决定藏在门后观察一下。这时，他看到的却是一位秀丽的姑娘从柴堆里鉆出来，洗锅碗，打扫房间，叠被子，然后她打开食橱，拿出一只饼来吃。
小羊倌从门后猛地跳出来，问道：“你是谁？怎么进到房间里来的？”
“我就是可爱的巴格琳娜，”姑娘回答，“就是你掏那半只苹果时看到的那个姑娘。‘丑奴隶’把我扔进井里，我变成了鱼，接著又变成鱼骨头被丢在窗外。我又从鱼骨头变成树种，破土而出变成树，一个劲儿地往上长，最后又变成了你所劈的木柴。如今，你每天外出的时候，我就变成了可爱的巴格琳娜。”
由于重新找到了可爱的巴格琳娜，羊倌的身个儿飞快地向上长，可爱的巴格琳娜也跟他一起长大了。不久，羊倌就成了一位漂亮的年轻人，跟可爱的巴格琳娜结了婚。他们举行了盛大的庆祝宴会。当时我也在场，是在桌子底下。他们丢给我一块骨头，正巧打在我的鼻子上，从此它就粘在那儿永远掉不下来了。
（热那亚内陆地区）
注释：
材料来源：皮·埃·格纳瑞奥搜集的《热那亚方言故事两篇》（热那亚，1892年版）；搜集地区：热那亚附近的托里格利亚；讲述者：乡村妇女玛丽亚·班奇露。
“三只桔子”的故事流传很广[1]；这篇热那亚民间故事的特点在于出现了象希诺尼谟·博西[2]油画里的那些小东西——在果子壳里或蛋壳里摇晃著的小仙女。我们在热那亚的另一篇民间故事（见安德鲁斯所编《利古里亚故事集》第五十一篇）中也遇到同样的小东西。
——————
[1] 参看序言及第八十七篇《美丽的绿岛》和一○七篇《三只石榴的故事》的注释部分。
[2] 希诺尼谟·博西（1460-1516），荷兰画家。
The Little Shepherd
There was once a shepherd boy no bigger than a mite and as mean as could be. On his way out to pasture one day, he passed a poultry dealer carrying a basket of eggs on her head. So what did he do but throw a stone into the basket and break every single egg. Enraged, the poor woman screamed a curse: "You shall get no bigger until you've found lovely Bargaglina of the three singing apples!"
From that time on, the shepherd boy grew thin and puny, and the more his mother attended to him, the punier he became. Finally she asked, "What on earth has happened to you? Have you done a bad turn for which someone placed a curse on you?" He then told her about his meanness to the poultry dealer, repeating the woman's words to him, "You shall get no bigger until you've found lovely Bargaglina of the three singing apples!"
"In that case," said his mother, "you've no choice but to go in search of this lovely Bargaglina."
The shepherd set out. He came to a bridge, on which a little lady was rocking to and fro in a walnut shell.
"Who goes there?"
"A friend."
"Lift my eyelids a little, so I can see you."
"I'm seeking lovely Bargaglina of the three singing apples. Do you know anything about her?"
"No, but take this stone; it will come in handy."
The shepherd came to another bridge, where another little lady was bathing in an eggshell.
"Who goes there?"
"A friend."
"Lift my eyelids a little, so I can see you."
"I'm seeking lovely Bargaglina of the three singing apples. Have you any news of her?"
"No, but take this ivory comb, which will come in handy."
The shepherd put it in his pocket and walked on until he came to a stream where a man was filling a bag with fog. When asked about lovely Bargaglina, the man claimed to know nothing about her, but he gave the shepherd a pocketful of fog, which would come in handy.
Next he came to a mill whose miller, a talking fox, said, "Yes, I know who lovely Bargaglina is, but you'll have difficulty finding her. Walk straight ahead until you come to a house with the door open. Go inside and you'll see a crystal cage hung with many little bells. In the cage are the singing apples. You must take the cage, but watch out for a certain old woman. If her eyes are open, that means she's asleep. If they're closed, she's surely awake."
The shepherd moved on. He found the old woman with her eyes closed and realized she was awake. "My lad," said the old woman, "glance down in my hair and see if I've any lice."
He looked, and as he was delousing her, she opened her eyes and he knew she had fallen asleep. So he quickly picked up the crystal cage and fled. But the little bells on the cage tinkled, and the old woman awakened and sent a hundred horsemen after him. Hearing them almost upon him, the shepherd dropped the stone he had in his pocket. It changed instantly into a steep, rocky mountain, and the horses all fell and broke their legs.
Now horseless, the cavalrymen returned to the old woman, who then sent out two hundred mounted soldiers. Seeing himself in new peril, the shepherd threw down the ivory comb. It turned into a mountain as slick as glass, down which horses and riders all slid to their death.
The old woman then sent three hundred horsemen after him, but he pulled out the pocketful of fog, hurled it over his shoulder, and the army got lost in it. Meanwhile, the shepherd had grown thirsty and, having nothing with him to drink, removed one of the three apples from the cage and cut into it. A tiny voice said, "Gently, please, or you'll hurt me." Gently, he finished cutting the apple, ate one half, and put the other in his pocket. At length he came to a well near his house, where he reached into his pocket for the rest of the apple. In its place was a tiny, tiny lady.
"I'm lovely Bargaglina," she said, "and I like cake. Go get me a cake, I'm famished."
The well was one of those closed wells, with a hole in the center, so the shepherd seated the lady on the rim, telling her to wait there until he came back with the cake.
Meanwhile, a servant known as Ugly Slave came to the well for water. She spied the lovely little lady and said, "How come you're so little and beautiful while I'm so big and ugly?" And she grew so furious that she threw the tiny creature into the well.
The shepherd returned and was heartbroken to find lovely Bargaglina gone.
Now his mother also went to that well for water, and what should she find in her bucket one day but a fish. She took it home and fried it. They ate it and threw the bones out the window. There where they fell, a tree grew up and got so big that it shut out all the light from the house. The shepherd therefore cut it down and chopped it up for firewood, which he brought inside. By that time his mother had died, and he lived there all by himself, now punier then ever, since no matter what he tried, he couldn't grow any bigger. Every day he went out to the pasture and came back home at night. How great was his amazement upon finding the dishes and pans he'd used in the morning all washed for him when he came home! He couldn't imagine who was doing this. At last he decided to hide behind the door and find out. Whom should he then see but a very dainty maiden emerge from the woodpile, wash the dishes, sweep the house, and make his bed, after which she opened the cupboard and helped herself to a cake.
Out sprang the shepherd, asking, "Who are you? How did you get in?"
"I'm lovely Bargaglina," replied the maiden, "the girl you found in your pocket in place of the apple half. Ugly Slave threw me into the well, and I turned into a fish, then into fishbones thrown out the window. From fishbones I changed into a tree seed, next into a tree that grew and grew, and finally into firewood you cut. Now, every day while you're away, I become lovely Bargaglina."
Thanks to the rediscovery of lovely Bargaglina, the shepherd grew by leaps and bounds, and lovely Bargaglina along with him. Soon he was a handsome youth and married lovely Bargaglina. They had a big feast. I was there, under the table. They threw me a bone, which hit me on the nose and stuck for good.
(Inland vicinity of Genoa)
NOTES:
"The Little Shepherd" (Il pastore che non cresceva mai) from Guarnerio (Due fole nel dialetto del contado genovese collected by P. E. Guarnerio, Genoa, 1892), Torriglia, near Genoa, told by the countrywoman Maria Banchero.
A feature of this Genoese variant of the widespread tale of the "three oranges" includes encounters with creatures like those in the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch -- tiny fairies rocking in nutshells or eggshells. We meet the same beings in another Genoese version (Andrews, 51).
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
银鼻子
从前，有一个寡妇，带着三个女儿以替人洗衣为生。一家四口每日竭尽全力洗着衣服，但还是过着忍饥挨饿的生活。一天，大女儿对妈妈说：
“这样还不如去给魔鬼干活，我想离家出外谋生。”
“千万别这样说，我的孩子，”妈妈说，“这样你会惹祸上身的。”
没过几天，她们家里来了一位绅士，身着黑衣裤，衣冠楚楚的，长着一只银鼻子。
“我听说您有三个女儿，让我带走一个做我的仆人吧。”他对妈妈说。
妈妈对这人的银鼻子看不惯，要不然，她会立即让女儿跟他走。她把大女儿叫到一旁，对她说：“人世间长着银鼻子的人是没有的，你得留点神，要是跟他走，将来你一定会后悔。”
但女儿急不可待地要离开家，还是跟他走了。他们走了很远的路，穿过森林，越过高山，到了一个地方，远远地看见前边有一处亮光，好像在着火。“那是什么？”姑娘问，这时她开始有点担忧了。
“是我家，我们就去那里。”银鼻子说。
姑娘跟着他继续往前走，全身上下忍不住地哆嗦。他们来到一座巨大的宫殿，银鼻子带着她，参观了所有的房间，一间比一间漂亮，每看一个房间，他都把钥匙交给她。走到最后一个房间门口，银鼻子把钥匙递给她后说：“这个门你无论如何不能打开，否则，你就麻烦了！这里的一切，你都可以做主，只有这个房间除外。”
