姑娘心想：这里一定有什么名堂！她决定等银鼻子一离开这里，就打开看看。晚上，姑娘正睡在自己的房间里，银鼻子蹑手蹑脚地走了进来，他走近姑娘的床边，在她的头发上插了一朵玫瑰花，就又蹑手蹑脚地出去了。
第二天早上，银鼻子出去办事了。只剩姑娘一个人拿着一大串钥匙留在家里，她立即跑去开那扇被禁止打开的房门。刚打开一条缝隙，就从里面冲出了好多火苗和烟雾，火苗和烟雾尽是被火烧炼的罪恶的灵魂。姑娘这时才明白银鼻子就是魔鬼，而这个房间就是地狱。她大叫一声，立即关上房门，想尽量跑远一点，离开这个地狱之屋，但火舌还是烧到了她头上的插着的那朵玫瑰花。
银鼻子回到家，看到那朵烫焦了的玫瑰花，就说：“怎么，你就是这样听我的话的吗！”他一把抓住姑娘，打开地狱的门，把她扔进了火中。
第二天，他又来到寡妇家，说：“您的女儿在我那里住得很好，但活儿太多，她需要个帮手。您能让二女儿也跟我去吗？”就这样，银鼻子带着另一个姑娘回到了宫殿。他也给姑娘看了每个房间，把房间的钥匙也都给她，也对她说所有的房间都可以打开，只有最后那间除外。姑娘说：“您不必担心，我为什么要开它呢？我不想了解您的私事。”晚上，姑娘上床休息以后，银鼻子悄悄地来到她的床前，把一朵康乃馨插在她的头发上。
第二天早上，银鼻子一出门，姑娘做的第一件事就是去打开那扇禁门。只见里面满是烟雾、火苗，还有罪恶灵魂的嚎叫，在火中她还发现了自己的姐姐。“妹妹，快救救我！把我从这个地狱里救出去！”姐姐冲她大叫。但姑娘吓得早已魂飞魄散了，她连忙关上门，拔腿就逃，但不知该躲到哪里去，因为她确信银鼻子就是魔鬼，而她早被他捏在手心里，无处可逃。银鼻子一回来，首先看姑娘的头发，看到康乃馨被烤焦了，便一句话不说，抓起她，把她也扔进了地狱。
次日，银鼻子照旧穿得像大人物一样，又来到寡妇家。“我家的活太多，两个姑娘还干不完，您把三女儿也让我带去，好吗？”就这样，他又把三女儿带了回来。三女儿名叫露琪亚，在三姐妹中，她最有头脑。银鼻子也带她看了每个房间，然后照旧叮嘱了她，而且当她睡了之后，也在她的头发上插了一朵花，是一朵茉莉花。早上，露琪亚起床后，就去梳头，照着镜子，她发现了头上的茉莉花。她自语道：“看哪，银鼻子给我插了一朵茉莉花。多优雅的想法！可是，我要让它保持新鲜。”她把花插在一个水杯里。梳完头，看看家里只剩她一个人，她就想：我现在去看看那扇神秘的门里有什么。
刚把门打开，烈火扑面而来，只见里边炼着很多人，而且人群中，她发现了她的大姐，然后又看见了二姐。她们大声叫着：“露琪亚！露琪亚！快拉我们出去！救救我们！”
露琪亚先是关好了门，然后思考如何才能救出两位姐姐。
魔鬼回来的时候，露琪亚早已把那朵茉莉花又插到了头上，装作没事的样子。银鼻子看了一眼茉莉花，说：“噢，还鲜着呢。”
“当然，它怎么会不新鲜呢？谁会把枯败的花戴在头上？”
“不是，我只是这么说说罢了，”银鼻子说，“我觉得你是个不错的姑娘，你要是一直这样，我们就能一直相处得很愉快。你在这里还满意吗？”
“满意，我在这里住得很好，但要不是有放心不下的事，就更好了。”
“放心不下什么？”
“我离家来这里的时候，我妈妈身体不舒服。现在我一点她的消息也没有。”
“要是就这点事，”魔鬼说，“我到你家去一趟，这样可以给你带回点那边的消息。”
“谢谢，您真是个大好人。要是您明天能去，我现在就把这里的脏东西准备成一个袋子，带给妈妈，等妈妈身体好的时候好让她帮忙洗洗。你不会觉得太重吧？”
“哪里的话，”魔鬼说，“再重的东西我也拿得动。”
等魔鬼一出去，露琪亚马上去打开了地狱之门，把大姐拉了出来，然后把她装进一只口袋。“待在里边，别说话，卡尔洛塔。等一会，魔鬼要亲自带你回家。不过，路上你要是觉得他把口袋放在地上，你就要喊：我看见你了！我看见你了！”
银鼻子来了，露琪亚对他说：“这是一袋要洗的东西。但你真的能一气不停地把它带到我妈妈家吗？”
“你不信任我吗？”魔鬼问。
“我当然相信你，因为我有这本领：我能看得很远，反正你把口袋搁在随便什么地方停下，我都看得见。”
魔鬼说：“是吗，等着看吧！”但他对姑娘具有千里眼的法力不以为然。他背起口袋，说：“这包脏东西怎么这么重啊！”
姑娘说：“那当然，你有多少年没洗过一样东西了？”
银鼻子上路了。但走到半路，他想：姑娘的话没错！不过我还是得看一下，也许她是以送该洗的脏东西为借口，想偷我的东西。于是，他把口袋放在地上，要打开看看。
“我看见你了！我看见你了！”姐姐从口袋里立即喊起来。
“啊，是真的！她真是千里眼！”银鼻子说着又背起口袋，一直走到露琪亚妈妈的家。“您的女儿让我把这袋东西带回来洗，她还想问问您身体怎么样……”
银鼻子一走，洗衣妇就打开了口袋，当她看到自己的大女儿时，高兴的样子就可想而知了。
一个星期后，露琪亚又假装忧心忡忡，她对银鼻子说还想知道妈妈的消息。
她又让他带上另一袋的脏东西去她家。于是，银鼻子又背起她二姐上路了，这一次他又没看成袋子里的东西，因为他听到有人叫着：“我看见你了！我看见你了！”
此时，洗衣妇已知道这个银鼻子就是魔鬼了，看到他又背着一袋东西来了，紧张得不得了，生怕银鼻子向她要上次洗好的东西，但银鼻子把肩上的口袋往地上一放，说：“洗好的东西，我下一次再来取，这包东西太重，压得我骨头都快断了，我要空手回去。”
等银鼻子一走远，洗衣妇万分焦急地打开了口袋，紧紧抱住了自己的二女儿。但随后就开始替露琪亚担心，她现在一个人只身留在魔鬼的手里。
露琪亚怎么办呢？过了不久，她又假装想了解母亲的情况。魔鬼此时已经厌倦了替她带脏衣服回家，不过想到她这么听话，也就不忍拒绝。临行前的晚上，露琪亚说她头疼得厉害，要先去睡了。“我把准备好的口袋给你留下，这样，明天即使我不舒服，起不了床，你也可以自己把口袋带去。”
现在，要知道露琪亚早就缝制了一个玩具布娃娃，跟她自己一样大。她把布娃娃放在床上，盖上被子，然后剪掉自己的辫子安在布娃娃的头上，看上去就像她自己睡在床上一样。随后，她又把自己藏在了口袋里。
早上，魔鬼看到姑娘躺在被窝里，就背起口袋上路了，边走边想：今天她病了，不可能再注意我。这是偷看口袋里边到底是不是脏东西的好机会。他放下口袋，刚想打开来看。“我看见你了！我看见你了！”露琪亚喊道。
“啊！她的声音真真切切的，好像就在耳旁！最好别再跟这姑娘开这种玩笑了。”他背起口袋，一直把它送给了洗衣妇。“我以后来把洗好的东西取走，”他急急忙忙地说，“现在我得赶快回去，因为露琪亚病了。”
就这样，一家人又团聚了，而且因为露琪亚还从魔鬼那里带回很多金币，足够全家人幸福、满足地生活着。她们在家门口立起了一个十字架，魔鬼再也不敢靠近了。
Silver Nose
There was once a widowed washerwoman with three daughters. All four of them worked their fingers to the bone washing, but they still went hungry. One day the oldest daughter said to her mother, "I intend to leave home, even if I have to go and work for the Devil."
"Don't talk like that, daughter," replied the mother. "Goodness knows what might happen to you."
Not many days afterward, they received a visit from a gentleman attired in black. He was the height of courtesy and had a silver nose.
"I am aware of the fact that you have three daughters," he said to the mother. "Would you let one come and work for me?"
The mother would have consented at once, had it not been for that silver nose which she didn't like the looks of. She called her oldest girl aside and said, "No man on earth has a silver nose. If you go off with him you might well live to regret it, so watch out."
The daughter, who was dying to leave home, paid no attention to her mother and left with the man. They walked for miles and miles, crossing woods and mountains, and finally came in sight of an intense glow in the distance like that of a fire. "What is that I see way down there in the valley?" asked the girl, growing uneasy.
"My house. That's just where we are going," replied Silver Nose.
The girl followed along, but couldn't keep from trembling. They came to a large palace, and Silver Nose took her through it and showed her every room, each one more beautiful than the other, and he gave her the key to each one. When they reached the door of the last room, Silver Nose gave her the key and said, "You must never open this door for any reason whatever, or you'll wish you hadn't! You're in charge of all the rooms but this one."
He's hiding something from me, thought the girl, and resolved to open that door the minute Silver Nose left the house. That night, while she was sleeping in her little room, in tiptoed Silver Nose and placed a rose in her hair. Then he left just as quietly as he had entered.
The next morning Silver Nose went out on business. Finding herself alone with all her keys, the girl ran and unlocked the forbidden door. No sooner had she cracked it than smoke and flames shot out, while she caught sight of a crowd of damned souls in agony inside the fiery room. She then realized that Silver Nose was the Devil and that the room was Hell. She screamed, slammed the door, and took to her heels. But a tongue of fire had scorched the rose she wore in her hair.
Silver Nose came home and saw the singed rose. "So that's how you obey me!" he said. He snatched her up, opened the door to Hell, and flung her into the flames.
The next day he went back to the widow. "Your daughter is getting along very well at my house, but the work is so heavy she needs help. Could you send us your second daughter too?" So Silver Nose returned home with one of the girl's sisters. He showed her around the house, gave her all the keys, and told her she could open all the rooms except the last. "Do you think," said the girl, "I would have any reason to open it? I am not interested in your personal business." That night after the girl went to sleep, Silver Nose tiptoed in and put a carnation in her hair.
When Silver Nose went out the next morning, the first thing the girl did was go and open the forbidden door. She was instantly assailed by smoke, flames, and howls of the damned souls, in whose midst she spotted her sister. "Sister, free me from this Hell!" screamed the first girl. But the middle girl grew weak in the knees, slammed the door, and ran. She was now sure that Silver Nose was the Devil, from whom she couldn't hide or escape. Silver Nose returned and noticed her hair right away. The carnation was withered, so without a word he snatched her up and threw her into Hell too.
The next day, in his customary aristocratic attire, he reappeared at the washerwoman's house. "There is so much work to be done at my house that not even two girls are enough. Could I have your third daughter as well?" He thus returned home with the third sister, Lucia, who was the most cunning of them all. She too was shown around the house and given the same instructions as her sisters. She too had a flower put in her hair while she was sleeping: a jasmine blossom. The first thing Lucia did when she got up next morning was arrange her hair. Looking in the mirror, she noticed the jasmine. "Well, well!" she said. "Silver Nose pinned a jasmine on me. How thoughtful of him! Who knows why he did it? In any case I'll keep it fresh." She put it into a glass of water, combed her hair, then said, "Now let's take a look at that mysterious door."
She just barely opened it, and out rushed a flame. She glimpsed countless people burning, and there in the middle of the crowd were her big sisters. "Lucia! Lucia!" they screamed. "Get us out of here! Save us!"
At once Lucia shut the door tightly and began thinking how she might rescue her sisters.
By the time the Devil got home, Lucia had put her jasmine back in her hair, and acted as though nothing had happened that day. Silver Nose looked at the jasmine. "Oh, it's still fresh," he said.
"Of course, why shouldn't it be? Why would anyone wear withered flowers in her hair?"
"Oh, I was just talking to be talking," answered Silver Nose. "You seem like a clever girl. Keep it up, and we'll never quarrel. Are you happy?"
"Yes, but I'd be happier if I didn't have something bothering me."
"What's bothering you?"
"When I left my mother, she wasn't feeling too well. Now I have no news at all of her."
"If that's all you're worried about," said the Devil, "I'll drop by her house and see how she's doing."
"Thank you, that is very kind of you. If you can go tomorrow, I'll get up a bag of laundry at once which my mother can wash if she is well enough. The bag won't be too heavy for you, will it?"
"Of course not. I can carry anything under the sun, no matter how heavy it is."
When the Devil went out again that day, Lucia opened the door to Hell, pulled out her oldest sister, and tied her up in a bag. "Keep still in there, Carlotta," she told her. "The Devil himself will carry you back home. But any time he so much as thinks of putting the bag down, you must say, 'I see you, I see you!'"
The Devil returned, and Lucia said, "Here is the bag of things to be washed. Do you promise you'll take it straight to my mother?"
"You don't trust me?" asked the Devil.
"Certainly I trust you, all the more so with my special ability to see from a great distance away. If you dare put the bag down somewhere, I'll see you."
"Yes, of course," said the Devil, but he had little faith in her claim of being able to see things a great distance away. He flung the bag over his shoulder. "My goodness, this dirty stuff is heavy!" he exclaimed.
"Naturally!" replied the girl. "How many years has it been since you had anything washed?"
Silver Nose set out for the washerwoman's, but when he was only halfway there, he said to himself, "Mt I shall see if this girl isn't emptying my house of everything I own, under the pretext of sending out laundry." He went to put the bag down and open it.
"I see you, I see you!" suddenly screamed the sister inside the bag.
"By Jove, it's true! She can see from afar!" exclaimed Silver Nose. He threw the bag back over his shoulder and marched straight to Lucia's mother's house. "Your daughter sends you this stuff to wash and wants to know how you are..."
As soon as he left, the washerwoman opened the sack, and you can imagine her joy upon finding her oldest daughter inside.
A week later, sly Lucia pretended to be sad once more and told Silver Nose she wanted news of her mother.
She sent him to her house with another bag of laundry. So Silver Nose carried off the second sister, without managing to peep inside because of the "I see you, I see you!" which came from the bag the instant he started to open it. The washerwoman, who now knew Silver Nose was the Devil, was quite frightened when he returned, for she was sure he would ask for the clean wash from last time. But Silver Nose put down the new bag and said, "I'll get the clean wash some other time. This heavy bag has broken my back, and I want to go home with nothing to carry."
When he had gone, the washerwoman anxiously opened the bag and embraced her second daughter. But she was more worried than ever about Lucia, who was now alone in the Devil's hands.
What did Lucia do? Not long afterward she started up again about news of her mother. By now the Devil was sick and tired of carrying laundry, but he had grown too fond of this obedient girl to say no to her. As soon as it grew dark, Lucia announced she had a bad headache and would go to bed early. "I'll prepare the laundry and leave the bag out for you, so if I don't feel like getting up in the morning, you can be on your way."
Now Lucia had made a rag doll the same size as herself. She put it in bed under the covers, cut off her own braids, adn sewed them on the doll's head. the doll then looked like Lucia asleep, and Lucia closed herself up in the bag.
In the morning the Devil saw the girl snuggled down under the covers and set out with the bag over his shoulder. "She's sick this morning," he said to himself, "and won't be looking. It's the perfect time to see if this really is nothing but laundry." At that, he put the bag down and was about to open it. "I see you, I see you!" cried Lucia.
"By Jove, it's her voice to a tee, as though she were right here! Better not joke with such a girl." He took up the bag again and carried it to the washerwoman. "I'll come back later for everything," he said rapidly. "I have to get home right away because Lucia is sick."
So the family was finally reunited. Since Lucia had also carried off great sums of the Devil's money, they were now able to live in comfort and happiness. They planted a cross before the door, and from then on, the Devil kept his distance.
(Langhe)
NOTES:
"Silver Nose" (Il naso d'argento) from Carraroli, 3, from Langhe, Piedmont.
Bluebeard in Piedmont is Silver Nose. His victims are not wives but servant girls, and the story is not taken from chronicles about cruel feudal masters as in Perrault, but from medieval theological legends: Bluebeard is the Devil, and the room containing the murdered women is Hell. I found the silver nose only in this version translated from dialect and summarized by Carraroli; but the Devil-Bluebeard, the flowers in the hair, and the ruses to get back home were encountered all over Northern Italy. I integrated the rather meager Piedmont version with one from Bologna (Coronedi S. 27) and a Venetian one (Bernoni, 3).
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
伯爵的胡子
博卡帕利亚是建在陡峭山坡上的一个小镇，镇上人家的鸡只要一下蛋就会滚落到山下的树林里。为了防止鸡蛋滚落丢失，居民们在每只母鸡的尾巴上挂了一个小袋子。
这说明博卡帕利亚人并非像别人挖苦的那样软弱无能，附近曾经流传着这样一句话：
谁都知道在博卡帕利亚，
驴子吹口哨，主人嚎叫。
这纯粹是附近村镇的人对他们的污蔑，这些人这样对待博卡帕利亚人就是因为他们生性平静，不愿意和任何人争吵。
“让你们诬蔑吧，挖苦吧，”博卡帕利亚人都这样说，“等马西诺回来，看我们当中谁还会嚎叫。”
马西诺是博卡帕利亚人中最聪明的人，深受全镇的人爱戴。他并不比别人粗壮，甚至比一般人还瘦弱很多，但他天生聪明。他刚出世时，看上去瘦弱娇小，妈妈为了让他能活下来，而且还能长得强壮一点，就用热葡萄酒给他洗澡。爸爸还把烧红的铁放到酒里给酒加热。这样马西诺既通过浸泡皮肤而获得了酒的柔力，又吸收了铁的刚强。洗完澡后，妈妈又把她放在铺满生栗子壳的摇篮里，让他的身体变凉爽，使他在刺痛中变得更加睿智。
长大后，马西诺出发去服兵役，以后再也没有回到自己的村镇。现在好像到了非洲的某个地方。这期间博卡帕利亚开始出了一系列的怪事。每天晚上人们都会发现，他们的牛从平原上的草地放牧回来时，总要被女巫米奇利娜抢走好几头。
女巫米奇利娜总是藏在村子下方的树林中，伺机而出，她只须吹一口气就可以把一头牛劫走。天黑后，每当村民们听到林中灌木丛的沙沙响动，就会吓的牙齿打架，甚至昏倒在地，所以大家都说：
女巫米奇利娜，
从牛栏把牛偷走，
只要用眼斜一下，
你就吓得倒下。
村民们只好在夜里点起一堆堆大篝火，使女巫米奇利娜不敢从树丛中现身。但当只有一个人在篝火边上看守牲畜时，女巫就会悄悄地靠上去，用气把这个人吹昏，等到早上他醒过来的时候，奶牛、耕牛早已不见了，于是大家便听到他痛哭、绝望，击自己的头。然后，所有的人都会一齐到树林中寻找牲畜，结果，除了一绺头发、女人的的发钗和女巫米奇利娜四处留下的足印，什么也找不到。
就这样过去了好几个月，奶牛被一直关在牛圈里变得越来越瘦。刷毛的时候已经不需要刷子了，用耙子在牛肋骨上耙几下就行了。没有人再敢将牲畜带到草地上去了，也没有人敢再进树林里，林子里边的蘑菇因为长久无人采摘，长得像雨伞一般大。
女巫米奇利娜从不去别的村镇抢牛，因为她知道再没有哪个村的村民像博卡帕利亚人这样与世无争、平静忍耐了。每天晚上，这些贫苦的村民就在场院中间点上一堆篝火，女人和孩子留在家中，男人则围着篝火挠头抱怨着。怨了今天，怨明天，最后，他们决定得去找这里的伯爵帮忙。
伯爵住在村镇山顶上的一座圆形庄园里，四周围着围墙，墙上还插满了玻璃片。一个星期天的早上，村民们聚在一块，帽子拿在手上，前来敲响了伯爵家的门。门打开后，村民们来到伯爵圆形房屋前的庭院，只见屋子的窗户都用铁栅栏封着，庭院四周坐着伯爵的卫兵，他们的胡子上都涂着油，好让胡子看上去光彩油亮。这些人一个个对村民们怒目而视。庭院的最里端，伯爵坐在丝绒面的椅子上，黑胡子很长很长，四个卫兵正用四把梳子在给他从上往下地梳理它。
年纪最长的村民定了定神，说：“伯爵老爷，我们斗胆来您这里，是为了向您禀告我们的不幸遭遇，森林中有一个女巫米奇利娜，把我们的牲畜都抢了去。”随后，老人叹着气，诉着苦，在别的村民的点头证实下，向伯爵讲述了他们这段时间的可怕经历。
伯爵一声不吭。
老人又说：“我们来这里想冒昧向老爷您求讨一个解决办法。”
伯爵还是一声不吭。
老人又补充说：“我们来这里想斗胆请老爷您行行好帮我们一把，要是您肯派出一队卫士，我们就可以回到草场上放牲畜了。”
伯爵把脑袋在脖子上转了一圈，说：“要是派卫兵，我就还得派一个队长……”
村民们都竖着耳朵听着，似乎感受到一线希望。
“但要是我派队长去，”伯爵说，“那么，晚上，我还跟谁玩掷彩游戏呢？”
村民们跪在地上说：“帮帮我们吧，伯爵老爷，可怜可怜我们吧！”周围的卫士们开始厌烦地打着哈欠，给胡子涂着黑油。
伯爵又转了一下头，说：
“我是伯爵，我说话能顶三个人说话，
既然我没见过女巫，
说明根本就没有女巫。”
听到伯爵的话，那些正打着哈欠的卫士立即端起步枪，用刺刀慢慢地逼着村民们退出了庭院。
村民们垂头丧气地回到场院，不知下一步该怎么办，那个跟伯爵说过话的年纪最长的老人说：“现在我们得派人去把马西诺请回来！”
说完，他们便立即给马西诺写了封信，然后将信寄到非洲。一天晚上，当村民们像往常一样聚集在场院的篝火旁边时，马西诺回来了。人们激动的情景就别提了，大家冲上去拥抱他，煮上加香料的热葡萄酒。有人问：“你去了什么地方？”有人说：“你见到了些什么东西？”还有人说：“你知道我们有多惨吗？”
马西诺先让大家说了个够，然后他开始叙述起来：“在非洲我遇到过不吃人只吃蝉的野蛮人；在沙漠我碰到过一个为了挖地下水而留了十二米长的指甲的疯子；在海上我见过一条鱼穿着一只皮鞋和一只拖鞋，它想成为众鱼之王，因为别的鱼既没有穿皮鞋的，也没有穿拖鞋的；在西西里，我认识一位妇女生了七十个儿子，但全家只有一口锅；在那不勒斯，我看见人们停住脚也能往前走，因为别人的闲言碎语太厉害了，变成了一股很大的推力；我还看见过圣人，看见过罪犯，看见过一百公斤重的胖子，也看见过骨瘦如柴的矮子，我见过很多胆小的人，但从没见过像博卡帕利亚人这么胆小的人。”
村民们都羞愧地低下了头，马西诺说他们胆小，实在是一针见血。但马西诺并没有责怪乡亲们的意思。他让大家把女巫的事详细地说了一遍，然后说：“我现在问你们三个问题，然后，等半夜一到，我就去抓住这个女巫，把她带到这里来。”
“问吧，问吧！”大家齐说。
“第一个问题要先问理发师。这个月有多少人到你那里理发？”
理发师回答：
“有长胡子的，有短胡子的，
有胡子软软的，有胡子弯曲的，
有鬈发的，有蓬发的，
我的剪刀给他们都剪过。”
“现在我问你，鞋匠，这个月有多少人到你那里修鞋呢？”
“唉，”鞋匠说：
“我修过木拖鞋，修过皮拖鞋，
钉了一堆鞋钉，上了一堆掌铁；
我修过布鞋，修过蛇皮鞋，
但现在人们都没了钱，无人再来了。”
“第三个问题要问你了，制绳匠，这个月你卖出去多少根绳子？”
制绳匠说：
“柳绳，线绳，
搓的和编的草绳，
细细的柳条井绳，
粗如胳膊，细如针，
硬的如铁，软的如猪油，
这个月我卖了很多根。”
“好了，都明白了。”马西诺说，在篝火旁躺下，“我现在先睡上两个小时，我实在太累了。到半夜，你们把我叫醒，我去抓那个女巫。”说完，他用帽子遮住脸，睡着了。
村民们静静地守候在一边，连大气都不敢出，怕吵醒他。到半夜，马西诺自己醒了过来，他打了个哈欠，喝下一小杯热酒，又朝篝火吐了三口唾沫，然后，旁若无人地站起来直奔树林。
村民们都留在原地等他，只见篝火烧成了火炭，火炭又烧成了柴灰，柴灰也变黑了，这时，马西诺回来了。身后还带着一个人，好像被拉着胡子，是谁呀？是伯爵，伯爵一边哭着，挣扎着，一边求饶。
“这就是女巫！”马西诺喊道。随后又问：“热酒放在哪里了”？
伯爵在众人的怒目逼视下，蜷缩在地上，好像一只冻坏的苍蝇。
马西诺解释说：“不可能是你们当中的人干的，因为你们都理过发，剪过胡须，不可能在树丛中留下须毛；树林里有又大又重的鞋印，而你们都是赤脚进树林的。也不可能是什么精灵干的，因为精灵没必要去买那么多绳子绑了牲畜，再拉走。哎，我要的热酒呢？”
伯爵浑身哆嗦着，竭力要躲到他的胡子里面，马西诺把他从树丛后拉出来的时候，他的胡子被拉得乱七八糟。
“那他用什么方法看我们一眼，就会让我们昏倒呢？”一位村民问。
“他用包了布的木棍子在你们的头上猛击一棍，这样你们觉得像吹气一样，头上无痕迹，醒来时头昏脑沉。”
“那他丢在森林中的那些头钗呢？”另一个人问。
“这些头钗是他用来把胡子扎到头上的，就像女人扎头发那样。”
村民们都安静地听着，当马西诺说“现在，大家想怎么处置他？”时，人群中爆发出一阵激动的喊声：“烧死他！剥他的皮！把他绑在杆子上当稻草人！把他关在桶里让他不停地转！把他跟六只猫，六只狗一起捆进一个袋子里！”
“饶命！”伯爵用颤抖的声音哀求着。
“我看这样吧，”马西诺说，“让他把牲畜都还给大家，再让他把所有的牛棚打扫干净。既然他喜欢夜里到森林中去，就罚他每天晚上都去给你们捡柴火。告诉孩子们以后看到地上有发钗的话再也不要捡了，它们都是女巫米奇利娜的，她再也不能梳理好头发和胡子了。”
村民们就照马西诺说的做了。随后，马西诺又动身游历世界去了，一路上，他加入了一次又一次的战争，每一次战争都持续了很长时间，有诗为证：
啊，战争中的士兵，
你吃的差，睡在地上，
将火药装进炮膛，
嘣！嘣!
The Count's Beard
The town of Pocapaglia was perched on the pinnacle of a hill so steep that its inhabitants tied little bags on the tail feathers of their hens to catch each freshly laid egg that otherwise would have gone rolling down the slopes into the woods below.
All of which goes to show that the people of Pocapaglia were not the dunces they were said to be, and that the proverb,
In Pocapaglia ways
The donkey whistles, the master brays,
merely reflected the malicious grudge the neighboring townspeople bore the Pocapaglians for their peaceful ways and their reluctance to quarrel with anyone.
"Yes, yes," was all the Pocapaglians would reply, "but just wait until Masino returns, and you will see who brays more, we or you."
Everybody in Pocapaglia loved Masino, the smartest boy in town. He was no stronger physically than anybody else; in fact, he even looked rather puny. But he had always been very clever. Concerned over how little he was at birth, his mother had bathed him in warm wine to keep him alive and make him a little stronger. His father had heated the wine with a red-hot horseshoe. That way Masino absorbed the subtlety of wine and the endurance of iron. To cool him off after his bath, his mother cradled him in the shell of an unripened chestnut; it was bitter and gave him understanding.
At the time the Pocapaglians were awaiting the return of Masino, whom no one had seen since the day he went off to be a soldier (and who was now most likely somewhere in Africa), strange things started happening in Pocapaglia. Every evening as the cattle came back from pasture in the plain below, an animal was whisked away by Micillina the Witch.
The witch would hide in the woods at the foot of the hill, and all she needed to do was give one heavy puff, and she had herself an ox. When the farmers heard her steal through the thicket after dark, their teeth would chatter, and everyone would fall down in a swoon. That became so common that people took to saying:
Beware of Micillina, that old witch,
For all your oxen she will filch,
Then train on you her crossed-eye,
And wait for you to fall and die.
At night they began lighting huge bonfires to keep Micillina the Witch from venturing out of the woods. But she would sneak up on the solitary farmer watching over cattle beside the bonfire and knock him out in one breath. In the morning upon awaking, he'd find cows and oxen gone, and his friends would hear him weeping and moaning and hitting himself on the head. Then everybody combed the woods for traces of the stolen cattle, but found only tufts of hair, hairpins, and footprints left here and there by Micillina the Witch.
Things went from bad to worse. Shut up all the time in the barn, the cows grew as thin as rails. A rake instead of a brush was all that was needed to groom them, from rib to rib. Nobody dared lead the cattle to pasture any more. Everyone stayed clear of the woods now, and the mushrooms that grew there went unpicked and got as big as umbrellas.
Micillina the Witch was not tempted to plunder other towns, knowing full well that calm and peace-loving people were to be found only in Pocapaglia. There the poor farmers lit a big bonfire every night in the town square, while the women and children locked themselves indoors. The men sat around the fire scratching their heads and groaning. Day after day they scratched and groaned until a decision was finally reached to go to the count for help.
The count lived high above the town on a large circular estate surrounded by a massive wall. The top of the wall was encrusted with sharp bits of glass. One Sunday morning all the townsmen arrived, with hats in hand. They knocked, the door swung open, and they filed into the courtyard before the court's round dwelling, which had bars at all the windows. Around the courtyard sat the court's soldiers smoothing their mustaches with oil to make them shine and scowling at the farmers. At the end of the courtyard, in a velvet chair, sat the count himself with his long black beard, which four soldiers were combing from head to foot.
The oldest farmer took heart and said, "Your Honor, we have dared come to you about our misfortune. As our cattle go into the woods, Micillina the Witch appears and makes off with them." So, amid sighs and groans, with the other farmers nodding in assent, he told the count all about their nightmare.
The count remained silent.
"We have come here," said the old man, "to be so bold as to ask Your Honor's advice."
The count remained silent.
"We have come here," he added, "to be so bold as to ask Your Honor to help us. If you assigned us an escort of soldiers, we could again take our cattle down to pasture."
The count shook his head. "If I let you have the soldiers," he said, "I must also let you have the captain..."
The farmers listened, hardly daring to hope.
"But if the captain is away in the evening," said the count, "who can I play lotto with?"
The farmers fell to their knees. "Help us, noble count, for pity's sake!" The soldiers around the courtyard yawned and stroked their mustaches.
Again the count shook his head and said:
I am the count and I count for three;
No witch have I seen,
So, no witch has there been.
At those words and still yawning, the soldiers picked up their guns and, with bayonets extended, moved slowly toward the farmers, who turned and filed silently out of the courtyard.
Back in the town square and completely discouraged, the farmers had no idea what to do next. But the senior of them all, the one who had spoken to the count, said, "There's nothing left to do but send for Masino!"
So they wrote Masino a letter and sent it to Africa. Then one evening, while they were all gathered around the bonfire as usual, Masino returned. Imagine the welcome they gave him, the embraces, the pots of hot, spiced wine! "Where on earth have you been? What did you see? If you only knew what we have been going through!"
Masino let them have their say, then he had his. "In Africa I saw cannibals who ate not men but locusts; in the desert I saw a madman who had let his fingernails grow twelve meters long to dig for water; in the sea I saw a fish with a shoe and a slipper who wanted to be king of the other fish, since no other fish possessed shoe or slipper; in Sicily I saw a woman with seventy sons and only one kettle; in Naples I saw people who walked while standing still, since the chatter of other people kept them going; I saw sinners and I saw saints; I saw fat people and people no bigger than mites; many, many frightened souls did I see, but never so many as here in Pocapaglia."
The farmers hung their heads in shame, for Masino had hit a sensitive spot in suggesting they were cowards. But Masino was not cross with his fellow townsmen. He asked for a detailed account of the witch's doings, then said, "Let me ask you three questions, and at the stroke of midnight I'll go out and catch the witch and bring her back to you."
"Let's hear your questions! Out with them!" they all said.
"The first question is for the barber. How many people came to you this month?"
The barber replied:
"Long beards, short beards,
Fine beards, coarse beards,
Locks straight, locks curly,
All I trimmèd(sic) in a hurry."
"Your turn now, cobbler. How many people brought you their old shoes to mend this month?"
"Alas!" began the cobbler:
"Shoes of wood, shoes of leather,
Nail by nail I hammered back together,
Mended shoes of satin and shoes of serpent.
But there's nothing left to do,
All their money is spent."
"The third question goes to you, rope maker. How much rope did you sell this month?"
The rope maker replied:
"Rope galore of every sort I sold:
Hemp rope, braided, wicker, cord,
Needle-thin to arm-thick,
Lard-soft to iron-strong...
This month I couldn't go wrong."
"Very well," said Masino, stretching out by the fire. "I'm now going to sleep for a few hours, I'm very tired. Wake me up at midnight and I'll go after the witch." He put his hat over his face and fell asleep.
The farmers kept perfectly quiet until midnight, not even daring to breathe, for fear of awaking him. At midnight Masino shook himself, yawned, drank a cup of mulled wine, spat three times into the fire, got up without looking at a soul, and headed for the woods.
The farmers stayed behind watching the fire burn down and the last embers turn to ashes. Then, whom should Masino drag in by the beard but the count! A count that wept, kicked, and pleaded for mercy.
"Here's the witch!" cried Masino, and asked, "Where did you put the mulled wine?"
Beneath the farmers' amazed stares, the count tried to make himself as small as possible, sitting on the ground and shrinking up like a cold-bitten fly.
"The thief could have been none of you," explained Masino, "since you had all gone to the barber and had no hair to lose in the bushes. Then there were those tracks made by big heavy shoes, but all of you go barefoot. Nor could the thief have been a ghost, since he wouldn't have needed to buy all that cord to tie up the animals and carry them away. But where is my mulled wine?"
Shaking all over, the count tried to hide in that beard of his which Masino had tousled and torn in pulling him out of the bushes.
"How did he ever make us faint by just looking at us?" asked one farmer.
"He would smite you on the head with a padded club. That way you would hear only a whir. He'd leave no mark on you, you'd simply wake up with a headache."
"And those hairpins he lost?" asked another.
"They were used to hold his beard up on his head and make it look like a woman's hair."
Until then the farmers had listened in silence, but when Masino said, "And now, what shall we do with him?" a storm of shouts arose: "Burn him! Skin him alive! String him up for a scarecrow! Seal him in a cask and roll him down the cliff! Sew him up in a sack with six cats and six dogs!"
"Have mercy!" said the count in a voice just above a whisper.
"Spare him," said Masino, "and he will bring back your cattle and clean your barns. And since he enjoyed going into the woods at night, make him go there every night and gather bundles of firewood for each of you. Tell the children never to pick up the hairpins they find on the ground, for they belong to Micillina the Witch, whose hair and beard will be disheveled from now on."
The farmers followed the suggestion, and soon Masino left Pocapaglia to travel about the world. In the course of his travels, he found himself fighting in first one war and another, and they all lasted so long that his saying sprang up:
Soldier fighter, what a hard lot!
Wretched food, the ground for a cot.
You feed the cannon powder:
Boom-BOOM! Boom-BOOM! Boom louder!
(Bra)
NOTES:
"The Count's Beard" (La barba del Conte). Published here for the first time, collected by Giovanni Arpino in July 1956, in certain villages of southern Piedmont: Bra (told by Caterina Asteggiano, inmate of a home for old people, and Luigi Berzia), in Guarene (told by Doro Palladino, farmer), in Narzole (told by Annetta Taricco, servant woman), and in Pocapaglia.
This long narrative, which writer Giovanni Arpino has transcribed and unified from different versions with variants and additions from Bra and surroundings, cannot in my view be classified as a folktale. It is a local legend of recent origin in part (I am thinking, for instance, of the geographical particulars given), that is, not prior to the nineteenth century, and containing disparate elements: explanation of a local superstition (the hairpins of Witch Micillina), antifeudal country legend such as one finds in many northern countries, curious detective-story structure à la Sherlock Holmes, many digressions nonessential to the story (such as the trip from Africa back to town -- which Arpino tells me also exists as a separate story -- and all the allusions to Masino's past and future adventures which lead to the conclusion globetrotter from a country whose inhabitants are reputed to be contrastingly slow and backward), verse (of which Arpino and I have presented only as much as we could effective translate), and grotesque images which seem rooted in tradition, such as the sacks under the hens' tails, the oxen so thin that they were curried with the rake, the count whose beard was combed by four soldiers, etc....
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
和梨子一起卖掉的小女孩
从前，有个人有一棵梨树，每年都能收四大筐梨子，正好够交给国王。有一年，只收了三筐半梨子。他没法装满第四个筐，就把他最小的女儿装进去，然后盖上了些梨子和树叶。
这四筐梨子被送到了王宫的食品库，倒梨子的时候，小女孩跟梨子一起被倒了出来，没被发现。这样，她就被留在了仓库里，除了梨子，没有别的东西可以吃，小女孩饿了就啃起梨子来。过了不久，宫里的仆人发现梨子比梨子比先前少了，还找到了不少梨核，就说：“这里一定有老鼠之类的东西偷啃梨子，需要好好检查检查。”边说，边在梨堆中搜查，果然发现了小女孩。
他们问小女孩：“你在这里干什么？跟我们走，到王宫的厨房去打下手吧。”
他们给小女孩起了个名字叫梨娃。梨娃是一个聪明机灵的女孩，她很快就学会了怎样讨好这些仆人，加上模样俊秀可爱，惹得大家人人喜欢。连王子也常来和她在一起玩，她和王子年龄一般大，他们很快就产生了好感。
梨娃一天天长大，仆人们却越来越嫉妒她了，他们先是不搭理她，后来就开始给她使坏，还造谣说梨娃自夸要去拿到女巫的珍宝。谣言传到国王的耳朵里，国王马上把梨娃叫来，问她：“你真得说过要去拿到女巫的珍宝吗？”
梨娃说：“绝对没有，圣明的国王，他们传说的那些事我一点也不知道。”
但是国王坚持说：“你一定是说过了，话已出口就要去实现诺言。”说着，就把梨娃赶出了王宫，让她拿到珍宝才可以回来。
梨娃走呀，走呀，天黑了。她走到一棵苹果树前，没有停脚。又走到一棵桃树前，也没有停脚。遇到一棵梨树的时候，她爬了上去，在树枝间睡着了。
早上一睁眼，她看见一个老妇人在树下。老妇人问她：“漂亮的小女孩，你在上面干什么？”
梨娃就把她遇到的麻烦告诉了老妇人。老妇人对她说：“拿着这三磅猪油、三磅面包和三磅高粱穗，一直向前走。”梨娃对她感谢了一番，就又出发了。
她来到一个地方，那里有一座面包炉。只见三位烤面包的女工扯下自己的头发，用头发来打扫炉子。梨娃便把那三磅高粱穗送给了她们。三位女工可以用这些高粱穗清扫炉子了，就放梨娃过去了。
走呀，走呀，梨娃来到一个地方，见到有三只凶猛的狗大声叫着、跳着、还扑向她，阻止她过去。梨娃把三磅面包扔给了它们。它们就让她过去了。
走呀，走呀，梨娃又来到一条大河前，河里的水像血一样，她不知道如何才能过去。她记起老妇人曾经告诉她的咒语，就念道：
“溪水啊，美丽的溪水，
若我没有急事
就会喝上一盆。”
话音刚落，河水退下，让梨娃过去了。
在河的对岸，梨娃看见一座可以说是世界上最雄伟、最辉煌的宫殿。但是宫殿的大门开阖得很快，没有人可以进去。于是，梨娃拿出那三磅猪油，倒在铰链上，大门就开始慢慢地开关了。
走进宫殿，梨娃一眼望见在一张小桌子上放着的珍宝盒。她抱起珍宝盒，刚要离开，珍宝盒开始说话了。
“大门杀死她，大门杀死她！”珍宝盒说。
大门却回答：“我不能杀死她，我很久没上油了，是她给我上了油。”
梨娃回到河水前，盒子又开始说话了：“河淹死她，河淹死她！”
河答道：“我不能淹死她，因为她对我说：溪水啊，美丽的溪水。”
到了三只狗那里，盒子说：“狗吃掉她，狗吃掉她！”可是三只狗说：“我们不能吃她，她给了我们三磅面包呢。”
路过面包炉，盒子说：“炉子烧死她，炉子烧死她。”
烤面包的女工说：“我们不能烧死她，她送给我们三磅高粱穗，这样打扫炉子的时候就不用我们的头发了。”
快到王宫的时候，梨娃想看看盒子里面装的到底是什么，因为她也像所有的女孩子一样好奇心强。她打开盒子，只见从里面跳出一只金母鸡和一群金小鸡。它们摇晃着跑走了，跑得很快，追都追不上。梨娃跟在它们后边追着，追到苹果树下，没找到它们，追到桃树下，还是没找到它们，追到梨树前，只见那个老妇人，手里拿着根小木棍，正赶着那只金母鸡和那群金小鸡呢。“嘘，嘘……”老妇人将这些金鸡赶回到了盒子里面。
回家途中，梨娃看见国王的儿子迎面走过来，“如果我父亲问你想要什么奖赏，你就说要那个放在地下室的装满煤块的箱子。”
在王宫的门口，国王带着仆从和满朝文武，正等着她呢。梨娃把金母鸡和金小鸡交给国王，国王问：“你想要什么，说出来，我就给你。”
梨娃回答说：“我要地下室里的那个装煤的箱子。”国王把煤箱给了她，梨娃打开一看，预先躲在里面的王子跳了出来。就这样，国王满心欢喜地让梨娃嫁给了他的儿子。
（蒙费拉托地区）
The Little Girl Sold with the Pears
Once a man had a pear tree that used to bear four baskets of pears a year. One year, though, it only bore three baskets and a half, while he was supposed to carry four to the king. Seeing no other way out, he put his youngest daughter into the fourth basket and covered her up with pears and leaves.
The baskets were carried into the king's pantry, where the child stayed in hiding underneath the pears. But having nothing to eat, she began nibbling on the pears. After a while the servants noticed the supply of pears dwindling and also saw the cores. "There must be a rat or a mole gnawing on the pears," they said. "We shall look inside the baskets." They removed the top and found the little girl.
"What are you doing here?" they asked. "Come with us and work in the king's kitchen."
They called her Perina, and she was such a clever little girl that in no time she was doing the housework better than the king's own maidservants. She was so pretty no one could help loving her. The king's son, who was her age exactly, was always with Perina, and they became very fond of each other.
As the maiden grew up, the maidservants began to envy her. They held their tongues for a while, then accused Perina of boasting she would go and steal the witches' treasure. The king got wind of it and send for the girl. "Is it true you boasted you would go and steal the witches' treasure?"
"No, Sacred Crown, I made no such boast."
"You did so," insisted the king, "and now you have to keep your word." At that, he banished her from the palace until she should return with the treasure.
On and on she walked until nightfall. Perina came to an apple tree, but kept on going. She next came to a peach tree, but still didn't stop. Then she came to a pear tree, climbed it, and fell asleep.
In the morning there stood a little old woman under the tree. "What are you doing up there, my daughter?" asked the old woman.
Perina told her about the difficulty she was in. The old woman said, "Take these three pounds of grease, three pounds of bread, and three pounds of millet and be on your way." Perina thanked her very much and moved on.
She came to a bakery where three women were pulling out their hair to sweep out the oven with. Perina gave them the three pounds of millet, which they then used to sweep out the oven and allowed the little girl to continue on her way.
On and on she walked and met three mastiffs that barked and rushed at anyone coming their way. Perina threw them the three pounds of bread, and they let her pass.
After walking for miles and miles she came to a blood-red river, which she had no idea how to cross. But the old woman had told her to say:
"Fine water so red,
I must make haste;
Else, of you would I taste."
At those words, the waters parted and let her through.
On the other side of the river, Perina beheld one of the finest and largest palaces in the world. But the door was opening and slamming so rapidly that no one could possibly go in. Perina therefore applied the three pounds of grease to its hinges, and from then on it opened and closed quite gently.
Inside, Perina spied the treasure chest sitting on a small table. She picked it up and was about to go off with it, when the chest spoke: "Door, kill her, kill her!"
"I won't, either, since she greased my hinges that hadn't been looked after since goodness knows when."
Perina reached the river, and the chest said, "River, drown her, drown her!"
"I won't, either," replied the river, "since she called me 'Fine water so red.'"
She came to the dogs, and the chest said, "Dogs, devour her, devour her!"
"We won't, either," replied the dogs, "since she gave us three pounds of bread."
She came to the bakery oven. "Oven, burn her, burn her!"
But the three women replied, "We won't, either, since she gave us three pounds of millet, so that now we can spare our hair."
When she was almost home, Perina, who had as much curiosity as the next little girl, decided to peep into the treasure chest. She opened it, and out came a hen and her brood of gold chicks. They scuttled away too fast for a soul to catch them. Perina struck out after them. She passed the apple tree, but they were nowhere in sight. She passed the peach tree, where there was still no sign of them. She came to the pear tree, and there stood the little old woman with a wand in her hand and hen and chicks feeding around her. "Shoo, shoo!" went the old woman, and the hen and chicks reentered the treasure chest.
Upon her arrival, the king's son came out to meet her. "When my father asked what you want as a reward, tell him that box filled with coal in the cellar."
On the doorstep of the royal palace stood the maidservants, the king, and the entire court. Perina handed the king the hen with the brood of gold chicks. "Ask for whatever you want," said the king, "and I will give it to you."
"I would like the box of coal in the cellar," replied Perina.
They brought her the box of coal, which she opened, and out jumped the king's son, who was hiding inside. The king was then happy for Perina to marry his son.
(Monferrato)
NOTES:
"The Little Girl Sold with the Pears" (La bambina venduta con le pere) from Comparetti, 10, Monferrato, Piedmont.
I changed the name Margheritina to Perina (Pearlet), and I invented the motif of the peartree and the little old woman (in the original, the magic props come from the king's son, who is under a spell), to reinforce the pear/girl link.
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
蛇
有一个农夫每天都到田里去除草，到了中午，他的三个女儿轮流给他送饭。一天大女儿来送饭，穿过树林的时候，她因为走累了，就坐在一块石头上休息。刚一坐下，就听到地下发出一声巨大的敲击声，一条蛇从石头下边钻了出来。姑娘吓得扔下盛饭的篮子，大喊救命，逃走了。结果，那天爸爸一整天都饿着肚子，晚上回到家里，狠狠地训斥了三个女儿。
第二天，轮到二女儿去送饭。她也坐在那块石头上休息，也看见了那条蛇，也吓得逃走了。于是三女儿说：“我去，我去！我不怕。”她带去了两篮子食物，当她听见声响看到蛇钻出来的时候，就递给它一篮子食物。蛇对她说：“把我带回你家，我会给你带来好运。”女孩就把它藏在围裙里，给田里的爸爸送去另一份午餐后，回到了家，把蛇放在自己的床下。蛇一天天长大，不能再待在床下了。它要离开了，走之前，它送给姑娘三个法宝作为报答：当姑娘哭的时候，掉下来的眼泪会变成一串串珍珠和银子；笑的时候，会从头上掉下来一粒粒的金石榴籽；洗手的时候，会从她的手指间掉出各种各样的鱼。
一天，家里什么吃的也没有了，父亲和姐姐们饿得无精打采的。三女儿突然试着洗洗手，果然，脸盆里立即游满了鱼。两个姐姐心生嫉妒，硬说这里面一定有什么邪术，让父亲最好把她关在阁楼上。
姑娘从阁楼的窗户，可以看见王宫的花园，国王的儿子正在花园里踢球。踢着踢着，一不小心，王子滑倒了，摔了个屁股蹲。姑娘禁不住大笑起来。她一笑，一粒粒的金石榴籽像雨点般落了下去。王子弄不清这些金石榴籽是从哪里掉下来的，因为姑娘很快关上了窗户。
第二天，王子又来到花园踢球，他发现花园中长出一棵石榴树，石榴树长得很高，还结出了果实。王子让人去摘石榴果，但石榴树眼看着就长高了，正好就高出一个手掌；怎么够也够不到。看到人们连一片树叶也摘不到，国王就召集身边的几位智者，让他们搞清楚这棵树到底有什么魔力。其中一位年纪最大的老智者说，只有一个姑娘才能把这些石榴果摘下来，而这个姑娘将会成为王子的新娘。
国王立即派人贴出布告，让每个待嫁的姑娘都到王宫花园来试着摘石榴，违令者斩首。结果，各家各户的姑娘都来了，可是不论她们用多高的梯子，都够不到果子。农夫的两个大女儿也来了，但很快就从梯子上摔了下来。国王又派人继续到各家去搜寻，看有没有遗漏的姑娘，这样，被关在阁楼上的姑娘就被找到了。她刚被送到树旁，树枝就垂下来，把石榴果送到她的手上。所有人都惊奇地大叫：“她就是新娘！她就是新娘！”其中，王子叫得最欢。
婚礼已经准备就绪，一直就怀着妒意的两个姐姐也被邀请去参加婚礼。姐妹三人坐同一辆马车进宫。马车穿过一处森林时，停了下来。两个姐姐让小妹下车，砍下她的双手，挖出她的双眼，把她当作死人扔在了树丛中。而大姐则穿上新娘的衣服，去见王子。王子看见新娘一时变得如此丑陋，疑惑不解，但是因为大姐与小妹妹长得有些相像，王子觉得是自己先前看走眼了。
失去了双眼、双手的姑娘在树林中哭着。这时一个马夫正好路过，他很同情她，扶她上了自己的驴背，好把她带回家。姑娘让马夫看看地上，只见满地是姑娘眼泪变成的珍珠和银子，马夫把这些东西拿出去卖了，得了一千多里拉。这样，虽然姑娘没有双手、双眼，不能干活，也不能照顾家，但生活得还算满意。
有一天，姑娘感觉到有一条蛇缠在她的一条腿上，这正是她的老朋友，那条她曾照顾过的蛇。蛇告诉她：“你知道吗？你的姐姐嫁给了王子，老国王死后，她就成了王后，现在她怀孕了，非常想吃无花果。”
姑娘就对马夫说：“你驮上一袋无花果，到王宫给王后送去吧。”
马夫说：“这个季节，怎么可能找到无花果呢？”当时正是冬天。
可是，到了早上，马夫来到园子里一看，发现无花果树真的结出了果子，而且只有果实，一片叶子也没有。他装满了两篮子，驮在驴背上。
马夫问：“这些冬天里长出的无花果我该怎么要价呢？”
姑娘说：“你就说要换一对眼珠。”
马夫按照姑娘的话提出了要求，但是不论是王后、国王，还是王后的妹妹，都不愿意挖出自己的眼珠。姐妹二人商量了一下，说：“那就把小妹的那对眼珠给他吧，我们留着它们有什么用？”就这样，她们用妹妹的这对眼珠换了两篮无花果。
马夫把这对眼珠带了回来交给姑娘，姑娘把它们重新装好后，又像以前一样可以看东西了。
后来，王后又想吃桃子，国王便派人来找马夫，问他能不能像找到无花果那样，找到桃子。第二天早上，马夫家院子中的桃树果然长出桃子，他又用驴子立即驮到王宫里去了。国王、王后问他要多少钱，马夫说：“要换一双手。”
但是没人愿意砍下自己的双手，即使是那些想讨好国王的人也不愿意。王后姐妹又私下商量：“把小妹的那双手给他吧。”
姑娘得到了自己的一双手，重新接到胳膊上，活动如初。
不久，王后分娩了，生下了一只蝎子。尽管如此，国王还是同样为她举行了庆祝宴会，邀请了所有的人来参加。小妹妹穿得像王后般高贵，成为晚会上最漂亮的姑娘。国王爱上了她，而且在爱上她的同时发觉她就是自己先前看中的那个新娘。姑娘向国王讲述了自己的经历，边讲边笑，边讲边哭，笑的时候，金石榴籽就从她的头上扑扑地掉下来，哭的时候，眼泪就会变成串串珍珠，洗手时，满盆都是活鱼。
两个狠毒的姐姐和刚生出来的蝎子，被拉到高高的木柴垛上烧死了。同一天，国王和小妹举行了盛大的结婚典礼。
他们过着奢侈、冷酷的生活
我却躲在门后挨饿，
我回到客栈去吃饭
我的故事到此说完。
（蒙费拉托地区）
The Snake
A farmer went out mowing everyday, and at noon one or the other of his three daughters would bring him his lunch. On a certain day it fell to the oldest girl to go. By the time she reached the woods, though, she was tired and sat down on a stone to rest a minute before proceeding to the meadow. No sooner had she taken a seat than she felt a strong thud underneath, and out crawled a snake. The girl dropped the basket and ran home as fast as her legs would carry her. That day the father went hungry and when he came in from the field he scolded his daughters angrily.
The next day the middle girl started out. She too sat down on the stone, and the same thing occurred as the day before. Then the third girl said, "It's my turn now, but I'm not afraid." Instead of one lunch basket, she prepared two. When she felt the thud and saw the snake, she gave it one of the baskets of food, and the snake spoke. "Take me home with you, and I will bring you luck." The girl put the snake in her apron and then went on to her father with his lunch. When she got back home, she placed the snake under her bed. It grew so rapidly that soon it was too big to fit under the bed, so it went away. Before leaving, however, it bestowed three charms on the girl: weeping, she would shed tears of pearl and silver; laughing, she would see golden pomegranate seeds fall from her head; and washing her hands, she would produce fish of every kind.
That day there was nothing in the house to eat, and her father and sisters were weak from the hunger, so what did she do but wash her hands and see the basin fill up with fish! Her sisters became envious and convinced their father that there was something strange behind all this and that he would be wise to lock the girl up in the attic.
From the attic window the girl looked into the king's garden, where the king's son was playing ball. Running after the ball, he slipped and fell, sending the girl into peals of laughter. As she laughed, gold pomegranate seeds rained from her head on the garden. The king's son had no idea where they came from, for the girl had slammed the window.
Returning to the garden next day to play ball, the king's son noticed that a pomegranate tree had sprung up. It was already quite tall and laden with fruit. He went to pick the pomegranates, but the tree grew taller right before his eyes, and all he had to do was reach for a pomegranate and the branches would rise a foot beyond his grasp. Since nobody managed to pluck so much as one leaf of the tree, the king assembled the wise men to explain the magic spell. The oldest of them all said that only one maiden would be able to pick the fruit and that she would become the bride of the king's son.
So the king issued a proclamation for all marriageable girls to come to the garden, under pain of death, to try to pick the pomegranates. Girls of every race and station showed up, but no ladders were ever long enough for them to reach the fruit. Among the contestants were the farmer's two older daughters, but they fell off the ladder and landed flat on their backs. The king had the houses searched and found other girls, including the one locked up in the attic. As soon as they took her to the tree, the branches bent down and placed the pomegranates right in her hands. Everyone cheered, "That's the bride, that's the bride!" with the king's son shouting loudest of all.
Preparations were made for the wedding, to which the sisters, as envious as ever, were invited. They all three rode in the same carriage, which drew to a halt in the middle of a forest. The older girls ordered the younger one out of the carriage, cur off her hands, gouged out her eyes, and left her lying unconscious in the bushes. Then the oldest girl dressed in the wedding gown and went to the king's son. He couldn't understand why she'd become so ugly, but since she faintly resembled the other girl, he decided he'd been mistaken all along about her original beauty.
Eyeless and handless, the maiden remained in the forest weeping. A carter came by and had pity on her. He seated her on his mule and took her to his house. She told him to look down: the ground was strewn with silver and pearls, which were none other than the girl's tears. The carter took them and sold them for more than a thousand crowns. How glad he was to have taken the poor girl in, even if she was unable to work and help the family.
One day the girl felt a snake wrap around her leg: it was the snake she had once befriended. "Did you know your sister married the king's son and became queen, since the old king died? Now she's expecting a baby and wants figs."
The girl said to the carter, "Load a mule with figs and take them to the queen."
"Where am I going to get figs this time of year?" asked the carter. It happened to be winter.
But the next morning he went into the garden and found the fig tree laden with fruit, even though there wasn't a leaf on the tree. He filled up two baskets and loaded them onto his donkey.
"How high a price can I ask for figs in winter?" said the carter.
"Ask for a pair of eyes," replied the maiden.
That he did, but neither the king nor the queen nor her other sister would have ever gouged out their eyes. So the sisters talked the matter over. "Let's give him our sister's eyes, which are of no use to us." With those eyes they purchased the figs.
The carter returned to the maiden with the eyes. She put them back in place and saw again as well as ever.
Then the queen had a desire for peaches, and the king sent to the carter asking if he couldn't find some peaches the way he'd found figs. The next morning the peach tree in the carter's garden was laden with peaches, and he took a load to court at once on his donkey. When they asked him what he wanted for them, he replied, "A pair of hands."
But nobody would cut off their hands, not even to please the king. Then the sisters talked the matter over. "Let's give him our sister's."
When the girl got her hands back, she reattached them to her arms and was as sound as ever.
Not long afterward, the queen went into labor and brought forth a scorpion. The king nonetheless gave a ball, to which everybody was invited. The girl went dressed as a queen and was the belle of the ball. The king fell in love with her and realized she was his true bride. She laughed golden seeds, wept pearls, and washed fish into the basin, as she told her story from start to finish.
The two wicked sisters and the scorpion were burned on a pyre skyhigh. On the same day the grand wedding banquet took place.
They put on the dog and high did they soar;
I saw, I heard, I hid behind the door.
Then to dine repaired I to the inn,
And there my story draws to an end.
(Monferrato)
NOTES:
"The Snake" (La Biscia) from Comparetti, 25, Monferrato, Piedmont.
The luxuriant story from The Facetious Nights (III, 3) about Biancabella and the serpent, one of Straparola's finest, is here told, on the contrary, in bare rustic simplicity, in the midst of meadows ready for a mowing, fruits, and seasons. The episode of the pomegranate tree with its fruit that cannot be plucked was added by me to fill out a somewhat sketchy passage in the Piedmontese version. I took it from a Tuscan variant (Gradi), based on motifs from this tale and others, where supernatural help comes from a red and gold fish.
Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,
translated by George Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980
三个城堡
有个小伙子突然想要去偷东西，他把这个念头跟妈妈一说，妈妈就说：“你不觉得羞耻吗？你马上去忏悔，听听神父给你的劝告。”
小伙子去忏悔，神父说：“偷窃是罪过，但假如你偷窃的对象是贼，罪孽还不算深。”
于是，小伙子来到森林里，找到了一处贼窝，他敲开门，请贼人收下他做仆从。
贼人说：“我们偷东西，但我们并没有罪，因为我们偷的都是些收苛捐杂税的人。”
一天晚上，贼人们出去偷一个收税官的家，小伙子从马厩里挑了最好的骡子，驮了一袋金币溜走了。
他把金币送给妈妈，然后进城去找活干。城里住着一个国王，养了一百只羊。但是没人愿意给他放羊。小伙子去了。国王对他说：“你听着，这里是一百只羊，明天早上你带它们到那边的草场上去放牧，但不要靠近那条小溪，那里有一条大蛇，会把羊吃掉。如果你把羊全给我带回来，我就给你赏钱；但如果你丢了羊，自己又没被蛇吃掉，我就会立即赶你走。”
要去草场，得从王宫的窗户下走过，公主正站在窗前往下边望着。她看见小伙子，顿生爱慕之心，扔给他一块蛋糕。牧羊小伙子一把接住蛋糕，收起来准备牧羊的时候吃。到了草场，他远远看见草丛中有一块白石头，心想：“我正好可以坐在上边吃公主给我的蛋糕。”可是石头在小溪对岸，牧羊小伙子没想太多就跳过小溪，羊群也跟着过来了。
草场上青草茂盛，绵羊都在安静地吃草，小伙子也坐在石头上，吃着蛋糕。突然，他感觉到被石头下的什么东西顶了一下，好像整个世界往下塌陷似的一震。小伙子往四周看看，什么也没有，就继续吃蛋糕。这时从石头下又传来一声更大的响动，牧羊小伙子假装什么也没听到。当第三次震动的时候，从石头下钻出一条长着三个头的蛇，每张嘴都衔着一朵玫瑰，三只头一齐朝着牧羊小伙子伸过来，好像要把玫瑰送给他。小伙子正要伸手去接玫瑰，蛇却张开三张嘴向他猛扑过来，它只消每张嘴咬一口就能把小伙子一下子吃了。好在牧羊小伙子比它更敏捷，他用手里的牧羊棍照每个蛇头上猛力一击，巨蛇被打死了。
然后，他用镰刀把三只蛇头都割了下来，他把两只蛇头装起来，砸开了剩下的那只蛇头，想看看里边是什么。在蛇头里藏着一把水晶钥匙，小伙子搬开石头，发现有道门，门上有一个锁眼。他把水晶钥匙插进去，门开了，里面是一个用水晶做成的雄伟的宫殿。见到小伙子进来，宫殿的门全开了，走出一些水晶仆人，说：“您好主人，有什么吩咐？”
“我命令你们带着我去查看一下我的珍宝。”
这些水晶人拥着他顺着水晶楼梯爬上一座水晶塔，让他看了水晶马厩和里面的水晶马，看了所有的水晶兵器和水晶盔甲。然后，他们陪着他来到一处水晶花园，林阴道两边的水晶树上有一些水晶鸟在欢快地叫着，花坛中的水晶花都在盛开着，花坛四周是一个个水晶池塘。小伙子摘下一小束水晶花，插在帽子上。晚上，小伙子赶着羊群，回到王宫，公主正站在窗前望着，对他说：“你能把帽子上的那束花送给我吗？”
“好的，我送给你。”牧羊小伙子说，“这是一束水晶花，是我从我的水晶城堡里的水晶花园摘来的。”说着，他把花抛给公主，公主接下了。
