Italian Folktales (39 page)

The older sisters were quick to speak out. “We said so! Bellinda and her crazy ideas! A rose, mind you! Now we'll all have to suffer the consequences!”

Calm as usual, Bellinda said to her father, “The monster promised to harm none of you if I go to him? In that case I'll go, since it's better for me to sacrifice myself than for all of us to suffer.”

Her father said that never, never would he take her there, and her sisters insisted she was crazy. Bellinda, though, would hear no more. She put her foot down and declared she was going.

The following morning, then, father and daughter set out at dawn. Earlier, however, upon arising, the father had found at the foot of his bed the chest with all the treasures he had selected at the monster's palace. Making no mention of it to the two older girls, he hid it under the bed.

They arrived at the monster's palace in the evening and found it all lit up. They went inside. On the first floor was a table laid for two, full of heavenly delights. Although Bellinda and her father had little appetite for these things, they nevertheless sat down to taste a few dishes. When they had finished eating, a great roar was heard, and in came the monster. Bellinda was speechless: he was far uglier than she had dared imagine. But little by little she took heart, and when the monster asked if she'd come of her own will, she answered quite frankly that she had.

The monster seemed pleased. He turned to the father, handed him a traveling bag full of gold, and ordered him to leave the palace at once and never set foot there again; the monster would see to it that the family had everything they needed. Heartbroken, the poor father kissed his daughter goodbye and returned home, pitifully weeping.

Left by herself (since the monster had bid her good night right after her father's departure), Bellinda undressed and got into bed and slept peacefully the whole night long knowing she had saved her father from no telling what catastrophes.

Next morning she arose refreshed and confident, and decided to look around the palace. On the door of her room was written
Bellinda's Room
. On the door of her wardrobe was written
Bellinda's Wardrobe
. In each of the beautiful frocks was embroidered
Bellinda's Frock
. And all around were placards that read:

 

Queen art thou here,

Thy every wish to us is dear.

 

In the evening when Bellinda sat down to dine, the customary roar was heard, and in walked the monster. “May I join you?” he asked.

Naturally polite, Bellinda replied, “You are the master.”

“No,” he said, “you are in charge here. The whole palace and everything in it are yours.” He was silent for a while, as though lost in thought. Then he asked, “Am I really so ugly?”

Bellinda answered, “Ugly you are, but you have a kind heart which makes you almost handsome.”

Then he asked, all of a sudden, “Bellinda, would you marry me?”

She trembled all over, not knowing what to reply. She thought, If I turn him down, goodness knows how he will feel. Then she took heart and said, “To tell the truth, I'm not really interested in marrying you.”

The monster made no comment, but bid her good night and went away sighing.

Three months passed. And every evening during that time, the monster came and asked Bellinda the same thing, if she would marry him, and then went away sighing. The girl was now so used to it that she would have been hurt if he had missed one evening.

Every day Bellinda strolled in the garden, and the monster told her about the magic of the plants. Among the trees was a leafy one known as the tree of weeping and laughter. “Whenever its leaves turn upward,” explained the monster, “that means there's joy in your family; when they droop, there is weeping at home.”

One day Bellinda noticed the tree of weeping and laughter with all its leaves pointed upward. She asked the monster, “Why is it so jubilant?”

“Your sister Assunta is going to get married.”

“Could I go to the wedding?”

“Of course,” answered the monster. “But come back in a week, or else you'll surely find me dead. Take this ring. Whenever the stone clouds up, that means I'm sick, and you must rush back to me at once. Now gather together whatever things in the palace you'd like to take along as wedding presents, and put them in a trunk this evening at the foot of your bed.”

Bellinda thanked him and took a trunk and filled it with silk gowns, fine lingerie, jewels, and gold coins. She put the trunk at the foot of her bed and went to sleep. In the morning she woke up in her father's house, and there with her was the trunk she had packed the night before. Everybody gave her a hearty welcome, even her sisters. But when they learned she was so happy and rich and the monster so kind, they were again green with envy, since they were far from wealthy themselves, in spite of the monster's presents; and to make matters worse, Assunta was marrying a mere carpenter. As spiteful as ever, they got Bellinda's ring away from her under the pretext of wearing it themselves a little while; then they hid it. Bellinda was quite upset over not being able to see the stone, and at the end of a week she wept and pleaded so with her sisters that her father ordered them to return the ring at once. As soon as she got it back she noticed the stone had become somewhat cloudy, so she left immediately for the palace.

The monster failed to appear at mealtime, and Bellinda grew worried; she looked all over for him and called and called. Only at dinner did he turn up, with a somewhat pained expression. “I was ill,” he said, “and if you'd come any later, you wouldn't have found me alive. Don't you love me any more?”

“Of course I love you,” she replied.

“And you would marry me?”

“That, no!” exclaimed Bellinda.

Two more months went by and the leaves again pointed upward on the tree of weeping and laughter, since this time Carolina was getting married. Bellinda went home once more with the ring and another trunk of treasures. Her sisters pretended they were glad to see her. Assunta was now meaner than ever, since her carpenter husband beat her every day. Bellinda told her sisters what a risk she had run by staying too long on her last visit, and said she couldn't tarry this time. But once more the sisters stole the ring. When they finally returned it, the stone had completely clouded over. Bellinda rushed home in alarm, but the monster showed up for neither lunch nor dinner. He came in next morning looking quite weak, and said, “I was ready to die. If you are late another time, it will be the end of me.”

A few more months went by. One day, the leaves of the tree of weeping and laughter were drooping, and the tree appeared completely withered. “What's the matter at home?” Bellinda cried.

“Your father is dying,” answered the monster.

“Let me go to him! I promise I'll come back on time!”

The joy of having his youngest daughter at his bedside put the poor merchant on the road to recovery. Bellinda stayed by him day and night, but one day while washing her hands she left the ring lying on the washstand and then couldn't find it when she went to put it back on. Frantic, she looked everywhere for it, and pleaded with her sisters to return it. When she finally recovered it, the stone was all black, except for a tiny dot on the edge.

She hastened to the palace, but it was pitch-dark and looked as though it had been vacant for the last hundred years. Screaming and crying, she called and called the monster, but there was no answer. She looked everywhere for him; as she was running through the garden she suddenly saw him lying under the rosebush and breathing what seemed to be his last. She got down on her knees and listened to his heart: it was still beating but very feebly. Then she kissed him and sobbed, “Monster, if you die, I'll be lost without you! If only . . . if only you could go on living, I'd marry you at once to-make you happy!”

She had not finished speaking, when all at once the whole palace lit up and music and song poured from every window. Bellinda turned around, amazed. When she faced the rosebush again, the monster had vanished, and in his place, among the roses, stood a handsome knight. He bowed and said, “Thank you, dear Bellinda, for freeing me.”

Bellinda was dumbfounded. “But I want the monster,” she said.

The knight knelt at her feet and said, “Here is the monster. I was under a spell and obliged to remain a monster until a beautiful maiden promised to marry me the way I was.”

Bellinda gave her hand to the youth, who was a king, and together they walked to the palace. At the door stood her father, who embraced her, and her two sisters. The sisters, out of spite, remained outside and became statues on each side of the door.

The young king made Bellinda his wife and queen, and they lived happily ever afterward.

 

(
Montale Pistoiese
)

 

60

A boy was tending the flock, when a lamb fell into a ravine and perished. The shepherd went home, and his parents, who had little love for him to begin with, screamed at him and beat him, then turned him out of the house into the night. Weeping, he wandered about over the mountain and found a hollow rock, which he lined with dry leaves and nestled in the best he could, stiff from the cold air. But he was unable to sleep.

Through the darkness, a man made his way to the rock and said, “You had the nerve to take my bed! What are you doing here at this time of night?”

Shaking with fright, the boy told how he had been turned out of the house, and begged the man to let him stay there the rest of the night.

The man said, “You were very clever to bring in dry leaves. The idea never occurred to me. Go on and stay here.” And he lay down beside him.

The lad made himself as small as possible so as not to disturb him, keeping perfectly still to give the impression he was sleeping; but he couldn't shut his eyes for watching the man. Nor was the man sleeping, but mumbling to himself under the illusion the boy was asleep. “What present can I make this boy who lined the stone for me with leaves and who's thoughtful enough to stay on his side and not disturb me? I can give him a linen napkin which, unfolded, produces dinner for everybody present. I can give him a little box which, opened, produces a gold coin. I can give him a harmonica which, played, sets everyone within earshot to dancing.”

This mumbling slowly put the boy to sleep. He awakened at dawn, thinking he had been dreaming. But there beside him on the bed of leaves lay the napkin, the little box, and the harmonica. The man was gone, and the boy had not even seen his face.

After walking some distance he came to a crowded city that was getting ready for a big tournament. The king of that city had staked his daughter's hand, together with the entire treasure of the state. The lad thought, Now I can test the little box. If it gives me the money needed, I too can line up to joust. He began opening and closing the box and, every time, it produced a shiny new gold piece. He took all the money and purchased horses, armor, princely clothes, engaged squires and servants, and passed himself off as the son of the king of Portugal. He won every match, and the king was bound to declare him his daughter's bridegroom.

But at court, the lad, having been raised with sheep, was as uncouth as could be: all his food he picked up in his hands, then wiped them on the curtains, and he was constantly slapping the ladies on the back. The king became suspicious. He dispatched ambassadors to Portugal and found out that the king's son, having dropsy, had never set foot outside the palace. So he ordered the lying lad imprisoned at once.

The palace prison was right under the banquet hall. When the boy walked in, the nineteen prisoners already there greeted him with a chorus of jeers, knowing he'd had the impudence to become the king's son-in-law. He let them jeer all they liked. At noon, the jailer brought the prisoners the usual pot of beans. The lad rushed up and kicked the pot over on the floor.

“Have you lost your mind? What will we now eat? You'll pay for this!”

“Shhhhhhh! Just wait,” he replied. Pulling the napkin out of his pocket, he said, “For twenty,” and unfolded it. Dinner for twenty appeared, including soup, many tasty dishes, and excellent wine. At that, they all hailed the lad as a hero.

Every day the jailer found the pot of beans overturned on the floor and the prisoners better fed and livelier than ever. So he went and told the king. Curious, the king went down into the prison and asked for an explanation. The lad stepped forward. “Listen, Majesty, I am the one providing my companions with food and drink far better than what's on the royal table. So if you'll accept, I invite you to dine with us and promise you'll go away happy.”

“I accept,” said the king.

The lad unfolded the napkin and said, “For twenty-one, and fit for a king.” Out came the most wonderful dinner you ever saw and the king, delighted with the sight, took a seat in the midst of the prisoners and ate and ate.