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A king and a queen who had waited for ages were at last about to have a child. They called in the astrologers to learn if it would be a boy or a girl and under what planet it would be born. After looking at the stars, the astrologers said the baby would be a girl; she was destined, they added, to be loved by the Sun before she was twenty and to bear his daughter. The king and queen were quite outdone to learn their daughter would have a child by the Sun who stays in the sky and can't marry. To ward off such a fate, they had a tower built with windows so high up that not even the Sun himself could reach to the bottom of it. The baby girl was shut up inside with her nurse, to remairi thereuntil she turned twenty, without once seeing the Sun or being glimpsed by him.
The nurse had a daughter the same age as the king's, and the two little girls grew up together in the tower. One day when they were almost twenty and musing on the wonderful things that must be in the world outside the tower, the nurse's daughter said, "Let's try climbing up to those windows by placing one chair on top of the other. That way we'll get an idea of what's outside."
No sooner said than done! They piled up chairs all the way to the windows, looked out, and beheld trees, river, soaring herons and, high in the sky, clouds and the Sun. The Sun saw the king's daughter, fell in love with her, and sent her one of his rays. From the instant that ray touched her, the girl began expecting a baby- the daughter of the Sun.
The Sun's daughter was born in the tower, and the nurse, fearful of the king's anger, carefully wrapped it in royal swaddling clothes a nd carried it to a patch of broadbeans, where she abandoned it. In no time afterward the king's daughter turned twenty and her father let her out of the tower, thinking the danger had passed. He had no idea that everything had already happened and that the baby girl born to his daughter and the Sun lay weeping in a bean patch.
Now through that field passed another king on his way hunting. He heard the wails and, pitying the beautiful little baby left among the beans, took her home to his wife. They found a wet nurse for her, and the child was brought up at the palace just as though she were the king and queen's own daughter along with their son, who was only a little older than she.
Growing up together, the boy and girl eventually fell in love with each other. The king's son was eager to marry her, but his father was unwilling for him to wed a foundling and sent her away from the palace to a distant and isolated house, in hopes the boy would forget her. The king never dreamed that the girl was the daughter of the Sun and endowed with all the magic skills lacking in men.
As soon as she was out of the way, the king betrothed his son to a girl of royal birth. The day of the wedding, sugared almonds were sent to all the relatives and friends of the bride and groom, including the girl found in the bean patch.
When the king's messen~ers knocked on her door, she came down to open it, but without her head. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, "but I was combing my hair and left my head on the dresser. Let me fetch it." She showed the messengers into the house, replaced her head, and smiled.
"Now tell me what I should give you co take back as a wedding present." She led the messengers into the kitchen. "Open up, oven!" she commanded, and the oven door opened. The Sun's daughter looked at the messengers and smiled. "Into the oven with you, wood!" and the wood flew into the oven. The Sun's daughter again smiled and commanded, "Light up, oven, and call me when you're hot!" She turned to the messengers and asked, "Well, what's the good news?"
Deathly pale, with their hair standing straight up, the messengers groped for words, when the oven cried, "My lady!"
The Sun's daughter said, "Excuse me," plunged headlong into the fiery oven, turned '!l. round, and stepped back out holding a beautiful pie all ready to serve. "Take this to the king for the wedding banquet."
When the messengers returned wild-eyed and, speaking scarcely above a whisper, cold all the things they had seen, no one would believe them. But the bride, who was jealous of the girl everyone knew as the prince's first sweetheart, said, "That's nothing! I used to do those dlings all the time when I lived at home."
"All right," answered the bridegroom, "let's see you do them here for us."
"Indeed I will, but..." she began as he pulled her into the kitchen.
"Wood, into the oven," said the bride, but the wood didn't budge. "Fire, light up," but the oven remained cold. The servants lit it themselves, and as soon as it was hot, the boastful bride insisted on getting into it. She wasn't all the way in before she had burned to death.
After a short time, the king's son was persuaded to take another wife. The day of the wedding, messengers went back to the Sun's daughter with sugared almonds. Instead of answering the door when they knocked, she came. through the wall and greeted them. "Excuse me, but the door doesn't open from the inside. I always have to come through the wall and open it from the outside. There, it's open now. Please walk in."
Leading them to the kitchen, she asked, "So , what should I prepare this time for the wedding of the king's son? Wood, into the fire! Fire, light up! " All this cook place in a split second right before the eyes of the messengers, who broke out in a cold sweat.
"Skillet, onto the burner! Oil, inco the skillet! And call me when you are hot!"
In a little while the oil called, "My lady, I'm ready!"
"Here we go," said the Sun's daughter, smiling, and thrust her fingers into the boiling oil. At once the ten fingers turned inco the most beautiful fried fish you ever saw. The Sun's daughter wrapped them up herself, since her fingers had grown back in the meantime, and handed them to the messengers with a smile.
When the new bride, who was as jealous and boastful as the first, heard the dumbfounded messengers' tale, she said, "You should see the fish I fry!"
The bridegroom took her at her word and had oil boiled in a skillet. The vain soul thrust in her fingers, and the pain from her scald killed her.
The queen mother took the messengers to task. "With your tales you're the death of all the brides!"
However, the king and queen found the ir son a third bride, and messengers went out with sugared almonds on the day of the wedding.
"Hello, I'm up here!" said the Sun's daughter when they knocked. Looking all about them, they spied her up in the air. "I was just taking a little stroll on a spiderweb. I'll be right down." She climbed down the spiderweb and took the almonds.
"This time I truthfully don't know what to do about a present," she said. After thinking it over, she called, "Knife, come here!" The knife came forward, she caught hold of it, and cut off one of her ears. Attached to her ear was a strip of gold lace which came out of her head as though unwinding from her brain. She pulled and pulled until the lace came to an end. Then she put her ear back in place, tapped it gently with her finger, and all was just as before.
It was such beautiful lace that the whole court wanted to know where it came from, so the messengers, despite the seal placed on their lips by the queen mother, ended up telling about the episode with the ear.
"Oh! " exclaimed the new bride, ''I've trimmed all my gowns with lace I obtained in that very manner."
"Take the knife and let's see you do it!" directed the bridegroom.
The idiot therefore cut off one of her ears. Instead of lace, out flowed so much blood that she died.
The king's son went on losing wives and was now more in love than ever with that maiden. He eventually got sick, and no one knew how to cure him, for he neither ate nor laughed.
They sent for an old sorceress, who advised, "You must feed him barley pap made from barley that is sown, grown, reaped, and made into pap all within the hour."
The king was frantic, for barley like that had never been seen. At last they thought of the maiden who could work so many wonders and sent for her.
"Yes, indeed, I'm familiar with barley like that." In a flash she had it sown, grown, reaped, and made into pap, well before the end of the hour.
She insisted on taking the pap in person to the king's son, who lay in bed with his eyes closed. But it was vile pap, and he took one taste and spat it out, and some flew into the maiden's eye.
"How dare you spit pap into the eye of the daughter of the Sun and granddaughter of the king!"
"You're the daughter of the Sun?" asked the king, who was standing nearby.
"I am."
"And a king's granddaughter?"
"I am."
"And here we thought you were a foundling! In that case you can marry our son!"
"Of course I can!"
The king's son got well that very instant and married the Sun's daughter, who from that day onward became like all other women and did no more strange things.
(Pisa)
There was once a merchant who had a daughter, and in the evenings he took her out into society. One evening while the girl was out in society, she saw a gentleman pull a snuffbox from his pocket and take snuff. On the cover of the snuffbox was a portrait. It was the portrait of the king of Persia's son with seven veils over his face, and the maiden fell in love with him.
She went home and said to her father, "Papa, I've fallen in love with the king of Persia's son. Please go and propose to him for me, and take him my portrait." Now the king of Persia's son was well known for two things : for being unusually handsome and unusually haughty. He was too handsome for human eyes; in fact, lest someone see him, he wore seven veils over his face and kept to the throne room, where he never addressed a living soul, with the exception of his mother.
After his daughter had spoken, the merchant replied, "Dear daughter, you had better forget this son of the king of Persia."
But the girl by now was so smitten she could think of nothing else. She began pestering her father and went on so that the merchant decided to satisfy her by going to the king of Persia's son who wore seven veils over his face and telling him about the girl's love.
The queen received him, and took the maiden's portrait off to show to her son.
"Do you wish to see the portrait, my son?"
"Tell him to throw it in the toilet."
The queen relayed the message, and the poor father argued, "But my poor daughter is crying her eyes out! "
The haughty prince's mother went back to her son, "My son, the man says his daughter is crying her eyes out."
"Then give him these seven handkerchiefs for her!"
"But my daughter will kill herself!" objected the wretched father, when the queen brought him the handkerchiefs.
"He said she will kill herself," the queen repeated to her son.
"Then give him this knife for her to kill herself with."
The old man returned to his daughter with those cruel answers. After a few minutes of silence, she said, "Father, in this matter we must be firm. Give me a horse and a purse of money, and let me be off."
"Have you lost your mind?"
"Crazy or not, I intend to go out into the world."
She left and went out into the world. Night overtook her in the country. She spied a light and, approaching it, came to a house where a woman watched over her dying son. The girl said, "Go and get some sleep while I watch over your son."
As she kept watch, the lamp went out, and everything was pitch-black. She groped about for a taper, but none was to be found. "I must see if there's someone in the neighborhood who can give me a light." She ran out, circled around, and in the distance, saw a ray of light. She approached it and found an old woman putting wood under a caldron filled with oil.
"Will you help me light my lamp, ma'am?"
"If you help me," answered the old woman.
"Do what?"
"Work a spell on a young man, the son of those country people who live up there"—and she pointed to the house where the dying boy lay. "When this oil has boiled away, the young man will be dead."
"I'll help you," said the maiden. "I'll pile on the wood, and you look to see if the caldron is boiling."
The old woman bent over to see if the caldron was boiling, and the girl grabbed her by the legs and thrust her headfirst into the boiling oil, holding her there until she was good and dead. Then she lit her lamp, put out the fire, and hurried back to the farmhouse, where she found the youth completely recovered and getting out of bed. There was, naturally, great rejoicing in that humble house. "You are going to be my wife!" declared the young man. "No, I must move on," was her reply, and the next morning, loaded down with gifts, she continued on her way.
She came to a town and went to work for a man and his wife. The husband, poor soul, had been sick in bed for years, of a mysterious ailment that left all the doctors baffled. While working for them, the girl grew suspicious of the wife.
She started spying on her and, one evening, hid behind a curtain to see just what the woman did at night. In came, the wife, awakened her husband, gave him a cup of opium to drink and, the minute he fell back asleep, opened a casket, saying, "Out with you, dear daughters, now is the time."
Out of the casket crept a brood of vipers. They fell on the sleeping man and began sucking his blood. When their thirst was quenched, the wife pulled the snakes off, brought out a little pot she kept hidden behind a picture, and made them spit out all the blood they had sucked. Then she carefully anointed her hair with the blood, replaced the reptiles in the casket, and said:
Over wind and over sea,
Take me to old Benevento's walnut tree.
At that, she disappeared.
So what did the girl do but carefully anoint her own hair with blood from the pot, repeat the woman's words, and end up all of a sudden inside a large cask full of witches who danced and worked magic spells. When day dawned, the girl, so as to be back home before her mistress, thought, I must now find the magic counter-formula. So she tried saying:
Under wind and under sea,
Take me from old Benevento's walnut tree.
Instantly she found herself back home. Her mistress returned and saw her sleeping as though nothing at all had happened.
But the next morning the girl said to her master, "Tonight, pretend to drink the cup your wife brings you, but don't swallow one drop of it."
He heeded her and thus remained awake. When his wife went to pull the snakes off, he jumped up and slew her. She'd not drawn her last breath before the husband was completely well. "How can I thank you?" he asked the maiden. "Don't leave. I want you to stay here with me forever."
But she wouldn't hear of it. She took all the money the master gave her and set out again.
After some distance she came to another town and took lodgings at an inn. The innkeeper had a young son, who for quite some time had been in bed and taken no food or drink, sleeping night and day. The girl said, "Allow me, and I will cure him."
That night she kept watch. Ten o'clock struck: nothing. Eleven: nothing. At the stroke of midnight, bang! Two holes appeared in the ceiling, and through them dropped two bundles, a white one and black one. Upon hitting the ground, the white bundle became a beautiful lady, and the black one a maidservant carrying a tray with dinner on it. The lady slapped the sleeper and he woke up; then they set the table and dined as though nothing at all were amiss. At the first crow of the cock, the beautiful lady gave the young man another slap and he fell back asleep at once. The two women rolled themselves into new bundles, one white and one black, and vanished through the holes in the ceiling.
When it was day, the girl said to the sick boy's parents, "If you want that poor soul to get well, take heed of what I say. You must do five things: first, have all the cocks in the country killed; secondly, muffle all the bells; thirdly, have a black coverlet embroidered with all the stars and hang it outside the window; fourthly, light a bonfire under the window; lastly, have a mason stand by, on the roof, to plug up two holes."
The next night the two women bundles descended into the room and proceeded to dine with the young man. From time to time they glanced at the window to see if it was getting light, but the stars shone as brightly as ever. Hour after hour passed, but it remained dark outside; not a cock was to be heard, much less a hen. The two women bundles went to the window to see why in the world the night was lasting so long. They reached out and felt, not the air, but a coverlet, which suddenly fell, revealing the sun already high in the sky. At that, they turned themselves frantically into bundles again and rushed for the ceiling. But the mason had already carefully replaced tiles, beams, and plaster, thus cutting off their escape. They then dashed to the window, but saw the bonfire below it. Like it or not, they had to jump; scorched, they fled for dear life. In all their haste they had forgotten to slap the young man, who therefore remained awake and free from the evil spell.
His parents were wild with joy and ran up to embrace him. His first words were:
"What a girl! I will marry her!" But she had other plans and, with an armful of presents from the innkeeper, was again on her way.
She met a little old woman, who asked, "Where are you going?"
"I am seeking the haughty prince."
"Listen," said the old woman. "I am well aware you have had your share of suffering. Here's a little magic wand for you. Command what you will, and it will be granted. The haughty prince happens to be in this town." At that, the old woman vanished. The merchant's daughter then went and stood before the haughty prince's palace, tapped the ground with the wand, and said, "I do hereby command that a palace equal in size to the haughty prince's spring up instantly, with seven windows exactly like his. Let my palace be placed so that the windows at one end are close to the prince's, and those at the other end are far from his."
Right away, opposite the king's palace, sprang up a second palace exactly as specified. It was morning, and the haughty prince rose and saw a brand-new palace across from his. He looked out, and opposite his window was the most distant window of the other palace. At it stood a maiden so beautiful that, to get a better look at her, the haughty prince removed the first of his seven veils. He told his servants at once, "Pick out the two most beautiful bracelets in the treasure house and take them straight to the maiden, asking for her hand in my name."
Carrying the bracelets on velvet cushions, the servants went to relay the message. But when the maiden saw the gifts, she said, "Put those bracelets on the front door to serve as door knockers, which are just what I needed." With that, she dismissed the men.
The next day the girl appeared at the second window, and the haughty prince removed another veil and looked from his second window. Then he sent the servants to her with a diamond necklace. "This necklace," she said, "will make a nice chain for the dog you now have tied up with a rope."
On the third day, the maiden was at the third window, and the haughty prince, without his third veil, stood at his third window too. He sent the servants to her with two pearl earrings. "Take these earrings," she ordered, "and put them in the dog's harness bell for bell-clappers."
On the fourth day, from the fourth window, she told the servants who brought her a precious embroidered shawl to put it down for a doormat, and on the fifth day, since the prince had taken off his fifth veil as well and sent her an engagement ring set with a walnut-size diamond, she told them to give the diamond to the porter's children to play with.
The sixth day they brought her the queen's crown. "Put it under the pot as a tripod."
But meanwhile they had come to the seventh window, where they stood face to face. The haughty prince removed his last veil and so delighted the merchant's daughter that she said, "Very well, I will marry you."
A feast of chicken, bread, and pride ... Long live the bride! Long live the bride!
(Rome)
There was once a widowed mother who married a widowed father, and they each happened to have a daughter by their first marriage. The mother loved her own daughter, but not her husband's. She sent her own child for water with the jug, and her stepdaughter she sent with the basket. But the water would all run out of the basket, and the stepmother beat the poor girl every day.
One day as the stepchild was filling her basket, it slipped out of her hand and was swept off by the stream. She began running downstream asking everyone she met, "Did you see my basket go by?" but they all told her, "Go farther downstream and you'll find it."
She soon met an old woman sitting on a rock in the middle of the stream examining herself for fleas. "Have you seen my basket?" asked the girl.
"Come here," replied the old woman. "I have your basket. But first be so good as to look down my back and see what's biting me."
The girl killed vermin by the hundreds, but so as not to embarrass the old woman, she said, "Pearls and diamonds."
"You shall have pearls and diamonds yourself," replied the old woman. When all the fleas were off, she said, "Come with me," and they went to her house, which was one big rubbish heap. "Do me a favor, my girl, and make my bed. Do you see anything in it?" It too was crawling with vermin, but the girl politely replied, "Roses and jasmines."
"You shall have roses and jasmines yourself. Do me another favor now and sweep the house. What do you see to sweep out?"
"Rubies and cherubs," answered the girl.
"You shall have rubies and cherubs yourself." Then she opened a wardrobe containing all kinds of clothes and asked, "Do you want a silk dress or one of cotton?"
"I'm a poor girl, as you can tell, so give me a cotton dress."
"I'm giving you the silk one." She gave her a handsome gown of silk, then opened a jewel case. "Would you like gold or coral?"
"I'll take coral."
"But I'm giving you gold," and she slipped a gold necklace on her. "Do you want crystal earrings, or diamond earrings?"
"Crystal."
"But I'm giving you diamond ones," and she put them on her, adding, "You shall be beautiful, your hair shall be golden, and when you comb it, down one side shall pour roses and jasmines; down the other, pearls and rubies. Go home now, but don't turn around when the donkey brays. When the cock crows, turn around."
The girl set out for home. The donkey brayed, but she didn't turn around. The cock crowed, she turned around, and on her forehead appeared a star.
Her stepmother asked, "Who in the world gave you all those things?"
"An old woman, who'd found my basket, gave them to me for killing the fleas on her."
"Now I know I love you," said the stepmother. "Henceforth you'll go for water with the jug, while your sister takes the basket." To her own daughter she whispered, "Go for water with the basket, let it slip away from you in the stream, and go after it. And may you have the same luck as your sister! "
The stepsister marched off, threw the basket into the water, then ran after it.
Farther downstream she met the old woman. "Did you see my basket go by?"
"Come here, I have it. Look down my back and see what's biting me." The girl began killing vermin, and the old woman asked, "What is it?"
"Fleas and the itch."
"You shall have fleas and the itch yourself."
She took the girl to make the bed. "What do you see there?"
"Bedbugs and lice."
"You shall have bedbugs and lice yourself."
She had her sweep the house. "What do you see?"
"Disgusting filth! "
"You shall have disgusting filth yourself."
Then she asked her if she wanted a dress of sackcloth or one of silk.
"A silk dress!"
"But I'm giving you sackcloth."
"A pearl necklace, or a necklace of rope?"
"Pearl!"
"But I'm giving you rope."
"Golden earrings or tinsel?"
"Golden!"
"But I'm giving you tinsel. Go home now and turn around when the donkey brays, but don't turn around when the cock crows."
She went home, turned around when the donkey brayed, and on her forehead sprouted a donkeytail. It was useless to cut it off, it only grew right back. The girl screamed and cried:
"Mamma, Mamma, this is how it goes: My head is now a tail down past my nose; The more of it I cut, the more it grows."
As for the girl with the star on her brow, the king's son asked for her hand in marriage. On the day he was supposed to fetch her in his carriage, her stepmother said to her: "Since you are marrying the king's son, do me one last favor before you leave: wash out the barrel for me. Climb into it and I'll come and help you in a minute."
The girl climbed into the barrel while her stepmother went off to get a kettle of boiling water to throw upon her and scald her to death. The woman intended to dress the ugly girl in the wedding dress and take her to the king all veiled so that he wouldn't know the difference until too late. Meanwhile the ugly girl walked by the barrel. "What are you doing in there?" she asked her half-sister.
"I'm here because I'm to marry the king's son."
"Let me get in, so I'll be the one to wed him."
As accommodating as ever, the beautiful girl climbed out, while the ugly one took her place. The mother returned with the boiling water and poured it into the barrel. She thought she'd killed the stepdaughter but, discovering it was her own child, she began screaming and crying at the top of her voice. Her husband came in about that time, having heard everything from his daughter, and gave the woman the beating of her life.
The beautiful daughter married the king's son and lived happily ever after. Wide is the sheet, narrow is the street; To tell your tale after mine is meet
(Marche)