Title:
Italian Popular Tales
Author:
Thomas Frederick Crane
Year:
1885
Online versions listed at
Freebookapalooza. I'm using the text from the
Gutenberg edition.
I have read through this book, and these are the stories I found:
39-40. The Treasure - The Shepherd
78. Pitidda
79. The Sexton's Nose
80. The Cock and the Mouse
Pepper-Corn
81. Godmother Fox
82. The Cat and the Mouse
83. A Feast Day
86. The Three Goslings
87. The Cock
88. The Cock that Wished to Become Pope
90. The Ant and the Mouse
93. Bastianelo (Italian version of
Clever Elsie)
See also the stories mentioned in this footnote (Crane's commentaries and footnotes are full of references to collect):
It remains to mention two poetical versions: one in Corazzini, from Verona, op. cit. p. 139, which begins: —
"Cos' è questo?
La camera del Vesco.
Cos' è dentro?
Pan e vin," etc.
"What is this? The bishop's chamber. What is in it? Bread and wine. Where is my share? The cat has eaten it. Where is the cat? The stick has beaten him. Where is the stick? The fire has burned it. Where is the fire? The water has quenched it. Where is the water? The ox has drunk it. Where is the ox? Out in the fields. Who is behind there? My friend Matthew. What has he in his hand? A piece of bread. What has he on his feet? A pair of torn shoes. What has he on his back? A whale. What has he in his belly? A balance. What has he on his head? A cap upside down."
The choice of objects is determined by the rhyme, e. g.:—
"Cosa g'àlo in schena?
Na balena.
Cosa g'àlo in panza?
Una balanza."
The second poetical version is from Turin, and is given by Foa, op. cit. p. 5. It begins:—
1. "A j'era' na crava
C' a pasturava,
A m' a rout 'l bout
Oh 'l bon vin c'a j'era' nt 'l me bout
L' è la crava c' a' m l' a rout!
2. "A j'è riva-ie l' luv
L' a mangià la crava
C' a pasturava
C' a m' ha rout 'l bout," etc. (ut supra.)
The following is a literal prose translation of this curious version.
"There was a goat that was feeding, it has broken my bottle. Oh, the good wine that was in my bottle, it is the goat that has broken it! Then came the wolf that ate the goat that was feeding, that broke my bottle, etc. Then came the dog, that barked at the wolf, that ate the goat, etc. Then came the stick that beat the dog, that barked at the wolf, etc. Then came the fire that burned the stick, that beat the dog, etc. Then came the water that quenched the fire, that burned the stick, etc. Then came the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, etc. Then came the butcher that killed the ox, that drank the water, etc. Then came the hangman that hung the butcher, that killed the ox, etc. Then came death, and carried away the hangman, that hung the butcher, etc. Then came the wind, that carried away death, that carried away the hangman," etc.
A variant of this song reminds one more closely of the prose versions.
"Then came the hangman that hung the butcher, etc. Then came the rat that gnawed the cord, that hung the butcher, etc. Then came the cat that ate the rat, that gnawed the cord, etc. Then came the dog that caught the cat, that ate the rat, that gnawed the cord," etc.
The above Italian version, it will be clearly seen, is only a popular rendition of the Jewish hymn in the Sepher Haggadah. Foa, in the work above cited, gives another version from Orio Canarese, and also a number of Italian versions of the "Song of the Kid." His conclusion is the same as that of Gaston Paris in the Romania, I. p. 224, that the "Song of the Kid" is not of Jewish origin, but was introduced into the Haggadah from the popular song or story.
