Roman Legends: A Collection Of The Fables And Folk-Lore Of Rome - free ebook by Rachel Harriette Busk

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Roman Legends: A Collection Of The Fables And Folk-Lore Of Rome

Rachel Harriette Busk

144 chapters

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144 chapters

PREFACE.

PREFACE.

I had heard it so often positively asserted that modern Italy had no popular mythology, and no contribution of special versions to offer to the world’s store of Traditionary Tales, that, while possessing every opportunity, I was many years without venturing to set myself against the prevailing opinion so far as to attempt putting it to the proof. A certain humble friend, however, used time after time so to impress me with the fancy that she had all the qualifications for being a valuable reposit

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FILAGRANATA.

FILAGRANATA.

and as she said these words, Filagranata had to let down her beautiful long hair through the window, and by it the witch climbed up into her chamber to her. This she did every day. Now, it happened that about this time a king’s son was travelling that way searching for a beautiful wife; for you know it is the custom for princes to go searching all over the world to find a maiden fit to be a prince’s wife; at least they say so. Well, this prince, travelling along, came by the witch’s palace where

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THE THREE LOVE-ORANGES.1

THE THREE LOVE-ORANGES.1

Then he said, ‘You must stay here in this bower while I go on home and fetch a retinue worthy to escort you.’ In a palace opposite the fountain lived a black Saracen woman, 3 and just then she went down to the fountain to draw water, and as she looked into the water she said, ‘My mistress says that I am so ugly, but I am so fair, therefore I break the pitcher and the little pitcher.’ 4 Then she looked up in the bower, and seeing the beautiful maiden, she called her down, and caressed her, and st

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PALOMBELLETTA.1

PALOMBELLETTA.1

As soon as the pin entered the maiden’s head she became a dove, but instead of flying into the cage she flew over the stepmother’s head far away out of sight. On she flew till she came to the king’s palace, right against the window of the kitchen where the cook was ready preparing a great dinner for the king. The cook looked round as he heard the poor little dove beating its frightened breast against the window, and, fearful lest it should hurt itself, he opened the window. In flew the dove as s

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LA CENORIENTOLA.1

LA CENORIENTOLA.1

Immediately, the bird gave her the most beautiful suit of clothes, with jewels and golden slippers, and a splendid carriage and prancing horses. With these the maiden went to the ball which was at the king’s palace. The moment the king saw her he fell in love with her, and would dance with no one else. The sisters were furious with the stranger because the king danced all night with her and not with them, but they had no idea it was their sister. The second night she did the same, only the bird

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VACCARELLA.1

VACCARELLA.1

Maria did as she was told, went out and cut a good basketful of grass, and imagine her delight on coming back with it to find all the whole lot of hemp beautifully spun. The surprise of the stepmother was still greater than hers, at finding that she had got through her task so easily, for she had given her enough to have occupied an ordinary person a week. Next day, therefore, she determined to vex her with a more difficult task, and gave her a quantity of spun hemp 6 to weave into a piece of fi

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GIUSEPPE L’EBREO.

GIUSEPPE L’EBREO.

They say there was a well-to-do peasant whose wife died leaving him two children—a boy and a girl. Both were beautiful children, but the girl was of the most inconceivable beauty. As both were still young, and the father did not know how to supply a mother’s place to them, he sent them to a woman, who was to teach them and train them, and do all that a mother would have done for them. So to her they went every day. The woman, however, was bent on marrying their father, and used to send a message

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THE KING WHO GOES OUT TO DINNER.1

THE KING WHO GOES OUT TO DINNER.1

In the meantime, the stepmother had begun to wonder what had become of the children. But she was a witch, and had a divining rod; 5 this rod she struck, and asked it where the children were. The answer came, ‘The girl is married to the king, and the lad is made viceroy.’ When she heard this she went to her husband and said, ‘Do you know a sort of remorse has taken me that we let those poor children go we know not whither. I am resolved to put on a pilgrim’s dress and go and seek them that I may

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THE POT OF MARJORAM.1

THE POT OF MARJORAM.1

The merchant laughed in his turn at what seemed to him an insolent comparison. ‘When a trader goes thousands of miles, through a thousand perils to bring home precious wares from afar which those at home scarcely know the use of, true, then, he alone can fix the price. But a pot of marjoram, every one knows the price of that.’ ‘Perhaps not,’ replied the stranger, binding his cloak about him with the pot tightly held under his arm. ‘At all events it is clear you don’t;’ and he took a step forward

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THE POT OF RUE.1

THE POT OF RUE.1

‘And what may the thing be that you have to take to your daughter?’ ‘Nothing but a pot of rue,’ replied the merchant. ‘A pot of rue!’ answered the captain; ‘that is no easy matter. In the whole country there is no one has a plant of it but the king, and he is so choice over it that he has decreed that if anyone venture to ask him only for a single leaf he shall instantly be put to death.’ ‘That is bad hearing,’ said the merchant. ‘Nevertheless, as I have promised to get it I must make the trial,

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KING OTHO.1

KING OTHO.1

Mr. Ralston, pp. 77–8, supplies a Russian counterpart, in which it is a prince, and not a maiden, who is conveyed in a provisioned box, and this is linked hereby with the Hungarian story of Iron Ladislas, who descends by such means to the underground world in search of his sisters; and this again connects this story both with those in which I have already had occasion to mention him and with one to follow called ‘ Il Rè Moro ,’ one I have in MS. called ‘ Il Cavolo d’oro , ’ &amp;c. The first

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SECOND VERSION.

SECOND VERSION.

When the princess found that he persevered in his silly caprice, she said at last, ‘Papa, if I am to do what you say, you must do something for me first.’ ‘Agreed, my child,’ replied the king; ‘you have only to speak.’ ‘Then, before I marry,’ said the girl, ‘I want a lot of things, but I will begin with one at a time. First, I want a dress of the colour of a beautiful noontide sky, but all covered with stars, like the sky at midnight, and furnished with a parure to suit it.’ 3 Such a dress the k

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THIRD VERSION.

THIRD VERSION.

1 Maria di Legno. ↑ 2 This is one of the very rare instances in which the Devil appears in Roman stories in this kind of character, so common in Northern popular tales. ↑ 3 ‘Colle gioie compagne.’ ↑ 4 ‘Vecchiarella.’ ↑ 5 ‘Gallinara.’ ↑ 6 A ‘buon carnevale’ chiefly implies the wish that the person to whom it is addressed should have good success with partners at the balls, &amp;c. ↑ 7 A ‘festino’ is the common name for a public masqued ball commencing at midnight. There are three princi

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LA CANDELIERA.1

LA CANDELIERA.1

No sooner had the prince seen it than he determined that he must have it; so he bought it for the price of three hundred scudi, and sent his servants to take it up into his apartment. After that, he went about his affairs as usual. In the evening, however, he said to his body-servant, ‘As I am going to the play to-night, and shall be home late, take my supper up into my own room.’ And the servant did as he told him. When the prince came home from the play, he was very much surprised to find his

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THE TWO HUNCHBACKED BROTHERS.1

THE TWO HUNCHBACKED BROTHERS.1

Instantly the dancing ceased, all the little hunchback dwarfs became full-grown, well-formed men, and, what was better still, his own hump was gone too, and he felt that he, too, was a well-grown lad. ‘Good people,’ said our hunchback—now hunchbacked no more—‘I thank you much for ridding me of my hump and making me a well-grown lad. Give me now some work to do among you, and let me live with you.’ But the chief of the strange people answered him and said: ‘This favour we owe to you, not you to u

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THE DARK KING.1

THE DARK KING.1

‘But remember how badly you were clothed, and how poorly you fared,’ replied the Dark King. ‘Ah, I know it is much pleasanter here,’ said the girl, ‘for all those matters, but one cannot do without seeing one’s relations, now and then at least.’ ‘If you make such a point of it,’ answered the Dark King, ‘you shall go home and see papa and mamma, but you will come back here. I only let you go on that condition.’ The arrangement was accepted, and next day she was driven home in a fine coach with pr

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MONSU MOSTRO.1

MONSU MOSTRO.1

‘Who’s there?’ said a voice within. ‘Friends!’ answered the father; and they were shown in. ‘Here’s my daughter, as I promised,’ said the father. ‘All right!’ said Monsu Mostro; and, giving him another large sum of money, sent him away. When the father was gone, he said to the girl, ‘I’m not going to marry you as your father thought. I want you to do the service of the house. But mind when there is anyone here you always call me “papa.”’ The girl promised to do as she was bid, and soon after the

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THE ENCHANTED ROSE-TREE.1

THE ENCHANTED ROSE-TREE.1

‘How dare you root up my rose-trees?’ said the monster; ‘was it not enough that I gave you my best hospitality freely? Must you also rob me of my flowers, which are as my life to me? Now you must die!’ The merchant excused himself as best he could, saying it was the very freedom of the hospitality which had emboldened him to take the rose, and that he had only ventured to take it because he had promised the prettiest rose-tree he could find to his daughter. ‘Your daughter, say you?’ replied the

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SCIOCCOLONE.1

SCIOCCOLONE.1

‘A wise resolve, and worthy of Scioccolone!’ scoffed the eldest brother. ‘Good-bye, Scioccolone!’ cried the second, as the two elder brothers walked away together. ‘Good-bye for ever! I don’t expect ever to see you alive again, of course.’ And they never did see him again, but what it was that happened to him you shall hear. Without waiting to find a retort to his brothers’ gibes, Scioccolone set to work to fell four stout young saplings, and to set them up as supports of his shed in four holes

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TWELVE FEET OF NOSE.1

TWELVE FEET OF NOSE.1

When they were all gone, as the three sons were standing by, very sad, and looking at each other, not knowing what to make of the strange scene, he called the eldest, to whose portion the hat had fallen, and said: ‘See what I’ve given you.’ ‘Why, father!’ answered he, ‘it isn’t even good enough to bind round one’s knee when one goes out hoeing!’ But the father answered: ‘I wouldn’t let you know its value till those people were gone, lest any should take it from you; this is its value, that if yo

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A YARD OF NOSE.1

A YARD OF NOSE.1

Less, less, and still less it grew, 3 till at last he had to put his hand up to feel where it was, and by the time he had done eating, it was just its natural size again. ‘ Now I know how to make my fortune!’ 4 he cried, and he danced for delight. With a basketful of the figs of the first tree he trudged to the nearest town, still clad in his peasant’s dress, and cried, ‘Fine figs! fine figs! who’ll buy my beautiful ripe figs!’ All the people ran out to see the new fruit-seller, and his figs loo

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THE CHICORY-SELLER AND THE ENCHANTED PRINCESS.1

THE CHICORY-SELLER AND THE ENCHANTED PRINCESS.1

‘I’m no prince; and I’m not come to marry you most certainly!’ replied the youth. But all the servants standing round made all sorts of gesticulations that he should say ‘yes.’ ‘It’s no use mouthing at me,’ said the lad; ‘I shall never say “yes” to that !’ But they went on making signs all round that he should say ‘yes,’ till at last they bewildered him so, that, almost without knowing what he did, he said ‘yes.’ Directly he had said ‘yes,’ there were thunder and lightning, and thunderbolts, and

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THE TRANSFORMATION-DONKEY.1

THE TRANSFORMATION-DONKEY.1

‘What have you done with the head?’ exclaimed the farmer, the moment he saw the bird. ‘Oh, it got burnt, and I ate it,’ said the younger boy. The merchant ground his teeth and stamped his foot, but he dared not say why he was so angry; so he sat silent while the chicory-seller took out his knife 3 and cut the bird up in portions. ‘Give me the piece with the heart, if I may choose,’ said the merchant; ‘I’m very fond of birds’ hearts.’ ‘Certainly, any part you like,’ replied the chicory-seller, ne

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SIGNOR LATTANZIO.

SIGNOR LATTANZIO.

‘If you are bent on sacrificing yourself uselessly,’ proceeded the lady, ‘this is the story. You must go to the mountain of Russia, and at the foot of it there will meet you three most beautiful maidens, who will come round you, and praise you, and flatter you, and pour out all manner of blandishments, and will ask you to go into their palace with them, and will entreat you so much that you will not be able to resist; then you will go into their palace with them, and they will turn you into a ca

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HOW CAJUSSE WAS MARRIED.1

HOW CAJUSSE WAS MARRIED.1

‘Ah! the youngster will be frightened if I shut him up in the dark cave a bit,’ said he, and closed the stone, meaning to call to him by-and-by to see if he had come round to a more submissive mind. The boy, however, finding himself shut up alone in the cave, bethought him of the ring, and rubbed it, wishing the while to be at home. Instantly he found himself there, lantern in hand. His parents were very much astonished at all he told them of his adventures, and, poor as they were, were very gla

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2

2

One day as He was going into the Temple, He saw two men quarrelling before the door: a young man and an old man. The young man wanted to go in first, and the old man was vindicating the honour of his grey hairs. ‘What is the matter?’ asked Jesus Christ; and they showed Him wherefore they strove. Jesus Christ said to the young man, ‘If you are desirous to go in first, you must accept the state to which honour belongs,’ and He touched him, and he became an old man, bowed in gait, feeble, and grey-

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3

3

In the days when Jesus Christ roamed the earth, He found Himself one day with His disciples in the Campagna, far from anything like home. The only shelter in sight was a cottage of wretched aspect. Jesus Christ knocked at the door. ‘Who is there?’ said a tremulous voice from within. ‘The Master with the disciples,’ answered Jesus Christ. The man didn’t know what He meant; nevertheless, the tone was too gentle to inspire fear, so he opened, and let them all in. ‘Have you no fire to give us?’ aske

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4

4

‘Nothing at all about the place that can be eaten,’ answered the beggar. ‘Leastwise, I have one ewe, which is at your service.’ ‘That will do,’ answered Jesus Christ; and he sent St. Peter to help the man to prepare it for dressing. ‘Here is the mutton,’ said the beggar; ‘but I cannot cook it, because I have no lard.’ 6 ‘Look!’ said Jesus Christ. The beggar looked on the hearth, and saw everything that was necessary ready for use. ‘Now, then, bring the wine and the bread,’ said Jesus Christ, whe

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5

5

‘I!!’ said St. Peter, getting very angry. ‘How dare you to say such a thing of me!’ But Jesus Christ made him a sign that he should keep silence. ‘We will go back to your house and help you to look for what you have lost, for that none of us have taken the spoon is most certain,’ He said; and He went back with the hunchback. ‘There is nowhere to search,’ answered the hunchback, ‘but in that man’s bag; I know it is there, because I saw him take it.’ ‘Then there’s my bag inside out,’ said St. Pete

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6

6

‘That is certainly a great deal to ask,’ said St. Peter, ‘but you might try; He is very kind.’ The host did ask, and Jesus Christ granted his petition, and then went His way with His disciples. St. Peter remained last, and said to the host, ‘Now run after him, and ask for the salvation of your soul.’ (‘St. Peter always told them all to ask that,’ added the narrator in a confidential tone.) ‘Oh, I can’t ask anything more, I have asked so much,’ said the host. ‘But that is just the best thing of a

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7 PRET’ OLIVO.11

7 PRET’ OLIVO.11

‘Oh, dear! oh, dear! what can I do?’ she kept saying; ‘all this time everybody is stopped dying! Pret’ Olivo! Pret’ Olivo! come here.’ At last Pret’ Olivo came in. ‘What do you mean by keeping me here like this?’ said Death; ‘I told you I had so much to do.’ ‘Oh, you want to go, do you?’ said Pret’ Olivo, quietly. ‘Of course I do. Tell some one to clear away those burning logs, and let me out.’ ‘Will you promise me to leave me alone for another hundred years if I do?’ ‘Yes, yes; anything you lik

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8 DOMINE QUO VADIS.

8 DOMINE QUO VADIS.

1 The Holy Babe. ↑ 2 ‘ Date mi un po’ d’allogio; ’ lit. , Give me a small quantity of lodging—a humble mode of expression. ↑ 3 ‘ Chi è? ’ (‘Who’s there’); but the humour of the expression here lies in its being the invariable Roman custom to sing out ‘ Chi è? ’ and wait till ‘ Amici! ’ is answered, before any door is opened. ↑ 4 Comp. with Legend of the Marmolata in ‘Household Stories from the land of Hofer.’ ↑ 5 ‘Un pagnotto di polenta’ was the expression used, meaning a great coarse loaf o

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1

1

When Pietro Bailliardo, who had set all the world at defiance all his life, saw the Devil and heard him say he had come to fetch him, he was seized with such terror that he began to repent, and ran inside the church. The Devil durst not follow him thither, but waited outside thinking he would soon be turned out. But Pietro Bailliardo took up a great stone and went and kneeled down before the crucifix and smote his bare breast with the big stone, saying the while, ‘Behold! merciful Lord, I beat m

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2

2

‘Do you want to know about Pietro Bailliardo too?’ said the old man who had given me No. 2 of San Giovanni Bocca d’oro . ‘Oh, yes; I did know a deal about him. This is what I can remember. ‘Pietro Bailliardo had a bond 6 with the Devil, by which he was as rich as he could be, and had whatever he wanted; but the day came when the compact came to an end, and Pietro Bailliardo quailed as that day approached, for he knew that after that time the Devil could take him and he could not resist. ‘Before

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3

3

‘The Father Abbot now delivered Pietro Bailliardo over to the Penitentiary, to whom, moreover, he made confession of his terrible crimes, and begged to remain to perform his penance and obtain reconciliation with God. ‘But as Pietro Bailliardo had been used to follow his own strange ways all his life, he must needs now perform his penance too in his own strange way. Therefore he made a vow that he would perform such a penance as man never performed before; and this penance was to visit, all in o

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1

1

But the next day, when he came to think of what he had done, he said to himself, ‘How is it possible that I, who have come here to do penance for my crimes, should out here, even in my penitential hut, commit the same crime again? I must go further from temptation, and do deeper penance yet.’ So he left the shelter of his hut, and all his clothes, and went into the wild country and lived with the wild beasts, and became like one of them. After many years he grew quite accustomed to go on all fou

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2

2

‘Afterwards a great sorrow came upon him for what he had done, and he was so ashamed of his sin that he said he would remain no more to pollute other Christians with his presence, but went out into the Campagna and lived like a four-footed beast; and made a vow that he would remain with his face towards the earth 1 until such time as God should be pleased to let him know, by the mouth of a little child, that His wrath was appeased. ‘Many years passed, and San Giovanni continued his penance witho

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3

3

1 ‘Bocca a terra.’ ↑ We had another Giovanni who had done worse things even than these, and who never became a penitent at all. Don Giovanni he was called. Everybody in Rome knew him by the name of Don Giovanni. Among the other bad things he did, he killed a great man who was called the Commendatore; and though he had the crime of murder on his conscience he took no account of it, but swaggered about with an air of bravado as if he cared for no one. One day when he was walking out in the Campag

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DON GIOVANNI.

DON GIOVANNI.

‘Repent thee!’ 2 said the White Skeleton, solemnly. ‘A cavalier like me doesn’t repent like common beggars!’ replied Don Giovanni, scornfully. ‘Repent!’ again repeated the White Skeleton, with more awful emphasis. ‘I have something much more amusing to do!’ replied Don Giovanni, with a laugh. ‘Don Giovanni!’ cried the White Skeleton, the third time yet more solemnly. ‘Though you took away my life yet am I come to save your soul, if I may, and therefore I say again, Repent! or beware of what is t

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THE PENANCE OF SAN GIULIANO.

THE PENANCE OF SAN GIULIANO.

‘“By no means are we content,” replied the father; “let us therefore rise now and go seek him.” ‘So they put on pilgrims’ weeds, and wandered forth to seek their son. On and on they went till they came to a place, a city called Galizia; 2 and there, as they walk along weary, they meet a gentle lady, who looks upon them mildly and compassionately, and says, “Whence do you come, poor pilgrims? what a long way you must have travelled!” 3 ‘And they, cheered by her mode of address and sympathy, make

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THE PILGRIMS.

THE PILGRIMS.

Meantime the king came back from battle, and the viceroy told him evil about the queen; and his mother, who also believed the viceroy, said, ‘Did I not tell you a woman picked up is never good for anything?’ 3 But the king was grieved, for he had loved the queen dearly, and he took a pilgrim’s dress and went to Galizia, to the shrine of S. Giacomo, to pray that she might be forgiven. Then the viceroy, he too was seized with compunction, and, unknown to the king, he too became a pilgrim, and went

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SANTA VERDANA.

SANTA VERDANA.

[This seems very like another version of the foregoing.] St. Isidor was the steward of a rich man, and as he was filled with holy piety and compassion, he could never turn away from any that begged of him, but gave to all liberally; to one Indian corn meal, to another beans, to another lentils. At last men with envious tongues came to his master and said: ‘This steward of yours of whom you think so much is wasting all your substance, and he has given away so much to the poor that there can be no

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SAN SIDORO.

SAN SIDORO.

St. Francis had a little fishpond, where he kept some gold and silver fish as a pastime. Some bad people wanted to vex him, and they went and caught these poor little fish and fried them, and sent them up to him for dinner. But St. Francis when he saw them knew that they were his gold fish, and made the sign of the cross over them, and blessed them, and soon they became alive again, and he took them and put them back into the fishpond, and no one durst touch them again after that. 1 ‘ La Pescher

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THE FISHPOND OF ST. FRANCIS.1

THE FISHPOND OF ST. FRANCIS.1

St. Anthony’s father was accused of murder, and as facts seemed against him, he was condemned to be executed. St. Anthony was preaching in the pulpit as his father was taken to the scaffold. ‘Allow me to stop for a minute to take breath,’ he said, and he made a minute’s pause in the midst of his discourse, and then went on again. But in that minute’s pause, though no one in church had lost sight of him, he had gone on to the scaffold. ‘What are you doing to that man?’ he asked. ‘He has committed

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2 SANT’ ANTONIO E SORA1 CASTITRE.

2 SANT’ ANTONIO E SORA1 CASTITRE.

‘I have sinned; have mercy on me.’ Then St. Anthony went back to his convent and called all the brethren together, and asked them all to pray very earnestly all through the night, and in the morning tell him what manifestation they had had. The brethren promised to comply; and in the morning they all told him they had seen a little spark of light shining in the darkness. ‘It suffices not, my brethren!’ said St. Anthony; ‘continue your charity and pray on instantly this night also.’ The brethren

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3

3

St. Anthony had been sent a long way off to preach; 4 by the way fatigue overtook him, and he found hospitality for a few days in a monastery by the way. Later in the evening came a Protestant 5 and asked hospitality, and he also was received, because you know there are many Protestants who are very good; and, besides that, if the man needed hospitality the monks would give it, whoever he might be. The monks were all in their cells by an early hour in the evening, but the Protestant walked up an

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4 ST. ANTHONY AND THE HOLY CHILD.3

4 ST. ANTHONY AND THE HOLY CHILD.3

They say there was once a poor man who had paid what he owed for his ground. You know the way is, that when a man has gathered in his harvest and turned a little money then he pays off what he owes. This man paid for his ground as soon as he had made something by his harvest, but the seller did not give him any receipt. Soon after the owner died, and his son came to ask for the money over again. ‘But I paid your father,’ said the poor man. ‘Then show your receipt,’ said the son. ‘But he didn’t g

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5

5

‘What have you got about your hand?’ asked St. Anthony when the man came back, for the friar was none other than St. Anthony. ‘I touched one of the tables in that house,’ he answered, ‘forgetting what you told me, and burnt my hand so badly I had to dip this cloth in a river as I came by and tie it up. But I have the receipt, thanks to you.’ So St. Anthony touched his hand and healed it, and he saw him no more. Then the man took the letter to the old lord’s son. ‘Why, this is my father’s writing

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ST. MARGARET OF CORTONA.

ST. MARGARET OF CORTONA.

Taking with her her son, she went to her, therefore, and with the greatest submission of manner entreated to be readmitted. But not even this would the stepmother grant her, but drove her away from the door. She then turned to her father, but he was bound to say the same as his wife. She now saw there was one misery worse than harsh treatment, and that was penury—starvation, not only for herself, but her child. Little she cared what became of her, but for the child something must be done. What d

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ST. THEODORA.

ST. THEODORA.

‘Surely God has sent me this new penance because the life I lead here is not severe enough,’ she said. ‘He has sent me this further punishment that all the community should think me guilty.’ Therefore she would not justify herself, but accepted the accusation and took the baby and went away. Her only way of living now was to get a night’s lodging how she could, and come every day to the convent gate with the child and live on the dole that was distributed there to the poor. What a life for her w

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NUN BEATRICE.1

NUN BEATRICE.1

‘It cannot be the same,’ answered Beatrice. ‘The one I knew was anything but a saint, though I loved her well, and should like to have news of her.’ And she hardly knew how to conceal the astonishment with which she was seized at hearing him speak thus; for the event on which she expected him to enlarge at once was the extraordinary fact of her escape. But he pursued in the same quiet way as before. ‘Oh yes, it must be the same. There has never been but one of the name since I have known the con

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1

1

There was a cardinal—Gastaldi was his name—who went a good deal into society to the neglect of more important duties. One evening, when he was at a conversazione, Padre Filippo came to the house where he was and had him called out to him in an empty room. ‘Your Eminence! come to this window, I have something to show you.’ The Cardinal came to the window and looked out, and instead of the houses he saw Hell opened and all the souls 3 in the flames; a great serpent was wriggling in and out among t

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1A

1A

Some of their stories of him are jocose. There was a young married lady who was a friend of the Order, and had done it much good. She was very much afraid of the idea of her confinement as the time approached and said she could never endure it. Padre Filippo knew how good she was and felt great compassion for her. ‘Never mind, my child,’ said the ‘good Philip’; ‘I will take all your pain on myself.’ Time passed away, and one night the community was very much surprised to hear ‘good Philip’ ravin

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2

2

Another who had no child was very anxious to have one, and came to Padre Filippo to ask him to pray for her that she might have one. Padre Filippo promised to pray for her; but instead of a child there was only a shapeless thing. She sent for Padre Filippo once more, therefore, and said: ‘There! that’s all your prayers have brought!’ ‘Oh never mind!’ said Padre Filippo; and he took it and shaped it (the narrator twisted up a large towel and showed how he formed first one leg then the other, then

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3

3

There was a man who was dying, and would not have a priest near him. He said he had so many sins on him it was impossible God could forgive him, so it was no use bothering himself about confessing. His wife and his children begged and entreated him to let them send for a priest, but he would not listen to them. So they sent for Padre Filippo, and as he was a friend he said: ‘If he comes as a visitor he may come in, but not as a priest.’ Good Philip sat down by his side and said: ‘A visitor may a

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4

An hour later, as they were all sitting there, another note came back all by itself, written in shining letters of gold, and it said:— ‘Padre Eterne forgives and receives everyone who is penitent.’ The sick man resisted no longer after that; he made his confession and received the sacrament, and died consoled in ‘good Philip’s’ arms. Padre Filippo was walking one day through the streets of Rome when he saw a great crowd very much excited. ‘What’s the matter?’ asked ‘good Philip.’ ‘There’s a man

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5

5

Padre Filippo looked at her, and he knew what sort of woman she was, and he raised his hand and made the sign of the cross over her, and prayed, and she became ugly; uglier even than the other woman had been! ‘Why have you treated me differently from the other woman?’ exclaimed the woman, for she had brought a glass with her to be able to contemplate the improvement she expected him to make in her appearance. ‘Because beauty was of use to her in her state of life,’ answered Padre Filippo . ‘But

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7

7

‘Fifteen pauls a day,’ interposed the charwoman. ‘Thirty scudi a month!’ reiterated the narrator. ‘Never mind,’ said I. ‘Whatever it was, it was to be reduced.’ ‘Yes; that’s it,’ pursued the narrator; ‘and he made him go on and on diminishing it. She took it very well at first, suspecting he was trying her, and thinking he would make it up to her afterwards.’ ‘But when she found he didn’t,’ said the charwoman, ‘She turned him out,’ said the narrator, putting her down with a frown. ‘He was so inf

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8

8

One day Padre Filippo was going over Ponte S. Angelo, when he met two little boys who seemed to attract his notice. ‘Forty-two years hence you will be made a cardinal,’ he said to one, as he gave him a friendly tap with his walking-stick. ‘And that other one,’ he added, turning to his companion, ‘will be dead in two years.’ And so it came true exactly....

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9

9

There was another peasant who, when he came into Rome on a Sunday morning, always went to the church where St. Philip was. 9 ‘You quite weary 10 one with your continual preaching about the Blessed Sacrament. I’m so tired of hearing about it, that I declare to you I don’t care so much about it as my mule does about a sack of corn.’ Padre Filippo preferred convincing people in some practical way to going into angry discussions with them; so he did not say very much in answer to the countryman’s re

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10

10

There were two other fellows 11 who were more profane still, and who said one to the other, ‘They make such a fuss about Padre Filippo and his miracles, I warrant it’s all nonsense. Let’s watch till he passes, and one of us pretend to be dead and see if he finds it out.’ So said so done. ‘What is your companion lying on the ground for?’ said St. Philip as he passed. ‘He’s dead! Father,’ replied the other. ‘Dead, is he?’ said Padre Filippo; ‘then you must go for a bier for him.’ He had no sooner

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11

11

1 ‘ Grascia e annòna ’ are two old words meaning all kinds of meat and vegetable (including grain) food. It was the title of one department of the local administration. There was a great dearth in Rome in the year 1590–1, mentioned in the histories of the times. It is probable the people would ascribe to the head of the department the fault of the calamity. ↑ 2 These people generally call the popes by their family names. This ‘Papa Medici’ would be Pius IV., who reigned from 1559 to 1566. ↑ 3

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THE PARDON OF ASISI.1

THE PARDON OF ASISI.1

Once more St. Felix hesitated till the Pope ordered him to speak. ‘There were only four,’ he then said. ‘Only four!’ exclaimed the Pope. ‘And who were they?’ St. Felix showed even more reluctance to answer this question than the others; but the Pope made it a matter of obedience, and then he said, ‘The four were Father Philip, Father Vincent, one old man, and one other.’ 5 The Pope next called for Father Vincent, and went through nearly the same dialogue with him, and his list was ‘Father Philip

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1

1

Padre Vincenzo worked so many miracles that all Rome was talking about him, and the Father-General thought he would get vain, so he told him not to work any more miracles. Padre Vincenzo therefore worked no more miracles; but one day as he was walking along the street, he passed under a high scaffolding of a house that was being built. Just as he came by, a labourer missed his footing and fell over from the top. ‘Padre Vincenzo, save me!’ cried the man, for everybody knew Padre Vincenzo, and he

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2

2

One morning Padre Vincenzo had to pass through the Rotonda 1 on business of his community. A temptation of the throat 2 took him as he saw a pair of fine plump pigeons such as you, perhaps, cannot see anywhere out of the Rotonda hanging up for sale. Padre Vincenzo bought the pigeons, and took them home secretly under his cloak. In his cell he plucked the pigeons, and cooked them over a little fire. The unwonted smell of roast pigeon soon perfumed the corridor, and two or three brothers, having p

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3

1 ‘Rotonda,’ the vulgar name of the Pantheon, gives its appellation to the market which is held in the ‘Salita de’ Cresconzi’ and other adjoining streets. ↑ 2 ‘Gola,’ the throat; used for ‘gluttony.’ ↑ There was Padre Fontanarosa too. Did you never hear of him? He was a good friend to the poor; and all Rome loved him. He was a Jesuit; but somehow there were some Jesuits who didn’t like him. Papa Braschi 1 was very fond of him, and used to make him come every day and tell him all that went on i

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1

Father Fontanarosa was very simple in his habits himself; and he thought the best way to keep the Order simple was to keep it poor. Whenever anyone wanted to leave money to it, instead of encouraging them, he used to tell them of some other good work to which they might leave it. One day there was a penitent of his who was very devoted to the Jesuits, a very rich nobleman, who came to die, and, as he was making his will, he would have Padre Fontanarosa and the notary present together. ‘I leave a

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2

2

Others give him not quite such a good character, and tell the following story of him:— The reason why the Jesuits did not look favourably on Father Fontanarosa was that they thought he went too often to the house of a certain lady. He perceived that they had found out that he visited her, but he went on all the same, only he said to her, ‘If anything happens that the fathers send after me, and anyone comes into the room suddenly; fall down on your knees before the crucifix, and I will speak so t

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3

1 Pius VI., who reigned 1775–1799. ↑ ‘There was Giuseppe Labre too, and many wonderful things he did; he was a great saint, as all the people in the Monti 2 knew. I don’t know if they’ve put all about him in books yet; if so, you may have read it; but I can’t read.’ ‘I know a Life of him has been published; but tell me what you have heard about him all the same.’ Giuseppe Labre, you know, passed much of his time in meditation in the Coliseum; the arch behind the picture of the Second Station, 3

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1

1

‘Sora Angela, hear me! Bring me a cup of water for the love of God!’ And he spoke the words so authoritatively that the good woman felt as if she was bound to obey him, she made the effort to rise, and, can you believe it! she got up as if there was nothing the matter with her; and from that time forward she was cured. There was a poor cobbler who always had a kind word for Giuseppe too. One day Giuseppe Labre came to him, and said he wanted him to lend him a pair of shoes as he was going a pilg

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2

2

Another more matter-of-fact account of this story was that he did not wear the shoes on the journey, as he did that barefoot, i.e. with wooden sandals, and only borrowed the shoes to be decent and reverent in visiting the Sanctuary. In this case the story was told me to illustrate his conscientiousness both in punctually returning the shoes and in taking so much care of his trust....

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3

1 S. Joseph Labre was born at Boulogne, of parents of the lower middle class, in 1749, and died 1783. He came to Rome on a pilgrimage when young, and remained here the rest of his days, passing his time in prayer and contemplation in the various shrines of Rome. He every year made the pilgrimage to Loreto on foot. He was supported entirely by the alms of the people. ↑ 2 In the Rione Monti are the streets chiefly inhabited by the poor and working classes of Rome. Joseph Labre passed his life in

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THE TWELVE WORDS OF TRUTH.1

THE TWELVE WORDS OF TRUTH.1

‘Two stands for the keys of heaven. There is gold.’ (This would be the literal rendering of this line, but it has manifestly been lamed by bad memory.) 3 ‘Three stands for three patriarchs, &amp;c.’ 4 ‘Four stands for the four columns which support the world, &amp;c.’ 5 ‘Five stands for the five wounds of Jesus Christ.’ 6 ‘Six stands for the six cocks which crowed in Galilee.’ 7 ‘Seven are the seven tapers that burnt in Jerusalem.’ (‘Cantorno’ for cantarono, a vulgar transposition, like

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THE DEAD MAN IN THE OAK-TREE.1

THE DEAD MAN IN THE OAK-TREE.1

‘Now, my son,’ said the corpse, alighting from the horse, ‘I have done you this good turn because you said a De Profundis for me; but such interpositions don’t befall a man every day. Turn over a new leaf, before a worse thing happens.’ Having said this, the dead body, piece by piece, replaced itself amid the branches of the oak-tree, where it had hung before. The young man got on his horse again, penitent and thoughtful, and rode to a friary, 4 where, after spending an edifying life, he died a

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THE DEAD MAN’S LETTER.1

THE DEAD MAN’S LETTER.1

When he reached the palace, it was just as the painone had seemed to expect it would be. First the porter came forward with his cocked hat and his gilt knobbed stick, with the coloured cord twisted over it all the way down, and asked him whither he was going. ‘To Count so-and-so,’ answered the poor man. ‘All right! give it here,’ said the splendid porter. ‘By no means, my orders were to consign it to the count himself.’ ‘Go in and try,’ answered the porter. ‘But you may as well save yourself the

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THE WHITE SOUL.1

THE WHITE SOUL.1

The husband said nothing, but following the direction of his wife’s hand, he solemnly bid the apparition depart, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity and the Madonna. Though he had seen nothing, he, too, now heard a voice, and the voice said that it was her father whom the wife had seen; that it was not well that they should have in the house the woman whom they had taken in to board, for that it was on her account he was now suffering penance. ‘Think of this,’ he said, finally, ‘for I cannot st

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THE WHITE SERPENT.1

THE WHITE SERPENT.1

‘Well, if you would do me a pleasure, go back to the place where you saw the white serpent go in—not where he came out, but where you saw him go into the earth. Dig about that place, and, when you have dug a pretty good hole, a dead man will start up; 3 but don’t be afraid, he can’t hurt you, and won’t want to hurt you. Take no notice of him, and go on digging, and no harm will come to you; you have nothing to be afraid of. If you dig on you will come to a heap of money. Take some of the biggest

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THE PROCESSION OF VELLETRI.

THE PROCESSION OF VELLETRI.

‘Maybe you’re afraid of me, as I was of the procession, that you don’t speak,’ continued Maria Grazia; ‘but I am not a spirit. I am Maria Grazia, servant in such and such a convent at Velletri.’ But still the peasant said nothing. ‘What a very odd man!’ thought Maria Grazia. ‘But as he seems to be going my way he’ll answer the purpose of company whether he speaks or not.’ And she walked on without fear till she came to the provost’s house, the peasant always keeping beside her but never speaking

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1

1

‘Here in Rome?’ asked I. ‘Yes, here in Rome, where she used to work, where there was a ghost 3 that used to pull the bedclothes off anyone who slept in that particular room, and leave him uncovered. As fast as you pulled them over you, the spirit pulled them off again;’ and she imitated the movement with her hands. ‘Oibo!’ interposed No. 1. ‘ I ’ll tell you what ghosts are. Ghosts are most often robbers, who get people to think they are ghosts, in order to be able to rob in peace. There was a fa

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2

2

‘Ghosts! ghosts! are all in silly people’s own heads!’ exclaimed No. 1. ‘I can tell you of one there was in an old palace at Foligno. No one would sleep there because of the ghosts, and the palace became quite deserted. At last a sportsman, 5 who was a relation of mine, said he wasn’t afraid; he would go up there one night, and give an account of it. He went there, pistol in hand. At the time for the ghosts to appear, in through a hole over the window did come a great thing with wings. The sport

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3

3

Some friars were going round begging for their convent, when night overtook them in a wood. ‘What shall we do if any wolves come? I don’t believe there is any habitation in these parts, and there will be no place to run to and no one to help us. We must commend ourselves to the Madonna, and wait the event.’ They had scarcely done so when one of them saw a light sparkling through the trees. They thought it came from some woodman’s cottage, and followed its leading; but instead of a cottage they c

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4

4

Another, who didn’t believe there were ghosts to be seen—‘she had heard plenty of such stories, but she didn’t give her mind to such things,’—yet told me, she believed there were treasures hid in countless places, 7 but people could seldom get at them; there was always a hailstorm, or an earthquake, or something, which happened to stop them; the Devil wouldn’t let people get at them....

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5

5

Another, whose belief in ghosts was doubtful, reckoned she knew various cases to be facts, in which men hid treasures under a spell, that could be removed if a person could devise the counterspell, by hitting, even accidentally, on what the original spell had been. 8...

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6

6

‘If you want ghost-stories, I can tell them as well as another; but mind I don’t believe such things,’ said another. ‘Tell me what you’ve heard, then.’ ‘Well, I have heard say that there was a woman in the Monti, 9 and not so long ago either, who was always finding money about the house, and that too, in places where she knew no one could have put it. The first thing in the morning when she got up she would find it on the floor all about the room. Or if she got up from her work in the middle of

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7

7

‘By-and-by they set the bier down, and as she heard nothing more she concluded the spirits were gone; still she durst not move till some few rays of daylight began to peep through; then she summoned up courage to get out of the coffin. ‘When she did so she saw it was all of solid gold, as well as the bier. There was gold enough to have made her rich to the end of her days, but she was so frightened that she wasn’t able to enjoy it, but died at the end of a month; for riches that are got in ways

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8

8

[The above story of the golden coffin, it will be observed, was told as of a particular district in Rome. Another time, it was told me of a village in the Campagna; the narrator said she knew the name well, but could not recollect it at the moment. In other respects, there were few differences of detail; but the countrywoman was more robust and courageous than the town woman, and this is how she got on.] ‘She was always finding half-pence about the ground where she worked. One day she found a si

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9

9

‘This one now is quite true, for Sora Maria (you know who I mean) told me of it, and she knew the woman as well as her own sister. ‘This woman lived near the church of S. Spirito de Napoletani—you know it?’ ‘Yes, in Via Giulia.’ ‘Exactly. Well, she used to take in washing to make a little for herself more than what her husband gave her. But he didn’t like her doing it, and was very angry whenever he saw her at it. But as he was out all day at his work, she used to manage to get through with it i

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10

10

‘Here’s another thing I have heard that will do for you. ‘There were two who took a peasant and carried him into the Campagna.’ ‘What! two ghosts?’ ‘No, no! two fellows who had more money than they knew what to do with. They took him into the Campagna and made an omelette very good, with plenty of sweet-scented herbs in it, and made him eat it. ‘Then they took a barrel and measured him against it, and then another, till they found one to fit, and killed him and filled it up with money, and made

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11

11

‘Such things can’t be true, so I don’t believe them; but that’s what they tell.’ ‘And don’t they tell other stories about there being treasures hid about Rome?’ ‘Oh, yes; and some of them are true. It is quite certain that ——’ (and she named a very rich Roman prince) ‘found all the money that makes him so rich bricked up in a wall. They were altering a wall, and they came upon some gold. It was all behind a great wall, as big as the side of a room—all full, full of gold. When they came and told

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12

12

‘Then there’s the ——’ (another rich family). ‘They got their money by confiscation of another 15 family, generations ago. That’s why they’re so charitable. What they give away in charity to the poor is immense; but it is because they know how the money came into the family, and they want to make amends for their ancestors.’ [These treasure stories are common everywhere. In Tirol, especially, they abound, and are of two kinds. First, concerning treasure hidden in the earth, arising out of the met

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13

1 ‘Ma che!’ is a very strong and indignant form of ‘No!’ about equivalent to ‘What are you thinking of?’ ‘How can you?’ In Tuscany they say, ‘Che! Che!’ ↑ 2 ‘Fantasimi,’ for ‘fantasmi,’ apparitions. ↑ 3 ‘Spirito.’ ↑ 4 ‘Il fantasimo di S. Giovanni.’ ↑ 5 ‘Cacciatore’ is a huntsman or sportsman of any kind; but in Rome it designates especially a man of a roving and adventurous class whose occupation in life is to shoot game for the market according to the various seasons, as there are large tra

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1 SCIARRA COLONNA.

1 SCIARRA COLONNA.

1 Litta, ‘Storia delle Famiglie italiane,’ traces that from the beginning the Colonna family was always Ghibeline. The present representatives of the house, however, are reckoned Papalini. ↑ 2 ‘Zoccolo,’ a wooden sandal kept on the foot by a leather strap over the instep. It is worn by certain ‘scalsi’ or ‘barefooted’ friars, hence called by the people ‘zoccolanti.’ The street near Ponte Sisto in Rome, called Via delle Zoccolette, received its name from a convent of nuns there who also wore ‘zo

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2 DONNA OLIMPIA.

2 DONNA OLIMPIA.

His want of capacity seems however to have been compensated by his goodness of heart. ↑ 5 Cancellieri Mercato, § viii. As I have been desirous to put nothing in the text but what has reached myself by verbal tradition, I will add some no less interesting details collected by Cancellieri, in this place. It was at her house in Piazza Navona that Bernini was rehabilitated in his character of first sculptor and architect of his time. ‘Papa Pamfili,’ though only the son of a tailor, 6 was yet a patr

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THE MUNIFICENCE OF PRINCE BORGHESE.

THE MUNIFICENCE OF PRINCE BORGHESE.

The next day Borghese sent and clothed all the family; furnished their place again for them; put the children to schools, and gave the parents ten scudi a month. He wouldn’t take the man back, having once had to send him away—for that was his rule—but he gave him a pension for the rest of his life. ‘You know, of course, that there was once a Papessa? They have put that in the books, I suppose?’ ‘I know there is such a story, but learned writers have proved it was a mere invention. ’ ‘Well, I dar

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‘POPE JOAN.’

‘POPE JOAN.’

1 An argument worthy to take rank beside the famous one of ‘Mrs. Brown’ concerning Noah’s Ark. ↑ 2 I said this, really thinking at the moment there was such a statue surmounting the apex of the pediment of the façade; but it afterwards came to mind and I have since verified it on the spot, that the statues on the pediment represent the twelve Apostles with Christ in the centre, and there is no female figure there. Among the numerous statues of saints surmounting the colonnade, are a small propo

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GIACINTA MARESCOTTI.

GIACINTA MARESCOTTI.

From that day, little by little, 7 Giacinta’s cell grew nearer and nearer to the pattern of the House of Nazareth. The mirror, the cosmetics, and the easy couch made way for the crucifix, the discipline, and the penitential chain. 8 From having been shunned as a type of worldliness, she became to her whole order a model of humility and mortification. 9 1 The Marescotti were a noble family of Bologna, the second city of the Pontifical Dominions; there were two cardinals of the name. ↑ 2 ‘Il buon

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1

1

‘The clumsy clodhopper of overnight was an adroit fellow disguised, and he had attached the string of the balloon to the statue. ‘To seize the string, pull down the balloon, and burst it was quick work; but out of it floated three hundred and sixty-six stinging pasquinades, which were eagerly gathered up.’ ‘Many a time a simple exterior is a useful weapon; but when a man who is really simple pretends to be clever he is soon found out. For another time there had been a pasquinade which so vexed t

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2

2

‘A chamberlain took the man into a room where five hundred scudi lay counted on the table, and at the same time put on a pair of handcuffs. ‘“Halloa now! What is this? It was announced that the man who owned himself the author of the Pasquinade should have his life free and five hundred scudi.” ‘“All right; no one is going to touch your life, and there are the five hundred scudi. But you couldn’t imagine that the man who wrote that satire would be allowed to go free about Rome. That was self-evi

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CÈCINGÙLO.

CÈCINGÙLO.

‘Did you ever hear of Sor Cassandro?’ ‘No, never.’ ‘Do you know where Panìco is?’ ‘I know the Via di Panìco 2 which leads down to Ponte S. Angelo.’ ‘Very well; at the end of Panìco 3 there is a frying-shop, 4 which, many years ago, was kept by an old man with a comely daughter. Both were well known all over the Rione. ‘One day there came an old gentleman, with a wig and tights, and a comical old-fashioned dress altogether, and said to the shopkeeper— ‘“I’ve observed that daughter of yours many d

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THE WOOING OF CASSANDRO.1

THE WOOING OF CASSANDRO.1

‘“You don’t understand me, Sor Cassandro,” pursued the man. ‘“Yes, I understand perfectly,” answered the other. “You mean that if she must marry a friggitore , I must become a friggitore .” ‘“You a friggitore , Sor Cassandro! That would never do. How could you so demean yourself?” ‘“Love makes all sweet,” responded Sor Cassandro. “You’ve only to show me what to do and I’ll do it as well as anyone.” ‘The friggitore was something of a wag, and the idea of the prim little Sor Cassandro turned into

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I COCORNI.

I COCORNI.

There was a beautiful Englishwoman here once, beautiful and rich as the sun. 1 Heads without number were turned by her: but she would have nothing to say to anyone who wanted to marry her. Some defect she found in all. She was very accomplished, as well as rich and beautiful, and she drew a picture, and said ‘When one comes who is like this I will marry him; but no one else.’ Some time after a friend came to her, and said: ‘There is So-and-so, he is exactly like the portrait you have drawn, and

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THE BEAUTIFUL ENGLISHWOMAN.

THE BEAUTIFUL ENGLISHWOMAN.

The friend arranged that they should meet at a ball, and the one was as well pleased as the other; but not wishing to seem to yield too soon, she said: ‘Do you know, I don’t like that green tooth you’ve got.’ And he, not to appear too easy either, answered: ‘And, do you know, I don’t like that patch 2 you have on your face.’ The next time they met, neither he had a green tooth, nor had she a patch; for, you know, a patch can be put on and taken off at pleasure, and this happened a long long whil

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THE ENGLISHMAN.

THE ENGLISHMAN.

There was a rich farmer 2 who had one only daughter, and she was to be his heiress. She fell in love with a count who had no money—at least only ten scudi a month. When he went to the farmer to ask her in marriage he would not hear of the alliance, and sent him away. But the girl and he were bent on the marriage, and this is how they brought it about. The girl had a thousand scudi of her own; half of this she gave to him, and said: ‘Go over a certain tract of the Campagna and visit all the peasa

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THE MARRIAGE OF SIGNOR CAJUSSE.1

THE MARRIAGE OF SIGNOR CAJUSSE.1

‘Very good, Signor Cajusse,’ replied the servant respectfully, and shortly after brought in a bottle of wine handed to him for the purpose by Cajusse the day before. When they had drunk they took a stroll round the place, and wherever they turned the labourers all had a greeting and a blessing for Signor Cajusse. When the merchant saw all this he hardly knew how to forgive himself for having run the risk of losing such a son-in-law. He was all smiles and civility as they drove home, and the next

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THE DAUGHTER OF COUNT LATTANZIO.1

THE DAUGHTER OF COUNT LATTANZIO.1

‘Ah, never mind; he said I was to wait if he hadn’t come in. I’m the tailor, come to measure him for a new suit.’ ‘If he said you were to wait I suppose you must,’ answered the servant; ‘but it’s very odd he should have told you so, as he particularly told me to let no one in.’ However, he showed him in also. Directly after there came another knock. ‘Is the Count Lattanzio at home?’ ‘Never mind; I’m the lawyer engaged in his cause before the courts. He said I was to wait if he wasn’t in.’ But th

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BELLACUCCIA.

BELLACUCCIA.

Some days after this the friar came, having taken care to provide himself with his stole and a stoup of holy water. Directly he came into the lawyer’s apartment he put on his stole and sprinkled the holy water. The monkey no sooner saw the shadow of his habit than it took to flight, and, after scrambling all round the room to get away from the sight of him, finally hid itself under the bed. ‘You see!’ said the friar to the lawyer. But the lawyer cried, ‘Here bellacuccia ; come here!’ and as the

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1

1

Then with his claw 4 he tore open his breast, and tore out his heart, and died for the love he bore her. But the sailors took her home, and they were richly rewarded, and there was great rejoicing. 1 ‘You know what a “selvaggio” is, I suppose?’ asked the narrator. ‘Yes; a wild man,’ I answered, thinking of the German myths. ‘No, they weren’t altogether men, they were those creatures there used to be in old times, half men with legs like goats, but they walked on two legs, and had heads and arms

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2 THE SATYRS.

2 THE SATYRS.

To find a maiden who should consent to marry such a monster as her son now was, and who should yet be meet to be his wife when restored to his due estate, was a hopeless task indeed; but what will not a mother’s love attempt? With endless fatigue and continued mortifications she made the fruitless effort in every quarter. When this had utterly failed, she condescended to maidens of lower estate, and tried daughters of merchants and tradesmen, and even peasants, to whom the elevation of rank migh

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AMADEA.

AMADEA.

‘And why must you kill us?’ asked the little boy. ‘Because of the too great love I bear you,’ she replied, and drew out her dagger. At that instant her husband came into the room, and she stabbed the children before his eyes. After that she stabbed herself, and he died of grief. [It was about the time that Prince Amadeo gave up his attempt to hold the throne of Spain that I was visiting a poor person who had before given me some of the stories of this collection. The abdication of Prince Amadeo

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THE KING OF PORTUGAL.

THE KING OF PORTUGAL.

Two friars once went out on a journey, that is to say, a friar and a lay brother. 2 One day of their journey, when they were far from their convent, the friar said to the lay brother: ‘We fare poorly enough all the days of our life in our convent, let us, for one day of our lives, taste the good things of this world which others enjoy every day.’ ‘You know better than I, who am only a poor simple lay brother,’ answered the other, ‘whether such a thing may be done. I don’t mean to say I should no

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THE TWO FRIARS.1

THE TWO FRIARS.1

‘Your Excellency is served!’ 5 said the host, who, as well as his wife and son, had bustled so fast to do what he was so peremptorily ordered that all was done as soon as spoken. ‘Now then Francesco guercino , what have you got to put before a hungry gentleman in this poor little place of yours?’ ‘Excellenza! when you have tasted the cooking of my poor little house,’ said the host, ‘you will not, I am sure, be displeased; all unworthy as it is of your Excellency’s palate. For what we have ready,

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THE PREFACE OF A FRANCISCAN.

THE PREFACE OF A FRANCISCAN.

1 The merit of this story consists much in the mode of telling. The narrator should be able to imitate the peculiar tone to which the ‘Preface’ is sung, and to supply the corresponding notes for the additional insertion. It was very effectively done by the person who told it to me. ↑ A friar came to preach the Lenten sermons in a country place. The wife of a rich peasant sat under the pulpit, and thought all the time what a nice-looking man he was, instead of listening to his exhortations to pe

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THE LENTEN PREACHER.

THE LENTEN PREACHER.

‘Oh! I fell down the cellar stairs.’ ‘What do you mean by leaving your mistress to go down to the cellar?’ he cried out to the servant, with great solicitude. ‘How can you allow her to do such things? What’s the use of you?’ ‘Don’t scold the servant,’ answered the wife; ‘it wasn’t her fault. I shall be all right soon.’ And she made as light of her ailment as she could, to keep him from asking her any more questions. But he was discreet enough to say no more. Only when she was well again he sent

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ASS OR PIG.1

ASS OR PIG.1

This was exactly what the countryman wanted, therefore he gave a ready assent, and the father guardian took him up into his cell. The pretended girl sat up in a chair quietly enough through the dark of the night, but when morning began to dawn, out came a stick that had been hidden under the petticoats, and whack, whack 3 —a fine drubbing the poor father guardian got, to the tune of—‘So you think I don’t know a pig from an ass, do you?’ When he had well bruised him all over, the countryman made

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THE SEVEN CLODHOPPERS.1

THE SEVEN CLODHOPPERS.1

‘Oh, some cow, some pig, and some fowl.’ 3 ‘You men of the mistuanza !’ shouted the priest in righteous indignation, starting out of the confessional; ‘Come back! come back! you can’t go to communion like that.’ The seven clodhoppers, finding themselves discovered, began to fear the rigour of justice, and decamped as fast as they could. [Next to gossiping jokes on subjects kindred to religion are jokes about domestic disputes, the greater blame being generally ascribed to the wife.] 1 ‘I sette V

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THE LITTLE BIRD.1

THE LITTLE BIRD.1

‘We quite understand,’ answered the peasants. The count went in and called his servant, and told him to give the peasants an apartment to themselves, with everything they could want, and a sumptuous dinner, only in the middle of the table was to be an earthen dish, into which he was to put a little bird alive, so that if one lifted the cover the bird would fly out. He was to stay in the room and wait on them, and report to him what happened. The old people sat down to dinner, and praised everyth

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THE DEVIL WHO TOOK TO HIMSELF A WIFE.1

THE DEVIL WHO TOOK TO HIMSELF A WIFE.1

The devil meantime had possessed himself of another sovereign, a king this time, and everybody in the kingdom was very desirous to have him cured, and went inquiring everywhere for a remedy. Thus they heard of the fame of the last cure by the devil’s wife. Then they immediately sent for her and insisted that she should cure this king too. But she, not sure whether he would go out a second time at her bidding, refused as long as she could; but they took her, and said, ‘Unless you cure him we shal

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THE ROOT.

THE ROOT.

‘Of course! That’s just the fun of it!’ replied the narrator. ‘And the beauty of it was that he was so simple that he thought it was some virtue in the root that was to effect the cure.’ The hysterics stopped, and he ran off to the doctor to thank him for the capital remedy. The wife ran off, too, and went to her friends crying with terrible complaints that her husband would not allow her a single thing to put on, and, moreover, had even been beating her. When the count got back from the doctor,

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THE QUEEN AND THE TRIPE-SELLER.1

THE QUEEN AND THE TRIPE-SELLER.1

The queen was very much astonished at finding herself in a tripe-shop, and began staring about, wondering how she got there. ‘Here! Don’t stand gaping about like that!’ cried the tripe-man, 4 who was a very hot-tempered fellow; ‘Why, you haven’t boiled the coffee!’ ‘Boiled the coffee!’ repeated the queen, hardly apprehending what he meant. ‘Yes; you haven’t boiled the coffee!’ said the tripe-man. ‘Don’t repeat my words, but do your work!’ and he took her by the shoulders, put the coffee-pot in h

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THE BAD-TEMPERED QUEEN.1

THE BAD-TEMPERED QUEEN.1

And he looked so determined that she quailed before him. ‘How can we be going into the country, when I have invited half the kingdom to a banquet?’ exclaimed the queen. ‘ I have invited no one,’ answered the husband quietly. ‘Don’t stand hesitating when I tell you to do a thing; go and get ready directly! we are going into the country!’ he added in his most positive voice, and, though she shed many secret tears over the loss of the banquet, she ventured to oppose nothing more to his orders, but

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LA SPOSA CECE. 2

LA SPOSA CECE. 2

1 ‘La Sposa Cece,’ the simple wife. ‘Cece’ among the common people seems to mean pretty nearly the same as ‘tonto,’ ‘silly,’ ‘idiotic;’ in this place more exactly ‘simple’ or ‘half-witted.’ ↑ 2 It is a characteristic of the Roman people that as a rule they never call people by their names; the ‘casato’ or married name, and the ‘cognome’ or family name, are used indifferently when such a name is called in request at all, by married people. If they must give a name to a stranger it is always the

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2

2

1 ‘La Donna Mattarella.’ ‘Matto’ is simply ‘mad,’ with the diminutive ‘ella’ it comes to mean ‘slightly mad,’ ‘simple.’ ↑ They say there was once a widow woman who had a very simple son. Whatever she set him to do he muddled in some way or other. ‘What am I to do?’ said the poor mother to a neighbour one day. ‘The boy eats and drinks, and has to be clothed; what am I to do if I am to make no profit of him?’ ‘You have kept him at home long enough;’ answered the neighbour. ‘Try sending him out, n

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THE BOOBY.1

THE BOOBY.1

Presently he met the wife of the syndic of the next town, who was driving out with her maids, but had got out to walk a little stretch of the way, as the day was fine. The syndic’s wife was talking cheerfully with her maids, and when one of them caught sight of the simpleton, she said to her mistress: ‘Here is the simple son of the poor widow by the brook.’ ‘What are you going to do, my good lad?’ said the syndic’s wife kindly. ‘Not going to tell you, because you were chattering and gossiping,’

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THE GLUTTONOUS GIRL.1

THE GLUTTONOUS GIRL.1

‘I must give you something to make up for the loss,’ replied the merchant; ‘but such a notable wife as this I have long been in search of, and I must not miss the chance.’ ‘But I cannot spare such a notable daughter, either,’ persisted the mother. ‘What do you say if I give you five hundred scudi?’ ‘If I let her go, it is not because of the five hundred scudi,’ said the mother; ‘it is because you seem a husband, who will really appreciate her; though I don’t say five hundred scudi will not be a

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2 THE GREEDY DAUGHTER.1

2 THE GREEDY DAUGHTER.1

‘Then that hussey of a girl must have eaten them by the way.’ The poor mother, anxious to screen her daughter, burst into all manner of excuses, but the wolf now saw how it all was. To make sure, however, he added: ‘The omelettes would have been better had the frying-pan not always been full of such nasty things. I did my best always to clean it, but it was not easy.’ ‘Oh, godfather-wolf, you are joking! I always cleaned it, inside and out, as bright as silver, every time before I sent it back!’

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THE OLD MISER.1

THE OLD MISER.1

‘Very well, then,’ continued the neighbour; ‘I will tell you what to do. You have only, every day at dinner-time, to stand at the window and suck in the air, and move your lips as if you were eating. But eat nothing; take nothing into your mouth but air. The old miser who lives opposite wants a wife who can live on air; and if he thinks you can do this he will marry you. And when you are once installed it’ll be odd if you don’t find means, in the midst of so much money, to lay hold of enough to

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THE MISERLY OLD WOMAN.1

THE MISERLY OLD WOMAN.1

‘Never mind the conditions; let’s marry, and we’ll get through the future somehow.’ Then they married. When her son brought home this wife, and the old woman found she had no dowry, she was in a great fury; but it was too late to help it. The first morning, when she knocked at their door to wake her, she called out— ‘Who’s there?’ though she knew well enough. The mother-in-law answered, ‘Time to get up!’ ‘ Oibo! ’ exclaimed the young wife. ‘Don’t imagine I’m going to get up in the middle of the

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THE BEGGAR AND THE CHICK-PEA.1

THE BEGGAR AND THE CHICK-PEA.1

As it was impossible for the peasant’s wife now to give him the pea, she was obliged to give him the hen. The beggar, therefore, took the hen, and went to another cottage. ‘Good woman,’ he said to the peasant’s wife; ‘can you be so good as to take care of this hen for me?’ ‘Willingly enough!’ said the peasant’s wife. ‘Here it is then,’ said the beggar; ‘but mind the pig doesn’t get it.’ ‘Never fear!’ said the peasant’s wife; and the poor man went his way. Next day the beggar came back and claime

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DOCTOR GRILLO.

DOCTOR GRILLO.

But the false Doctor Grillo remained thenceforward in undisturbed possession of the fame and fortune attaching to the name he had filched. [This is probably a filtering of one of the many stories about Theophrastus Paracelsus. I think there was something very like it in a little book of popular legends about him given me at Salzburg, but I have not got it at hand to refer to. Zingerle, ‘ Sagen aus Tirol ,’ p. 417, tells a story of his servant prying into the wise man’s penetralia, and getting a

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NINA.

NINA.

‘Where’s “Nina”?’ said the servant. ‘Master has sent me to fetch “Nina.”’ ‘In the stable—take her!’ answered the miller. In the stable was nothing to be seen but a very lean old donkey. ‘There’s nothing here but an old donkey,’ exclaimed the servant. ‘All right, that’s “Nina,” so take her,’ replied the miller. ‘But this can’t be what master meant me to fetch!’ expostulated the servant. ‘What have you got to say to it?’ replied the miller. ‘Your master told you to fetch “Nina;” we always call our

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THE GOOD GRACE OF THE HUNCHBACK.1

THE GOOD GRACE OF THE HUNCHBACK.1

‘Locked up! who has locked you up?’ asked the stranger. ‘An old hunchback, who’s going to marry me,’ said the girl, almost crying. ‘You don’t seem much pleased at the idea of being married,’ answered the stranger. ‘It is not likely that I should, to such a husband!’ returned the girl. ‘Would you like to get away from him?’ asked the stranger. ‘Shouldn’t I!’ heartily exclaimed the girl; ‘but it’s impossible to manage that, as I’m locked in,’ she added sorrowfully. ‘It’s not so difficult as you th

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THE VALUE OF SALT.

THE VALUE OF SALT.

Then the king said, ‘What a contemptible comparison! She only loves me as much as the cheapest and commonest thing that comes to table. This is as much as to say, she doesn’t love me at all. I always thought it was so. I will never see her again.’ Then he ordered that a wing of the palace should be shut up from the rest, where she should be served with everything belonging to her condition in life, but where she should live by herself apart, and never come near him. Here she lived, then, all alo

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THE PRINCESS AND THE GENTLEMAN.

THE PRINCESS AND THE GENTLEMAN.

The gentleman, however, before setting out, went to his friend the cook, and, giving him three hundred scudi, begged him to house him for a few nights, while he dug out an underground passage between the garden and the apartment where the princess was imprisoned. In the garden was a handsome terrace, all set out with life-sized statues; under one of these the gentleman worked his way, till he had reached the princess’s chamber. ‘You here!’ exclaimed the princess in great astonishment, as soon as

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THE HAPPY COUPLE.1

THE HAPPY COUPLE.1

Choosing a moment when the man was alone in the shop, she sent the girl in with the ten scudi; and the girl, who had been told what to do, selected a dress, and a handkerchief, and a number of fine things, and paid her ten scudi. Then she proceeded leisurely to put them on, and to walk up and down the shop in them. Meantime the bad old woman went up to the wife:— ‘Poor woman!’ she said. ‘Poor woman! Such a good woman as you are, and to have such a hypocrite of a husband!’ ‘My husband a hypocrite

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WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ROOM OF A HOTEL.1

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ROOM OF A HOTEL.1

The Count had walked on till he could walk no farther, and then he had gone into an inn, where he hired a room for a week; but he went wandering about the woods in misery and despair, and only came in at an hour of night. 4 The Countess also walked on till she could walk no farther, and thus she came to the same inn; but as she had only a woman’s strength the same journey took her a much longer time, and it was the afternoon of the next day when she arrived. She too asked for a room, but the hos

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THE COUNTESS’S CAT.1

THE COUNTESS’S CAT.1

‘Yes! Signora Countessa,’ answered the cameriera. ‘See, there are the bones on the floor, where he always leaves them.’ The Countessa could not deny the testimony of her eyes, so she said nothing more but went up to bed. The cat followed her as he always did, for he slept on her bed; but he followed at a distance, without purring or rubbing himself against her. The Countess saw something was wrong, but she didn’t know what to make of it, and went to bed as usual. That night the cat throttled 3 t

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WHY CATS AND DOGS ALWAYS QUARREL.1

WHY CATS AND DOGS ALWAYS QUARREL.1

1 ‘Perchè litigano sempre i Cani ed i Gatti.’ ↑ 2 ‘Dàlli! Dàlli ai cani!’ ↑ ‘Ah! as to cats and mice, listen and I ’ll tell you something worth hearing! ‘In America, once upon a time, there were no cats. Mice there were in plenty; mice everywhere; not peeping out of holes now and then, but infesting everything, swarming over every room; and when a family sat down to meals, the mice rushed upon the table and disputed the victuals with them. ‘Then one thought of a plan; he freighted three ships;

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APPENDIX A. p. xx.

APPENDIX A. p. xx.

My attention has been called, while these sheets have been passing through the press, to a collection which enables me to subjoin some notes of analogies between the Folktales of France and those in the text. It is entitled ‘Recueil des Contes des Fées,’ Geneva, 1718; published without author’s name, and the stories are much less artificially treated than in the better known collections of the Comtesse d’Aulnoy, de Caylus, Perrault, Madame de Villeneuve, &amp;c. Monteil (‘ Traité de Matériau

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APPENDIX B.

APPENDIX B.

Another (‘ Le Buisson d’Épines fleuries ’) contains noticeable analogies with both the group of ‘The Pot of Marjoram, ’ and that of ‘Maria Wood.’ The mother of a fairy princess is led to fill the stepmother’s part towards her, by her having so lavishly distributed the ointment of perpetual youth, which had been entrusted to her keeping, that none is left for the queen’s own use when she desires to have recourse to it to regain the lost affections of her husband, an earthly king. The governess co

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APPENDIX C. p. 195.

APPENDIX C. p. 195.

Cardinal Valerio, Bishop of Verona (in his ‘ De Rhetorica Christiana ’ cited in Ludovic Lalanne’s ‘ Curiosités des Traditions ,’ iv. 403–4), has a very ingenious mode, among others, of accounting for the amplification of Legends; he says it was the custom in many monasteries to give the young monks liberty as a sort of exercise and pastime to write variations of the acts of the saints and martyrs, and they exerted their fancy in producing imaginary conversations and incidents of a nature consona

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APPENDIX D. p. 196.

APPENDIX D. p. 196.

Charles Louandre (‘ Chefs-d’œuvre des Conteurs Français ,’ Paris, 1873) gives an episode out of the ‘ Voyage d’outremer du Comte de Ponthieu ’ (a Roman of the thirteenth century), which has curious analogies both with this tale of the Pilgrims, with another Roman story I have in MS., and with that of ‘The Irish Princess’ in ‘Patrañas.’ Adèle de Ponthieu was married to Thiébault de Domart. They go a pilgrimage to S. James of Compostella to pray that they may have heirs. Robbers overcome them by t

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APPENDIX E. p. 208.

APPENDIX E. p. 208.

The centenarian Guillaume Boucher (1506–1606) gives in his ‘ Sérées ’ a French story (called ‘The Fish-bone’) of a quack doctor favoured by luck, to whom he gives the name of Messire Grillo. Charles Louandre (‘ Chefs-d’œuvre des conteurs Français ,’ p. 278) points out that doctors hardly ever figure in popular literature before the sixteenth century, though after the Renaissance they became the constant subject of satire; and that thus Molière did little more than collect the jokes at their expe

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APPENDIX F. p. 392.

APPENDIX F. p. 392.

1 ‘Contes Populaires des anciens Bretons, précédés d’un Essai sur l’origine des Epopées chevaleresques de la Table Ronde.’ Par Th. de la Villemarqué. Paris et Leipzig, 1842. ↑...

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Corrections

Corrections

The following corrections have been applied to the text:...

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