Ancilotto, King of Provino

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"Ancilotto, King of Provino"
AuthorGiovanni Francesco Straparola
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian
Genre(s)Fairy tale
Published inThe Facetious Nights of Straparola

Ancilotto, King of Provino is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola.[1]

It is Aarne-Thompson type 707: the dancing water, the singing apple, and the speaking bird. It is the oldest known variant of this tale, and influenced Madame d'Aulnoy's Princess Belle-Etoile. A variant of this tale appears in Antoine Galland's Arabian Nights collection, but no Arab manuscript exists, and Galland, reporting an oral source, may also have been influenced by this version. It spread to appear as The Three Little Birds in the Brothers Grimm's collection.[2]

Synopsis[]

Ancilotto, the king, heard three sisters talking: Brunora, the eldest sister, said if she married the king's majordomo, she could give the entire court a drink from one glass of water; Lionella, the second, said if she married the king's chamberlain, she could turn one spindle of linen to give fine shifts to the entire court; Chiaretta, the youngest said if she married the king, she would give him triplets who would have fine hair with gold, a gold necklace, and a star on their forehead. The king married them off as they had said. The Queen mother was angry to have such a daughter-in-law. The king had to leave, and while he was gone, Chiaretta gave birth to two sons and a daughter, as she had described. Three black puppies with white stars had been born, and Chiaretta's sisters brought them to the queen. The queen substituted them for the babies, and the babies were put in a box and thrown into the river. A miller, Marmiato, found them. His wife, Gordiana, named the boys Acquirino and Fluvio, and the girl Serena.

Ancilotto was grief-stricken by the story, but when the Queen mother, the midwife, and the queen's sisters all agreed that Chiaretta had given birth to the puppies, he ordered her kept in the dungeon.

Gordiana gave birth to a son, named Borghino. Marmiato and Gordiana learned that if they cut the children's hair, gems fell out of it, and they lived prosperously; but when the children grew up, they learned that they were foundlings and set out. They found Ancilotto's land and met him; he told his mother that he thought they were the children Chiaretta had borne him.

The Queen mother sent the midwife after them, and she tricked Serena into asking for the dancing water. Acquirino and Fluvio went after it; a dove warned them of the danger and then filled up a vial for them. Ancilotto saw them again, and the Queen mother heard of their survival. The midwife tricked Serena into asking for the singing apple. Acquirino and Fluvio went after it, and on the way, their host one night warned them of the danger, and then gave them a robe of mirrors. This would trick the monster that guarded it, when it saw its own reflection. Fluvio used it and picked the apple. Ancilotto saw them again, and the queen learned they had survived. The midwife tricked Serena into asking for a beautiful green bird that could speak words of wisdom day and night, and when Acquirino and Fluvio found the garden with the bird, they looked at marble statues in it, and were turned into statues themselves.

Serena awaited them anxiously and finally set out after them. She reached the garden, snuck up on the bird, and caught it. It begged for its freedom, and showed her how to turn her brothers back to life. Serena said she would free it only if it brought them to their mother and father.

They went to Ancilotto's palace for dinner and brought the water, apple, and bird. The king and guests marveled at the water and apple, and the bird asked what punishment should be imposed on those who tried to kill two brothers and a sister. The queen mother said death by burning, and everyone agreed. The bird told the story of Chiaretta's children; the king freed her and had his mother, her sisters, and the midwife burned.

Translations[]

An earlier Spanish translation was made in the 16th century by Francisco Truchado, as Honesto y agradable Entretenimiento de Damas y Galanes.[3] In Truchado's version, published as the fourth story of the seventh night, the king's name is Archiles, the three sisters are daughters of a "nigromántico".[4][5][6]

Other variants[]

The story is considered to be the oldest literary attestation of tale type ATU 707 "The Three Golden Children", and the oldest Italian variant of the tale type.

Italy seems to concentrate a great number of variants, from Sicily to the Alps.[7] Henry Charles Coote proposed an Eastern origin for the tale, which later migrated to Italy and was integrated into the Italian oral tradition.[8]

The "Istituto centrale per i beni sonori ed audiovisivi" ("Central Institute of Sound and Audiovisual Heritage") promoted research and registration throughout the Italian territory between the years 1968–1969 and 1972. In 1975 the Institute published a catalog edited by Alberto Maria Cirese and Liliana Serafini including 55 variants of the ATU 707 type, under the banner I tre figli dai capelli d'oro ("The Three Children with Golden Hair").[9]

Regional tales[]

Italian folklorist of Sicilian origin, Giuseppe Pitrè collected at least five variants in his book Fiabe Novelle e Racconti Popolari Siciliani, Vol. 1 (1875).[10] Pitrè also commented on the presence of the tale in Italian scholarly literature of his time. His work continued in the supplement publication of Curiosità popolari tradizionali, which recorded a variant from Lazio (Gli tre figli);[11] and a variant from Sardinia (Is tres sorris; English: "The three sisters").[12]

In an Italian variant collected by Gherardo Nerucci with the title El canto e 'l sono della Sara Sybilla ("The Sing-Song of Sybilla Sara"), the magical items are replaced for an indescribable MacGuffin, obtained from a supernatural old woman. The strange object also reveals the whole plot at the end of the tale.[13][14] The story of "Sara Sybilla" was translated to English as The Sound and Song of the Lovely Sibyl, with a source in Tuscany: the third sister promises to bear three children (two boys and a girl) with a knight's red cross on their chests, and the bird reappears as the truth-teller to the King.[15]

Vittorio Imbriani gathered three variants from Firenze in La Novellaja Fiorentina: L'Uccellino, che parla; L'Uccel Bel-Verde and I figlioli della campagnola.[16] Nerucci, a fellow Italian scholar, recorded I figlioli della campagnola, in his Sessanta novelle popolari montalesi: circondario di Pistoia.[17] He also compiled a Milanese version (La regina in del desert), which he acknowledged as a sister story to that of Sarnelli's and Straparola's.[18]

Fellow folklorist Laura Gonzenbach, from Switzerland, translated a Sicilian variant into the German language: Die verstossene Königin und ihre beiden ausgesetzten Kinder (The banished queen and her two children).[19]

Domenico Comparetti collected a variant named Le tre sorelle ("The Three Sisters"), from Monferrato[20] and L'Uccellino che parla ("The speaking bird"), a version from Pisa[21] – both in Novelline popolari italiane.

collected a version from Abruzzo named Lu fatte de le tré ssurèlle, with references to Gonzenbach, Pitrè, Comparetti and Imbriani.[22]

In a fable from Mantua (La fanciulla coraggiosa, or "The brave girl"), the story of the siblings's mother and aunts and the climax at the banquet are skipped altogether. The tale is restricted to a quest for the water-tree-bird to embellish their garden.[23]

Angelo de Gubernatis lists two variants from Santo Stefano di Calcinaia: I cagnolini and Il Re di Napoli,[24] and an unpublished, nameless version collected in Tuscany, near the source of the Tiber river.[25][26]

Carolina Coronedi-Berti collected a variant from Bologna called La fola del trèi surèl ("The tale of the three sisters"), with annotations to similar tales in other compilations of that time.[27] Ms. Coronedi-Berti mentioned two Pemontese versions, written down by Antonio Arietti: I tre fradej alla steila d'ör and Storia dël merlo bianc, dla funtana d'argent e dël erbolin che souna.[28] Coronedi-Berti also referenced two Venetian variants collected by Domenico Giuseppe Bernoni: El pesse can,[29] where the peasant woman promises twins born with special traits, and Sipro, Candia e Morea,[30] where the three siblings (one male, two female) are exposed by the evil maestra of the witch princess.

Christian Schneller collected a variant from Wälschtirol (Trentino), named Die drei Schönheiten der Welt (Italian: "La tre belleze del mondo"; English: "The three beauties of the world"),[31] and another variant in his notes to the tale.[32]

collected a version from Livorno, titled Le tre ragazze (English: "The three girls"), and compared it to other variants from Italy: L'albero dell'uccello que parla, L'acqua brillante e l'uccello Belverde, L'acqua que suona, l'acqua que balla e l'uccello Belverde que canta and L'Uccello Belverde from Spoleto; Le tre sorelle, from Polino; and L'albero que canta, l'acqua d'oro e l'uccello que parla, from Norcia.[33]

British lawyer Henry Charles Coote translated a version collected in Basilicata, titled The Three Sisters. The third sister only wishes to be the king's wife, she gives birth to "beautiful" children (the third a girl "beautiful as ray of sun"), the magical objects are "the yellow water, the singing bird and the tree that makes sounds like music", and the bird transforms into a fairy who reveals the truth to the king.[34] This tale was translated by German writer Paul Heyse with the name Die drei Schwestern.[35]

A singular tale, attributed to Italian provenance, but showing heavy Eastern inspiration (locations such as the Yellow River or the Ganges), shows the quest for "the dancing water, the singing stone and the talking bird".[36]

In a variant from Capri titled Der redende Vogel ("The Talking Bird"), the third sister promises to bear twins, a boy with a golden apple and a girl with a golden star. They are sent year later for the dancing water from the miracle fountain of Senavalli, the sounding apple from the magic garden, and the talking bird.[37]

References[]

  1. ^ Giovanni Francesco Straparola, The Facetious Nights of Straparola, "Ancilotto, King of Provino"
  2. ^ Jack Zipes, The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm, p 220, ISBN 0-393-97636-X.
  3. ^ "Noche Septima, Fabula quarta". Truchado, Francisco. Segunda Parte del Honesto y agradable Entretenimiento de Damas y Galanes. Pamplona: 1612. pp. 22-38.
  4. ^ Truchado, Francisco; Senn, Doris. "Le piacevoli Notti (1550/53) von Giovan Francesco Straparola, ihre italienischen Editionen und die spanische Übersetzung Honesto y agradable Entretenimiento de Damas y Galanes (1569/81)". In: Fabula 34, no. 1-2 (1993): 43-65. https://doi.org/10.1515/fabl.1993.34.1-2.45
  5. ^ Marcello, Elena E. "Sbre la traducción española de "Le piacevoli notti" de G.F. Straparola: antígrafo, configuración de la obra y autocensura en Francisco Truchado". In: Hispanista Escandinava, Nº. 2, 2013, págs. 48-65. ISSN 2001-4538
  6. ^ Truchado, Francisco. Honesto y agradable Entretenimiento de Damas y Galanes. Edizione, introduzione e note a cura di Marco Federici. Roma: Edizioni Nuova Cultura, 2014. pp. 445-470. ISSN 2039-8409.
  7. ^ Groome, Francis Hindes (1899). "No. 18—The Golden Children". Gypsy folk-tales. London: Hurst and Blackett. pp. 71–72 (footnote).
  8. ^ Coote, Henry Charles. "Folk-Lore The Source of some of M. Galland's Tales". In: The Folk-Lore Record. Vol. III. Part. II. London: The Folk-Lore Society. 1881. pp. 178–191.
  9. ^ Discoteca di Stato (1975). Alberto Mario Cirese; Liliana Serafini (eds.). Tradizioni orali non cantate: primo inventario nazionale per tipi, motivi o argomenti [Oral Not Sung Traditions: First National Inventory by Types, Reasons or Topics] (in Italian and English). Ministero dei beni culturali e ambientali. pp. 152–154.
  10. ^ As referenced by Vittorio Imbrianni. Imbriani, Vittorio. La Novellaja Fiorentina. Italia, Firenze: Coi tipi di F. Vigo. 1887. p. 97.
  11. ^ Targioni, Tozzetti, G. "Saggio di Novelline, Canti ed Usanze popolari della Ciociaria". In: Curiosità popolari tradizionali. Vol X. Palermo: Libreria Internazionale. 1891. pp. 10–13.
  12. ^ Mango, Francesco. "Novelline popolari Sarde". In: Curiosità popolari tradizionali. Vol IX. Palermo: Libreria Internazionale. 1890. pp. 62–64, 125–127.
  13. ^ Nerucci, Gherardo. Sessanta novelle popolari montalesi: circondario di Pistoia. Italy, Firenze: Successori Le Monnier. 1880. pp. 195–205.
  14. ^ Imbriani, Vittorio. La Novellaja Fiorentina. Italia, Firenze: Coi tipi di F. Vigo. 1887. pp. 125–136.
  15. ^ Anderton, Isabella Mary. Tuscan folk-lore and sketches, together with some other papers. London: A. Fairbairns. 1905. pp. 55–64.
  16. ^ Imbriani, Vittorio. La Novellaja Fiorentina. Italia, Firenze: Coi tipi di F. Vigo. 1887. pp. 81–124.
  17. ^ Nerucci, Gherardo. Sessanta novelle popolari montalesi: circondario di Pistoia. Italy, Firenze: Successori Le Monnier. 1880. pp. 238–247.
  18. ^ Imbriani, Vittorio. La Novellaja Milanese: Esempii e Panzale Lombarde raccolte nel milanese. Bologna. 1872. pp. 78–79.
  19. ^ Sicilianische Märchen: Aus dem Volksmund gesammelt, mit Anmerkungen Reinhold Köhler's und einer Einleitung hrsg. von Otto Hartwig. 2 Teile. Leipzig: Engelmann. 1870.
  20. ^ Comparetti, Domenico. Novelline popolari italiane. Italia, Torino: Ermano Loescher. 1875. pp. 23–31.
  21. ^ Comparetti, Domenico. Novelline popolari italiane. Italia, Torino: Ermano Loescher. 1875. pp. 117–124.
  22. ^ Finamore, Gennaro. Tradizioni popolari abruzzesi. Vol. I (Parte Prima). Italy, Lanciano: Tipografia di R. Carabba. 1882. pp. 192–195.
  23. ^ Visentini, Isaia, Fiabe mantovane (Italy, Bologna: Forni, 1879), pp. 205–208
  24. ^ de Gubernatis, Angelo. Le novelline di Santo Stefano. Italia, Torino: Presso Augusto Federio Negro Editore. 1869. pp. 38–40.
  25. ^ For the sake of convenience, the three wonder-children are born with cheveux d'or et dents d'argent ("golden hair and silver teeth"), and they must seek the l'eau qui danse, l'arbre qui joue et le petit oiseau qui parle ("the dancing water, the playing tree and the little speaking bird").
  26. ^ De Gubernatis, Angelo. La mythologie des plantes; ou, Les légendes du règne végétal. Tome Second. Paris: C. Reinwald. 1879. pp. 224–226.
  27. ^ Coronedi Berti, Carolina. Novelle Popolari Bolognesi. Bologna: Tipi Fava e Garagnani. 1874. pp. 29–36
  28. ^ Coronedi Berti, Carolina. Novelle Popolari Bolognesi. Bologna: Tipi Fava e Garagnani. 1874. pp. 36–38.
  29. ^ Bernoni, Domenico Giuseppe. Fiabe e novelle popolari veneziane. Venezia: Tipografia Fontana-Ottolini. 1873. pp. 10–15.
  30. ^ Bernoni, Domenico Giuseppe. Fiabe e novelle popolari veneziane. Venezia: Tipografia Fontana-Ottolini. 1873. pp. 74–82.
  31. ^ Schneller, Christian. Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol. Innsbruck: Wagner. 1867. pp. 65–71
  32. ^ Schneller, Christian. Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol. Innsbruck: Wagner. 1867. pp. 184–185.
  33. ^ Prato, Stanislao. Quattro novelline popolari livornesi accompagnate da varianti umbre. Raccolte, pubblicate ed illustrate con note comparative. Spoleto: Premiata Tipografia Bassoni. 1880. pp. 16–19, 29–39.
  34. ^ Coote, Henry Charles. "Some Italian Folk-Lore". In: The Folk-lore Record. London: The Folk-Lore Society. 1878. pp. 206–208.
  35. ^ Heyse, Paul. Italienische Volksmärchen. München: I.F. Lehmann, 1914. pp. 24-35.
  36. ^ "Dancing Water, Singing Stone and Talking Bird". In: Scull, William Ellis; Marshall, Logan (ed.) Fairy Tales of All Nations: Famous Stories from the English, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Russian, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Bohemian, Japanese and Other Sources. Philadelphia: J. C. Winston Co. 1910. pp. 118–128.
  37. ^ Zschalig, Heinrich. Die Märcheninsel. Märchen, Legenden und andere Volksdichtungen von Capri. Dresden: Verlag Deutsche Buchwerkstätten, 1925. pp. 32-41.


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