意大利童話 The Snake 蛇

　　A farmer went out mowing everyday, and at noon one or the other of his three daughters would bring him his lunch On a certain day it fell to the oldest girl to go By the time she reached the woods, though, she was tired and sat down on a stone to rest a minute before proceeding to the meadow No sooner had she taken a seat than she felt a strong thud underneath, and out crawled a snake The girl dropped the basket and ran home as fast as her legs would carry her That day the father went hungry and when he came in from the field he scolded his daughters angrily

　　The next day the middle girl started out She too sat down on the stone, and the same thing occurred as the day before Then the third girl said, "It's my turn now, but I'm not afraid" Instead of one lunch basket, she prepared two When she felt the thud and saw the snake, she gave it one of the baskets of food, and the snake spoke "Take me home with you, and I will bring you luck" The girl put the snake in her apron and then went on to her father with his lunch When she got back home, she placed the snake under her bed It grew so rapidly that soon it was too big to fit under the bed, so it went away Before leaving, however, it bestowed three charms on the girl: weeping, she would shed tears of pearl and silver; laughing, she would see golden pomegranate seeds fall from her head; and washing her hands, she would produce fish of every kind

　　That day there was nothing in the house to eat, and her father and sisters were weak from the hunger, so what did she do but wash her hands and see the basin fill up with fish! Her sisters became envious and convinced their father that there was something strange behind all this and that he would be wise to lock the girl up in the attic

　　From the attic window the girl looked into the king's garden, where the king's son was playing ball Running after the ball, he slipped and fell, sending the girl into peals of laughter As she laughed, gold pomegranate seeds rained from her head on the garden The king's son had no idea where they came from, for the girl had slammed the window

　　Returning to the garden next day to play ball, the king's son noticed that a pomegranate tree had sprung up It was already quite tall and laden with fruit He went to pick the pomegranates, but the tree grew taller right before his eyes, and all he had to do was reach for a pomegranate and the branches would rise a foot beyond his grasp Since nobody managed to pluck so much as one leaf of the tree, the king assembled the wise men to explain the magic spell The oldest of them all said that only one maiden would be able to pick the fruit and that she would become the bride of the king's son

　　So the king issued a proclamation for all marriageable girls to come to the garden, under pain of death, to try to pick the pomegranates Girls of every race and station showed up, but no ladders were ever long enough for them to reach the fruit Among the contestants were the farmer's two older daughters, but they fell off the ladder and landed flat on their backs The king had the houses searched and found other girls, including the one locked up in the attic As soon as they took her to the tree, the branches bent down and placed the pomegranates right in her hands Everyone cheered, "That's the bride, that's the bride!" with the king's son shouting loudest of all

　　Preparations were made for the wedding, to which the sisters, as envious as ever, were invited They all three rode in the same carriage, which drew to a halt in the middle of a forest The older girls ordered the younger one out of the carriage, cur off her hands, gouged out her eyes, and left her lying unconscious in the bushes Then the oldest girl dressed in the wedding gown and went to the king's son He couldn't understand why she'd become so ugly, but since she faintly resembled the other girl, he decided he'd been mistaken all along about her original beauty

　　Eyeless and handless, the maiden remained in the forest weeping A carter came by and had pity on her He seated her on his mule and took her to his house She told him to look down: the ground was strewn with silver and pearls, which were none other than the girl's tears The carter took them and sold them for more than a thousand crowns How glad he was to have taken the poor girl in, even if she was unable to work and help the family

　　One day the girl felt a snake wrap around her leg: it was the snake she had once befriended "Did you know your sister married the king's son and became queen, since the old king died? Now she's expecting a baby and wants figs"

　　The girl said to the carter, "Load a mule with figs and take them to the queen"

　　"Where am I going to get figs this time of year?" asked the carter It happened to be winter

　　But the next morning he went into the garden and found the fig tree laden with fruit, even though there wasn't a leaf on the tree He filled up two baskets and loaded them onto his donkey

　　"How high a price can I ask for figs in winter?" said the carter

　　"Ask for a pair of eyes," replied the maiden

　　That he did, but neither the king nor the queen nor her other sister would have ever gouged out their eyes So the sisters talked the matter over "Let's give him our sister's eyes, which are of no use to us" With those eyes they purchased the figs

　　The carter returned to the maiden with the eyes She put them back in place and saw again as well as ever

　　Then the queen had a desire for peaches, and the king sent to the carter asking if he couldn't find some peaches the way he'd found figs The next morning the peach tree in the carter's garden was laden with peaches, and he took a load to court at once on his donkey When they asked him what he wanted for them, he replied, "A pair of hands"

　　But nobody would cut off their hands, not even to please the king Then the sisters talked the matter over "Let's give him our sister's"

　　When the girl got her hands back, she reattached them to her arms and was as sound as ever

　　Not long afterward, the queen went into labor and brought forth a scorpion The king nonetheless gave a ball, to which everybody was invited The girl went dressed as a queen and was the belle of the ball The king fell in love with her and realized she was his true bride She laughed golden seeds, wept pearls, and washed fish into the basin, as she told her story from start to finish

　　The two wicked sisters and the scorpion were burned on a pyre skyhigh On the same day the grand wedding banquet took place

　　They put on the dog and high did they soar; I saw, I heard, I hid behind the door Then to dine repaired I to the inn, And there my story draws to an end

　　(Monferrato)

　　NOTES:

　　"The Snake" (La Biscia) from Comparetti, 25, Monferrato, Piedmont

　　The luxuriant story from The Facetious Nights (III, 3) about Biancabella and the serpent, one of Straparola's finest, is here told, on the contrary, in bare rustic simplicity, in the midst of meadows ready for a mowing, fruits, and seasons The episode of the pomegranate tree with its fruit that cannot be plucked was added by me to fill out a somewhat sketchy passage in the Piedmontese version I took it from a Tuscan variant (Gradi), based on motifs from this tale and others, where supernatural help comes from a red and gold fish

　　Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,

　　translated by George Martin,

　　Pantheon Books, New York 1980

　　蛇

　　有一個(gè)農(nóng)夫每天都到田里去除草，到了中午，他的三個(gè)女兒輪流給他送飯。一天大女兒來送飯，穿過樹林的時(shí)候，她因?yàn)樽呃哿?，就坐在一塊石頭上休息。剛一坐下，就聽到地下發(fā)出一聲巨大的敲擊聲，一條蛇從石頭下邊鉆了出來。姑娘嚇得扔下盛飯的籃子，大喊救命，逃走了。結(jié)果，那天爸爸一整天都餓著肚子，晚上回到家里，狠狠地訓(xùn)斥了三個(gè)女兒。

　　第二天，輪到二女兒去送飯。她也坐在那塊石頭上休息，也看見了那條蛇，也嚇得逃走了。于是三女兒說：“我去，我去!我不怕。”她帶去了兩籃子食物，當(dāng)她聽見聲響看到蛇鉆出來的時(shí)候，就遞給它一籃子食物。蛇對(duì)她說：“把我?guī)Щ啬慵?，我?huì)給你帶來好運(yùn)。”女孩就把它藏在圍裙里，給田里的爸爸送去另一份午餐后，回到了家，把蛇放在自己的床下。蛇一天天長大，不能再待在床下了。它要離開了，走之前，它送給姑娘三個(gè)法寶作為報(bào)答：當(dāng)姑娘哭的時(shí)候，掉下來的眼淚會(huì)變成一串串珍珠和銀子;笑的時(shí)候，會(huì)從頭上掉下來一粒粒的金石榴籽;洗手的時(shí)候，會(huì)從她的手指間掉出各種各樣的魚。

　　一天，家里什么吃的也沒有了，父親和姐姐們餓得無精打采的。三女兒突然試著洗洗手，果然，臉盆里立即游滿了魚。兩個(gè)姐姐心生嫉妒，硬說這里面一定有什么邪術(shù)，讓父親最好把她關(guān)在閣樓上。

　　姑娘從閣樓的窗戶，可以看見王宮的花園，國王的兒子正在花園里踢球。踢著踢著，一不小心，王子滑倒了，摔了個(gè)屁股蹲。姑娘禁不住大笑起來。她一笑，一粒粒的金石榴籽像雨點(diǎn)般落了下去。王子弄不清這些金石榴籽是從哪里掉下來的，因?yàn)楣媚锖芸礻P(guān)上了窗戶。

　　第二天，王子又來到花園踢球，他發(fā)現(xiàn)花園中長出一棵石榴樹，石榴樹長得很高，還結(jié)出了果實(shí)。王子讓人去摘石榴果，但石榴樹眼看著就長高了，正好就高出一個(gè)手掌;怎么夠也夠不到?？吹饺藗冞B一片樹葉也摘不到，國王就召集身邊的幾位智者，讓他們搞清楚這棵樹到底有什么魔力。其中一位年紀(jì)最大的老智者說，只有一個(gè)姑娘才能把這些石榴果摘下來，而這個(gè)姑娘將會(huì)成為王子的新娘。

　　國王立即派人貼出布告，讓每個(gè)待嫁的姑娘都到王宮花園來試著摘石榴，違令者斬首。結(jié)果，各家各戶的姑娘都來了，可是不論她們用多高的梯子，都?jí)虿坏焦印＾r(nóng)夫的兩個(gè)大女兒也來了，但很快就從梯子上摔了下來。國王又派人繼續(xù)到各家去搜尋，看有沒有遺漏的姑娘，這樣，被關(guān)在閣樓上的姑娘就被找到了。她剛被送到樹旁，樹枝就垂下來，把石榴果送到她的手上。所有人都驚奇地大叫：“她就是新娘!她就是新娘!”其中，王子叫得最歡。

　　婚禮已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備就緒，一直就懷著妒意的兩個(gè)姐姐也被邀請(qǐng)去參加婚禮。姐妹三人坐同一輛馬車進(jìn)宮。馬車穿過一處森林時(shí)，停了下來。兩個(gè)姐姐讓小妹下車，砍下她的雙手，挖出她的雙眼，把她當(dāng)作死人扔在了樹叢中。而大姐則穿上新娘的衣服，去見王子。王子看見新娘一時(shí)變得如此丑陋，疑惑不解，但是因?yàn)榇蠼闩c小妹妹長得有些相像，王子覺得是自己先前看走眼了。

　　失去了雙眼、雙手的姑娘在樹林中哭著。這時(shí)一個(gè)馬夫正好路過，他很同情她，扶她上了自己的驢背，好把她帶回家。姑娘讓馬夫看看地上，只見滿地是姑娘眼淚變成的珍珠和銀子，馬夫把這些東西拿出去賣了，得了一千多里拉。這樣，雖然姑娘沒有雙手、雙眼，不能干活，也不能照顧家，但生活得還算滿意。

　　有一天，姑娘感覺到有一條蛇纏在她的一條腿上，這正是她的老朋友，那條她曾照顧過的蛇。蛇告訴她：“你知道嗎?你的姐姐嫁給了王子，老國王死后，她就成了王后，現(xiàn)在她懷孕了，非常想吃無花果。”

　　姑娘就對(duì)馬夫說：“你馱上一袋無花果，到王宮給王后送去吧。”

　　馬夫說：“這個(gè)季節(jié)，怎么可能找到無花果呢?”當(dāng)時(shí)正是冬天。

　　可是，到了早上，馬夫來到園子里一看，發(fā)現(xiàn)無花果樹真的結(jié)出了果子，而且只有果實(shí)，一片葉子也沒有。他裝滿了兩籃子，馱在驢背上。

　　馬夫問：“這些冬天里長出的無花果我該怎么要價(jià)呢?”

　　姑娘說：“你就說要換一對(duì)眼珠。”

　　馬夫按照姑娘的話提出了要求，但是不論是王后、國王，還是王后的妹妹，都不愿意挖出自己的眼珠。姐妹二人商量了一下，說：“那就把小妹的那對(duì)眼珠給他吧，我們留著它們有什么用?”就這樣，她們用妹妹的這對(duì)眼珠換了兩籃無花果。

　　馬夫把這對(duì)眼珠帶了回來交給姑娘，姑娘把它們重新裝好后，又像以前一樣可以看東西了。

　　后來，王后又想吃桃子，國王便派人來找馬夫，問他能不能像找到無花果那樣，找到桃子。第二天早上，馬夫家院子中的桃樹果然長出桃子，他又用驢子立即馱到王宮里去了。國王、王后問他要多少錢，馬夫說：“要換一雙手。”

　　但是沒人愿意砍下自己的雙手，即使是那些想討好國王的人也不愿意。王后姐妹又私下商量：“把小妹的那雙手給他吧。”

　　姑娘得到了自己的一雙手，重新接到胳膊上，活動(dòng)如初。

　　不久，王后分娩了，生下了一只蝎子。盡管如此，國王還是同樣為她舉行了慶祝宴會(huì)，邀請(qǐng)了所有的人來參加。小妹妹穿得像王后般高貴，成為晚會(huì)上最漂亮的姑娘。國王愛上了她，而且在愛上她的同時(shí)發(fā)覺她就是自己先前看中的那個(gè)新娘。姑娘向國王講述了自己的經(jīng)歷，邊講邊笑，邊講邊哭，笑的時(shí)候，金石榴籽就從她的頭上撲撲地掉下來，哭的時(shí)候，眼淚就會(huì)變成串串珍珠，洗手時(shí)，滿盆都是活魚。

　　兩個(gè)狠毒的姐姐和剛生出來的蝎子，被拉到高高的木柴垛上燒死了。同一天，國王和小妹舉行了盛大的結(jié)婚典禮。

　　他們過著奢侈、冷酷的生活

　　我卻躲在門后挨餓，

　　我回到客棧去吃飯

　　我的故事到此說完。

　　(蒙費(fèi)拉托地區(qū))