The Robber with a Witch's Head

More Stories from the Great Treasury of Sicilian Folk and Fairy Tales Collected by Laura Gonzenbach

Jack Zipes, Laura Gonzenbach, Jack Zipes

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2005
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135877040
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

The Robber with the Witch's Head presents almost fifty new stories about demons and clever maidens and princes. Bursting with life, this is a storyteller's dream, full of adventure and magic, translated by Jack Zipes.

1

THE CLEVER MAIDEN

Once upon a time there were two brothers. One had seven sons, and the other had seven daughters. Whenever the father with the seven sons met his brother, he would greet him by saying, “Oh brother, you with your seven flower pots, and me with my seven swords! How’s it going?”*

These words aggravated the brother enormously, and when he came home, he was always in a bad mood and irritable. His youngest daughter, however, was marvelously beautiful and also very clever. One day, when she saw that her father was once more in a bad mood, she asked him what was wrong.

“Oh, my child,” he responded, “it’s because of my brother. He always mocks me for having only seven daughters and no sons. And he does this whenever he sees me. ‘Oh brother, you with your seven flower pots, and me with my seven swords! How’s it going?’”

“You know what, father,” the clever maiden said, “when your brother says something like that next time, you’re to respond that your daughters are much smarter than his sons and you want to make a bet: Tell him he’s to send out his youngest son, and you’ll send out your youngest daughter, and whoever’s first to rob the prince’s crown will win the bet.”

“All right, I’ll do that,” the father said, and the next time he met his brother, who began teasing him, he said, “You know what, brother, my daughters are much smarter than your sons, and to show you that I’m right—I’d like to make a bet with you. Send out your youngest son, and I’ll send out my youngest daughter, and we’ll see which of the two can steal the prince’s crown first.”

The brother agreed, and the maiden and the young man set out. After they had traveled for a while, they came to a little river* with a great deal of flowing water. The maiden took off her shoes, lifted her skirt, and waded cheerfully through the water. But the young man thought, “Why should I get my feet wet? I’ll wait until all the water has all flown by and the bed is empty.” So he sat down, and in order to help the water flow faster and disappear, he took a nutshell and used it to bail water from the stream onto the bank and into the sand. In the meantime his cousin kept going until she met a farmer boy. “Oh, what a handsome young man!” she said, “Give me your clothes, and I’ll give you mine in exchange.”

The boy agreed, and the maiden took his clothes and put them on. Then she continued on her way until she came to the city in which the prince lived. As soon as she found the royal palace, she began walking up and down in front of it. The prince stood on the balcony, and when he saw the handsome young man, he called out and asked him what his name was.

“My name’s Giovanni, and I’m a stranger here,” she answered. “I’m looking for a job and was wondering whether I could enter your service.”

“Do you want to be my secretary?” the prince asked.

She agreed, and the prince took her into his service. Soon he became fonder and fonder of her with each passing day. When he looked at her beautiful white hands, he kept thinking: “Those are not the hands of a man. Giovanni is certainly a maiden!” So he went to his mother and told her what he thought, but she answered, “I can’t believe this. Why should Giovanni be a maiden!”

“No mother,” the prince said. “I’m certain that Giovanni is not a man. Just look at his fine white hands.

Giovanni walks to the writing stand
and writes with a fine, exquisite hand.
He’s got a woman’s style and way
and makes me lovesick the entire day.†

“Well, my son,” the queen said, “if you want to be certain about all of this, take him into the garden. If he picks a pink carnation, then he’s a maiden. But if he picks a rose, he’s definitely a man.”

The prince did exactly what his mother told him to do. He called his faithful servant and said, “Let’s take a little walk in the garden.”

“Of course, your majesty,” the clever maiden answered, and they went into the garden, but she kept herself from looking at the tulips. Instead, she picked a rose and put it in her lapel.

“Just look at the beautiful pink carnations!” the prince exclaimed.

But the maiden answered, “Why should we care about pink carnations? After all, we’re not girls!”*

Now the prince went to his mother, who said, “You see, I told you so!”

“No, mother,” he answered. “I won’t let you talk me out of this, for

Giovanni walks to the writing stand
and writes with a fine, exquisite hand.
He’s got a woman’s style and way
and makes me lovesick the entire day.

“You know what,” the queen said. “Why don’t you propose that you go swimming in the sea together? If he accepts, then you shall know for certain whether he is a man or woman.”

Then the prince called his secretary to him and said, “Giovanni, it’s so warm today. Let’s go swimming in the sea.”

“Why not?” the clever maiden answered. “Let’s go right now, your majesty.”

When they reached the beach, however, the maiden said all of a sudden, “Oh, your majesty, I forgot to bring towels with us. Wait here a moment while I return to the castle and fetch them.”

So she ran back into the castle, went to the queen, and said, “The prince wants his gold crown right away and has asked that you give it to me without delay.”

The queen gave her the gold crown, and the clever maiden wrote on a piece of paper:

I came as a virgin
I go as a virgin.
The prince’s been tricked
with cunning and wit.*

She fastened the sheet of paper on the gate, mounted a horse, and rode away with the crown. When she came to the little stream, her cousin was still sitting there and bailing water with his nutshell. She showed him the gold crown and laughed at him.

“Wasn’t my father, right?” she said. “We are indeed smarter than you are!”

Upon saying this, she rode through the stream and returned home in good spirits. In the meantime, the prince was still waiting for his secretary, and when he finally lost his patience and went home, he saw the sheet of paper on the gate from a distance. After he read it, he ran to his mother and was stricken with grief.

“Didn’t I tell you,” he said, “that Giovanni was a maiden? Now she’s gone, and I wanted to have her for my wife.”

He ordered his horse to be saddled and set out on his way to search for the beautiful maiden. He rode straight ahead for a long time, and whenever he met some people, he asked them whether they had seen a handsome young man come riding by, but nobody could give him any information. Finally he came to the little river where the son of the other brother was still bailing water with the nutshell.

“Hey, my handsome lad,” he called out, “did you by chance see a young man with a gold crown come riding by here?”

“That was my cousin,” the fellow answered. “She’s certainly home by now.”

“Well then, lead me to her,” the prince said, and they went to the maiden’s home together. In the meantime, she had put on women’s clothes and looked even more beautiful. When the prince caught sight of her, he rushed to her and said, “You are to become my wife!”

Then he took her to his castle, and she invited her father and sisters to come. Indeed, they all celebrated a splendid wedding and remained happy and content, but we just sit here and gaze at each other the whole day long.

* O ssu frate, vui cu setti grasti, e ju cu setti spadi.

* Fiumara.

† Giuvanni scrivi
Cu manu suttili
Modu di donna
Ca mi fa muriri.

* The girl prefers pink carnations because, even though they do not stand out, they have a wonderful aroma, while the boy is more concerned with beauty. Moreover, the carnation is a symbol of happy love. The girl throws a carnation to her lover when she accepts his proposal.

* Schetta vinni
Schetta mi nni vaju,
E lu figghiu ddu rè
Gabbatu l’aju.

2

THE ROBBER WITH A WITCH’S HEAD

Once upon a time there was a king who had three beautiful daughters, but the youngest was the most beautiful and the smartest among them. One day the king called her and said, “Come, my child, and clean the lice from my head.”

The youngest daughter did this and found a louse. The king put the louse in a large jar with fat and kept it there for many years. Then one day he had the jar split open. The louse had grown into such a monster that everyone was terrified, and the king had it killed. Afterward he ordered the monster to be skinned and had the skin nailed to the door and said, “Whoever can guess the animal from which this skin came can have my oldest daughter as his bride.”

Princes and noblemen came from far and wide and sought to court the beautiful princess, but nobody could solve the riddle, and so they all had to die a miserable death.

Now there was also a robber who lived alone in a wild region. He had a witch’s head* that he kept in a small basket, and he always obtained good advice from the head whenever he wanted to undertake anything. He had heard how many princes and noblemen had lost their lives because they could not solve the difficult riddle, so he went to the witch’s head and asked, “Tell me, head, which animal’s skin did the king have nailed over the door?”

“A louse,” the head answered.

Now the robber was in good spirits and set out for the city. Along the way people asked him where he was going.

“I’m going to the city and want to woo the king’s oldest daughter,” he answered.

“Well, you’re heading toward certain death,” the people told him.

When he arrived in the city, he had the servants announce to the king that he wished to try to solve the riddle. The king had him enter, showed him the skin, and asked, “Can you tell me which animal’s skin this is?”

“A rabbit?” said the robber.

“Wrong!”

“Perhaps, it’s from a dog?”

“Wrong!”

“Is the skin perhaps the skin of a louse?”

Since the robber did indeed solve the riddle, the king gave him his oldest daughter as his wife. When the wedding ceremony was over, the robber said to the king, “I want ...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• LAURA GONZENBACH’S BURIED TREASURE
• A NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• 1. THE CLEVER MAIDEN
• 2. THE ROBBER WITH A WITCH’S HEAD
• 3. THE CLEVER FARMER’S DAUGHTER
• 4. THE COUNT AND HIS SISTER
• 5. CLEVER PEPPE
• 6. MARIA, THE EVIL STEPMOTHER, AND THE SEVEN ROBBERS
• 7. BENSURDATU
• 8. THE ROOSTER WHO WANTED TO BECOME POPE
• 9. THE BRAVE PRINCE
• 10. THE INNKEEPER’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER
• 11. THE BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN WITH THE SEVEN VEILS
• 12. THE MERCHANT’S CLEVER YOUNGEST DAUGHTER
• 13. MARUZZEDDA
• 14. ARMAIINU
• 15. THE GOLDEN LION
• 16. THE TWELVE ROBBERS
• 17. THREE GOOD PIECES OF ADVICE
• 18. TOBIÀ AND TOBIÒLA
• 19. JOSEPH THE JUST
• 20. THE TWO BROTHERS
• 21. THE SEVEN BROTHERS WITH MAGIC TALENTS
• 22. THE PIOUS YOUNG MAN WHO WENT TO ROME
• 23. SABEDDA AND HER BROTHER
• 24. THE CLEVER SHOEMAKER
• 25. THE TWINS
• 26. BEAUTIFUL INNOCENTA
• 27. THE WICKED SCHOOLMASTER AND THE WANDERING PRINCESS
• 28. THE FOUR PRINCESSES
• 29. ZAFARANA
• 30. PEASANT TRUTHFUL
• 31. ABOUT JOSEPH, WHO SET OUT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE
• 32. THE WASTEFUL GIOVANNINU
• 33. THE BANISHED QUEEN AND HER TWO ABANDONED CHILDREN
• 34. THE PIOUS CHILD
• 35. KATERINA’S FATE
• 36. GODFATHER DEATH
• 37. BEAUTIFUL ANNA
• 38. THE DRAGON SLAYER
• 39. SAINT JAMES OF GALICIA
• 40. THE HERMIT
• 41. THE PRINCE’S TWO CHILDREN FROM MONTELEONE
• 42. THE CLEVER FARMER
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY