21. “Allusion to the municipal ditches in which wheat was stored” (Croce 274).
*. AT 879: The Basil Maiden. In Italian sapia means “wise”; Liccarda is a verson of the female name Riccarda. “Savia Riccarda (or Leccarda) was also the bowl made of copper or other material that was placed under a spit to catch the grease dripping from roasts” (Guarini and Burani 322). Penzer offers a long list of variants of the “envious sister” tale type (1:256). See also Marie-Jeanne Lhéritier, “The Discreet Princess; or, The Adventures of Finette” (in Beauties, Beasts and Enchantments).
1. “All neighborhoods of ill repute in Naples, home to prostitutes and lowlifes” (Croce 276).
2. “Like the nobles who retired to their country estates when they were unable to afford the expensive life at court” (Rak 534). See also tale 1.7 n35.
3. “Other writers of the time use the expression ‘lizard-eye’ to describe a flirtatious and seductive woman” (Croce 277).
4. Aphrodite (or Venus), the goddess of love; “derived either from Cythera in Crete or from the island of Cythera, where the goddess is said to have first landed” (Penzer 1:255).
5. Cynthia, or Artemis (or Diana), goddess of the moon and chastity; “derived from Mt. Cynthos in the island of Delos. Being a virgin, she is taken as the opposite of Aphrodite” (Penzer 1:255).
*. AT 554: The Grateful Animals, and AT 559: The Dungbeetle. Besides the “grateful animals” motif, this tale also features one of the many foolish protagonists of The Tale of Tales (others appear in 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 2.4, 3.8, 4.4), and yet another “princess who would not laugh.”
1. The theme of Fortune’s supposed predilection for the weak—in this case, the dim-witted—reiterates the Aristotelian affirmation, much quoted in these centuries, that those who have the fewest rational means for looking after themselves receive compensation in the form of better luck.
2. “A hilly area near Naples, in which at this time villas and country houses were beginning to appear” (Croce 574).
3. permonara (Neap.): “an old ship [kept at wet dock] that was used as a hospital” (Croce 282).
4. ostarie (Neap.): One of the many burlesque etymologies that we find in Basile. The origin of oste is posed as ostis (Latin; enemy) and that of rie, rio (wicked).
5. pirolo (Neap.): “the peg on a violin for screwing up the strings” (Croce 283).
6. Wordplay: perchia (perch or, metaphorically, women of ill repute) vs. purchie (large amounts of money).
7. Another facetious etymology, which plays on the phonetic similarity between meretrice (meretrix) and mare trace (Thracian sea).
8. The Salerno fair was one of the most important fairs of the time. “‘It lasted eight days, beginning on the eve of St. Matthew’s Day’: people came to it ‘from very far away,’ and ‘animals and every sort of goods’ were exhibited” (Croce 574, who cites the 1703 work by Pacichelli, Il regno di Napoli in prospettiva).
9. sarrai tu puro tritolato (Neap.): a play on words between titolato (titled) and tritolato (ruined, destroyed, torn to shreds).
10. “The Venetian ambassador Lippomano noted, in 1575, the ease with which merchants of the kingdom of Naples bought, from one day to the next, fiefs, estates, and houses” (Croce 574). The buying and selling of noble titles was, in the first half of the seventeenth century, a thriving business.
11. “A reference to the hyperbolic mode of expression that Italians often noted in Spaniards” (Croce 284).
12. “The castle of Scafati, on the left bank of the river Sarno” (Rak 554).
13. dainette (Neap.): the name of a well-known dance step of the time. Some of the other terms used in translation were coined only later to describe the moves in question.
14. See eclogue 2 (“The Dye”) n5.
15. I.e., of the head inside it.
16. It would have to be the other way around—i.e., the princess laughed, and the king’s heart wept—since Milla is Cenzone’s daughter. This is not the only inconsistency of this sort in The Tale of Tales and should probably be attributed to the lack of a final editing.
17. Carcariello was “an authority of the burlesque tradition” (Rak 554).
18. la prova (Neap.): “Watermelons were sold ‘with a proof’: that is, with a piece cut out of their rind, to offer proof of their redness and consequently of their flavor” (Croce 287).
19. gallinelle (Neap.): lit., the little hens. The Pleiades were, in myth, the seven sisters pursued by Orion and his two dogs, Sirius and Procyon, and then turned into a constellation that marks the seasons and the time for sowing and planting.
20. “One of the many expressions used to signify ‘to get drunk,’ which the bridegroom, living up to the fame of Germans, had not failed to do” (Croce 288).
21. The verses from Petrarch can be found in his Rime sparse (or Rerum) nos. 185 and 327 (following the numbering in Robert M. Durling’s 1976 translation). The Rime was one of the most important models for the Italian lyric tradition.
22. tabiò de Venezia (Neap.): a heavy watered silk, similar to taffeta (Guarini and Burani 337–38).
23. This verse from Virgil’s Aeneid is found at the end of book 4.
*. AT 879: The Basil Maiden, and AT 884: The Forsaken Fiancée: Service as Menial. The title seems unrelated to the characters and actions of the tale. Croce changes it to “Belluccia.” Penzer recalls similar attempts to determine the true sex: “Grimm 67 (‘The Twelve Huntsmen’), chapter 11 of Huckleberry Finn, an episode in Benvenuto Cellini’s autobiography, as well as the most classic example, the Homeric tale of the discovery of Achilles among the daughters of the King of Scyros by Odysseus, who disguised himself as a peddler bringing dress and weapons. The real maidens admired the robes, but Achilles seized the shield and spear” (1:270). See also Gonzenbach 12 and 17.
1. “At this time, ‘royal village’ of Naples, famous for the palace and villa the Flemish merchant Gaspare Roomer had built, where he received Queen Maria of Hungary in 1630” (Croce 575).
2. As a common noun or adjective guallecchia also means “good-for-nothing” (Guarini and Burani 341).
3. See tale 2.6 n14.
4. “From Sabatina, which in turn derives from ‘sabato’ [Saturday], it may also mean sly or crafty, since those born on Saturday are considered such” (Guarini and Burani 343).
5. Lit., “tops are made at the lathe.” Wooden tops of the time often had a metal tip.
6. I.e., “you’re being consumed.”
7. sti pise (Neap.): lit., “these weights”; euphemistically (as elsewhere in the text), testicles.
8. “That is, an expert horseman. The ancient Porta Reale had been moved by the viceroy Pietro di Toledo to the beginning of the via Toledo, and was later torn down, in 1775. It was a congregating spot for couriers and coachmen” (Croce 575).
9. See tale 1.1 n8.
10. “A saying that continues: ‘for the way is difficult’” (Croce 297).
11. porvere de Zanne (Neap.): “The ‘itch powder’ that the zanni [zanies, or jesters] of the commedia dell’arte used on stage or in street theater” (Rak 568). Its properties were also reputed to be magical and aphrodisiac (Guarini and Burani 346).
12. See tale 1.10 n25.
13. Arco Felice: “the large arch on the road from Pozzuoli to Cuma, through Monte Grillo” (Croce 575).
14. ’Ntruglio de Vaia: “the people of Baia use this expression for the so-called temples of Venus, Mercury, and Diana, large round structures that were used as baths. It may be that the word is a corrupted form of ‘trullo’ (from Byzantine Greek), in use in some parts of southern Italy to designate rural stone structures with a round shape and cupola roof” (Croce 575).
15. Chiazza Larga e Forcella: see tale 1.7 n12, 16.
16. “The circus built between the
Palatine and Aventine hills in Rome and restructured between 366 and 31 BC; one of the best-known emblems of classical culture” (Rak 569).
17. Trajan’s Column, in the Forum of Trajan in Rome, was dedicated in AD 112–13.
18. vosseta (Neap.): “a wooden bowl in the middle of which turns the end of a small iron rod with a wooden cover, used to spool silk” (Croce 298). All of the above monuments and objects allude euphemistically to male or female genitalia.
19. “To conduct things with reflection and calm” (Croce 298).
*. AT 328: The Boy Steals the Giant’s Treasure, and AT 1525: Master Thief. Penzer comments, “This tale includes the favorite ‘tasks’ motif which occurs several times in the present collection (III.5 and 7, IV.5, and V.4), but the kind of tasks imposed are closely allied to the ‘Master Thief’ tricks, while the jealousy of the favorite reminds us of Grimms 126” (“Faithful Ferdinand and Unfaithful Ferdinand”) (1:277). Penzer lists a number of variants; in Pitrè, Fiabe, nov. e racc. sic. 33 (also in Crane’s Italian Popular Tales), the hero uses his wits to steal an ogre’s coverlet, horse, and bolster, and then brings back the ogre himself, locked in a chest.
1. “An invention that derives from a saying of Epimenides, preserved by St. Paul in the First Epistle to Titus 12: ‘Cretenses semper mendaces, malae bestiae, ventre pigri’” (Croce 575). Basile spent some time in Candia (Crete) when he was in the service of Venice.
2. Trastullo . . . Pulcinella: well-known masks of the commedia dell’arte.
3. “As happened, and still happens, on the streets of Naples in the summertime” (Croce 301).
4. “A probable allusion to the immensely popular Contrasto di Carnevale e Quaresima of this period” (Croce 576).
5. See tale 1.1 n19.
6. “Emblems or devices, accompanied by mottos, were still quite in vogue at this time, and there were many books on the topic, among which the most exhaustive is perhaps Picinelli’s Mondo simbolico (Venice 1678)” (Croce 576). The most important Renaissance book of emblems was Andrea Alciato’s Emblemata of 1531.
7. l’Arba (Neap.): “An homage to the duke of Alba, don Antonio Alvarez of Toledo, who was viceroy of Naples from 1622 to 1629, the period in which Basile wrote his book. In 1627 Basile dedicated the complete collection of his Odi to him” (Croce 576).
8. “Sol ch’io te miri” can also be translated as “Sun, I gaze upon you.”
9. “In this second device, Basile perhaps alludes to himself and to his lack of fortune at the end of his life” (Croce 304). The “Tuscan” mentioned—that of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio—was the literary Italian of the time.
10. “A reference to the graffiti in charcoal with which idle customers would fill the walls of taverns” (Croce 576).
11. “Parody of a formula already derided in II.7 (n15). Here, the addition of ‘piece of shit’ agrees well with the other meaning of testemmonia (testicles)” (Guarini and Burani 356).
12. falanghe (Neap.): “hollowed-out blocks of greased wood, still used to beach or to launch boats” (Rak 583).
*. AT 513: The Extraordinary Companions, and AT 513A: Six Go Through the Whole World. This tale bears some similarity to the latter part of tale 1.5. The “joint efforts” motif is a common one and can be found in Grimm 71 (“How Six Made Their Way in the World”) and 134, and other variants.
1. “The quality of a ham was ascertained by making a hole in it with a stick, which revealed, by smell, any internal rancidity” (Guarini and Burani 358).
2. “The privileged route to arrive at the mythical Orient, full of spices and riches, was Venice, and then Cairo” (Rak 596).
3. Venice is praised even more lavishly in tale 4.9.
4. The references are to Lucian’s famous dialogue The Rooster, or The Dream, and to two of Niccolò Franco’s Pistole volgari (Venice 1538) titled “Alla lucerna” and “Risposta de la lucerna,” which satirize human conditions and professions (Croce 309).
5. “Probably words of a popular song. [. . .] Parella was a name given to masonry laborers” (Croce 310).
6. “The king, or head, of the customs-house porters” (Croce 310).
7. “On the first of May in Naples, especially in the street that took the name ‘Maio di Porto,’ ‘a festival was held, and everything was decorated with broom flowers . . . a long ship’s mast was planted in the ground and at the top of it various prizes were hung, which went to those who had the strength and dexterity to climb up the pole, and this game still has the name of Maio today’” (Carlo Celano, Notizie 4.292; cit. Croce 576). Apparently the winner would receive a banner. This sort of contest is akin to those common in Naples during Basile’s time.
8. dece punte (Neap.): lit., ten points. “Shoe and glove sizes were measured in points” (Guarini and Burani 362).
9. “Bladders blown up like balloons, which children would tie to the tails of dogs and cats as a prank” (Guarini and Burani 362).
10. “It was common to see thieves or prostitutes or other delinquents led through the city on a donkey and whipped” (Croce 312).
11. The mythological nymph who challenged her suitors to a footrace, with the agreement that if they won they could marry her but if they lost they would die. Hippomenes was the only one to beat her, helped by three golden apples given to him by Aphrodite, which he threw down during the race to distract Atalanta (Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.560ff.).
12. In myth, the Titan who was father to Calypso and condemned by Jove to hold up the sky on columns resting on his own body or hands (Homer, Odyssey 1.52ff.; Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.645–62).
*. AT 313C: The Forgotten Fiancée. This tale bears similarity to Gonzenbach 55 as well as to the novella “Filenia” in Francesco Bello’s 1509 collection Mambriano.
1. “The song of the cuckoo was held to be a good omen, at least by Neapolitan dialect authors; in popular belief, it is generally considered the opposite” (Croce 314).
2. Penzer notes that “the blood-bath as a cure for leprosy was recognized from the time of the ancient Egyptians in the Middle Ages” and that “the belief that bathing in a child’s blood will produce offspring to the barren is well known” (1:291).
3. “The constellation of Aries, which the sun enters on March 21” (Croce 316).
4. A small sailing boat used in the Mediterranean and on the Nile with curved triangular sails.
5. “‘Attack blindly, with closed eyes’; pigs’ eyes are half-buried in their flesh” (Guarini and Burani 368).
6. In esoteric numerology, the number 9 has great powers. “On the mystical significance of the number 9 and other numbers, Pietro Bongo’s Numerorum mysteria (Bergamo 1599) was widely read at this time” (Croce 577).
7. ’mprena-fenestre (Neap.): “He who makes love by walking under the windows of the woman he desires in order to see if she’ll look out, and if she does, communicating with her from the street to the window by means of looks and signs” (Croce 577).
8. sto seca-molleca (Neap.): “This is also the beginning of a children’s nursery-rhyme (‘Seca molleca / E le donne di Gaeta . . .’) that wet-nurses sing with children on their knees, pulling them forward with their hands and then pushing them back” (Croce 577).
9. “There were no longer any Jews in Naples, since they had been driven out in 1541 by the viceroy Toledo. After their departure, a chronicler deplored that poor people were worse off and that, with respect to loans on pawned goods, ‘Christians were beginning to be worse than Jews ever were’” (Castaldo, Historia 66; cit. Croce 577).
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