Cannetella

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled over a country called Bello Puojo. He was very rich and powerful, and had everything in the world he could wish for, except a child. But at last, after being married for many years, and when he was an old man, his wife Renzolla gave birth to a beautiful daughter, whom they named Cannetella.

She grew up to be a beautiful girl, as tall and straight as a young fir tree. When she was eighteen years old, her father called her to him and said: "Now you are old enough, my daughter, to get married and settle down.

But since I love you more than anything in the world, and want nothing but your happiness, I have decided that you shall choose your own husband. Find a man after your own heart, and you will surely make me happy.” Cannetella thanked her father very much for his kindness and consideration, but said that she had not the slightest desire to marry, and was quite determined to remain single.

The king, who felt old and weak, and longed to see an heir to the throne before he died, became very unhappy at her words and earnestly begged her not to disappoint him.

When Cannetella saw that the king had set his heart on her marrying, she said, "Very well, dear father, I will marry to please you, for I do not want to seem ungrateful for all your love and kindness. But you must find me a husband who is handsomer, cleverer, and more charming than anyone else in the world."

The king was overjoyed at her words, and from early morning until late evening he sat at the window, carefully watching everyone who passed by, hoping to find a son-in-law among them.

One day, when he saw a very handsome man walking across the street, the king called his daughter and said: "Come quickly, dear Cannetella, and look at this man, for I think he might be a suitable husband for you."

They invited the young man into the castle and laid out a lavish meal for him, with all kinds of delicacies you can imagine. In the middle of the meal, the young man let an almond fall out of his mouth, but he picked it up again very quickly and hid it under the tablecloth.

When the feast was over, the stranger left, and the king asked Cannetella: "Now, what did you think of the young man?"

"I think he was a clumsy wretch," replied Cannetella. "Fancy a man his age dropping an almond out of his mouth!"

When the king heard her answer, he returned to the guard at the window, and shortly after a very handsome young man passed by. The king immediately called his daughter to come and see what she thought of the newcomer.

"Ask him in," said Cannetella, "so we can see him close up."

Another lavish meal was prepared, and when the stranger had eaten and drunk as much as he could, and had gone away, the king asked Cannetella how she liked him.

"Not at all," answered the daughter. "What would I do with a man who needs at least two servants to put on his cloak, because he is too clumsy to put it on properly himself?"

"If that's all you have against him," said the king, "I see how it is. You are determined not to have any husband at all. But you shall marry, because I will not let my name and house die out."

"Well, then, dear father," said Cannetella, "I must tell you at once that you should not count on me, for I will never marry unless I find a man with a golden head and golden teeth."

The king was very angry when he saw that his daughter was so stubborn. But since he always let the girl have her own way in everything, he issued a proclamation that any man with a golden head and golden teeth could come forward and claim the princess as his bride, together with the kingdom of Bello Puojo as a wedding gift.

Now the king had a deadly enemy named Scioravante, who was a very powerful magician. As soon as this man heard about the announcement, he summoned the spirits that served him and commanded them to gild his head and teeth.

The spirits first said that the task was beyond their power, and suggested that a pair of golden horns fastened to his forehead would both be easier to make and more comfortable to wear. But Scioravante would allow no compromise and insisted on having a head and teeth of the finest gold.

When it was fastened on his shoulders, he went for a walk in front of the castle. And the king, who saw the very man he was looking for, called his daughter and said: 'Just look out of the window, and you will find exactly what you want.'

So, as Scioravante hurried past, the king called out to him: 'Stop a moment, brother, and don't be in such a terrible hurry. If you come in here, you shall have my daughter as your wife, and I will send servants with her, and as many horses and attendants as you wish.'

"A thousand thanks," replied Scioravante. "I would gladly marry your daughter, but it is quite unnecessary to send anyone to accompany her. Give me a horse, and I will carry the princess before me on my saddle and bring her to my own kingdom, where there is no lack of courtiers or servants, or for that matter anything your daughter could desire."

At first the king was very much against Cannetella leaving in this way. But in the end Scioravante got his way, and set the princess before him on his horse and set out for his own land.

Towards evening he dismounted and went into a stable. He placed Cannetella in the same stall as his horse and said to her: "Now listen carefully. I am going home now, and it is a seven-year journey from here. You must wait for me in this stable and never move from the spot or let yourself be seen by a living soul. If you do not obey my orders, it will be worse for you."

The princess answered humbly: "Lord, I am your servant and will do exactly as you say. But I would like to know what I shall live on until you return?"

"You may have what the horses leave," was Scioravante's reply.

When the magician had left her, Cannetella felt very miserable and bitterly cursed the day she was born. She spent all her time crying and lamenting the cruel fate that had driven her from a castle to a stable, from soft feather beds to a bed of straw, and from delicacies at her father's table to the food left by the horses.

She led this miserable life for some months, and during that time she never saw who fed and watered the horses, for everything was done by invisible hands.

One day, when she was more unhappy than usual, she discovered a small crack in the wall. Through it she could see a beautiful garden with all kinds of delicious fruits and flowers growing there. The sight and smell of such delicacies were too much for poor Cannetella, and she said to herself: “I will slip out quietly and pick some oranges and grapes, and I do not care what happens.

Who can tell my husband what I am doing? And even if he should hear of my disobedience, he cannot make my life more miserable than it already is.”

So she slipped out and strengthened her poor, starving body with the fruit she picked in the garden.

But shortly after, her husband unexpectedly returned, and one of the horses immediately told him that Cannetella had entered the garden in his absence and stolen some oranges and grapes.

Scioravante flew into a rage when he heard this, grabbed a huge knife from his pocket, and threatened to kill his wife for her disobedience. But Cannetella threw herself at his feet and begged him to spare her life, saying that hunger drives even the wolf out of the woods.

At last she succeeded in softening her husband's heart so much that he said, “I will forgive you this time and spare your life. But if you disobey me again, and when I return I hear that you have so much as moved out of the pen, I will surely kill you.

So be careful, for I am leaving again now and will be gone for seven years.”

With these words he went away, and Cannetella burst into tears. She wrung her hands and groaned: "Why was I ever born to such a hard fate? Oh, father, how unhappy you have made your poor daughter! But why should I blame my father? It is only myself I have to thank for all my sufferings. I got that cursed head of gold, and it has brought all this misery upon me. I am truly punished for not doing as my father wished!"

When a year had passed, one day the king's cooper happened to pass by the stable where Cannetella was held captive. She recognized the man and asked him to come in. At first he did not recognize the poor princess and could not understand who it was that called him by name.

But when he heard Cannetella's tale of hardship and misery, he hid her in a large empty barrel he had with him, partly because he felt sorry for the poor girl, and even more because he wished to gain the king's favor.

Then he hung the barrel on the back of a mule, and in this way the princess was carried home to her own castle. They arrived at the castle around four o'clock in the morning, and the cooper knocked loudly on the door.

When the servants came hastily and saw only the cooper standing at the gate, they became very indignant and scolded him for coming at such an early hour and waking them all from sleep.

The king heard the noise and the reason for it, and sent for the cooper, for he felt sure that the man must have important business, since he came and disturbed the whole castle at such an early hour.

The cooper asked permission to unload his mule, and Cannetella crept out of the barrel. At first the king refused to believe that it was really his daughter, for she had changed so terribly in a few years, becoming so thin and pale that it was pitiful to see her. Finally the princess showed her father a birthmark she had on her right arm, and then he saw that the poor girl was indeed his long-lost Cannetella. He kissed her a thousand times and immediately set out the finest food and drink for her.

When she had satisfied her hunger, the king said to her: "Who would have thought, my dear daughter, to find you in such a state? What, may I ask, has brought you to this?"

Cannetella replied: "The wicked man with the head and teeth of gold treated me worse than a dog, and many times since I left you I have longed to die. But I cannot tell you all I have suffered, for you would never believe me. It is enough that I am with you again, and I shall never leave you more, for I would rather be a slave in your house than queen in any other."

Meanwhile, Scioravante had returned to the stable, and one of the horses told him that Cannetella had been carried away by a cooper in a barrel.

When the evil magician heard this, he was beside himself with rage, and hurried to the kingdom of Bello Puojo. He went straight to an old woman who lived right across from the royal palace, and said to her: "If you let me see the king's daughter, I will give you whatever reward you ask for."

The woman demanded a hundred gold ducats, and Scioravante counted them out from his purse and gave them to her without a word. Then the old woman led him up to the roof of the house, where he could see Cannetella combing her long hair in a room at the top of the castle.

The princess happened to look out of the window, and when she saw her husband staring at her, she was so frightened that she ran down to the king and said: "My lord and father, if you do not lock me up at once in a room with seven iron doors, I am lost."

"If that is all," said the king, "it shall be done at once." And he ordered the doors to be closed immediately.

When Scioravante saw this, he returned to the old woman and said: "I will give you whatever you want if you go into the castle, hide under the princess's bed, and stick this little piece of paper under her pillow while saying, 'May everyone in the castle except the princess fall into a deep sleep.'"

The old woman demanded another hundred gold ducats, and then proceeded to carry out the magician's wishes. As soon as she had slipped the piece of paper under Cannetella's pillow, all the people in the castle fell into a deep sleep, and only the princess remained awake.

Then Scioravante hurried to the seven doors and opened them one by one. Cannetella screamed in terror when she saw her husband, but no one came to help her, for everyone in the castle lay as if dead. The magician seized her in the bed where she lay, and was about to carry her away, when the little paper slip the old woman had placed under her pillow fell to the floor.

At that very moment, all the people in the castle woke up, and as Cannetella still screamed for help, they rushed to save her. They seized Scioravante and put him to death. So he was caught in the trap he had set for the princess – and, as so often happens in the world, the one who dug a grave for others was himself trapped.