Fiabe Italiane = Italian Folktales, Italo Calvino

Italian Folktales, is a collection of 200 Italian folktales, published in 1956, by Italo Calvino. Calvino began the project in 1954, influenced by Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folktale.

List of tales:
001 - Dauntless Little John vannino senza paura.
002 - The Man Wreathed in Seaweed.
003 - The Ship with Three Decks.
004 - The Man Who Came Out Only at Night
005 - And Seven!
006 - Body-without-Soul.
007 - Money Can Do Everything.
008 - The Little Shepherd
009 - Silver Nose.
010 - The Count's Beard.
011 - The Little Girl Sold with the Pears
012 - The Snake.
013 - The Three Castles.
014 - The Prince Who Married a Frog
015 - The Parrot.
016 - The Twelve Oxen.
017 - Crack and Crook.
018 - The Canary Prince.
019 - King Crin.
020 - Those Stubborn Souls, the Biellese.
021 - The Pot of Marjoram.
022 - The Billiards Player.
023 - Animal Speech.
024 - The Three Cottages.
025 - The Peasant Astrologer.
026 - The Wolf and the Three Girls.
027 - The Land Where One Never Dies.
028 - The Devotee of St. Joseph.
029 - The Three Crones.
030 - The Crab Prince.
031 - Silent for Seven Years.
032 - The Dead Man's Palace.
033 - Pome and Peel.
034 - The Cloven Youth.
035 - Invisible Grandfather.
036 - The King of Denmark's Son.
037 - Petie Pete Versus Witch Bea-Witch.
038 - Quack, Quack! Stick to My Back!
039 - The Happy Man's Shirt.
040 - One Night in Paradise
041 - Jesus and St. Peter in Friuli.
042 - The Magic Ring.
043 - The Dead Man's Arm.
044 - The Science of Laziness.
045 - Fair Brow.
046 - The Stolen Crown.
047 - The King's Daughter Who Could Never Get Enough Figs.
048 - The Three Dogs.
049 - Uncle Wolf.
050 - Giricoccola.
051 - Tabagnino the Hunchback.
052 - The King of the Animals.
053 - The Devil's Breeches.
054 - Dear as Salt.
055 - The Queen of the Three Mountains of Gold.
056 - Lose Your Temper, and You Lose Your Bet.
057 - The Feathered Ogre.
058 - The Dragon with Seven Heads.
059 - Bellinda and the Monster.
060 - The Shepherd at Court.
061 - The Sleeping Queen.
062 - The Son of the Merchant from Milan.
063 - Monkey Palace.
064 - Rosina in the Oven.
065 - The Salamanna Grapes.
066 - The Enchanted Palace.
067 - Buffalo Head.
068 - The King of Portugal's Son.
069 - Fanta-Ghiro the Beautiful.
070 - The Old Woman's Hide.
071 - Olive.
072 - Catherine, Sly Country Lass.
073 - The Traveler from Turin.
074 - The Daughter of the Sun.
075 - The Dragon and the Enchanted Filly.
076 - The Florentine.
077 - Ill-Fated Royalty.
078 - The Golden Ball.
079 - Fioravante and Beautiful Isolina.
080 - Fearless Simpleton.
081 - The Milkmaid Queen.
082 - The Story of Campriano.
083 - The North Wind's Gift.
084 - The Sorceress's Head.
085 - Apple Girl.
086 - Prezzemolina.
087 - The Fine Greenbird.
088 - The King in the Basket.
088 - The One-Handed Murderer.
090 - The Two Hunchbacks.
091 - Pete and the Ox.
092 - The King of the Peacocks.
093 - The Palace of the Doomed Queen.
094 - The Little Geese.
095 - Water in the Basket.
096 - Fourteen.
097 - Jack Strong, Slayer of Five Hundred.
098 - Crystal Rooster.
099 - A Boat for Land and Water.
100 - The Neapolitan Soldier.
101 - Belmiele and Belsole.
102 - The Haughty Prince.
103 - Wooden Maria.
104 - Louse Hide.
105 - Cicco Petrillo.
106 - Nero and Bertha.
107 - The Love of the Three Pomegranates.
108 - Joseph Ciufolo, Tiller-Flutist
109 - Bella Venezia.
110 - The Mangy One.
111 - The Wildwood King.
112 - Mandorlinfiore.
113 - The Three Blind Queens.
114 - Hunchback Wryneck Hobbler.
115 - One-Eye.
116 - The False Grandmother.
117 - Frankie-Boy's Trade.
118 - Shining Fish.
119 - Miss North Wind and Mr. Zephyr.
120 - The Palace Mouse and the Garden Mouse.
121 - The Moor's Bones.
122 - The Chicken Laundress.
123 - Crack, Crook, and Hook.
124 - First Sword and Last Broom.
125 - Mrs. Fox and Mr. Wolf.
126 - The Five Scapegraces.
127 - Ari-Ari, Donkey, Donkey, Money, Money!.
128 - The School of Salamanca.
129 - The Tale of the Cats.
130 - Chick.
131 - The Slave Mother.
132 - The Sire Wife.
133 - The Princesses Wed to the First Passer-By.
134 - Liombruno.
135 - Cannelora.
136 - Filo d'Oro and Filomena.
137 - The Thirteen Bandits.
138 - The Three Orphans.
139 - Sleeping Beauty and Her Children.
140 - The Handmade King.
141 - The Turkey Hen.
142 - The Three Chicory Gatherers.
143 - Beauty-with-the-Seven-Dresses.
144 - Serpent King.
145 - The Widow and the Brigand.
146 - The Crab with the Golden Eggs.
147 - Nick Fish.
148 - Grattula-Beddattula.
149 - Misfortune.
150 - Pippina the Serpent.
151 - Catherine the Wise.
152 - The Ismailian Merchant.
153 - The Thieving Dove.
154 - Dealer in Peas and Beans.
155 - The Sultan with the Itch.
156 - The Wife Who Lived on Wind.
157 - Wormwood.
158 - The King of Spain and the English Milord.
159 - The Bejeweled Boot.
160 - The Left-Hand Squire.
161 - Rosemary.
162 - Lame Devil.
163 - Three Tales by Three Sons of Three Merchants.
164 - The Dove Girl.
165 - Jesus and St. Peter in Sicily.
166 - The Barber's Timepiece.
167 - The Count's Sister.
168 - Master Francesco Sit-Down-and-Eat.
169 - The Marriage of Queen and a Bandit.
170 - The Seven Lamb Heads.
171 - The Two Sea Merchants.
172 - Out in the World.
173 - A Boat Loaded with…
174 - The King's Son in the Henhouse.
175 - The Mincing Princess.
176 - The Great Narbone.
177 - Animal Talk and the Nosy Wife.
178 - The Calf with the Golden Horns.
179 - The Captain and the General.
180 - The Peacock Feather.
181 - The Garden Witch.
182 - The Mouse with the Long Tail.
183 - The Two Cousins.
184 - The Two Muleteers.
185 - Giovannuzza the Fox.
186 - The Child that Fed the Crucifix.
187 - Steward Truth.
188 - The Foppish King.
189 - The Princess with the Horns.
190 - Giufa.
191 - Fra Ignazio.
192 - Solomon's Advice.
193 - The Man Who Robbed the Robbers.
194 - The Lions' Grass.
195 - The Convent of Nuns and the Monastery of Monks.
196 - The Male Fern.
197 - St. Anthony's Gift.
198 - March and the Shepherd.
199 - John Balento.
200 - Jump into My Sack.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: از هفتم ژوئن سال 2011میلادی تا هشتم ژوئن سال 2011میلادی

عنوان: افسانه های ایتالیایی؛ نویسنده: ایتالوکالوینو؛ مترجم: محسن ابراهیم؛ تهران، نشر نیلا، 1378، در 516ص، شابک 9646900003؛ موضوع افسانه ها و قصه های ایتالیا از نویسندگان ایتالیا - سده 20م

از فهرست: جووانین بی باک؛ سرزمینی که هرگز کسی در آنجا نمیمیرد؛ پیراهن مرد ناراضی؛یک شب در بهشت؛ مسیح و سن پیترو در فری یولی؛ سه پیره زن؛ کشیش اینیاتزیو؛ زبان حیوانات؛ حضرت مسیح و سن پیترو در سیسیل؛ بیئلایی های کله شق؛ طرفدار سن جوزچه؛ شیطون شَله؛ پندهای سلیمان؛ انگور مجلسی؛ بچه ای که به مسیح مصلوب غذا میدهد؛ بدبیار؛ ماجرای کلمپریانو، سه یتیم، کریک و کروک؛ فلورانسی؛ مالک نخود و باقالی؛ سیزده راهزن؛ دهقان منجم؛ حرفه فرانچسکی ئللو؛ عرعر الاغ جون؛ سه کلبه، جوفا، نرون و برتا؛ زبان حیوانات و همسر فضول و ...؛

مجموعه ای از فولکلور و افسانه های «ايتاليایی»، «کالوینو» دویست داستان کوچک را از مجموعه افسانه های ایتالیا برگزیده، جناب آقای «محسن ابراهیم» نیز دست به انتخاب زده، و یکصد داستان از دویست برگزیده است؛ داستانها: گاه مذهبی، گاهی پند، و گاه سرگرمی هستند؛ افسانه های ملل، همیشه اشتراکاتی با دیگر ملل نیز دارند، در کتاب: «ماه پیشونی»، «نخودی»، «حسن تنبل»، «حسن کچل»، و حتی افسانه ای از حضرت خضر، میتوان یافت، البته که با رنگ و بوی کاتولیکی، و ایتالیائی، و با نیش قلم سحرآمیز «ایتالو کالوینو»؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 25/08/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

For grades 5 and up, ages 10 and up

Review:
Quirky, funny, adventurous stories from Italy that is fantastic for reading aloud. There are not the ones that you grew up with. These tradition village folktales offer magic, fantasy and adventure for the kids and adults. The stories vary in length and will make perfect bedtime stories. May easily become a family favorite and a new family tradition.

Very enjoyable in translation. They come from all over the country. Some repeat others. I think the Maestro was too interested in preserving regional variations to prune to a smaller size book. The twenty best might make a thinner volume. We own this book, but I can't find it today to answer a question about the Stone Soup story.

Questo libro ce lo siamo letti mio figlio, la mia compagna ed io. E' diventato uno dei libri della buona notte, uno dei preferiti di Tommaso.
Un libro che racconta un'Italia che non c'è più, un paese dalla straordinaria fantasia e cultura, un excursus straordinario da nord a sud, accompagnati da una guida di valore eccelso.
Che volere di più?

Bellissima raccolta di fiabe godibilissime sia per i bambini (io andavo matta per alcune di queste... e tuttora ne ricordo interi brani a memoria) sia per gli adulti. Imperdibile per i bambini di ogni età.

Folktales are always fun to read, but I believe I was halfway through this exhaustive volume when I had to stop. An exorbitant number of stories had to do with men who killed their wives for some stupid reason and expected them to come back to life. It was ridiculous. Men beating their wives, men killing their wives, with something magical thrown in for good measure. Maybe the second half would have been better, but I couldn't go on. Italo gets three stars for the sheer academic effort of recording these pointless (in my opinion), stories.

There is an endless fascination to fairy and folk tales. As a child, I remember listening to them at my great-aunt’s knee: she was a great storyteller, and often embellished and modified tales, so that cruel and sad parts were left out. The same tales were restored to their original form when told by my mother, who was adamant that a child should not be shielded from cruelties and horror. Needless to say, I preferred my great-aunt.

Later on, I came to read and love the Classics Junior series of comics (sadly out of print now, alas) which introduced me to the Brothers Grimm (Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Beauty and the Beast et al), and I was hooked for life on the magic of fairy tales, and the world of make-believe and fantasy. My fascination only increased when I discovered that underneath the beauty there lay a morass of dark desires and fears, and these tales are only the tips of the icebergs of darkest human nature.

So when I was able to grab Italo Calvino’s famous compendium of Italian folktales at relatively reasonable price, I was ecstatic. And the famous novelist did not let me down: here is a collection, neatly compiled and docketted, of stories collected from all over Italy. Calvino provides informative footnotes to all tales, pointing out the similarities, sometimes giving detailed information on the teller (mostly old ladies) and pointing out the influence of Grimm and the later romantic legends. In many an instance, he has combined different versions of the same story (adding his own poetic embellishments) to create what he deems the best version.

It would be a Herculean task to analyse the stories in detail: rather, I would like to give general impressions.

◾These pagan tales have been Christianised to a certain extent. The devil makes frequent appearances, but usually behaves more like the inept ogre or giant of the traditional fairy tale than the arch-fiend. There is especially a Lame Devil who is almost lovable in his bumbling inefficiency.

◾Even though God himself does not make an appearance, there are a number of stories where angels and saints play an active part. There is a whole cycle of stories with Jesus and Peter playing the roles of the wise master and the foolish disciple.

◾Kings and queens are plentiful – they can be found in almost all neighbourhoods, living across the street from you. And when the poor servant-girl is rescued by a prince or king, the kingdom is specifically mentioned (i.e. “King of Portugal”, “Prince of Spain” etc.). I was surprised to find that the “King of India” makes his appearance in one story.

◾Some of these tales are romances, as pointed out by Calvino: for example, the tale of the Slave Mother, kidnapped by Turkish pirates. It (and the Christian references) indicate that the stories have come some way from their pagan origins.

A very satisfying read overall. Only a word of statutory caution: weighing in at seven hundred and fifty plus pages and two hundred stories, this is a ponderous tome, best taken in small doses. Reading at a stretch would tire one out and jade the palate due to a surfeit of magic and wizardry.

While there are more than a few charming stories, I question the sequence they're placed in (literally the first 100 end with marriage, making it a very repetitive read) and many of the stories hold no resonance without some understanding of Italians themselves. Still, enough charm in this lengthy collection to invite skimming, if not cover-to-cover reading.

read this with my boyfriend - he would send me 2 voice messages every day reading 2 stories or he would read them to me on call. we both agree that reading around 2 per day is the ideal way to do it. it will take you a few months but it is so much easier to appreciate the individual stories that way. if you try to just read this front to back like a novel you will probably find the repetition of tropes to be frustrating.

as for me, i loved it! there were some truly strange, fantastical, entertaining, and funny folk tales in here. because we went through it slowly, i found the repetition of tropes to be more amusing than anything, like playing Italian folktale bingo - what will it be next, a merchant with three daughters, the king of Portugal up to no good, a magic wand that grants your every wish? of course there were times when some stories felt *too* cookie cutter, but there were also plenty of unique and bizarre tales. some were even surprisingly gruesome.

it felt like over time i built some insight into the minds and culture of the people from which these tales originate. it was also neat to observe how the repeated elements changed as we moved through different regions.

Fiabe italiane è una splendida raccolta curata da uno degli scrittori italiani che amo di più. Italo Calvino, in questo cofanetto di tre volumi, è riuscito a condensare il fiore della tradizione fiabesca italiana. Ricchi mercanti, orchi, principi, inganni, sorelle invidiose, geniali popolani (a volte imbroglioni) e perfino Gesù e San Pietro sono soltanto una piccolissima parte degli elementi che popolano i libri.

Raccontate senza fronzoli, le fiabe di Calvino provengono da tutte le regioni italiane; alcuni temi sono ricorrenti, soprattutto tra le fiabe del Nord (che, data la mia provenienza, conosco meglio), ma man mano che si attraversa la penisola piccole variazioni danno ai racconti quel pizzico di novità che fa leggere con piacere delle fiabe di per sé già belle.

Per tornare bambini, ma anche per gustarle da adulti, le Fiabe italiane sono davvero una lettura che vale il tempo speso. Scoprirete, come me, di conoscere molte più fiabe di quel che pensate, e scoprirete anche alcune variazioni, tutte italiane, di altre fiabe decisamente famose.

In fondo al terzo volume Calvino presenta una serie di note sulla provenienza e le variazioni apportare alle fiabe della raccolta.

Consigliatissimo a tutti. Anche a chi non ama Calvino.

I found the writing in this collection incredibly charmless and monotonous.
The stories themselves were generally too short and frequently repetitive, and I've heard or seen better renditions elsewhere.

Disappointing.

This is my second Italo Calvino -- the other being Cosmicomics, I'm starting to have doubts about when I come to his other major work which has been on my list a while: If on a winter's night a traveller.

Last point, somewhere here on goodreads I think this book has been mis assigned GRR Martin as the author/translator - how amazing that would have been. Nowhere near as dry as what we have.

A must for all folktale lovers! Many of the well known French and German fairy tales have their roots in Italian folktales