Free Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino Page B

“Well, did your money make it possible for you to speak to my daughter?”
    â€œYes, Majesty,” answered the prince.
    â€œWhat! Do you mean you spoke to her?”
    â€œAsk her.”
    The girl came in and told how the prince was hidden in the silver goose which the king himself had ordered brought inside the castle.
    The king, at that, removed his crown and placed it on the prince’s head. “That means you have not only money but also a fine head! Live happily, for I am giving you my daughter in marriage.”
    Â 
    (
Genoa
)

8
The Little Shepherd
    There was once a shepherd boy no bigger than a mite and as mean as could be. On his way out to pasture one day, he passed a poultry dealer carrying a basket of eggs on her head. So what did he do but throw a stone into the basket and break every single egg. Enraged, the poor woman screamed a curse: “You shall get no bigger until you’ve found lovely Bargaglina of the three singing apples!”
    From that time on, the shepherd boy grew thin and puny, and the more his mother attended to him, the punier he became. Finally she asked, “What on earth has happened to you? Have you done a bad turn for which someone placed a curse on you?” He then told her about his meanness to the poultry dealer, repeating the woman’s words to him, “You shall get no bigger until you’ve found lovely Bargaglina of the three singing apples!”
    â€œIn that case,” said his mother, “you’ve no choice but to go in search of this lovely Bargaglina.”
    The shepherd set out. He came to a bridge, on which a little lady was rocking to and fro in a walnut shell.
    â€œWho goes there?”
    â€œA friend.”
    â€œLift my eyelids a little, so I can see you.”
    â€œI’m seeking lovely Bargaglina of the three singing apples. Do you know anything about her?”
    â€œNo, but take this stone; it will come in handy.”
    The shepherd came to another bridge, where another little lady was bathing in an eggshell.
    â€œWho goes there?”
    â€œA friend.”
    â€œLift my eyelids a little, so I can see you.”
    â€œI’m seeking lovely Bargaglina of the three singing apples. Have you any news of her?”
    â€œNo, but take this ivory comb, which will come in handy.”
    The shepherd put it in his pocket and walked on until he came to a stream where a man was filling a bag with fog. When asked about lovely Bargaglina, the man claimed to know nothing about her, but he gave the shepherd a pocketful of fog, which would come in handy.
    Next he came to a mill whose miller, a talking fox, said, “Yes, I know who lovely Bargaglina is, but you’ll have difficulty finding her. Walk straight ahead until you come to a house with the door open. Go inside and you’ll see a crystal cage hung with many little bells. In the cage are the singing apples. You must take the cage, but watch out for a certain old woman. If her eyes are open, that means she’s asleep. If they’re closed, she’s surely awake.”
    The shepherd moved on. He found the old woman with her eyes closed and realized she was awake. “My lad,” said the old woman, “glance down in my hair and see if I’ve any lice.”
    He looked, and as he was delousing her, she opened her eyes and he knew she had fallen asleep. So he quickly picked up the crystal cage and fled. But the little bells on the cage tinkled, and the old woman awakened and sent a hundred horsemen after him. Hearing them almost upon him, the shepherd dropped the stone he had in his pocket. It changed instantly into a steep, rocky mountain, and the horses all fell and broke their legs.
    Now horseless, the cavalrymen returned to the old woman, who then sent out two hundred mounted soldiers. Seeing himself in new peril, the shepherd threw down the ivory comb. It turned into a mountain as slick as glass, down which horses and riders all slid to their