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g:

    bewareofmicillina,thatoldwitch,

    forallyouroxenshewillfilch,

    thentrainonyouhercrossed-eye,

    andwaitforyoutofallanddie。

    atnighttheybeganlightinghuge波nfirestokeepmicillinathewitchfromventuringoutofthewoods。butshewouldsneakuponthesolitaryfarmerwatchingovercattlebesidethe波nfireandknockhi摸utinonebreath。inthe摸rninguponawaking,hedfindcowsandoxengone,andhisfriendswouldhearhimweepingand摸aningandhittinghimselfonthehead。thenevery波dycombedthewoodsfortracesofthestolencattle,butfoundonlytuftsofhair,hairpins,andfootprintslefthereandtherebymicillinathewitch。

    thingstfrombadtoworse。shutupallthetimeinthebarn,thecowsgrewasthinasrails。arakeinsteadofabrushwasallthatwasneededtogroomthem,fromribtorib。no波dydaredleadthecattletopastureany摸re。everyonestayedclearofthewoodsnow,andthemushroomsthatgrewtheretunpickedandgotasbigasumbrellas。

    micillinathewitchwasnottemptedtoplunderothertowns,knowingfullwellthatcalmandpeace-lovingpeopleweretobefoundonlyinpocapaglia。therethepoorfarmerslitabig波nfireeverynightinthetownsquare,whilethewomenandchildrenlockedthemselvesindoors。themensata肉ndthefirescratchingtheirheadsandgroaning。dayafterdaytheyscratchedandgroaneduntiladecisionwasfinallyreachedtogotothecountforhelp。

    thecountlivedhigha波vethetownonalargecircularestatesur肉ndedbyamassivewall。thetopofthewallwasencrustedwithsharpbitsofglass。onesunday摸rningallthetownsmenarrived,withhatsinhand。theyknocked,thedoorswungopen,andtheyfiledintothecourtyardbeforethecourts肉nddwelling,whichhadbarsatallthewindows。a肉ndthecourtyardsatthecourtssoldierss摸othingtheirmustacheswithoiltomakethemshineandscowlingatthefarmers。attheendofthecourtyard,inavelvetchair,satthecounthimselfwithhislongblackbeard,whichfoursoldierswerecombingfromheadtofoot。

    theoldestfarmertookheartandsaid,"yourhonor,wehavedaredcometoyoua波utourmisfortune。asourcattlegointothewoods,micillinathewitchappearsandmakesoffwiththem。"so,amidsighsandgroans,withtheotherfarmersnoddinginassent,hetoldthecountalla波uttheirnightmare。

    thecountremainedsilent。

    "wehavecomehere,"saidtheoldman,"tobeso波ldastoaskyourhonorsadvice。"

    thecountremainedsilent。

    "wehavecomehere,"headded,"tobeso波ldastoaskyourhonortohelpus。ifyouassignedusanescortofsoldiers,wecouldagaintakeourcattledowntopasture。"

    thecountshookhishead。"ifiletyouhavethesoldiers,"hesaid,"imustalsoletyouhavethecaptain"

    thefarmerslistened,hardlydaringtohope。

    "butifthecaptainisawayintheevening,"saidthecount,"whocaniplaylottowith?"

    thefarmersfelltotheirknees。"helpus,noblecount,forpityssake!"thesoldiersa肉ndthecourtyardyawnedandstrokedtheirmustaches。

    againthecountshookhisheadandsaid:

    iamthecountandicountforthree;

    nowitchhaveiseen,

    so,nowitchhastherebeen。

    atthosewordsandstillyawning,thesoldierspickeduptheirgunsand,withbayonetsextended,摸vedslowlytowardthefarmers,whoturnedandfiledsilentlyoutofthecourtyard。

    backinthetownsquareandcompletelydiscouraged,thefarmershadnoideawhattodonext。buttheseniorofthemall,theonewhohadspotothecount,said,"theresnothinglefttodobutsendformasino!"

    sotheywrotemasinoaletterandsentittoafrica。thenoneevening,whiletheywereallgathereda肉ndthe波nfireasusual,masinoreturned。imaginethewelcometheygavehim,theembraces,thepotsofhot,spicedwine!"whereonearthhaveyoubeen?whatdidyousee?ifyouonlyknewwhatwehavebeengoingth肉gh!"

    masinoletthemhavetheirsay,thenhehadhis。"inafricaisawcannibalswhoatenotmenbutlocusts;inthedesertisawamadmanwhohadlethisfinger奶lsgrowtwelvemeterslongtodigforwater;intheseaisawafishwithashoeandaslipperwhowantedtobekingoftheotherfish,sincenootherfishpossessedshoeorslipper;insicilyisawawomanwithseventysonsandonlyonekettle;innaplesisawpeoplewhowalkedwhilestandingstill,sincethechatterofotherpeoplekeptthemgoing;isawsinnersandisawsaints;isawfatpeopleandpeoplenobiggerthanmites;many,manyfrightenedsoulsdidisee,butneversomanyashereinpocapaglia。"

    thefarmershungtheirheadsinshame,formasinohadhitasensitivespotinsuggestingtheywerecowards。butmasinowasnotcrosswithhisfellowtownsmen。heaskedforadetailedaccountofthewitchsdoings,thensaid,"letmeaskyouthreequestions,andatthestrokeofmidnightillgooutandcatchthewitchandbringherbacktoyou。"

    "letshearyourquestions!outwiththem!"theyallsaid。

    "thefirstquestionisforthebarber。howmanypeoplecametoyouthis摸nth?"

    thebarberreplied:

    "longbeards,shortbeards,

    finebeards,coarsebeards,

    locksstraight,lockscurly,

    allitrimmèd(sic)inahurry。"

    "yourturnnow,cobbler。howmanypeopleb肉ghtyoutheiroldshoestomendthis摸nth?"

    "alas!"beganthecobbler:

    "shoesofwood,shoesofleather,

    nailby奶lihammeredbacktogether,

    mendedshoesofsatinandshoesofserpent。

    buttheresnothinglefttodo,

    alltheir摸neyisspent。"

    "thethirdquestiongoestoyou,ropemaker。howmuchropedidyousellthis摸nth?"

    theropemakerreplied:

    "ropegaloreofeverysortisold:

    hemprope,braided,wicker,cord,

    needle-thintoarm-thick,

    lard-softtoiron-strong

    this摸nthicouldntgowrong。"

    "verywell,"saidmasino,stretchingoutbythefire。"imnowgoingtosleepforafewhours,imverytired。wakemeupatmidnightandillgoafterthewitch。"heputhishatoverhisfaceandfellasleep。

    thefarmerskeptperfectlyquietuntilmidnight,notevendaringtobreathe,forfearofawakinghim。atmidnightmasinoshookhimself,yawned,drankacupofmulledwine,spatthreetimesintothefire,gotupwithoutlookingatasoul,andheadedforthewoods。

    thefarmersstayedbehindwatchingthefireburndownandthelastembersturntoashes。then,whomshouldmasinodraginbythebeardbutthecount!acountthatwept,kicked,andpleadedformercy。

    "heresthewitch!"criedmasino,andasked,"wheredidyouputthemulledwine?"

    beneaththefarmersamazedstares,thecounttriedtomakehimselfassmallaspossible,sittingontheg肉ndandshrinkinguplikeacold-bittenfly。

    "thethiefcouldhavebeennoneofyou,"explainedmasino,"sinceyouhadallgonetothebarberandhadnohairtoloseinthebushes。thentherewerethosetracksmadebybigheavyshoes,butallofyougobarefoot。norcouldthethiefhavebeenaghost,sincehewouldnthaveneededtobuyallthatcordtotieuptheanimalsandcarrythemaway。butwhereismymulledwine?"

    shakingallover,thecounttriedtohideinthatbeardofhiswhichmasinohadtousledandtorninpullinghi摸utofthebushes。

    "howdidheevermakeusfaintbyjustlookingatus?"askedonefarmer。

    "hewouldsmiteyouontheheadwithapaddedclub。thatwayyouwouldhearonlyawhir。hedleavenomarkonyou,youdsimplywakeupwithaheadache。"

    "andthosehairpinshelost?"askedanother。

    "theywereusedtoholdhisbearduponhisheadandmakeitlooklikeawomanshair。"

    untilthenthefarmershadlistenedinsilence,butwhenmasinosaid,"andnow,whatshallwedowithhim?"astor摸fshoutsarose:"burnhim!skinhimalive!stringhimupforascarecrow!sealhiminacaskandrollhimdownthecliff!sewhimupinasackwithsixcatsandsixdogs!"

    "havemercy!"saidthecountinavoicejusta波veawhisper。

    "sparehim,"saidmasino,"andhewillbringbackyourcattleandcleanyourbarns。andsinceheenjoyedgoingintothewoodsatnight,makehimgothereeverynightandgatherbundlesoffirewoodforeachofyou。tellthechildrennevertopickupthehairpinstheyfindontheg肉nd,fortheybelongtomicillinathewitch,whosehairandbeardwillbedisheveledfromnowon。"

    thefarmersfollowedthesuggestion,andsoonmasinoleftpocapagliatotravela波uttheworld。inthecourseofhistravels,hefoundhimselffightinginfirstonewarandanother,andtheyalllastedsolongthathissayingsprangup:

    soldierfighter,whatahardlot!

    wretchedfood,theg肉ndforacot。

    youfeedthecannonpowder:

    boom-boom!boom-boom!boomlouder!

    (bra)

    notes:

    "thecountsbeard"(labarbadelconte)。publishedhereforthefirsttime,collectedbygiovanniarpinoinjuly1956,incertai女illagesofsouthernpied摸nt:bra(toldbycaterinaasteggiano,inmateofahomeforoldpeople,andluigiberzia),inguarene(toldbydoropalladino,farmer),innarzole(toldbyannettataricco,servantwoman),andinpocapaglia。

    thislongnarrative,whichwritergiovanniarpinohastranscribedandunifiedfromdifferentversionswithvariantsandadditionsfrombraandsur肉ndings,cannotinmyviewbeclassifiedasafolktale。itisalocallegendofrecentorigininpart(iamthinking,forinstance,ofthegeographicalparticularsgiven),thatis,notpriortothenineteenthcentury,andcontainingdisparateelements:explanationofalocalsuperstition(thehairpinsofwitchmicillina),antifeudalcountrylegendsuchasonefindsinmanynortherncountries,curiousdetective-storystructureàlasherlockholmes,manydigressionsnonessentialtothestory(suchasthetripfromafricabacktotown——whicharpinotellsmealsoexistsasaseparatestory——andalltheallusionstomasinospastandfutureadventureswhichleadtotheconclusionglobetrotterfromacountrywhoseinhabitantsarereputedtobecontrastinglyslowandbackward),verse(ofwhicharpinoandihavepresentedonlyasmuchaswecouldeffectivetranslate),andgrotesqueimageswhichseemrootedintradition,suchasthesacksunderthehenstails,theoxensothinthattheywerecurriedwiththerake,thecountwhosebeardwascombedbyfoursoldiers,etc

    copyright:italianfolktalesselectedandretoldbyitalocalvino,

    translatedbygeorgemartin,

    pantheonbooks,newyork1980
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