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THERE was once upon a time a woman named
Pascadozzia, who was in the family way; and as she was standing one day at
a window, which looked into the garden of an ogress, she saw a beautiful
bed of parsley, for which she took such a longing that she was on the
point of fainting away; and being unable to resist her desire, she watched
until the ogress went out, and then plucked a handful of it. But when the
ogress came home, and was going to cook her pottage, she found that some
one had been at the parsley, and said, "Ill luck to me but I'll catch this
long-fingered rogue, and make him repent it, and teach him to his cost
that every one should eat off his own platter, and not meddle with other
folks' cups."
The poor woman went again and again down into the garden,
until one morning the ogress met her, and in a furious rage exclaimed,
"Have I caught you at last, you thief, you rogue! Prithee do you pay the
rent of the garden, that you come in this impudent way and steal my
plants? by my faith, but I'll make you do penance without sending you to
Rome!"
Poor Pascadozzia, in a terrible fright, began to make
excuses, saying that neither from gluttony nor the craving of hunger had
she been tempted by the devil to commit this fault, but from her being
pregnant, and the fear she had lest the child should be born with a crop
of parsley on its face; and she added that the ogress ought rather to
thank her, for not having given her sore eyes.
"Words are but wind," answered the ogress; "I am not to be
caught with such prattle; you have closed the balance-sheet of life,
unless you promise to give me the child you bring forth, girl or boy,
whichever it may be."
Poor Pascadozzia, in order to escape the peril in which
she found herself, swore with one hand upon another to keep the promise:
so the ogress let her go free. But when her time was come, Pascadozzia
gave birth to a little girl, so beautiful that she was a joy to look upon,
who, from having a fine sprig of parsley on her bosom, was named
Petrosinella. And the little girl grew from day to day, until when she was
seven years old her mother sent her to school; and every time she went
along the street and met the ogress, the old woman said to her, "Tell your
mother to remember her promise." And she went on repeating this message so
often, that the poor mother, having no longer patience to listen to the
music, said one day to Petrosinella, "If you meet the old woman as usual,
and she reminds you of the hateful promise, answer her, "Take
it!"
When Petrosinella, who dreamt of no ill, met the ogress
again, and heard her repeat the same words, she answered innocently as her
mother had told her; where upon the ogress, seizing her by her hair,
carried her off to a wood, which the horses of the Sun never entered, not
having paid the toll to the pastures of those Shades. Then she put the
poor girl into a tower, which she caused to arise by her art, and which
had neither gate nor ladder, but only a little window, through which she
ascended and descended by means of Petrosinella's hair, which was very
long, as the sailor is used to run up and down the mast of a
ship.
Now it happened one day, when the ogress had left the
tower, that Petrosinella put her head out of the little window, and let
loose her tresses in the sun; and the son of a prince passing by saw those
two golden banners, which invited all souls to enlist under the standard
of Love; and beholding with amazement in the midst of those gleaming waves
a siren's face, that enchanted all hearts, he fell desperately in love
with such wonderful beauty; and sending her a memorial of sighs, she de
creed to receive him into favour. Matters went on so well with the prince,
that there was soon a nodding of heads and a kissing of hands, a winking
of eyes and bowing, thanks and offerings, hopes and promises, soft words
and compliments. And when this had continued for several days,
Petrosinella and the prince became so intimate that they made an
appointment to meet, and agreed that it should be at night, when the Moon
plays at hide with the Stars; and that Petrosinella should give the ogress
some poppy-juice, and draw up the prince with her tresses. So when the
appointed hour came, the prince went to the tower, where Petrosinella,
letting fall her hair at a given signal, he seized it with both his hands,
and cried, " Draw up!" And when he was drawn up, he crept through the
little window into the chamber.
The next morning, before the Sun taught his steeds to leap
through the hoop of the Zodiac, the prince descended by the same golden
ladder, to go his way home. And having repeated these visits many times, a
gossip of the ogress, who was for ever prying into things that did not
concern her, and poking her nose into every corner, got to find out the
secret, and told the ogress to be upon the look-out, for that Petrosinella
made love with a certain youth, and she suspected that matters would go
further; adding, that she saw what was going on, and feared they would be
off and away before May. The ogress thanked her gossip for the
information, and said she would take good care to stop up the road; and as
to Petrosinella, it was moreover impossible for her to escape, as she had
laid a spell upon her, so that, unless she had in her hand the three
gallnuts which were in a rafter in the kitchen, it would be labor lost to
at tempt to get away.
Whilst they were talking thus together, Petrosinella, who
stood with her ears wide open, and had some suspicion of the gossip,
overheard all that passed. And when Night had spread out her black
garments to keep them from the moth, and the prince had come as usual, she
made him climb on to the rafters and find the gallnuts, knowing well what
effect they would have, as she had been enchanted by the ogress. Then,
having made a rope-ladder, they both descended to the ground, took to
their heels, and scampered off towards the city. But the gossip happening
to see them come out, set up a loud halloo, and began to shout and make
such a noise that the ogress awoke; and seeing that Petrosinella had fled,
she descended by the same ladder, which was fastened to the window, and
set off running after the lovers, who, when they saw her coming at their
heels faster than a horse let loose, gave themselves up for lost. But
Petrosinella, recollecting the gallnuts, quickly threw one on the ground,
and lo! instantly a Corsican bulldog started up,-O mother, such a terrible
beast!-which with open jaws and barking loud flew at the ogress as if to
swallow her at a mouthful. But the old woman, who was more cunning and
spiteful than the devil, put her hand into her pocket, and pulling out a
piece of bread, gave it to the dog, which made him hang his tail and allay
his fury. Then she turned to run after the fugitives again; but
Petrosinella, seeing her approach, threw the second gallnut on the ground,
and lo! a fierce lion arose, who, lashing the earth with his tail, and
shaking his mane, and opening wide his jaws a yard apart, was just
preparing to make a slaughter of the ogress; when, turning quickly back,
she stripped the skin off an ass that was grazing in the middle of a
meadow, and ran at the lion, who, fancying it a real jackass, was so
frightened that he bounded away as fast as he could.
The ogress, having leaped over this second ditch, turned
again to pursue the poor lovers, who, hearing the clatter of her heels and
seeing the cloud of dust that rose up to the sky, conjectured that she was
coming again. But the old woman, who was every moment in dread lest the
lion should pursue her, had not taken off the ass's skin; and when
Petrosinella now threw down the third gallnut, there sprang up a wolf,
who, without giving the ogress time to play any new trick, gobbled her up
just as she was, in the shape of a jackass. So the lovers, being now freed
from danger, went their way leisurely and quietly to the kingdom of the
prince, where, with his father's free consent, he took Petrosinella to
wife; and thus, after all these storms of fate, they experienced the
truth, that
"One hour in port, the sailor freed from
fears
Forgets the tempests of a hundred years."
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