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Italian Fables
Italo Calvino

Delightful tales from Italy,

gathered and retold by
one of her foremost
young writers
ITALO CAL VINO
Translated from the Italian
by LOUIS BRIGANTE

C O L L IE R B O O K S
N E W YORK, N .Y .
This Collier Books edition is published by arrangement with The
Orion Press.

Collier Books is a division of the Crowell-Collier Publishing Co.

First Collier Books Edition 1961

Original title: Fiabe ltaliane

Copyright © 1956 by Giulio Einaudi editore S.p.A.

American edition: © 1959 by The Orion Press, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Hecho en los E.E.U.U.
Printed in the United States of America
C o ntents

Preface
Whoever Loses His Temper Loses the Bet {Bologna)
The Barber's Clock (Entroterra palermitano)
Giovannino the Fearless
The Man Who was Green with Seaweed
{Riviera ligure di ponente)
The Silver Nose (Langhe)
Cric and Croc (Monferrato)
A Night in Paradise (Friuli)
The Ship with Three Decks {Riviera ligure di ponente)
The Shirt of the Happy Man (Friuli)
The Science of Indolence {Trieste)
The Canary Prince {Torino)
Uncle Wolf {Romagna)
The Count's Beard (Bra)
Prezzemolina {Firenze)
The Story of Bella Fronte (Istria)
The King’s Daughter Who Never Tired of Eating Figs
{Romagna)
The Dead M an^ Arm (Trentino)
The Hunchback Tabagnino {Bologna)
The Fool without Fear {Livorno)
The Feathered Monster (Garfagnana Estense)
The Palace of the Monkeys (Montale Pistoiese)
The Daughter of the Sun (Pisa)
The Two Hunchbacks (Firenze)
Cecino the Chick-pea Child {Firenze)
Guianni and the Giant {Marche)
The Neapolitan Soldier {Roma)
The Hermit King {Abruzzo)
Franceschiello's Profession {Abruzzo)
Hunchback, Cripple and Crooked Neck {Abruzzo)
Pulcino {Terra d'Otranto)
The Palace Mouse and the Field Mouse (Molise)
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 6 / Contents
The Legend of Cola Pesce {Palermo)
Master of Chick-peas and Lima Beans {Palermo)
The Rosemary Plant {Palermo)
The Language of the Animals( Provincia d'Agrigento)
The Three Orphans {Calabria)
The Young Calf with the Golden Horns
(Provincia dyAgrigento)
The Captain and the General {Provincia dfAgrigento)
The Child That Fed the Crucifix {Calabria)
Fanta-Ghiro the Fair (Montale Pistoiese)
Quack! Quack! Stick to My Back (Fruili)
Wormwood (Palermo)
The Fable of the Cats {Terra d'Otranto)
The Love of Three Pomegranates (Abruzzo)
The Power of the Male Fern (Gallura)
Fourteen {Marche)
How Saint Anthony Brought Fire to M an (Logudoro)
Ninetta and the Date Tree (Palermo)
Caterina the Wise {Palermo)
Apple and Appleskin (Venezia)
Giufa
March and the Shepherd (Corsica)
The Lame Devil {Palermo)