意大利童話 The Parrot 鸚鵡

　　Once upon a time there was a merchant who was supposed to go away on business, but he was afraid to leave his daughter at home by herself, as a certain king had designs on her

　　"Dear daughter," he said, "I'm leaving, but you must promise not to stick your head out of the door or let anyone in until I get back"

　　Now that very morning the daughter had seen a handsome parrot in the tree outside her window He was a well-bred parrot, and the maiden had delighted in talking with him

　　"Father," she replied, "it just breaks my heart to have to stay home all by myself Couldn't I at least have a parrot to keep me company?"

　　The merchant, who lived only for his daughter, went out at once to get her a parrot He found an old man who sold him one for a song He took the bird to his daughter, and after much last-minute advice to her, he set out on his trip

　　No sooner was the merchant out of sight than the king began devising a way to join the maiden He enlisted an old woman in his scheme and sent her to the girl with a letter

　　In the meantime the maiden got into conversation with the parrot "Talk to me, parrot"

　　"I will tell you a good story Once upon a time there was a king who had a daughter She was an only child, with no brothers or sisters, nor did she have any playmates So they made her a doll the same size as herself, with a face and clothes exactly like her own Everywhere she went the doll went too, and no one could tell them apart One day as king, daughter, and doll drove through the woods in their carriage, they were attacked by enemies who killed the king and carried off his daughter, leaving the doll behind in the abandoned carriage The maiden screamed and cried so, the enemies let her go, and she wandered off into the woods by herself She eventually reached the court of a certain queen and became a servant She was such a clever girl that the queen liked her better all the time The other servants grew jealous and plotted her downfall 'You are aware, of course,' they said, 'that the queen likes you very much and tells you everything But there's one thing which we know and you don't She had a son who died' At that, the maiden went to the queen and asked, 'Majesty, is it true that you had a son who died?' Upon hearing those words, the queen almost fainted Heaven help anyone who recalled that fact! The penalty for mentioning that dead son was no less than death The maiden too was condemned to die, but the queen took pity on her and had her shut up in a dungeon instead There the girl gave way to despair, refusing all food and passing her nights weeping At midnight, as she sat there weeping, she heard the door bolts slide back, and in walked five men: four of them were sorcerers and the fifth was the queen's son, their prisoner, whom they were taking out for exercise"

　　At that moment, the parrot was interrupted by a servant bearing a letter for the merchant's daughter It was from the king, who had finally managed to get it to her But the girl was eager to hear what happened next in the tale, which had reached the most exciting part, so she said, "I will receive no letters until my father returns Parrot, go on with your story"

　　The servant took the letter away, and the parrot continued "In the morning the jailers noticed the prisoner had not eaten a thing and they told the queen The queen sent for her, and the maiden told her that her son was alive and in the dungeon a prisoner of four sorcerers, who took him out every night at midnight for exercise The queen dispatched twelve soldiers armed with crowbars, who killed the sorcerers and freed her son Then she gave him as a husband to the maiden who had saved him"

　　The serant knocked again, insisting that the young lady read the king's letter "Very well Now that the story is over, I can read the letter," said the merchant's daughter

　　"But it's not finished yet, there's still some more to come," the parrot hastened to say "Just listen to this: the maiden was not interested in marrying the queen's son She settled for a purse of money and a man's outfit and moved on to another city The son of this city's king was ill, and no doctor knew how to cure him From midnight to dawn he raved like one possessed The maiden showed up in man's attire, claiming to be a foreign doctor and asking to be left with the youth for one night The first thing she did was look under the bed and find a trapdoor She opened it and went down into a long corridor, at the end of which a lamp was burning"

　　At that moment the servant knocked and announced there was an old woman to see the young lady, whose aunt she claimed to be (It was not an aunt, but the old woman sent by the king) But the merchant's daughter was dying to know the outcome of the tale, so she said she was receiving no one "Go on, parrot, go on with your story"

　　Thus the parrot continued "The maiden walked down to that light and found an old woman boiling the heart of the king's son in a kettle, in revenge for the king's execution of her son The maiden removed the heart from the kettle, carried it back to the king's son to eat, and he got well The king said, 'I promised half of my kingdom to the doctor who cured my son Since you are a woman, you will marry my son and become queen'"

　　"It's a fine story," said the merchant's daughter "Now that it's over, I can receive that woman who claims to be my aunt"

　　"But it's not quite over," said the parrot "There's still some more to come Just listen to this The maiden in doctor's disguise also refused to marry that king's son and was off to another city whose king's son was under a spell and speechless She hid under the bed; at midnight, she saw two witches coming through the window and remove a pebble from the young man's mouth, whereupon he could speak Before leaving, they replaced the pebble, and he was again mute"

　　Someone knocked on the door, but the merchant's daughter was so absorbed in the story that she didn't even hear the knock The parrot continued

　　"The next night when the witches put the pebble on the bed, she gave the bedclothes a jerk and it dropped on the floor Then she reached out for it and put it in her pocket At dawn the witches couldn't find it and had to flee The king's son was well, and they named the maiden physician to the court"

　　The knocking continued, and the merchant's daughter was all ready to say "Come in," but first she asked the parrot, "Does the story go on, or is it over?"

　　"It goes on," replied the parrot "Just listen to this The maiden wasn't interested in remaining as physician to the court, and moved on to another city The talk there was that the king of this city had gone mad He'd found a doll in the woods and fallen in love with it He stayed shut up in his room admiring it and weeping because it was not a real live maiden The girl went before the king 'That is my dool!' she exclaimed 'And this is my bride!' replied the king on seeing that she was the doll's living image"

　　There was another knock, and the parrot was at a total loss to continue the story "Just a minute, just a minute, there's still a tiny bit more," he said, but he had no idea what to say next

　　"Come on, open up, it's your father," said the merchant's voice

　　"Ah, here we are at the end of the story," announced the parrot "The king married the maiden, and they lived happily ever after"

　　The girl finally ran to open the door and embraced her father just back from his trip

　　"Well done, my daughter!" said the merchant "I see you've remained faithfully at home And how is the parrot doing?"

　　They went to take a look at the bird, but in his place they found a handsome youth "Forgive me, sir," said the youth "I am a king who put on a parrot's disguise, because I am in love with your daughter Aware of the intentions of a rival king to abduct her, I came here beneath a parrot's plumage to entertain her in an honorable manner and at the same time to prevent my rival from carrying out his schemes I believe I have succeeded in both purposes, and that I can now ask for your daughter's hand in marriage"

　　The merchant gave his consent His daughter married the king who had told her the tale, and the other king died of rage

　　(Monferrato)

　　NOTES:

　　"The Parrot" (Il pappagallo) from Comparetti, 2, Monferrato, Piedmont

　　See my remarks on this folktale in the Introduction, p xxx-xxxi I have taken the liberty of doctoring the two versions published by Comparetti--the Piedmontese one and a Tuscan one, from Pisa (1)--and I heightened the suspense by placing the interruptions at the crucial moments

　　Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,

　　translated by George Martin,

　　Pantheon Books, New York 1980

　　鸚鵡

　　從前有一個商人要外出經(jīng)商，但他不敢把女兒一個人留在家里，因為有個國王早就在打她的壞主意了。

　　他叮囑女兒：“孩子啊，我要動身了，你一定要答應我，在我回來之前，你不要踏出家門一步，也不要為任何人開門。”

　　那天早晨，姑娘發(fā)現(xiàn)窗外的樹上落著一只漂亮的鸚鵡，彬彬有禮，很討人喜愛，她跟這只鸚鵡聊了一會，覺得很有意思。

　　姑娘說：“親愛的爸爸，我一個人留在家里會很孤單的，能不能買一只鸚鵡陪伴我呢?”

　　商人視女兒為掌上明珠，馬上就出去給她找鸚鵡。他遇到了一位賣鸚鵡的老者，而且賣得很便宜，就買下了這只鸚鵡送給了女兒。他對女兒千叮萬囑后，才離家上路。

　　商人剛一離家，國王就開始琢磨用什么方法能接近姑娘。他與一個老婦串通好了，派她給姑娘送去一封信。

　　但那時，姑娘正在跟鸚鵡說著話：“鸚鵡，你給我說些什么有趣的事呢?”

　　“我給你講一個動人的故事。從前有一個國王，他只有一個女兒，因為是獨生女，沒有兄弟姐妹陪她玩。人們給她做了一個玩具娃娃，跟她真人一樣大，臉也像她，穿的也像她。她不管到哪里總把娃娃帶在身邊，大家常常錯把她當做娃娃，錯把娃娃當成她。有一次，國王帶著她和娃娃坐著馬車來到一片森林，敵人襲擊他們，殺死了國王，擄走了公主，把娃娃丟在了車里。公主傷心地嚎啕大哭，敵人只好放了她，她就獨自一人在森林中走著。走到一個女王的王宮里，女王把她收為女仆。姑娘聰明賢惠，深得女王寵愛。別的奴仆開始嫉妒她了，為了讓她失寵，她們對她說：‘你知道嗎。女主人對你真的很好，有什么話都對你說，不過，有一件事情我們都知道，她卻不曾對你說，就是她曾有過一個兒子但后來死了。’于是姑娘便去問女王：‘陛下，你真的有一個兒子，后來死了嗎?’聽到這句話，女王差點氣暈過去。這件事沒人敢提，誰提到她死去的兒子，就是死罪。姑娘照例要判死刑的，可是女王對她有點憐惜，只把她關進了地牢。姑娘被關進來后，覺得很失落;她吃不下飯，整夜哭泣。半夜，她正在哭著，突然聽到開門的聲音，只見有五個人，其中四個是魔法師，另一個正是女王的兒子，他被他們囚禁著，他們帶他出來散散步。”

　　故事講到這里，一個仆人打斷了鸚鵡，他給姑娘送來一封信。信是那個國王寫的，他想方設法讓人把這封信遞到了這里。但是當時姑娘正在興頭上，她想知道故事的下文，就說：“我爸爸回來之前，我不收任何信。請不要打擾我。鸚鵡，繼續(xù)講下去吧。”

　　仆人拿著那封信出去了，鸚鵡繼續(xù)講故事：“到了早上，看管姑娘的獄卒發(fā)現(xiàn)犯人什么也沒吃，就稟報了女王。女王傳她上殿，姑娘就把在地牢里看見王子還活著、被四個魔法師關押著、每晚半夜押他出來放風的情況告訴了女王。女王馬上派了十二名軍士，手持長矛來到地牢，殺死了四個魔法師，把女王的兒子就了回來。女王因為姑娘救了王子，決定讓王子娶姑娘為妻。”

　　正講到這里，敲門聲又響了，家仆來請求小主人讀一讀那個國王寫來的信。商人的女兒說：“好了，故事講完了，我現(xiàn)在可以看信了。”

　　“還沒完，還有一段呢。”鸚鵡急忙勸阻她，“你聽著：那個姑娘并不愿意嫁給女王的兒子，她只要了些錢和一套男人服裝就離開了，到了另一個城邦。這里國王的兒子得了一種病，沒有一個醫(yī)師能醫(yī)好他：他從半夜到早晨，瞪著眼睛，胡言亂語，就像一個惡魔。姑娘穿著一身男裝來了，自稱是從外國來的醫(yī)師，請求讓自己和病人單獨待上一夜。她先察看了一下床，發(fā)現(xiàn)床下有一個暗道口，從暗道口下去，是一條走廊，盡頭放著一盞油燈。”

　　這時，又傳來了敲門聲，家仆進來說一位老婦，自稱是姑娘的姑媽，想要見見姑娘。(其實她根本不是什么姑娘的姑媽，而是為國王辦事的那個老婦。)商人的女兒急不可待地想要知道故事的結局，就告訴家仆不接待任何人。“鸚鵡，繼續(xù)講下去。”

　　鸚鵡繼續(xù)講：“姑娘走近油燈一看，只見一個老婦正在用一口大鍋煮王子的心，因為那個國王曾經(jīng)處死了她自己的孩子。姑娘從鍋里把那顆心拿走了，并讓國王的兒子吞下它，病立即就好了。國王說：‘我許諾過，哪位醫(yī)師治好了我兒子，我就把城邦的一半送給他，你是一個女人，你就嫁給我兒子，當他的王后吧。’”

　　“真是神奇啊!”商人的女兒說，“故事講完了，我現(xiàn)在可以接待那個自稱是我姑媽的老婦人了。”

　　鸚鵡說：“故事還沒完呢，后邊還有一段。你仔細聽著。裝扮成醫(yī)生的姑娘也不愿意嫁給國王的兒子，又離開了，她來到另一個城邦，這里國王的兒子中了魔法，不會說話。晚上姑娘躲在床下，到了半夜她看見兩個女巫從窗戶鉆進來，她們從王子嘴里取出一塊寶石，王子就能說話了，走的時候，她們又把那塊寶石放進王子嘴里，他又變啞了。”

　　又響起了敲門聲，不過商人的女兒正在聚精會神地聽著故事，根本沒聽見。鸚鵡接著講：

　　“第二天晚上，當那兩個女巫把小寶石放在床上的時候，姑娘拽起床單，將寶石抖落在地，并順手撿起來裝進口袋。到了早上，女巫找不到寶石，只好逃走了。國王的兒子能開口說話了，姑娘被任命為宮廷御醫(yī)。”

　　敲門聲還在響個不停，商人的女兒想讓屋外的人進來，就先問了鸚鵡一句：“你的故事講玩了還是沒講完?”

　　“還沒講完，”鸚鵡說，“你聽著：姑娘不想在王宮里做御醫(yī)，又來到另一個城邦。她聽說這里的國王瘋了。他在森林中撿回一個玩具娃娃就愛上了它，把自己關在房間里一邊凝視著娃娃，一邊哭，因為它不是一個真的女人。姑娘聽了這個消息后，來到國王的房間一看，驚奇地說：‘這是我的那個娃娃!’而國王看見姑娘長得跟娃娃一模一樣，就說：‘這就是我要娶的新娘!’”

　　敲門聲還在響著，鸚鵡實在不知道如何再把故事講下去了。只是說：“等一下，等一下，還有一段呢。”但它不會往下講了。

　　門外傳來商人的說話聲：“開門，開門啊，我是你爸爸。”

　　鸚鵡一聽，說：“故事講完了，國王娶了這個姑娘，兩個人幸福地生活在一起了。”

　　姑娘這才跑去打開門，緊緊抱住遠道歸來的爸爸。

　　商人說：“我的女兒真乖，一步也沒跨出家門。那只鸚鵡呢?”

　　他們走回房間里找鸚鵡，卻找不到鸚鵡了，看到的是一個英俊的小伙子，小伙子說：“請原諒，先生，我是一個喬裝成鸚鵡的國王，我愛上了您的女兒。我了解到我的情敵――另一個國王――想要拐騙您的女兒，就披上鸚鵡皮，誠心誠意地跟她交談，阻止她陷進我的情敵設下的圈套。我相信我成功了，現(xiàn)在我可以向您的女兒求婚了。”

　　商人答應了他們的婚事，于是姑娘嫁給了那個給他講過童話的國王，而另一個國王被氣死了。

　　(蒙費拉托地區(qū))