The Three Fairies
Encyclopedia
The Three Fairies is an Italian literary fairy tale
written by Giambattista Basile
in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone
.
It is Aarne-Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls, and appears to stem from an oral source. Others of this type include Diamonds and Toads
, Shita-kiri Suzume
, Mother Hulda
, The Three Heads in the Well
, Father Frost
, The Three Little Men in the Wood
, The Enchanted Wreath
, The Old Witch
, and The Two Caskets
. Another literary variant is Aurore and Aimée
. In this tale, like many others of this type, the heroine descends into another world where she is tested.
and politely asked him to help her. He said if she climbed, she would get it. She climbed down and found three beautiful fairies
at the bottom of the cliff. She was polite with them, combing their hair and claiming to find pearls and rubies along with lice. They took her to their castle and showed her their treasures; she admired them but was not bedazzled. Finally, they showed her rich clothing and asked her to chose a dress; she chose a cheap one. They asked her how she wanted to leave, and she said the stable door was good enough for her. They gave her a splendid gown, dressed her hair, and brought her to a golden door, telling her to look up when she went through it. A star fell on her forehead.
Grannizia went to the same place and was rude, complaining of the lice in their hair. They brought her to the wardrobe, and she grabbed the fanciest dress. They did not give it to her, but sent her out the stable door, where a donkey's testicle fell on her forehead. Her furious mother took Cicella's clothing and gave it to Grannizia, and sent Cicella to tend pigs. There, a nobleman, Cuosemo, saw her and asked her stepmother for leave to marry her. Caradonia agreed, sealed up Cicella in a barrel, and presented Grannizia as the bride instead. After the wedding night, he went back to the house, and a tabby cat told him that Cicella was in the barrel. He let her out, put Grannizia in her place, and fled with her. Caradonia returned with wood, created a fire, and boiled water to scald Cicella to death. She poured it in the barrel. Grannizia died, and Caradonia opened the barrel, saw her own daughter, and drowned herself in the well.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
written by Giambattista Basile
Giambattista Basile
Giambattista Basile was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector.- Biography :Born to a Neapolitan middle-class family, Basile was, during his career, a courtier and soldier to various Italian princes, including the doge of Venice. According to Benedetto Croce he was born in 1575, while...
in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone
Pentamerone
The Pentamerone is a seventeenth-century fairy tale collection by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile.-Background:...
.
It is Aarne-Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls, and appears to stem from an oral source. Others of this type include Diamonds and Toads
Diamonds and Toads
Diamonds and Toads or Toads and Diamonds is a French fairy tale by Charles Perrault, and titled by him "Les Fées" or "The Fairies." Andrew Lang included it in The Blue Fairy Book....
, Shita-kiri Suzume
Shita-kiri Suzume
, translated literally into "Tongue-Cut Sparrow", is a traditional Japanese fable telling of a kind old man, his avaricious wife and an injured sparrow...
, Mother Hulda
Mother Hulda
Mother Hulda is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. It was originally known as Frau Holle and is tale number 24.- Synopsis :...
, The Three Heads in the Well
The Three Heads in the Well
The Three Heads in the Well is a fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales.It is Aarne-Thompson tale 480, the kind and the unkind girls. Others of this type include Shita-kiri Suzume, Diamonds and Toads, Mother Hulda, Father Frost, The Three Little Men in the Wood, The Enchanted...
, Father Frost
Father Frost (fairy tale)
Father Frost is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki. Andrew Lang included it, as "The Story of King Frost", in The Yellow Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 480, The Kind and the Unkind Girls...
, The Three Little Men in the Wood
The Three Little Men in the Wood
The Three Little Men in the Wood or The Three Dwarfs is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 13. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book, and a version of the tale appears in A Book of Dwarfs by Ruth Manning-Sanders.It is Aarne-Thompson type 403B, the black and the...
, The Enchanted Wreath
The Enchanted Wreath
The Enchanted Wreath is a Scandinavian fairy tale, collected in Benjamin Thorpe in his Yule-Tide Stories: A Collection of Scandinavian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions...
, The Old Witch
The Old Witch
The Old Witch is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in his 1894 book, More English Fairy Tales.Also included within A Book of Witches Ruth Manning-Sanders and A Book of British Fairy Tales by Alan Garner....
, and The Two Caskets
The Two Caskets
The Two Caskets is a Scandinavian fairy tale included by Benjamin Thorpe in his Yule-Tide Stories: A Collection of Scandinavian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions. Andrew Lang included it in The Orange Fairy Book....
. Another literary variant is Aurore and Aimée
Aurore and Aimée
Aurore and Aimée is a French literary fairy tale written by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Like her better known tale Beauty and the Beast, it is among the first fairy tales deliberately written for children....
. In this tale, like many others of this type, the heroine descends into another world where she is tested.
Synopsis
An envious widow, Caradonia, had an ugly daughter, Grannizia. She married a rich landowner with a lovely daughter, Cicella, and in her envy tormented her stepdaughter, dressing her badly, giving her poor food, and making her work. One day, Cicella dropped her basket over a cliff. She saw, below, a hideous ogreOgre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
and politely asked him to help her. He said if she climbed, she would get it. She climbed down and found three beautiful fairies
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
at the bottom of the cliff. She was polite with them, combing their hair and claiming to find pearls and rubies along with lice. They took her to their castle and showed her their treasures; she admired them but was not bedazzled. Finally, they showed her rich clothing and asked her to chose a dress; she chose a cheap one. They asked her how she wanted to leave, and she said the stable door was good enough for her. They gave her a splendid gown, dressed her hair, and brought her to a golden door, telling her to look up when she went through it. A star fell on her forehead.
Grannizia went to the same place and was rude, complaining of the lice in their hair. They brought her to the wardrobe, and she grabbed the fanciest dress. They did not give it to her, but sent her out the stable door, where a donkey's testicle fell on her forehead. Her furious mother took Cicella's clothing and gave it to Grannizia, and sent Cicella to tend pigs. There, a nobleman, Cuosemo, saw her and asked her stepmother for leave to marry her. Caradonia agreed, sealed up Cicella in a barrel, and presented Grannizia as the bride instead. After the wedding night, he went back to the house, and a tabby cat told him that Cicella was in the barrel. He let her out, put Grannizia in her place, and fled with her. Caradonia returned with wood, created a fire, and boiled water to scald Cicella to death. She poured it in the barrel. Grannizia died, and Caradonia opened the barrel, saw her own daughter, and drowned herself in the well.