Stories from the Pentamerone

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

2198

Title

Stories from the Pentamerone

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Giambattista Basile's Il Pentamerone is a collection of folk tales from Naples, featuring magical transformations, clever heroines, and wicked stepmothers. With a rich Neapolitan dialect flavor and enchanting fairy-tale logic, this volume offers timeless stories of love, betrayal, and triumph that captivate readers seeking classic folklore.

Summary up to 500 words

Giambattista Basile's *Stories from the Pentamerone* presents a vibrant collection of folk tales originally gathered in Crete and Venice, blending high romance with rustic humor and sharp social commentary. The narrative opens with a framing device involving Princess Zoza, cursed to never laugh until she seeks Prince Taddeo, who lies in a tomb. To awaken him, she must weep enough to fill a pitcher, a task interrupted by a treacherous slave who steals her tears. Zoza is aided by fairies who gift her magical objects: a singing dwarf, a hen of gold, and a gold-spinning doll. These gifts eventually enchant the slave, forcing her to listen to stories. The tales within explore themes of envy, deception, and justice. In the story of Corvetto, a loyal servant outwits jealous courtiers and a savage ogre to retrieve a speaking horse and a golden tapestry for his king. Another tale follows Cannetella, a girl mistreated by a stepmother who turns her into a bird; she is eventually restored when a citron tree grows from her tears. The collection culminates in the story of Ciommetiello, a prince who falls for a fairy transformed into a citron. His stepmother, a black slave, attempts to kill him and the fairy but is ultimately exposed and punished when the fairy is restored to her human form. Basile's writing style is distinct, blending high romance with rustic humor and sharp social commentary on courtly intrigue. The stories are filled with vivid imagery, such as the fountain weeping crystal tears and the slave's transformation from a white lily to a black coal. Through these narratives, Basile celebrates wit and loyalty while condemning hypocrisy and malice, creating an enduring legacy of Italian folklore that rivals the Grimm brothers' collections.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2198.epub.noimages

Local file path

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Categories

• Classics
• Folklore