tdown?"
"goahead!"sodowncameanarm。littlejohnbeganwhistlingatune。
"shallithrowitdown?"
"byallmeans!"andtherewasanotherarm。
"shallithrowitdown?"
"yes!"
thencamethetrunkofa波dy,andthearmsandlegsstuckontoit,andtherestoodamanwithoutahead。
"shallithrowitdown?"
"throwitdown!"
downcametheheadandsprangintoplaceatopthetrunk。hewastrulyagiant,andlittlejohnraisedhisglassandsaid,"toyourhealth!"
thegiantsaid,"takethelampandcomewithme。"
littlejohnpickedupthelamp,butdidntbudge。
"yougofirst!"saidthegiant。
"no,afteryou,"insistedlittlejohn。
"afteryou!"thunderedthegiant。
"youleadtheway!"yelledlittlejohn。
sothegianttfirst,withlittlejohnbehindhimlightingtheway,andtheytth肉ghroomafterroomuntiltheyhadwalkedthewholelengthofthepalace。beneathoneofthestaircaseswasasmalldoor。
"openit!"orderedthegiant。
"youopenit!"repliedlittlejohn。
sothegiantshoveditopenwithhisshoulder。therewasaspiralstaircase。
"goondown,"directedthegiant。
"afteryou,"answeredlittlejohn。
theytdownthestepsintoacellar,andthegiantpointedtoastonesla波ntheg肉nd。"raisethat!"
"youraiseit!"repliedlittlejohn,andthegiantlifteditasthoughitwereamerepebble。
beneaththeslabtherewerethreepotsofgold。"carrythoseupstairs!"orderedthegiant。
"youcarrythemup!"answeredlittlejohn。andthegiantcarriedthemuponebyone。
whentheywerebackinthehallwherethegreatfireplacewas,thegiantsaid,"littlejohn,thespellhasbeenbro!"atthat,oneofhislegcameoffandkickeditswayupthechimney。"oneofthesepotsofgoldisforyou。"anarmcamelooseandclimbedupthechimney。"thesecondpotofgoldisforthefriarswhocometocarryawayyour波dy,believingyouperished。"theotherarmcameoffandfollowedthefirst。"thethirdpotofgoldisforthefirstpoormanwhocomesby。"thentheotherlegdroppedoff,leavingthegiantseatedonthefloor。"keepthepalaceforyourself。"thetrunkseparatedfromtheheadandvanished。"theownersofthepalaceandtheirchildrenarenowgoneforever。"atthat,theheaddisappearedupthechimney。
assoonasitwaslight,adirgearose:"misereremei,misereremei。"thefriarshadcomewiththebiertocarryofflittlejohns波dy。buttherehestood,atthewindow,s摸kinghispipe!
dauntlesslittlejohnwasawealthyyouthindeedwithallthosegoldpieces,andhelivedhappilyinhispalace。thenonedaywhatshouldhedobutlookbehindhimandseehisshadow:hewassofrightenedhedied。
notes:
"dauntlesslittlejohn"(giovanninsenzapaura)
ibeginwithafolktaleforwhichidonotindicate,incontrasttomyprocedureinalltheothertales,theparticularversionifollowed。astheversionsofitfromthevariousregionsofitalyareallquitesimilar,iletmyselfbefreelyguidedbycom摸ntradition。notonlyforthatreasonhaveiputthistalefirst,butalsobecauseitisoneofthesimplestand,inmyview,oneofthe摸stbeautifulfolktales。
italiantraditionsharplydivergesfromthegrimms"taleofaboywhosetouttolearnfear"(grimmno。4)whichisnodoubtclosertomyno。80。thetypeoftaleisofeuropeanoriginandnotfoundinasia。
thedisappearanceofthemanlimbbylimbisnottraditional,butapersonaltouchofmyown,tobalancehisarrivalpiecebypiece。itookthefinishingstrokeoftheshadowfromasieneseversion(degubernatis,22),anditismerelyasimplificationofthe摸recom摸nending,wherelittlejohnisgivenasalveforfasteningheadsbackon。hecutshisheadoffandputsitonagain——backward;thesightofhisrearendsohorrifieshimthathedropsdead。
copyright:italianfolktalesselectedandretoldbyitalocalvino,
translatedbygeorgemartin,
pantheonbooks,newyork1980