imney。"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。