Sources : wikipedia.com. , jesterbear.com. , youtube.com.
1. FANTAGHIRO ( THE CAVE OF THE GOLDEN ROSE ) – THE TV. SERIES
Fantaghirò (alternately titled The Cave of the Golden Rose) is an Italian fantasy film series based on Italo Calvino’s Fanta-Ghiro the Beautiful. The series consists of five television movies which were released between 1991 and 1996. It was produced by Rete Italia and directed by Lamberto Bava, and filmed in the Czech and Slovak Republics; the musical score, including the theme song Mio Nemico (My Enemy), was written by Amedeo Minghi.
The cult success of the film series lead director Lamberto Bava to make a few other television movies in this style, including Desideria e l’Anello del Drago (Desideria), La Principessa e il Povero (The Princess and the Pauper) and Sorellina e il Principe del Sogno (Princess Alisea). The movie series also led to the creation of an animated television series by BRB Internacional, also titled Fantaghirò.
The series has been dubbed in Czech, Slovak, English, French, Polish, German, Spanish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Sinhala, Georgian and Russian.
FANTAGHIRO 1991
Fantaghirò is the youngest of three princesses born to a warrior King. Although beautiful and intelligent, she causes many problems for her family because she goes against everything expected for a woman in her kingdom, by being literate, adventurous and rebellious, which makes her father furious. One day, the warrior King receives an invitation from the enemy king Romualdo to a duel that can potentially end the centuries-long war that has been going on between the two kingdoms. The warrior king then learns that only one of his three daughters can win the duel. Fantaghirò sees this as a chance for her to prove herself.
FANTAGHIRO 2 1992
Fantaghirò and Romualdo are due to be married, but their wedding is cut short when news arrives that Fantaghirò’s father has been kidnapped by the Black Queen. The Black Queen demands that Fantaghirò and Romualdo submit to her rule, but they refuse and Romualdo declares war. He sets out with his army, leaving behind Fantaghirò, who has sworn not to lift another weapon for the rest of her life. However, Fantaghirò finds that she has to break her promise, and secretly sets out on her own to the Dark Kingdom, where she learns that the Black Queen’s plan is much more sinister.
FANTAGHIRO 3 1993
The evil wizard Tarabas learns that his powerful kingdom will be defeated by a royal child of no more than ten years of age. He becomes obsessed with learning how this will happen, so he orders his clay warriors to kidnap all of the world’s royal children. When the children of Fantaghirò’s sisters become targets, Fantaghirò and Romualdo protect them from the attacking clay soldiers. However, during the fight Romualdo accidentally falls into a cursed river and turns into stone. Fantaghirò then learns that she has to find Tarabas if she wants to save her beloved Romualdo.
FANTAGHIRO 4 1994
A black cloud is travelling throughout the land, destroying everything it touches. When the black cloud consumes Fantaghirò’s castle, she allies herself with Prince Parsel to track the black cloud to its origins and stop whoever is casting it. Along the way, Fantaghirò is reunited with the wizard Tarabas, who agrees to help them on their quest, and Princess Anjelica, who is in love with Tarabas.
FANTAGHIRO 5 1995
Fantaghirò is captured by the Black Queen, who has been unable to perform magic ever since she helped Fantaghirò in the previous films. The Black Queen is about to decapitate Fantaghirò when she is suddenly sucked into an alternate reality where she has to join forces with a scoundrel named Aries in defeating a villain who eats children.
The Characters
* FANTAGHIRO – portrayed by Alessandra Martines, is the main character of all five films. She is the youngest princess of three, though she is the leader among her sisters. She is outspoken, headstrong and never retreats from battle. In the first film, she is an impulsive troublemaker who likes to provoke her father and sisters, but underneath it she has a good heart. By the second film onwards, she is accepted as a fighter who will do whatever it takes to protect her loved ones, even if that means sacrificing her own life. She has is deeply in love with Romualdo, who was previously her kingdom’s enemy. They are married in the third film and adopt the orphaned Princess Smeralda as their daughter. Fantaghirò has long red-brown hair which she cuts into a boy-cut in the first and second film, but in the third film onwards she only has the boy-cut. Fantaghirò tries to befriend all creatures and people she meets, unless they try to harm those she cares about. She is very forgiving and looks past physical appearances. Fantaghiro’s castle is really Bouzov Castle.
* ROMUALDO – portrayed by Kim Rossi Stuart, is Fantaghirò’s husband. After the death of his father, Romualdo seeks to end the centuries-long war his ancestors have waged against Fantaghirò’s people by challenging Fantaghirò’s father to single combat. He falls in love with her in the first film and becomes obsessed with finding her. He is shocked when he meets her properly for the first time, as she has chosen to replace her father as Romualdo’s opponent, and is disguised as a man. Eventually he learns that she is a princess and the two are bethrothed. They are due to be married early in the second film, but the ceremony is postponed when the Dark Witch kidnaps Fantaghirò’s father. Romualdo becomes the Dark Witch’s target, and she bewitches him to fall in love with her. Romualdo eventually regains his memories thanks to Fantaghirò and the White Witch. In the third film, Romualdo turns into a statue whilst fighting Tarabas’ men, and is only revived near the end of the movie, when the pair are finally married. In the fourth film Stuart did not want to return again for the role, so Romualdo was transformed into the hideously ugly Fiodor, portrayed by Riccardo Serventi Longhi. At the end of the film, Fiodor is transformed back to Romualdo, with stock footage from the first film being used. Romualdo does not appear at all in the fifth film, except in flashbacks. His castle is really Pernštejn Castle.
* THE WHITE WITCH ( STREGA BIANCA) – portrayed by Angela Molina in the first film and Katarína Kolajová in the second film, is a good witch and friend of Fantaghirò. She has been instrumental in protecting and guiding Fantaghirò ever since she was a baby, although the princess is not always aware of the White Witch’s involvement. The White Witch can transform into various animals, including a goose, a mouse and a cat. She also transformed into the White Knight in order to train Fantaghirò in the art of swordsmanship. In the second film, the White Witch renounces her powers in order to free Fantaghirò from a magical promise she had made. Although she does not appear in the later films, early in the third film it is mentioned that she has retired to the country.
* DARK WITCH / BLACK WITCH / BLACK QUEEN ( STREGA NERA) – portrayed by Brigitte Nielsen, is the evil and perverse counterpart of the White Witch, who first appears in the second film and wants to destroy Fantaghirò and Romualdo’s relationship. She lures them to her kingdom by kidnapping Fantaghirò’s father, and then casts a spell on Romualdo to make him fall in love with her. Fantaghirò and Romualdo manage to defeat her, and she is turned to stone and blown up into many pieces. In the third film her former minions, Bolt and Lightning, put her back together and revive her because Fantaghirò needs her help against Tarabas. Because the Dark Witch does help Fantaghirò, albeit reluctantly, her evil powers are weakened. In the fourth and fifth films she constantly tries to get back at Fantaghirò so she can be all powerful again. Her Fantaghiro 2 castle is really Bojnice Castle and Nielsen said she based her witch role on the character of Grimhilde in Disney’s Snow White.
* TARABAS – portrayed by Nicholas Rogers, is a wizard who appears in the third and fourth films. He is initially a very powerful villain who is feared by magicians in every kingdom, but he discovers a prophecy that a royal child no older than ten years will defeat him. Tarabas becomes obsessed with learning how he will be defeated, and sends his men to kidnap all royal children, during which the parents of young Princess Smeralda are killed. He crosses paths with Fantaghirò and falls in love with her, eventually asking her to marry him in exchange for reviving Romualdo, who has been turned into stone. In the end, Tarabas lets Fantaghirò free from her promise and the two kiss once before Fantaghirò returns to her true love. He redeems himself with Smeralda by allowing her to see her parents one last time, an act of kindness which fulfills the prophecy of his dark powers’ downfall. Tarabas renounces his evil ways and lives in peace until the fourth film when he is accused of creating a destructive black cloud consuming all in its path. Tarabas reunites with Fantaghirò to track down the source of the black cloud and discovers that it was conjured by his father, Darken. At the end of the fourth film Tarabas decides to renounce his love for Fantaghirò and stay with Princess Angelica of Tohor.
* XELLESIA – portrayed by Ursula Andress, is an evil witch and the mother of Tarabas. She is conniving, wicked, and tries her best to keep her son away from all things good and warm. She appears in the third and fourth films. By the end of the third film, the reformed Tarabas tires of his mother’s evil ways and robs her of her powers. In the fourth film she confesses that she has always loved Tarabas but has had to keep her love hidden from him. She proves this by sacrificing herself so that Tarabas can escape to safety.
* DARKEN -portrayed by Horst Buchholz, is a cruel wizard so powerful that it is forbidden to speak his name. Aside from being the source of all evil in Fantaghirò’s world, he is the father of Tarabas, and wants his son to be just as evil as he is. He appears in the fourth film as the main villain who creates a black cloud that causes destruction wherever it goes. He is powerful enough to revive Fantaghirò when she dies.
* KING – portrayed by Mario Adorf, is Fantaghirò’s father and appears in the first two films. He is initially disappointed by Fantaghirò’s birth, as he had been expecting a son, who would become his heir. His disappointment worsens when she grows up refusing to be meek and obedient as all women in his kingdom are expected to be. But over the first film he grows to care for Fantaghirò and accepts her as she is. In the second film he is kidnapped by the Dark Witch and is hypnotised into becoming the Dark King.
* BOLT ( SAETTA) – portrayed by Lenca Kubalkova, is a magical sprite and sister of Lightning. Introduced in the second film, she is originally a minion of the Dark Witch, but Bolt betrays her and joins the side of good with Fantaghirò. In the third film, Bolt says that she and her brother are training to be angels. She can transform into a bolt of lightning and fly in the air. She hates water, and cannot fly if she falls in a river.
* LIGHTNING ( FULMINE) – portrayed by Jakub Zdeněk, is a magical sprite and older brother of Bolt. He starts to rebel against his mistress, the Dark Witch, early in the second film, and it is he who instigates Bolt to do the same. In the third film he and Bolt put all the pieces of the Dark Witch back together to revive her, but Lightning keeps the Dark Witch’s heart as leverage.
* CATERINA / CATHERINE – portrayed by Ornella Marcucci in the first film and Barbora Kodetova in the second and third films, is the eldest sister of Fantaghirò. She is level-headed, wise and patient. She marries Cataldo in the first film, is pregnant in the second film, and has a son in the third film. She has a non-speaking role in the fourth film when their castle is shrunk to the size of a toy, but her face cannot be seen clearly.
* CAROLINA / CAROLINE – portrayed by Kateřina Brožová, is one of the Fantaghirò’s sisters. She has golden hair, is a hopeless romantic and is well aware of her beauty, traits that usually infuriate Fantaghirò. In the first film she marries Ivaldo, she is pregnant in the second film, and by the third film she has a son. She can briefly be seen in the fourth film, but only at distance, and her face cannot be seen clearly.
* CATALDO – portrayed by Stefano Davanzati, is one of Romualdo’s closest friends. He appears in the first and second films as Romualdo’s companion. He’s the one who comes up with the idea of holding a swimming competition to reveal Fantaghirò’s true gender in the first film. He later falls in love with and marries Caterina.
* IVALDO – portrayed by Tomáš Valík, is one of the Romualdo’s closest friends and appears in the first and second films. He later falls in love with and marries Carolina.
* THE QUEEN OF THE ELVES – portrayed by Aňa Geislerová, is the Queen of the Forest Elves. She is beautiful and wears a gown of red and gold leaves. In the second film she stops Romualdo and his army who are on the way to the Dark Kingdom. She gives Romualdo three tests to prove his worth, which he succeeds. In the third film, she is visited by Fantaghirò, who needs help in breaking a curse that has turned Romualdo into the stone. The Queen of the Elves tells Fantaghirò that the wizard she seeks is Tarabas.
* GOLDEYE – portrayed by Karel Roden, is a minor villain in the second film. He is a bandit who robs anyone he comes across. Fantaghirò humiliates him at the beginning of the film by beating him in armed combat. Later their paths cross again and Goldeye tries to get his revenge by making Fantaghirò dress up as a belly dancer.
* SMERALDA / ESMERALDA – portrayed by Elena D’Ippolito, is a young princess seen in the third film. Her parents are killed when Tarabas’ clay soldiers attack under his command to kidnap all the royal children of the world. Fantaghirò takes Smeralda under her care and eventually adopts her. Smeralda is playful and headstrong, much like Fantaghirò was in her youth.
* ANGELICA – portrayed by Agathe de La Fontaine, is the princess of the oriental kingdom of Tohor. She has listened to stories of Tarabas from when he was a dark wizard, and has adored him. When she learns that Tarabas is in her kingdom, she finds him and declares her love for him. Tarabas rebuffs her affections throughout the entire movie until the very end, when he promises to try to love her.
* NAMELESS ( SENZA NOME) – portrayed by Remo Girone, is the villain of the fifth film. He is an ogre made of enchanted apalicandro wood, which renders him invulnerable to almost all attacks. Animated with the magic of a hundred witches, Nameless was created in order to end a centuries-long war of attrition, only to rebel against his creators. He travels through different worlds on a flying galleon in order to become more human by feeding on children. His presence alone is enough to transform food items into deadly monsters.
2. FANTAGHIRO – ANIMATED SERIES
Fantaghirò is a 1999 Spanish animated television series that is based on the Italian fantasy movie series Fantaghirò.
The series was created by BRB Internacional with animation by Colorland Animation Production, with 26 episodes produced in all. The series is different from the films in that it is more fast-paced and light-hearted. Additionally, various places and people that were not named in the films have been given names in this series, such as the kingdoms of Tuan and Dana, which are Fantaghirò and Romualdo’s respective home kingdoms.
The series uses elements from all five of the live-action Fantaghirò movies, combining and rearranging various events and characters appearances. The main theme throughout the series is the love between Fantaghirò and Romualdo, which changes and affects everyone around them. The main villains throughout the series are the Dark Witch and Darken, both of whom appear from the very first episode.
The series revolves around the adventures of Fantaghirò, the youngest daughter of King Hadrian of the kingdom of Tuan. She is brave and outspoken, and refuses to be demure and obedient like all women are supposed to be. Initially unknown to her, Fantaghirò was born with a very specific destiny, which is to destroy all the evil in the land. Her passion comes from her great love for Romualdo, the prince of the kingdom of Dana. Throughout the series the Dark Witch and Darken attempt to separate or destroy both Fantaghirò and Romualdo.
Many of the characters from the live-action films are in this animated series, but some have been renamed or changed. There also a number of new characters added.
Among the film characters that have been brought over to the series are Fantaghirò, Romualdo, Fantaghirò’s father, Catherine, Caroline, Cataldo, Ivaldo, the Dark Witch, Darken, Tarabas, Xelesia and Golden Mane. However the character of Tarabas, who was a very prominent character in the third and fourth films, is only a minor character in this series. Characters that have been changed are Lightning and Bolt from the films, who have become an imp-boy named Flash and a Cat named Bolt, and the White Witch who has been split into two characters named the White Fairy and Mother Goose.
Episodes :
1. The Prophecy
The introduction of the kingdoms of Tuan and Dana, which have been fighting for centuries ever since Princess Kyra of Tuan made a pact with the dark lord Darken to steal the holy Kuorum, which is linked to the emotions of the two kingdoms. As long as the two kingdoms fight, the Kuorum is a source of dark magic. Many years later a prophecy comes to be that a girl will be born who will destroy all evil in the world. The Dark Witch sets out to kill Fantaghirò, who has just been born to King Hadrian of Tuan, but the White Fairy sets out to protect the baby princess.
2. The Grotto of the Holy Beast
Fantaghirò has grown up into a young woman, and has been having dreams about a young man with enchanting eyes. She feels that she has to find that young man, but her father King Hadrian has summoned a trio of princes from another kingdom to marry her and her elder sisters Catherine and Caroline. Fantaghirò rejects the proposal and flees to the forest, where she meets the White Fairy who tells her of her destiny, and later encounters her enemy Prince Romualdo from the kingdom of Dana.
3. The Scarlet Knight
Prince Romualdo dreams that he is fighting the dark lord Darken, and he is helped by a mysterious Scarlet Knight. Romualdo sends a message to the king of Tuan asking for a final duel to end the war between their two kingdoms. King Hadrian agrees and holds a tournament to decide which Tuan warrior will represent the kingdom in the duel. Fantaghirò secretly enters the tournament as the Scarlet Knight thanks to her friend Mother Goose. When the Dark Witch learns of this tournament, she sends her own minion the Black Knight to defeat the Scarlet Knight.
4. The Duel of Love
Fantaghirò is preparing for her duel with Romualdo while the Dark Witch plots to sabotage their duel so that the two will never realise that they are destined for each other. The White Fairy fights back with her own plot to protect the would-be lovers.
5. The Hunter’s Prey
King Hadrian is travelling away from his kingdom when he is hunted down by Darken and his minions, the Drakes. Elsewhere, Catherine and Caroline are getting ready to get married to their beaus Cataldo and Ivaldo, respectively. At this event, Fantaghirò makes a magical vow never to fight with weapons ever again. The celebrations are cut short when news arrives that King Hadrian has been capture by the Dark Witch, so Romualdo, Cataldo, Ivaldo and the army leave to save the king. Fantaghirò secretly goes after that and battles her own way to the Dark Castle.
6. The Rescue of the Kuorum
Fantaghirò arrives at the Dark Castle and has to battle many creatures and avoid many traps, but is shocked when she finally reaches the Kuorum and discovers that she has to fight her beloved Romualdo, who has been put under a spell by the Dark Witch.
7. The Forest of the Elves
Fantaghirò and Romualdo are attacked by Darken and the Dark Witch again, and this time they are separated in the Forest of the Elves. Fantaghirò meets a Unicorn and has to face three trials set by the Elves.
8. Heart of Stone
Xelesia, mother of the dark wizard Tarabas, discovers a prophecy that he will be defeated by Fantaghirò. Xelesia sends her clay warriors to fight Fantaghirò, and during the battle one of the clay warriors drags Romualdo into the river, where he is turned into a stone statue. Fantaghirò then discovers that the only way to save her beloved is to get a kiss from Tarabas himself.
9. The Black Cloud
The Dark Witch sends the Black Cloud to the kingdom of Tuan, where it swallows Fantaghirò’s castle completely. Fantaghirò teams up with the Dragon and the White Fairy to send the Black Cloud away and then defeat it, so to restore her kingdom and all the people she cares about.
10. Captain Redface
The Dark Witch has sent an enchanted balloon to destroy Fantaghirò’s castle. Fantaghirò, Romualdo and King Hadrian are able to stop it from destroying the walls, but they are caught in it and are whisked away from the kingdom. Fantaghirò follows them by riding on Golden Mane, but eventually the balloon flies over the sea. Fantaghirò manages to get passage on a ship, but it turns out to be more complicated.
11. The Horseman of Hate
Darken and the Dark Witch find a way to cause the kingdoms of Tuan and Dana to fight again, this time using General Orymus of Dana, who believes that Romualdo is neglecting his own people. The Horseman of Hate arrives and affects everyone except Fantaghirò and Romualdo, who are left alone to save their people for being consumed by hate.
12. The Underground War
13. Pirate Noname
14. The Genie of Evil
15. The Last Goodbye
16. In the Mouth of Evil
17. The Cemetery of Dragons
18. In the Heart of the Ice
19. The Book of a Thousand Spells
20. The Weapons of Peace
21. The Magic Garden
22. Tree World
23. The Essence of Life
24. The Dark Elf
25. The Red Diamond
26. Love Conquers Everything.
3. ITALO FOLKTALES
Italian Folktales (Fiabe Italiane) is a collection of 200 Italian folktales published in 1956 by Italo Calvino. Calvino began to undertake the project that will lead to the Italian Folktales in 1954, influenced by Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale; his intention was to emulate the Brothers Grimm in producing a popular collection of Italian fairy tales for the general reader. He did not compile tales from listeners, but made extensive use of the existing work of folklorists; he noted the source of each individual tale, but warned that was merely the version he used.
He included extensive notes on his alterations to make the tales more readable and the logic of his selections, such as renaming the heroine of The Little Girl Sold with the Pears Perina rather than Margheritina to connect to the pears,and selecting Bella Venezia as the Italian variant of Snow White because it featured robbers, rather than the variants containing dwarfs, which he suspected were imported from Germany.
It was first translated into English in 1962; a further translation is by Sylvia Mulcahy (Dent, 1975) and constituted the first comprehensive collection of Italian folktales.
List of tales :
Dauntless Little John (Giovannino senza paura; Fearless Giovannino [Johnny])
The Man Wreathed in Seaweed (Riviera di Ponente) (L’uomo verde d’alghe; The man’s green algae)
The Ship with Three Decks (Riviera di Ponente (Il bastimento a tre piani)
The Man Who Came Out Only at Night (Riviera di Ponente) (L’uomo che usciva solo di notte)
And Seven! (Riviera di Ponente) (E Sette!)
Body-without-Soul (Riviera di Ponente) (Corpo-senza-anima)
Money Can Do Everything (Genoa) (Il denaro fa tutto)
The Little Shepherd (Genoese hinterland) (Il pastore che non cresceva mai)
Silver Nose (Langhe) (Naso d’argento)
The Count’s Beard (Bra)
The Little Girl Sold with the Pears (Montferrat)
The Snake (Montferrat)
The Three Castles (Montferrat)
The Prince Who Married a Frog (Montferrat)
The Parrot (Montferrat) (Il pappagallo)
The Twelve Oxen (Montferrat) (I dodici buoi)
Crack and Crook (Montferrat)
The Canary Prince (Turin)
King Cum (Colline del Po)
Those Stubborn Souls, the Biellese (Province of Biella)
The Pot of Marjoram (Milan)
The Billiards Player (Milan)
Animal Speech (Mantua)
The Three Cottages (Mantua)
The Peasant Astrologer (Mantua)
The Wolf and the Three Girls (Lake Garda)
The Land Where One Never Dies (Verona)
The Devotee of St. Joseph (Verona)
The Three Crones (Venice)
The Crab Prince (Venice)
Silent for Seven Years (Venice)
The Dead Man’s Palace (Venice)
Pome and Peel (Venice)
The Cloven Youth (Venice)
Invisible Grandfather (Venice)
The King of Denmark’s Son (Venice)
Petie Pete Versus Witch Bea-Witch (Friuli)
Quack, Quack! Stick to My Back! (Friuli)
The Happy Man’s Shirt (Friuli)
One Night in Paradise (Friuli)
Jesus and St. Peter in Friuli (Friuli)
The Magic Ring (Trentino)
The Dead Man’s Arm (Trentino)
The Science of Laziness (Trieste)
Fair Brow (Istria)
The Stolen Crown (Dalmatia)
The King’s Daughter Who Could Never Get Enough Figs (Rome)
The Three Dogs (Romagna)
Uncle Wolf (Romagna)
Giricoccola (Bologna)
Tabagnino the Hunchback (Bologna)
The King of the Animals (Bologna)
The Devil’s Breeches (Bologna)
Dear as Salt (Bologna)
The Queen of the Three Mountains of Gold (Bologna)
Lose Your Temper, and You Lose Your Bet (Bologna)
The Feathered Ogre (Garfagnana estense)
The Dragon with Seven Heads (Montale)
Bellinda and the Monster (Montale)
The Shepherd at Court (Montale)
The Sleeping Queen (Montale)
The Son of the Merchant from Milan (Montale)
Monkey Palace (Montale)
Rosina in the Oven (Montale)
The Salamanna Grapes (Montale)
The Enchanted Palace (Montale)
Buffalo Head (Montale)
The King of Portugal’s Son (Montale)
Fanta-Ghiro the Beautiful (Montale)
The Old Woman’s Hide (Montale)
Olive (Montale)
Catherine, Sly Country Lass (Montale)
The Traveler from Turin (Montale)
The Daughter of the Sun (Pisa)
The Dragon and the Enchanted Filly (Pisa)
The Florentine (Pisa)
Ill-Fated Royalty (Pisa)
The Golden Ball (Pisa)
Fioravante and Beautiful Isolina (Pisa)
Fearless Simpleton (Livorno)
The Milkmaid Queen (Livorno)
The Story of Campriano (Province of Lucca)
The North Wind’s Gift (Mugello)
The Sorceress’s Head
Apple Girl
Prezzemolina
The Fine Greenbird
The King in the Basket
The One-Handed Murderer
The Two Hunchbacks
Pete and the Ox
The King of the Peacocks
The Palace of the Doomed Queen
The Little Geese
Water in the Basket
Fourteen
Jack Strong, Slayer of Five Hundred
Crystal Rooster
A Boat for Land and Water
The Neapolitan Soldier
Belmiele and Belsole
The Haughty Prince
Wooden Maria
Louse Hide
Cicco Petrillo
Nero and Bertha
The Love of the Three Pomegranates
Joseph Ciufolo, Tiller-Flutist
Bella Venezia
The Mangy One
The Wildwood King
Mandorlinfiore
The Three Blind Queens
Hunchback Wryneck Hobbler
One-Eye
The False Grandmother
Frankie-Boy’s Trade
Shining Fish
Miss North Wind and Mr. Zephyr
The Palace Mouse and the Garden Mouse
The Moor’s Bones
The Chicken Laundress
Crack, Crook, and Hook
First Sword and Last Broom
Mrs. Fox and Mr. Wolf
The Five Scapegraces
Ari-Ari, Donkey, Donkey, Money, Money!
The School of Salamanca
The Tale of the Cats (Taranto)
Chick
The Slave Mother
The Sire Wife
The Princesses Wed to the First Passer-By
Liombruno
Cannelora
Filo d’Oro and Filomena
The Thirteen Bandits
The Three Orphans
Sleeping Beauty and Her Children
The Handmade King
The Turkey Hen
The Three Chicory Gatherers
Beauty-with-the-Seven-Dresses
Serpent King
The Widow and the Brigand
The Crab with the Golden Eggs
Nick Fish
Grattula-Beddattula
Misfortune
Pippina the Serpent
Catherine the Wise
The Ismailian Merchant
The Thieving Dove
Dealer in Peas and Beans
The Sultan with the Itch
The Wife Who Lived on Wind
Wormwood
The King of Spain and the English Milord
The Bejeweled Boot
The Left-Hand Squire
Rosemary
Lame Devil
Three Tales by Three Sons of Three Merchants
The Dove Girl
Jesus and St. Peter in Sicily
The Barber’s Timepiece
The Count’s Sister
Master Francesco Sit-Down-and-Eat
The Marriage of Queen and a Bandit
The Seven Lamb Heads
The Two Sea Merchants
Out in the World
A Boat Loaded with…
The King’s Son in the Henhouse
The Mincing Princess
The Great Narbone
Animal Talk and the Nosy Wife
The Calf with the Golden Horns
The Captain and the General
The Peacock Feather
The Garden Witch
The Mouse with the Long Tail
The Two Cousins
The Two Muleteers
Giovannuzza the Fox
The Child that Fed the Crucifix
Steward Truth
The Foppish King
The Princess with the Horns
Giufa
Fra Ignazio
Solomon’s Advice
The Man Who Robbed the Robbers
The Lions’ Grass
The Convent of Nuns and the Monastery of Monks
The Male Fern
St. Anthony’s Gift
March and the Shepherd (Marzo e il Pastore)
John Balento
Jump into My Sack
From the “SEVEN FOLKTALES ” of Italo Calvino, the story that inspired FANTAGHIRO the tv. series :
4. BEAUTIFUL FANTA – GHIRO
” In olden times, there was a king who had no sons, but only two beautiful daughters. The oldest was named Assuntina, and the youngest was Fanta-Ghiro.
The king, who was always sick and irritable, stayed shut up in his room the whole day long. He had three chairs–a sky blue chair, a black chair, and a red chair. Every morning, upon going to greet him, his daughters were quick to note in which chair he sat. If it was in the sky blue chair, that meant he was in high spirits. If he sat in the black chair, that spelled death. The red chair meant war.
One day the girls found their father in the red chair. “Father!” exclaimed the eldest, “What has happened?”
The king replied, “I’ve just received a declaration of war from the king of the country next door to our land. What will I do? I’m ill, as usual, and there’s no one to take command of the army for me. Where can I get a good general at a moment’s notice?”
“If you’ll allow me,” said the oldest girl, “I’ll be your general myself. I command your household. Do you think I couldn’t command your soldiers?”
“Don’t be silly! That’s no task for a woman!” said the king.
“Do let me try,” begged Assuntina.
“Very well. We shall try,” said the king. “But understand that if, along the way, you get to talking about women’s work, you march straight back home.”
Assuntina agreed to that condition, and the king ordered his trusted squire, Tonino, to mount his horse and ride with the princess to war, but to bring her straight home to the palace the first time she mentioned women’s work.
The princess, dressed regally in silk, mounted her horse sidesaddle and rode with the squire off to war. The army marched behind them. They had already gone a good long way when they came to a cane field and started through it. The princess exlaimed, “What magnificent canes! If we had them at home, we could make any number of distaffs for our spinning!”
“Halt, princess!” cried Tonino. “I am under orders to take you back to the palace. You brought up women’s work.” They wheeled their horses around and the whole army about-faced and followed them back.
Then the youngest went to the king. “Majesty, let me take command of the army.”
“No, a thousand times no!” he replied. “You’re too young. How could you command an army if your sister could not?”
“Is there any harm in letting me try, Papa? I promise not to disgrace you. Let me try.”
It was agreed that Fanta-Ghiro would go to war. She dressed as a warrior, with helmet, armor, sword, and two pistols, and galloped off with Tonino at her side and the army behind them. They passed the cane field without comment and soon reached the border.
“Before going into battle,” said Fanta-Ghiro, “I’d like a word with the enemy king.”
The enemy king was a handsome young man. The minute he set eyes upon Fanta-Ghiro, he suspected she was a maiden rather than a general. He said, “You are young to command such a large army.”
Fanta-Ghiro replied, “I am a member of the royal family, and my father, the king, has given me full authority as general of the army.”
Intrigued, the king invited Fanta-Ghiro to his palace to agree on the reasons for the war before going into battle.
They arrived at the palace and the king ran privately to his mother. “Mama, Mama,” he said. “Listen, I’ve brought home with me the general in command of the enemy forces, but just wait until you see him.
Beautiful Fanta-Ghiro
With eyes so black and speech soft and low;
She’s a maiden, I know, I know!”
His mother replied, “Take him into the armory. If the general is really a girl, arms won’t interest her at all, and she won’t even look at them.”
The king led Fanta-Ghiro into the armory. Fanta-Ghiro took down the swords hanging on the walls, carefully noting how they were gripped and how heavy they were. She moved onto the guns and pistols, breaking them open to see how they were loaded.
The king ran back to his mother. “Mama, the general handles weapons like a man, but the more I look at him, the more I’m convinced of what I say.
Beautiful Fanta-Ghiro
With eyes so black and speech soft and low;
She’s a maiden, I know, I know!”
His mother said, “Take him into the garden. If the general is a girl, she will pick a rose or violet and pin it on her bosom. If he is a man, he will choose a jasmine, sniff it, then stick it behind his ear.”
The king and Fanta-Ghiro went for a stroll in the garden. She plucked a blossom of jasmine, sniffed it, then stuck it behind her ear as she discussed matters of war.
In great distress, the king returned to his mother. “The general did what a man would do, but I stick to what I’ve said all along.
Beautiful Fanta-Ghiro
With eyes so black and speech soft and low;
She’s a maiden, I know, I know!”
Realizing that her son was head over heals in love, the queen said, “Invite him to dinner. If the general holds the bread against his chest when he cuts it, then the general is a girl. But if he holds it in the air and cuts it, he is a man for sure and you have fallen in love for nothing.”
At dinner, the results of this test were no better. Fanto-Ghiro cut her bread like a man, discussing politics.
The king, however, continued to say to his mother:
“Beautiful Fanta-Ghiro
With eyes so black and speech soft and low;
She’s a maiden, I know, I know!”
“Well, put him to the final test,” proposed the queen. “Invite him to swim with you in the fish pond in the garden. If the general is a girl, she will certainly refuse.”
He extended the invitation, and Fanto-Ghiro replied, “Of course, I would love to go swimming; not now though. It is late, but I will tommorow morning.”
She took Tonino, the squire, aside and said, “Leave the palace and return tommorow morning with a letter bearing the royal seal. The letter should say, ‘Dear son, Fanto-Ghiro, I am deathly ill and wish to see you before I die.'”
The next day, they went to the fish pond. The king undressed and dived in first and immediately invited Fanto-Ghiro to do the same.
“Please wait a little longer, for I am wet with perspiration,” she said, listening for the sound of approaching hoofbeats.
The king insisted that she get undressed. Fanto-Ghiro replied, “I don’t know what it is but I suddenly feel quite uneasy, as though something terrible were about to happen.”
“Nonsense!” exclaimed the king. “Nothing is going to happen. Get undressed and jump in. The water is fine. What could go wrong?”
At that moment, hoofbeats were heard and up rode Tonino. He handed Fanto-Ghiro a letter with the royal seal.
Fanto-Ghiro turned pale. “I’m terribly sorry, Majesty. But this is bad news. My father lies on his deathbed and is asking for me. I must depart at once. All you and I can do is make peace, and if any matters remain to be said, you will find me at home in my kingdom. Farewell. I will go swimming with you some other time.”
The king stayed in the fish pond, alone and naked. He still believed Fanto-Ghiro was a girl, but she had left before he could prove it.
Before leaving, Fanto-Ghiro stopped by the guest room in the palace to get her things. On the bed, she placed this note for the king: “You must come and meet the king’s two daughters, for one is my sister.”
After the king found and read, and reread, the note, he continued to stand there like a fool. At last, jubilant, he ran to his mother, “Mama, Mama, I guessed it. The general was a girl after all!”
Without giving his mother time to reply, he jumped in his carriage and sped off after Fanto-Ghiro.
When Fanto-Ghiro returned home, she embraced her father. She told him all was well, for she had won the war and made the other king abandon his plans to invade their kingdom. At that moment, the clatter of wheels was heard in the courtyard. It was the neighboring king, head over heels in love. As soon as he saw Fanto-Ghiro, he asked, “General, will you marry me?”
The nuptials were celebrated. The two kings made peace, and when Fanto-Ghiro’s father died, he left everything to Fanto-Ghiro and her husband. Thus, she became queen of two kingdoms. ”
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This story was retold from a Tuscan folktale collected by Italo Calvino Italian Folktales (1956), translated into English by George Martin (1980). Calvino collected it, Calvino #69, from from Montale Pistoiese, Italy. He called this tale Fanto-Ghiro the Beautiful. The plot of a maid dressing as a man, because her father has no sons, was a popular Italian story-tradition, which was particularly well-developed in Tuscany. Several stories in Rachel Harriett Busk’s Roman Legends (1877) have heroines who dress a as a young man in order to travel safely. Likewise, folktales about an intelligent woman’s wit and resolve to conquor difficulties were a common motif in Italian folklore. ***
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