Stories from the Pentamerone

Name: Stories from the Pentamerone
Author: Giambattista Basile

by Giambattista Basile

Pages: about 286
Category: Literature & Fiction
Language: English
Reading time: 5.2 h at 250 wpm

Start readingThe whole book, as cards or one word at a time. 2.9 h at 450 wpm in Read mode.

From the opening

The collection of folk-tales known as Il Pentamerone was first published at Naples and in the Neopolitan dialect, by Giambattista Basile, Conte di Torrone, who is believed to have collected them chiefly in Crete and Venice, and to have died about the year 1637.
1. How the Tales came to be told 2. The Myrtle 3. Peruonto 4. Vardiello 5. The Flea 6. Cenerentola 7. The Merchant 8. Goat-Face 9. The Enchanted Doe 10. Parsley 11. The Three Sisters 12. Violet 13. Pippo 14. The Serpent 15. The She-Bear 16. The Dove 17. Cannetella 18. Corvetto 19. The Booby 20. The Stone in the Cock's Head 21. The Three Enchanted Princes 22. The Dragon 23. The Two Cakes 24. The Seven Doves 25. The Raven 26. The Months 27. Pintosmalto 28. The Golden Root 29. Sun, Moon, and Talia 30. Nennillo and Nennella 31. The Three Citrons 32. Conclusion
It is an old saying, that he who seeks what he should not, finds what he would not. Every one has heard of the ape who, in trying to pull on his boots, was caught by the foot. And it happened in like manner to a wretched slave, who, although she never had shoes to her feet, wanted to wear a crown on her head. But the straight road is the best; and, sooner or later, a day comes which settles all accounts. At last, having by evil means usurped what belonged to another, she fell to the ground; and the higher she had mounted, the greater was her fall--as you shall see.
Once upon a time the King of Woody Valley had a daughter named Zoza, who was never seen to laugh. The unhappy father, who had no other comfort in life but this only daughter, left nothing untried to drive away her melancholy.

A short sample. Read the whole book

Stories from the Pentamerone

From the opening

More to read