een and rue bride. S pearls, and old ory from start to finish.

    ters and t took place.

    t on they soar;

    I saw, I he door.

    to dine repaired I to the inn,

    And tory drao an end.

    (Monferrato)

    NOtES:

    quot;t; (La Biscia) from Comparetti, 25, Monferrato, Piedmont.

    t story from tious Nig Biancabella and t, one of Straparolas finest, is old, on trary, in bare rustic simplicity, in t of meados, and seasons. te tree s fruit t cannot be plucked o fill out a somecese version. I took it from a tuscan variant (Gradi), based on motifs from tale and otural help comes from a red and gold fish.

    Copyrigalian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,

    translated by George Martin,

    Pantheon Books, New York 1980