Penta of the Chopped-off Hands
Encyclopedia
Penta of the Chopped-off Hands or The Girl With the Maimed Hands is an Italian literary fairy tale
written by Giambattista Basile
in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone
.
It is Aarne-Thompson
type 706B, "The Girl without Hands." The Brothers Grimm
cited it as an analog to The Girl Without Hands
. Other variants of this tale include The One-Handed Girl
, The Armless Maiden
, and Biancabella and the Snake
.
The king returned home, heard all the stories, and concluded that Nuccia had caused the problems. He went to her home and had her burned. He heard of the magician's offer from Penta's brother and was certain that he could win the prize. They both went, and Penta's brother recounted his wickedness and how he had thrown his own sister into the sea. Penta's husband recounted his tale. The magician showed them Penta and her son, and declared that her husband had suffered the most miserably, so that Penta and her husband would be his heirs.
The mother falsely accused of giving birth to strange children is in common between tales of this type and that of Aarne-Thompson 707, where the woman has married the king because she has said she would give birth to marvelous children, as in The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird
, Princess Belle-Etoile
, Ancilotto, King of Provino
, The Wicked Sisters
, and The Three Little Birds
. A related theme appears in Aarne-Thompson type 710, where the heroine's children are stolen from her at birth, leading to the slander that she killed them, as in Mary's Child
or The Lassie and Her Godmother
.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
written by Giambattista Basile
Giambattista Basile
Giambattista Basile was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector.- Biography :Born to a Neapolitan middle-class family, Basile was, during his career, a courtier and soldier to various Italian princes, including the doge of Venice. According to Benedetto Croce he was born in 1575, while...
in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone
Pentamerone
The Pentamerone is a seventeenth-century fairy tale collection by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile.-Background:...
.
It is Aarne-Thompson
Aarne-Thompson classification system
The Aarne–Thompson classification system is a system for classifying folktales. First developed by Antti Aarne and published in 1910, it was translated and enlarged by Stith Thompson...
type 706B, "The Girl without Hands." The Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
cited it as an analog to The Girl Without Hands
The Girl Without Hands
The Girl Without Hands or The Handless Maiden or The Girl With Silver Hands or The Armless Maiden is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 31. It is Aarne-Thompson type 706.-Synopsis:...
. Other variants of this tale include The One-Handed Girl
The One-Handed Girl
The One-Handed Girl is a Swahili fairy tale, collected by Edward Steere in Swahili Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Lilac Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 706...
, The Armless Maiden
The Armless Maiden
The Armless Maiden is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.It is Aarne-Thompson type 706, the girl without hands...
, and Biancabella and the Snake
Biancabella and the Snake
Biancabella and the Snake is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola....
.
Synopsis
A king lost his wife and fell in love with his sister, Penta. He implored her to marry him. When she refused and he continued to implore her, she asked what attracted him, and he praised her beauty, but most highly, her hands. She tricked a slave into cutting off her hands, and the king had her put in a chest and thrown into the sea. A fisherman caught the chest in his nets and brought her home, but his wife, Nuccia, was jealous of Penta's beauty and threw her back into the sea. The king of Terraverde saw the chest and rescued her, making her his queen's lady-in-waiting. Shortly thereafter, the queen fell ill and asked him to marry Penta. He agreed, she died, and he married Penta. He had to go on a journey, and while he was gone, Penta gave birth to a baby. The king's servants sent a message, but the ship was thrown by a storm on the shore where the fisherman had rescued Penta, and Nuccia got the captain drunk and substituted a letter that said she had given birth to a puppy. The king received this message and sent back a letter that the queen should not be distressed, such events were determined by heaven, but Nuccia substituted a letter ordering that the queen and her son were to be burned. His councilors concluded that he had gone mad and sent Penta and her son away. She traveled to a kingdom ruled by a magician, who gave her shelter and promised a reward to whoever could tell him the most miserable tale.The king returned home, heard all the stories, and concluded that Nuccia had caused the problems. He went to her home and had her burned. He heard of the magician's offer from Penta's brother and was certain that he could win the prize. They both went, and Penta's brother recounted his wickedness and how he had thrown his own sister into the sea. Penta's husband recounted his tale. The magician showed them Penta and her son, and declared that her husband had suffered the most miserably, so that Penta and her husband would be his heirs.
Commentary
The motif of the father (or brother) chopping off the hands of a daughter (or sister) who refused an incestous marriage is a common fairy-tale motif, but is usually presented without explanation of why the hands are targeted. The brother's particular fascination with her hands appears to be a development of Basile's own, to account for it.The mother falsely accused of giving birth to strange children is in common between tales of this type and that of Aarne-Thompson 707, where the woman has married the king because she has said she would give birth to marvelous children, as in The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird
The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird
The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird is an Italian fairy tale collected by Thomas Frederick Crane in Italian Popular Tales...
, Princess Belle-Etoile
Princess Belle-Etoile
Princess Belle-Etoile is a French literary fairy tale written by Madame d'Aulnoy. Her source for the tale was Ancilotto, King of Provino, by Giovanni Francesco Straparola....
, Ancilotto, King of Provino
Ancilotto, King of Provino
Ancilotto, King of Provino is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola....
, The Wicked Sisters
The Wicked Sisters
The Wicked Sisters is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.Ruth Manning-Sanders included it, as "The Queen's Children", in A Book of Kings and Queens.-Synopsis:...
, and The Three Little Birds
The Three Little Birds
The Three Little Birds is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 96. The story is originally written in Low German.It is Aarne-Thompson type 707, the dancing water, the singing apple, and the speaking bird....
. A related theme appears in Aarne-Thompson type 710, where the heroine's children are stolen from her at birth, leading to the slander that she killed them, as in Mary's Child
Mary's Child
Mary's Child or Our Lady's Child is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales as tale number 3.The Brothers Grimm noted its similarity to the Italian The Goat-faced Girl and the Norwegian The Lassie and Her Godmother...
or The Lassie and Her Godmother
The Lassie and Her Godmother
The Lassie and Her Godmother is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in Norske Folkeeventyr....
.