The Facetious Nights of Straparola
Encyclopedia
The Facetious Nights of Straparola (1550-1555; Italian: Le piacevoli notti), also known as The Nights of Straparola, is a two-volume collection of 75 stories by Italian
author and fairy-tale collector Giovanni Francesco Straparola
. Modeled after Boccaccio's Decameron, it is significant as often being called the first European storybook to contain fairy-tales; it would influence later fairy-tale authors like Charles Perrault
and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
between 1550-53 under the title Le piacevoli notti ("The Pleasant Nights") containing 74 stories. In 1555 the stories were published in a single volume in which one of the tales was replaced with two new tales, bringing the total to 75. Straparola was translated into Spanish
in 1583. In 1624 it was placed on the Index of Prohibited Books.
The work was modeled on Boccaccio's Decameron with a frame narrative and novellas, but it took an innovative approach by also including folk and fairy tales. In the frame narrative, participants of a party on the island of Murano
, near Venice
, tell each other stories that vary from bawdy to fantastic. The narrators are mostly women, while the men, among whose ranks are included historical men of letters such as Pietro Bembo
and Bernardo Cappello, listen. The 74 original tales are told over 13 nights, five tales are told each night except the eighth (six tales) and the thirteenth (thirteen tales). Songs and dances
begin each night, and the nights end with a riddle or enigma. The tales include folk and fairy-tales (about 15); Boccaccio-like novellas with themes of trickery and intrigue; and tragic and heroic stories.
The 15 fairy tales were influential with later authors, some were the first recorded instances of now-famous stories, like "Puss in Boots
". Many of the tales were later collected or retold in Giambattista Basile
’s The Tale of Tales (1634–36) and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Grimm's Fairy Tales
(1812–15).
, Charles Perrault
, Carlo Gozzi
, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
author and fairy-tale collector Giovanni Francesco Straparola
Giovanni Francesco Straparola
Giovanni Francesco "Gianfrancesco" Straparola was an Italian writer and fairy tale collector from Caravaggio, Italy. He has been termed the progenitor of the literary form of the fairy tale in Europe...
. Modeled after Boccaccio's Decameron, it is significant as often being called the first European storybook to contain fairy-tales; it would influence later fairy-tale authors like Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
History
The Facetious Nights of Straparola was first published in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
between 1550-53 under the title Le piacevoli notti ("The Pleasant Nights") containing 74 stories. In 1555 the stories were published in a single volume in which one of the tales was replaced with two new tales, bringing the total to 75. Straparola was translated into Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
in 1583. In 1624 it was placed on the Index of Prohibited Books.
The work was modeled on Boccaccio's Decameron with a frame narrative and novellas, but it took an innovative approach by also including folk and fairy tales. In the frame narrative, participants of a party on the island of Murano
Murano
Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about 1.5 km north of Venice and measures about across with a population of just over 5,000 . It is famous for its glass making, particularly lampworking...
, near Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, tell each other stories that vary from bawdy to fantastic. The narrators are mostly women, while the men, among whose ranks are included historical men of letters such as Pietro Bembo
Pietro Bembo
Pietro Bembo was an Italian scholar, poet, literary theorist, and cardinal. He was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language, specifically Tuscan, as a literary medium, and his writings assisted in the 16th-century revival of interest in the works of Petrarch...
and Bernardo Cappello, listen. The 74 original tales are told over 13 nights, five tales are told each night except the eighth (six tales) and the thirteenth (thirteen tales). Songs and dances
Italian folk dance
Italian Folk Dance has been an integral part of Italian culture for centuries. Dance has been a continuous thread in Italian life from Dante through the Renaissance, the advent of the Tarantella, and the modern revivals of folk music and dance.-Middle Ages:...
begin each night, and the nights end with a riddle or enigma. The tales include folk and fairy-tales (about 15); Boccaccio-like novellas with themes of trickery and intrigue; and tragic and heroic stories.
The 15 fairy tales were influential with later authors, some were the first recorded instances of now-famous stories, like "Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots
'Puss' is a character in the fairy tale "The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots" by Charles Perrault. The tale was published in 1697 in his Histoires ou Contes du temps passé...
". Many of the tales were later collected or retold in 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...
’s The Tale of Tales (1634–36) and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Grimm's Fairy Tales
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...
(1812–15).
Fairy tales
Fairy tales that originally appeared in Nights of Straparola, with later adaptations by Giambattista BasileGiambattista 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...
, Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
, Carlo Gozzi
Carlo Gozzi
Carlo, Count Gozzi was an Italian playwright.Born in Venice, he came from an old Venetian family from the Republic of Ragusa...
, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
- 1.2, “Cassandrino” (Grimms’ "The Master ThiefThe Master ThiefThe Master Thief is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Chr. Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. The Brothers Grimm included a shorter variant as tale 192 in their fairy tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book...
") - 1.3, “Pre Scarpacifico” (Grimms’ "Little FarmerLittle FarmerLittle Farmer was a comic strip drawn by Kern Pederson. The strip featured a short, chubby, moustached farmer, who never spoke, and usually his dog. Much like the strip Henry, the humor was conveyed via pantomime.-External links:*...
") - 1.4, “Tebaldo and Doralice” (Basile’s "The Bear"; Charles Perrault’s "Donkey-Skin"; the Grimms’ "All Fur")
- 2.1, “The Pig King” (Grimms’ "Hans My HedgehogHans My HedgehogHans My Hedgehog, or Hans the Hedgehog, is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Since the second edition published in 1819, it has been recorded as Tale no...
") - 3.1, “Crazy Peter” (Basile’s "Peruonto"; Grimms’ "Simple Hans")
- 3.3, “Biancabella and the SnakeBiancabella and the SnakeBiancabella and the Snake is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola....
” (elements of Basile’s "Penta With the Chopped-Off Hands" and "The Two Little Pizzas") - 3.4, “Fortunio” (elements of the Grimms’ "The Nixie in the Pond")
- 4.1, “Costanza / CostanzoCostanza / CostanzoCostanza / Costanzo is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola.-Synopsis:...
” (Grimms’ "How Six Made Their Way in the World") - 4.3, “Ancilotto, King of ProvinoAncilotto, King of ProvinoAncilotto, King of Provino is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola....
” (Grimms’ "The Three Little BirdsThe Three Little BirdsThe 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....
"; Carlo Gozzi’s "The Green Bird"; Crane's "The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking BirdThe Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking BirdThe Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird is an Italian fairy tale collected by Thomas Frederick Crane in Italian Popular Tales...
") - 5.1, “Guerrino and the Savage ManGuerrino and the Savage ManGuerrino and the Savage Man is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola....
” (Grimms’ "Iron Hans") - 5.2, “Adamantina” (Basile’s "The Goose"; Grimms’ "The Golden Goose")
- 7.5, “The Three Brothers” (Basile’s "The Five Sons"; Grimms’ "The Four Skillful BrothersThe Four Skillful BrothersThe Four Skillful Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 129. It is Aarne-Thompson type 653.-Synopsis:A poor old father sent his sons out to learn trades. Each one met a man and was persuaded to learn the trade of the man whom he had met...
") - 8.4, “Maestro Lattantio and His Apprentice DionigiMaestro Lattantio and His Apprentice DionigiMaestro Lattantio and His Apprentice Dionigi is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious Nights of Straparola....
” (Grimms’ "The Thief and His MasterThe Thief and His MasterThe Thief and His Master is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales as tale number 68.It is Aarne-Thompson type 325, The Magician and His Pupil, containing a transformation chase. Others of this type include Farmer Weathersky and Master and Pupil. This tale type...
") - 10.3, “Cesarino di Berni” (Basile’s "The Merchant"; Grimms’ "The Two BrothersThe Two BrothersThe Two Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 60. It is Aarne-Thompson type 567A, the magic bird heart, and type 303, the blood brothers.-Synopsis:...
") - 11.1, “Costantino Fortunato” (Basile’s "Cagliuso"; Perrault’s "Puss in BootsPuss in Boots'Puss' is a character in the fairy tale "The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots" by Charles Perrault. The tale was published in 1697 in his Histoires ou Contes du temps passé...
") - 13.4, Fortunio (the opening sequence belongs to Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 1586 and is reminiscent of some earlier Eastern variants of La Fontaine's The Bear and the GardenerThe Bear and the GardenerThe Bear and the Gardener is a fable of eastern origin that warns against making foolish friendships. There are several variant versions, both literary and oral, across the world and its folk elements are classed as Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 1586...
)
Further reading
- Ruth B. BottigheimerRuth B. BottigheimerRuth B. Bottigheimer is a literary scholar, folklorist, and author. She is currently an adjunct professor in the department of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at Stony Brook University, State University of New York where she specializes and teaches courses in European fairy tales and...
, Fairy Godfather: Straparola, Venice, and the Fairy Tale Tradition (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002).
External links
- The Nights of Straparola, trans. W.G.Waters 1894. Scanned original color illustrated editions.
- The Italian Novelists (vol. 1-4), trans. W.G.Waters 1901-04. Scanned original color illustrated editions. Note: this edition differs slightly in content from the 1894 edition.
- SurLaLune Fairy Tale Pages: The Facetious Nights of Straparola