The Three Sisters (fairy tale)
Encyclopedia
The Three Sisters is an Italian literary fairy tale
written by Giambattista Basile
in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone
.
daughters; the two older were very unlucky but the youngest, Nella, was very fortunate. A prince married her and hid her from his wicked mother, visiting her in secret. She could throw a powder in a fire, and he would come to her on a crystal road. Her sisters discovered this and broke the road, so that the prince was injured when he was coming to her.
He was dying. His father proclaimed that whoever cured him would marry him, if female, or have half the kingdom, if male.
Nella heard of it and set out. Hiding in a tree, she overheard an ogre tell his wife about the illness, and how only the fat from their bodies could cure the prince. She climbed down and presented herself at their door as a beggar. The ogre, greedy of her flesh, persuaded his wife to let her stay. When they slept, Nella killed them and took their fat. She brought it to the king and cured the prince. He said he could not marry her because he was married already; Nella asked if he wanted to be married to the person responsible, and the prince blamed her sisters. Nella revealed herself as his wife. Her sisters were thrown in an oven.
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:...
.
Synopsis
A woman had threeRule of three (writing)
The "rule of three" is a principle in writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader/audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of...
daughters; the two older were very unlucky but the youngest, Nella, was very fortunate. A prince married her and hid her from his wicked mother, visiting her in secret. She could throw a powder in a fire, and he would come to her on a crystal road. Her sisters discovered this and broke the road, so that the prince was injured when he was coming to her.
He was dying. His father proclaimed that whoever cured him would marry him, if female, or have half the kingdom, if male.
Nella heard of it and set out. Hiding in a tree, she overheard an ogre tell his wife about the illness, and how only the fat from their bodies could cure the prince. She climbed down and presented herself at their door as a beggar. The ogre, greedy of her flesh, persuaded his wife to let her stay. When they slept, Nella killed them and took their fat. She brought it to the king and cured the prince. He said he could not marry her because he was married already; Nella asked if he wanted to be married to the person responsible, and the prince blamed her sisters. Nella revealed herself as his wife. Her sisters were thrown in an oven.
See also
- The Feather of Finist the FalconThe Feather of Finist the FalconThe Feather of Finist the Falcon or Finist the Falcon is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki.It is Aarne–Thompson type 432, the prince as bird...
- The Canary PrinceThe Canary PrinceThe Canary Prince is an Italian fairy tale, the 18th tale in Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino. He took the tale from Turin, making various stylistic changes; he noted it developed a medieval motif, but such tales as Marie de France's Yonec produced a rather different effect, being tales of...
- The Blue BirdThe Blue Bird (fairy tale)"The Blue Bird" is a French literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy, published in 1697. An English translation was included in The Green Fairy Book, 1892, collected by Andrew Lang.The tale is Aarne-Thompson type 432, The Prince as Bird...
- The Green KnightThe Green Knight (fairy tale)The Green Knight is a Danish fairy tale, collected by Evald Tang Kristensen in "Eventyr fra Jylland" and by Svend Grundtvig in Danish Fairy Tales.This tale combines Aarne-Thompson type 510A with type 425N, the bird husband, and type 432, the prince as bird...
- The Enchanted SnakeThe Enchanted SnakeThe Enchanted Snake or The Snake is an Italian fairy tale. Giambattista Basile wrote a variant in the Pentamerone. Andrew Lang drew upon this variant, for inclusion in The Green Fairy Book....