The Pleasant Nights - Volume 2

by Don Beecher (Editor)

Overview

Renowned today for his contribution to the rise of the modern European fairy tale, Giovan Francesco Straparola (c. 1480–c. 1557) is particularly known for his dazzling anthology The Pleasant Nights. Originally published in Venice in 1550 and 1553, this collection features seventy-three folk stories, fables, jests, and pseudo-histories, including nine tales we might now designate for ‘mature readers’ and seventeen proto-fairy tales. Nearly all of these stories, including classics such as ‘Puss in Boots,’ made their first ever appearance in this collection; together, the tales comprise one of the most varied and engaging Renaissance miscellanies ever produced. Its appeal sustained it through twenty-six editions in the first sixty years.

This full critical edition of The Pleasant Nights presents these stories in English for the first time in over a century. The text takes its inspiration from the celebrated Waters translation, which is entirely revised here to render it both more faithful to the original and more sparkishly idiomatic than ever before. The stories are accompanied by a rich sampling of illustrations, including originals from nineteenth-century English and French versions of the text.

As a comprehensive critical and historical edition, these volumes contain far more information on the stories than can be found in any existing studies, literary histories, or Italian editions of the work. Donald Beecher provides a lengthy introduction discussing Straparola as an author, the nature of fairy tales and their passage through oral culture, and how this phenomenon provides a new reservoir of stories for literary adaptation. Moreover, the stories all feature extensive commentaries analysing not only their themes but also their fascinating provenances, drawing on thousands of analogue tales going back to ancient Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic stories.

Immensely entertaining and readable, The Pleasant Nights will appeal to anyone interested in fairy tales, ancient stories, and folk creations. Such readers will also enjoy Beecher’s academically solid and erudite commentaries, which unfold in a manner as light and amusing as the stories themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442699540
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	10/19/2012
Series:	Lorenzo Da Ponte Italian Library
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	672
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Donald Beecher is a professor in the Department of English at Carleton University.

Table of Contents

The Pleasant Nights, Volume II

The Greetings of Giovan Francesco Straparola of Garavaggio 3

[The Nights and Their Fables with Commentaries]

The Sixth Night

VI.1 Two Friends Who Held Their Wives in Common 7

VI.2 Castorio's Welcome Castration 29

VI.3 The Widow's Broken Promise 39

VI.4 Who Will Become Abbess? 47

VI.5 The Virtue of Stones 56

The Seventh Night

VII.1 The Wife, the Courtesan, and the Witch 67

VII.2 Malgherita Spolatina's Death at Sea 93

VII.3 Flogged at the Pope's Court 101

VII.4 Share and Share Alike 113

VII.5 The Three Brothers 123

The Eighth Night

VIII.1 The Three Idle Rogues 149

VIII.2 The Right Handling of Wives 169

VIII.3 The Priest and the Image-Carver's Wife 192

VIII.4 Lattanzio and the Secret Arts of Sorcery 212

VIII.5 The Donkey's Skin and the Doctor's Apprentice 236

VIII.3A The Woes of an Old Gallant 245

VIII.3B The Merchant's Monkey 254

The Ninth Night

IX.1 King Galafro's Vain Precautions 263

IX.2 Rodolino and Violante, or the Broken Hearts 276

IX.3 Francesco Sforza's Narrow Escape 293

IX.4 Papiro Schizza's Pedantry and the Scholar's Revenge 305

IX.5 Of the Bergamasques and the Florentines 318

The Tenth Night

X.1 Madonna Veronica Recovers Her Stolen Jewels 333

X.2 The Lion and the Ass Named 'Brancaleone' 343

X.3 Gesarino the Dragon Slayer 361

X.4 The Diabolical Testament of Andrigetto di Valsabbia 394

X.5 Rosolino's Confession for Love of His Son 406

The Eleventh Night

XI.1 Costantino and His Wonderful Cat 417

XI.2 The Grateful Dead, or Bertuccio and Tarquinia 446

XI.3 Wind, Water, and Shame, or the Gluttony of Dom Pomporio 475

XI.4 The Buffoon and the Stolen Veal 483

XI.5 Frate Bigoccio Takes a Wife and Leaves Her 491

The Twelfth Night

XII.1 How Florio's Wife Cures His Jealousy 503

XII.2 The Simpleton's Blackmail 508

XII.3 The Language of Animals and Pozzuolo's Wife 515

XII.4 Of the Sons Who Disobeyed Their Father's Testament 527

XII.5 How Pope Sixtus IV Made His Servant Rich 532

The Thirteenth Night

XIII.1 The Huntsman and the Madman 549

XIII.2 Diego, the Hens, and the Carmelite Friar 558

XIII.3 On the Liberality of Spaniards and Germans 569

XIII.4 The Servant, the Fly, and the Master 573

XIII.5 Vilio Brigantello, the Robber, and the Fateful Sack 584

XIII.6 How Lucilio Finds the 'Good Day' 589

XIII.7 Giorgio Hales His Master before the Tribunal 604

XIII.8 Midnight Feast and Famine 611

XIII.9 Of Filomena the Hermaphrodite Nun 617

XIII.10 The Judgments of Cesare, Doctor of Laws 630

XIII.11 The Novice's Night in the Barn 638

XIII.12 The Healing of King Guglielmo 648

XIII.13 How Pietro Rizzato Finds a Treasure and Becomes a Miser 655

Editorial Reviews

‘Beecher deserves full credit and admiration for having produced a superlative piece of work.’—Joseph Russo, Journal of Folklore Research; October 22, 2013
‘Beecher has produced a handsome edition of Water’s translation, and has thoroughly reworked the reference apparatus… His book is a distinctly valuable and scholarly contribution to the subject.’—Ruth B. Bottigheimer, Renaissance Quarterly vol 67:01:2014

From the Publisher

‘Beecher has produced a handsome edition of Water’s translation, and has thoroughly reworked the reference apparatus… His book is a distinctly valuable and scholarly contribution to the subject.’

Renaissance Quarterly vol 67:01:2014 - Ruth B. Bottigheimer

‘Beecher deserves full credit and admiration for having produced a superlative piece of work.’

Journal of Folklore Research; October 22, 2013 - Joseph Russo