The dragon (Giambattista Basile)
The dragon ( Neapolitan original: Lo dragone ) is a fairy tale . It is in Giambattista Basile 's Pentameron collection as the fifth story of the fourth day (IV, 5).
content
A cruel king, from whom a sorceress stole his kingdom, robs every woman of honor and life out of revenge. When he wants to kill Porziella, a fairy in the form of a bird, who had previously saved Porziella from a satyr, throws him a root on his arm, so that he drops the dagger and prefers to wall it in. The fairy has Porziella make a hole in the floor with a knife, through which she supplies her with food from the kitchen. Her son Miuccio is then lowered there by ropes and arouses favor as the king's page. The envious queen persuades the king that Miuccio must build him three castles in the air, blind the sorceress and thus restore his kingdom, and finally kill the dragon. Miuccio desperate, but the fairy helps him. Griffins lift the cardboard locks, a swallow picks out the sorceress' eyes, and the dragon is stunned by a herb that Miuccio throws into its cave. As he kills him, the queen feels the end of her life, which was bound to her twin, the dragon. She wants to be smeared with the dragon's blood, which she can revive, but then the king hears the truth from the fairy. Porziella is set free and Miuccio marries the fairy, who is a beautiful girl.
Remarks
A satyr is a demon. The Evil King is somewhat reminiscent of the plot of the Arabian Nights . Rudolf Schenda mentions Matteo Bandello's often imitated novels, and the book Tobit about glare from bird droppings . Common motifs are also the bird as a guide (Mot. F 234.I.15, B 122.I) and enemy of the dragon, walling in (Mot. Q 455) and the dragon's blood as a remedy (Mot. D 1500. 1.7.3.3 ). Basile parodies the perverse court life again. The fairy tale was edited in German by Clemens Brentano in Fanferlieschen (1828, original version) and translated by Wolff to Keightley's English edition ( Mythologie der Feen und Elfen , II, 1828, pp. 281-299). Compare with Grimm Die Nelke , Jungfrau Maleen , Die Zwei Wanderer .
literature
- Giambattista Basile: The fairy tale of fairy tales. The pentameron. Edited by Rudolf Schenda. CH Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-46764-4 , pp. 336–346, 555, 606 (based on the Neapolitan text of 1634/36, completely and newly translated).