The golden trunk

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Illustration by Franz von Bayros , 1909

The golden trunk ( Neapolitan original: Lo turzo d'oro ) is a fairy tale ( AaTh 425A). It is in Giambattista Basile 's Pentameron collection as the fourth story of the fifth day (V, 4). Felix Liebrecht translated The Golden Root .

content

A poor gardener gives each daughter a piglet. The two older ones prefer to graze theirs alone. Parmetella, the youngest, finds a tree with gold leaves in a forest meadow, which her father sells at a high price, but she does not tell him where it was found. While trying to dig up the golden trunk, she finds a cave and a splendid palace where a Moor entertains her and takes her as a wife. She is supposed to turn off the light in bed, but the second night she takes a lighter and sees his beauty. He has to remain a Moor for another seven years and sends her away. On the advice of a fairy, she walked seven pairs of iron shoes for seven years, until she saw seven spinners whose thread was wrapped around a bone. For him she sticks a spindle with a fig dipped in honey. The women taste the sweetness and after four false oaths finally swear "on Donnerundblitz" not to harm her. Only then does she show herself and grab her mother, the orca from behind, until she swears too. Parmetella has to pick twelve sacks of legumes and stuff twelve mattresses. Her husband Donnerundblitz lets ants and birds do the work for her. To get the musical instruments for the wedding from the sister of the orca, she has to immobilize a vicious dog with bread, a horse with hay and a banging door with a stone and throw the orca child into the oven. When she looks into the instrument case, the instruments whistle away, Donnerundblitz has to help. The Orca has invited a fake bride, but after her lewd speech, Donnerundblitz cuts her throat and marries Parmetella. The orca sister burns herself in the stove because of the dead child, whereupon the orca turns into a ram and runs to death on a wall.

Remarks

As is so often the case, the heroine must pass tests, especially curiosity, in order to defeat the hostile family of the superior bridegroom ( Oedipus conflict ). This is depicted mythologically here (cf. Apuleius ' Amor and Psyche ): First the World Tree , finally three goddesses of fate and the Great Mother with her son “Donnerundblitz” (like Zeus ), each of which also features a fountain . Cf. in Basile II, 9 Der Riegel , on the oath of the Orca also IV, 6 Die Drei Kronen , IV, 8 Die drei Täublein . Rudolf Schenda sees a particular influence on Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy's fairy tale Serpentin vert . He also mentions King Stieglitz in Gonzenbach's Fiabe siciliane , No. 15 and Christina and the monster in his fairy tales from Tuscany , No. 27 ( Die Märchen der Weltliteratur , 1996). Cf. with Grimm especially The singing, jumping lion , for the gold tree one-eyed, two-eyed and three-eyed , for picking out peas The white snake , Cinderella , the queen bee , for dog and loaf of bread The water of life , marmot .

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. 432-441, 564-565, 613 (based on the Neapolitan text of 1634/36, completely and newly translated).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Giambattista Basile: The fairy tale of fairy tales. The pentameron. Edited by Rudolf Schenda. CH Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-46764-4 , p. 613 (based on the Neapolitan text of 1634/36, completely and newly translated).