意大利童話 The Twelve Oxen 十二頭牛

　　There were twelve brothers who fell out with their father, and all twelve of them left home They built themselves a house in the woods and made their living as carpenters Meanwhile their parents had a baby girl, who was a great comfort to them The child grew up without ever meeting her twelve brothers She had only heard them mentioned, and she longed to see them

　　One day she went to bathe at a fountain, and the first thing she did was remove her coral necklace and hang it on a twig A raven came by, grabbed the necklace, and flew off with it The girl ran into the woods after the raven and found her brothers' house No one was at home, so she cooked the noodles, spooned them onto the brothers' plates, and hid under a bed The brothers returned and, finding the noodles ready and waiting, sat down and ate But then they grew uneasy, suspecting the witches had played a joke on them, for the woods were full of witches

　　One of the twelve kept watch the next day and saw the girl jump out from under the bed When the brothers learned she was not a witch but their own little sister, they made a great to-do over her and insisted that she remain with them But they cautioned her to speak to no one in the woods, because the place was full of witches

　　One evening when the girl went to prepare supper, she found that the fire had gone out To save time, she went to a nearby cottage to get a light An old woman at the cottage graciously gave her the light, but said that, in exchange, she would come to the girl on the morrow and suck a bit of blood from her little finger

　　"I can't let anyone in the house," said the girl "My brothers forbid it"

　　"You don't even have to open the door," replied the old woman "When I knock, all you have to do is stick your little finger through the keyhole, and I'll suck it"

　　So the old woman came by every evening to suck the blood from her, while the girl grew paler and paler Her brothers noticed it and asked her so many questions that she admitted going to an old witch for a light and having to pay for it with her blood "Just let us take care of her," said the brothers

　　The witch arrived, knocked, and when the girl failed to stick her finger through the keyhole, she poked her head through the cat door One of the brothers had his hatchet all ready and chopped off her head Then they pitched the remains into a ravine

　　One day on the way to the fountain, the girl met another old woman, who was selling white bowls

　　"I have no money," said the girl

　　"In that case I'll make you a present of them," said the old woman

　　So when the brothers came home thirsty, they found twelve bowels filled with water They pitched in and drank, and instantly changed into a herd of oxen Only the twelfth, whose thirst was slight, barely touched the water and turned into a lamb The sister therefore found herself alone with eleven oxen and one lamb to feed every day

　　A prince out hunting went astray in the woods and, turning up at the girl's house, fell in love with her He asked her to marry him, but she replied that she had to think of her oxen brothers and couldn't possibly leave them The prince took her to his palace along with all the brothers The girl became his princess bride, and the eleven oxen and the lamb were put into a marble barn with gold mangers

　　But the witches in the woods did not give up One day the princess was strolling under the grape arbor with her lambkin brother that she always carried with her, when an old woman walked up to her

　　"Will you give me a bunch of grapes, my good princess?"

　　"Yes, dear old soul, help yourself"

　　"I can't reach up that high, please pick them for me"

　　"Right away," said the princess, reaching up for a bunch

　　"Pick that bunch there, they're the ripest," said the old woman, pointing to a bunch above the cistern

　　To reach it, the princess had to stand on the rim of the cistern The old woman gave her a push, and the princess fell in The lamb started bleating, and bleated all around the cistern, but nobody understood what it was bleating about, nor did they hear the princess moaning down in the well Meanwhile the witch had taken the princess's shape and got into her bed When the prince came home, he asked, "What are you doing in bed?"

　　"I'm sick," said the false princess "I need to eat a morsel of lamb Slaughter me that one out there that won't stop bleating"

　　"Didn't you tell me some time ago," asked the prince, "that the lamb was your brother? And you want to eat him now?"

　　The witch had blundered and was at a loss for words The prince, sensing that something was amiss, went into the garden and followed the lamb that was bleating so pitifully It approached the cistern, and the prince heard his wife calling

　　"What are you doing at the bottom of the cistern?" he exclaimed "Didn't I just leave you in bed?"

　　"No, I've been down here ever since this morning! A witch threw me in!"

　　The prince ordered his wife pulled up at once The witch was caught and burned at the stake While the fire burned, the oxen and also the lamb slowly turned back into fine, strapping young men, and you'd have thought the castle had been invaded by a band of giants They were all made princes, while I've stayed as poor a soul as ever

　　(Monferrato)

　　NOTES:

　　"The Twelve Oxen" (I dodici buoi) from Comparetti, 47, Monferrato, Piedmont

　　The folktales about the sister who rescues her brother or brothers changed into animals can be divided into two groups: the one where the seven sons are under a curse (as in Basile, IV, 8, or in Grimm, 9 and 25), and the other where the sole brother is transformed into a lamb (as in Grimm, 11, or in my no 178) The brothers are most commonly transformed into birds (swans, ravens, doves), and the first literary manifestation of the motif dates back to the twelfth century; the latest is possibly Andersen's "Wild Swans"

　　Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,

　　translated by George Martin,

　　Pantheon Books, New York 1980

　　十二頭牛

　　從前有十二個兄弟，跟父親吵架后，一起離開了家。他們在森林里搭起了一座房屋，以做木匠活為生。父母又生了一個女兒，她成了二老生活的寄托。小妹長大了，她只是聽說過十二個哥哥的事，但從沒跟他們見過面，她非常渴望能見到他們。

　　有一次，小妹到泉水邊洗澡，她先把自己戴的珊瑚項鏈摘了下來掛在了一根樹枝上。正好有一只烏鴉飛過，叼起項鏈飛走了。小妹追著烏鴉跑進了森林，遇到了哥哥們住的那座房屋。屋里一個人也沒有，小妹煮好一鍋面條，盛在盤子中，就鉆到床下躲起來。十二兄弟回到家，看到面條已經(jīng)煮好了，而且還給盛在盤子中，就吃了起來。吃完以后，他們都有些害怕，擔(dān)心是女巫跟他們開的一個玩笑，因為這片森林里有很多女巫。

　　第二天，十二兄弟留下一個人守著房間，他發(fā)現(xiàn)一個姑娘從床底下跳了出來。當(dāng)兄弟們知道她并非女巫而是他們從沒見過面的小妹時，都高興地歡呼起來，他們想讓小妹留下來跟他們一起生活。但他們又叮囑她，不得和森林中的任何人說話，因為林子里滿是女巫。

　　一天傍晚，爐火滅了，可小妹要給哥哥們準(zhǔn)備晚飯。為了節(jié)省時間，她來到附近的一間小屋借火。小屋中住著一個老婦，她很熱情地答應(yīng)借火給小妹，但提出了交換條件：第二天她要來在小妹的小手指上吸一點血。

　　小妹說：“我不能給任何人開門，我的哥哥們不同意。”

　　老婦說：“不需要你開門，當(dāng)你聽到敲門聲，把小手指伸進鑰匙孔里，讓我吸幾下就行了。”就這樣，老婦每天晚上都來吸小妹的血，小妹的臉色變得越來越蒼白。哥哥們覺得不對勁，就問小妹，小妹就把她為了找女巫借火，讓女巫吸她的血作交換的事說了。哥哥們說：“這事讓我們處理吧。”

　　女巫又來了，敲門后沒看到姑娘的手指伸出來，女巫就從門下方的貓洞伸進頭來。一個哥哥拿著一把斧頭正等著她呢，手起斧落，女巫的頭就被砍了下來。然后兄弟們把女巫的尸首扔下了山谷。

　　一天，小妹去泉邊遇到了另一個老婦，在賣白色的碗。

　　“我沒有錢買。”姑娘說。

　　“我白送給你。”老婦說。

　　就這樣，哥哥們口干舌燥地回到家時，一眼就看見了盛滿了水的十二只白碗，他們紛紛一飲而盡，一下子全都變成了牛。只有第十二個哥哥，不像其它哥哥那么渴，只喝了一口水，變成了一只羊。小妹只好孤單地跟這十一頭牛和一只羊一起生活，每天喂養(yǎng)牠們。

　　這一天，一個王子來森林打獵迷了路，轉(zhuǎn)到小妹的房屋，愛上了她。王子告訴她想要娶她為妻，而她回答說她必須帶上她的十二只牛哥羊哥，不能丟下牠們不管。王子帶著她和她的十二個兄長回到了王宮，小妹成了他的新娘王妃，那十一頭牛和一只羊被安排住進一間大理石砌成的牛棚，用著金子做的食槽。但森林中的女巫并不甘心。有一天，王妃帶著羊哥哥--她總是帶著牠在身邊--到葡萄架下散步，出現(xiàn)了一位老婦。

　　“好心的王妃，你能賞我一串葡萄嗎?”

　　“好的，老太太，你隨便摘吧。”王妃回答。

　　“我構(gòu)不到葡萄架，好心的王妃，你幫我摘吧。”

　　“這就來。”王妃說著，伸出手去摘一串葡萄。

　　“摘那邊那串熟透的吧。”老婦指著池塘上邊的那串葡萄說。

　　王妃為了摘到那串葡萄，爬上池塘的邊墻，這時，老婦上去推了她一把，王妃就摔了下去。羊哥一見，咩咩地圍著池塘叫，但誰也不明白牠在叫什么，也聽不到池塘下邊王妃的呻吟聲。這時，女巫變成王妃的樣子，躺在床上。王子回到家，問：“怎么躺在床上，不舒服嗎?”

　　假王妃回答說：“我不舒服，我需要吃一些羊肉。你讓人把那只叫個不停的羊給我宰了。”

　　王子說：“你還記得你以前對我說的話嗎?你說那只羊是你的哥哥，而你現(xiàn)在卻要把牠吃了?”

　　女巫露出了馬腳!她愣在那里不知說什么才好。王子發(fā)現(xiàn)事有蹊蹺，他來到花園，跟著那只拚命叫著的羊向池塘走去。到了池塘邊，王子聽見妻子呼喚他的聲音。王子驚叫道：“你怎么到池塘底下了，剛才你還在床上，我不是剛離開你嗎?”

　　“不，我從早上就掉到這里了，是一個女巫把我推下來了。”

　　王子立即把妻子救了上來。他派人抓住了女巫，而且要燒死她。隨著火一點點燒到女巫的手上、腿上、肘上，一頭牛變回了人，另一頭也變回了人，所有的牛和羊都變回了人，他們?nèi)己芙眩孟笠魂犕涞木奕岁J入了城堡。他們?nèi)急环鉃橛H王，而我還跟以前一樣是一個窮困潦倒的人。

　　(蒙費拉托地區(qū))