Tale
The Tale of Tales
Lo cunto de li cunti
Giambattista Basile · 1636
Synopsis
Princess Zoza never laughs, until the day the furious dance of an old woman makes her burst out laughing. Offended, the old woman condemns her to marry only the prince of Camporotondo, whom she must wake by filling a jug with her tears in three days. A slave steals the jug and the prince. Ten women storytellers then tell, over five days, fifty tales of kings, jealous sisters and talking beasts.
Context
Written in Neapolitan, the collection appeared in Naples in 1634 and 1636, published by Adriana Basile under the anagram of Gian Alesio Abbattutis. It is often regarded as the first collection devoted entirely to fairy tales. Benedetto Croce translated it into Italian in 1925; in English, Richard Burton produced a translation in 1893 and Nancy Canepa another in 2007. Matteo Garrone drew on it in 2015 for the film Tale of Tales.
Who it is for
Fifty tales nested within a frame narrative, written in a Neapolitan of baroque style.
Prizes and reception
It contains the earliest known versions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel.