The Robber with a Witch's Head: More Stories from the Great Treasury of Sicilian Folk and Fairy Tales Collected by Laura Gonzenbach

by Zipes; Jack

• ISBN13: 9780415970693
• ISBN10: 0415970695
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In 2003 Jack Zipes translatedBeautiful Angiola, the first half of Laura Gonzenbach's astonishing treasury of folk and fairy tales, told and retold by generations of Sicilian peasants. Now the Gonzenbach collection is complete in English:The Robber with theWitch's Headpresents almost fifty new stories about demons and clever maidens and princes. Bursting with life,The Robber with the Witch's Headis a storyteller's dream, full of adventure and magic, expertly rendered by the translator of the Brothers Grimm. what critics have said aboutBeautiful Angiola: "The Sicilian tales in Beautiful Angiola are a revelation; not in their originality, because like all great collected folk and fairy tales they are universal. But they have a uniqueness because the flavor of that island off the toe of the boot of Italy is so concentrated, so lusty, so full of sun, lemons and herbs that when reading them, I could taste them. I see a series of paintings inspired by themforming in my head. What a wonderful collection for any folklorist, Italian and especially Sicilian! Strega Nona (who is Calabrese) approves!." -- Tomie dePaola "Ostensibly collected for younger readers, the anthology is just as appropriate for an adult audience." -Library Journal "An extraordinary collection." --Ruminator Review "Stories with a feminist slant, strange, quirky and tart. Sometimes shocking, often superb." --Jacqueline Wilson, author ofGirls in TearsandThe Lottie Project

Table of Contents

Laura Gonzenbach's Buried Treasure	xi
A Note on the Translation and Acknowledgments	xxix
The Clever Maiden	1	(4)
The Robber with a Witch's Head	5	(5)
The Clever Farmer's Daughter	10	(3)
The Count and his Sister	13	(3)
Clever Peppe	16	(6)
Maria, the Evil Stepmother, and the Seven Robbers	22	(4)
Bensurdatu	26	(6)
The Rooster Who Wanted to Become Pope	32	(2)
The Brave Prince	34	(8)
The Innkeeper's Beautiful Daughter	42	(5)
The Beautiful Maiden with the Seven Veils	47	(11)
The Merchant's Clever Youngest Daughter	58	(5)
Maruzzedda	63	(7)
Armaiinu	70	(6)
The Golden Lion	76	(4)
The Twelve Robbers	80	(4)
Three Good Pieces of Advice	84	(5)
Tobia and Tobiola	89	(4)
Joseph the Just	93	(4)
The Two Brothers	97	(7)
The Seven Brothers with Magic Talents	104	(3)
The Piou Young Man Who Went to Rome	107	(5)
Sabedda and Her Brother	112	(4)
The Clever Shoemaker	116	(6)
The Twins	122	(3)
Beautiful Innocenta	125	(8)
The Wicked Schoolmaster and the Wandering Princess	133	(6)
The Four Princesses	139	(3)
Zafarana	142	(7)
Peasant Truthful	149	(4)
About Joseph, Who Set Out to Seek His Fortune	153	(9)
The Wasteful Giovanninu	162	(7)
The Banished Queen and Her Two Abandoned Children	169	(7)
The Pious Child	176	(2)
Katerina's Fate	178	(5)
Godfather Death	183	(2)
Beautiful Anna	185	(6)
The Dragon Slayer	191	(5)
Saint James of Galicia	196	(7)
The Hermit	203	(3)
The Prince's Two Children from Monteleone	206	(5)
The Clever Farmer	211	(2)
Notes	213	(12)
Bibliography	225