LISABETTA FROM MESSINA

                     (Giovanni Boccaccio's tale)

Lisabetta is a young girl from Messina, although her family came from San Gimignano. She lost her father, so she lives with her three brothers. The family has become rich over time thanks to trade.

Lisabetta falls in love with Lorenzo, a poor boy from Pisa, who helps her brothers to work.

Their love is not allowed by the dictates of the time: there is too much difference in social class between the two. Lisabetta and Lorenzo think that their love can overcome everything, because it is pure and honest, but they have not considered the mental rigidity of the three brothers: once they discover this love, they decide to prevent it from going any further. This is because Lisabetta is technically still unmarried and this affair with Lorenzo risks tarnishing her reputation and therefore the one of the whole family.

So the three brothers convince Lorenzo to take them out of town, and there they kill him and hide his body. Once back home they convince everyone, even Lisabetta, that the boy is away on business. However, given his long absence, Lisabetta begins to suspect that something is wrong.

Actually, one night the ghost of Lorenzo speaks to Lisabetta in a dream and tells her that he has been killed by her brothers, showing her the place where his body has been buried. Lisabetta, on the pretext of taking a trip to the countryside, manages to recover the body of her beloved, thanks also to the help of a servant. Once the body has been dug up, she decides to cut off his head and hides it in a vase, covering it with soil and a basil plant.  In this way she would always have her lover close to her. 

Because it is well fertilised, this basil plant grows a lot and Lisabetta cries over it every day. The neighbours find it strange to see this young woman pining for a basil plant every day and tell her brothers about it. The three of them take the vase and make the macabre discovery. At this point they try to make everything disappear to avoid a murder charge and leave Messina, moving to Naples with Lisabetta. The girl, however, already ill after the seizure of the vase and the head, ends up dying of pain.

Translation realized by Anastasia Furnitto, from Italy (Giovanni Verga High School)

Crystal Rooster by Italo Calvino

Luigi and Tommaso - Novelli

Once upon a time there was a rooster who liked going around the world.

He found a letter on the street, picked it up with his beak, read it. It said:

Crystal Rooster,

Crystalline Hen,

Goose Countess,

Abbess Duck,

Little Goldfinch Bird

All they go to Little Thumb's wedding.

The Rooster sets off to go to Tom Thumb's wedding and after a few steps he meets the Hen.

"Where are you going, Mister Rooster?"

“I'm going to Little Thumb's wedding”.

"I'll come too!"

“If you are in the letter” And he looks at it and reads:

"Crystal Rooster, Crystalline Hen ...

"There you are, there you are: then, let's go."

And they both set off on the road. After a while they meet the goose.

"Where are you going, Mistress Hen and Mister Crystal Rooster?"

"We are going to Little Thumb's wedding"

"Am I going there too?"

"And yes, if you are there". He reads:

"Crystal Rooster, Crystalline Hen, Countess Goose,...

"There you are: and well, you come too!"

After a while they meet the goldfinch bird.

Where are you going, Mister Rooster, Mistress Hen, Mistress Goose?"

"We are going to Little Thumb's wedding"

"Am I going there too?"

"And yes, if you are there!" He re-opens the letter:

“Crystal Rooster, Crystalline Hen, Countess goose, Abbess duck, Little Bird

Goldfinch…

"You are there too". And all five set out.

Here they met the wolf.

The wolf also asked where they were going.

"We are going to Little Thumb's wedding!", the rooster answered

"Am I going there too?"

"Yes, if you are there!" And the rooster read the letter again:

“Crystal Rooster, Crystalline Hen, Countess Goose, Abbess Duck, Little Bird

Goldfinch…

But the wolf was not there.

"But I want to come!",  the wolf said

And they, out of fear, replied: "... and let's go."

After taking a few more steps, the wolf suddenly said:

"I'm hungry"

The rooster replied: "I have nothing to give you ..."

"Then I'll eat you!" And the wolf opened his mouth wide and swallowed him.

After a little while, he repeated: "I'm hungry"

The hen replied as the rooster had replied, and the wolf also swallowed her.

And so he did with the goose and so with the duck.

The wolf and the bird were left alone. The wolf said:

"Little bird, I'm hungry!"

"And what do you want me to give you?"

"Then I'll eat you!" His mouth opened wide ... And the bird landed on his head.

The wolf tried to catch it, but the bird fluttered here, fluttered there, jumped on a branch, then returned to the wolf's head, tail, and drove him mad.

When the wolf was well tired, he saw in the distance a woman coming with a basket on her head, carrying food to the reapers. The bird called the wolf:

“If you save my life, I'll make you eat noodles and meat, which that woman brings to the reapers. Because when she sees me, she will want to catch me, I will fly away and jump from one branch to another.

She will put the basket on the ground, and you can eat everything. "

 In fact, the woman came, saw the bird so beautiful, and immediately stretched out her hand to take it, but it got up a little.

The woman put down the basket and ran after him. Then the wolf went to the basket and ate.

"Help! Help!" The woman shouts.

All the reapers arrive, some with a scythe, some with a stick, jump on the wolf and kill him.

Crystal rooster, Crystalline hen, Countess Goose,  Abbess Duck and Little Bird Goldfinch jump out safely from the belly and went on their journey towards Little Thumb's wedding.

   We all know the foxes, they are very cunning. Especially if they see something that they intrested, nothing stands in their way. There are crows on one side. They are also known for their cunning and cynicism, too.

     One day, there was a crow dancing happily on the branch of a tree in the forest. The crow was very happy because he had a huge piece of cheese in his mouth, and the crow was delighted to eat the cheese he found. Although he can eat almost everything, it was a blessing for him to find a food according to his taste. He was about to swallow the huge cheese in his mouth when he saw a fox passing by. The fox was as hungry as a crow. His appetite was whetted when he saw the cheese.

The sly fox made a plan to fool the crow and get the cheese.

Crow, hello, you are so charming, your voice is also very unique, everyone is talking about it, so I came all this way only to hear your beautiful voice.

Hearing these kind words, the crow immediately became proud and decided to showcase his talents., "I will sing a pleasant song for you." As soon as he opened his mouth to say this, he dropped the huge piece of cheese from his mouth.

The sly fox immediately took the fallen piece of cheese and ran away. The fox's plan had worked. Arrogance blinded the crow and prevented it from acting rationally. The crow, whose hand and stomach were empty, understood that he should not believe in good words and lose what he had.

Kardelen and Irem

(Istanbul Uskudar High School-TR)

THE DOVES AND THE EAGLE

A fable of Phaedrus

This story starts with some doves that were very scared, and used to live with fear and prudence, because there were a lot of predators that could hunt them.

One day a big eagle asked the doves: "Why do you live with so much fear? You shouldn't be so cautious".

And then the eagle asked: "Why don't you become my friends? I'm strong, so I could help you and I won't hurt you".

The doves liked the idea to be protected and to live a freer life, so they decided to become friends with the eagle.

But the rapaciuos was nasty: it didn't protect the doves, but  it caught and killed a lot of them.

In the end, some of the remaining doves said: "This is what happens to those who trust a dishonest".

This story teaches that you should only trust people that you know, or people that are reliable and good.

Translation by Margherita Saccon, from Italy (Rosa Bianca High School)

Once upon a time, in a town there lived an old and wise rooster. This rooster was on a tree in the farm. He saw a fox approaching him. He was wondering what to say. The fox began to speak. 

He said, "The enmity between animals is over. I have come to tell you this too. I will tell many more animals. Come, let's hug each other so that this enmity ends." Hearing these, the rooster understood the fox's idea. He knew what the fox wanted. In his mind, he wanted to eat the rooster by being cunning. Realizing this, the rooster had to give a cunning answer to the fox. The rooster replied, "Man, I'm so happy to hear that I can't explain it. 

Thank you very much, fox brother, for giving me this good news. It looks like we're going to have double joy, because two hunting dogs are approaching us." And thus, the winner of this tale was the rooster that used his mind.

Added by Faruk Göcek 

The Cat, The Cock and 

The Fox

TR-Jennet Resulzade

The cat beautifully sang playing his harp and called all the seven daughters of the fox. As they were looking out he knocked them with his club and put in the box. The fox couldn't wait any more and went out. The cat grabbed her too and saved the cock's life for the last time. They returned to the old man and lived happily ever after.

The Adventures of Pinocchio 

The Fox and the Cat

One day a marionette child named Pinocchio was given five pieces of gold by an older man.

Pinocchio thanked the man a thousand times and then set out on his homeward journey.

The child looked forward to showing the money to his father Geppetto.

However, on the way home, he met a lame Fox and a blind Cat, walking together like two good friends. 

Pinocchio couldn’t help telling them that he had become rich…

there is a blessed field where you can dig a hole and bury a gold piece. After covering up the hole with earth you water it well, sprinkle a bit of salt on it, and go to bed. During the night, the gold piece blossoms and next morning you find a beautiful tree that is loaded with gold pieces.

The Fox  told Pinocchio:

Pinocchio, who had believed the Fox, headed to the field, followed by the two animals.

Once Pinocchio had buried the pieces of gold, the cat and the fox convinced him to move away from the field, so that the gold tree could grow.

Then, the Cat and the Fox pretended to leave at the same time as Pinocchio.