.
have nothing against the plan,’ answered the others; ‘provided we take her so far that she cannot possibly come back to our king’s country.’
So they locked her up in the great box, and carried the box a long, long way out in the open Campagna, and left it there to the providence of God.
The poor princess was very glad to have escaped death; but she felt very desolate in the box. As she was wondering what would happen to her, she was suddenly frightened by a great barking of dogs round the box. A king’s son had come by hunting, and his dogs had smelt human blood in the box.
‘Call the dogs off, and let’s see what’s in the box,’ said the prince.
So they opened the box; and when they saw the princess inside, they saw she was no common maiden, for she had a stomacher and earrings of brilliants. So they brought her to the prince, and she pleased him, and he married her.
[This way of introducing the box incident is more like Straparola’s, and again connects this group with the former one in which I have had occasion to mention it.]
2 This is one of the very rare instances in which the Devil appears in Roman stories in this kind of character, so common in Northern popular tales. ↑
6 A ‘buon carnevale’ chiefly implies the wish that the person to whom it is addressed should have good success with partners at the balls, &c. ↑
7 A ‘festino’ is the common name for a public masqued ball commencing at midnight. There are three principal ones in the Roman Carneval; in other parts of Italy, where the Carneval is longer, there are probably more. It is also called ‘Veglione,’ because it keeps people awake at a time when they ought to be in bed. ↑
8 ‘How quick princes always were in falling in love in those days!’ was the running comment of the narrator. ↑
9 To understand the implied satire of this word it is necessary to observe that ‘Frusta’ is a whip; the princess therefore says she came from ‘Frustinaia,’ Whip-blow. ↑
10 ‘Stivale,’ a boot. As the prince had struck her with his boot, she says she comes from ‘Stivalaia,’ Boot-kick. ↑
11 ‘Schiaffaia’ from schiaffa, a slap. The prince had given her a slap, so she says she comes from Slap-land. ↑
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