And he took a silver cup, poured the dancing water into it, and put it on the table. Then Fluvius took the singing apple out of his pocket and placed it on the table, next to the dancing water; finally, Serena, who was carrying the Augel Belverde, soon showed it to everyone, putting it on the table next to the other two wonders. Then the apple began to entertain everyone with a majestic song, the water, to the sound of the song began to dance gracefully, and for this magnificent spectacle all those present were invaded by joy. All except the three evil women who began to sweat cold from fear of what they suspected. After the song and the dance, it was the turn of Augel Belverde who began to speak and said: "O holy and just king, in your opinion, what punishment should he deserve who has tried the life of two innocent children and a girl? Thinking she was being clever, the king's mother answered first: "It would deserve to perish at the stake", and the same was confirmed by Chiaretta's shrewd sisters.
When the dancing water and the singing apple raised their voices and said: "Ah, false and treacherous mother, your own tongue has condemned you to the punishment you are about to serve! And you too, cruel and envious sisters, will serve the same punishment together with her and the midwife comrade who was an accomplice of your perverse plan. Hearing this speech, the king was surprised and did not understand how it was possible; then Augel Belverde explained to the sovereign and to the whole court: "My holy and just king, know that these three beautiful young men before you are your children so sighed, and that by deception were taken away the day of their birth. And while we are here, their mother's poor girl, who has been unjustly accused, lies in that gloomy and stinky cell, where you have unjustly relegated her for all these years. Then the king immediately sent courtiers to free the poor queen from that horrible rent, and had her cleaned and dressed in magnificent clothes, he had her brought to himself; the poor Chiaretta, despite the humiliations and sufferings suffered throughout that time, was still as beautiful as it once was, and then the Augel Belverde in the presence of all told by wire and by sign how the facts had unfolded in every detail. Having been made aware of everything, and having understood the grave injustice he had committed towards his wife, and immensely happy to have finally found their children, all four of them let themselves go to a warm embrace, weeping warm tears of joy. In the happiness of the moment, none of them noticed the three fairy-tales anymore, who disappeared into thin air.
And once reunited, the king commanded that his mother, sisters-in-law and comrade accomplice should be burned alive mercilessly in the public street. And finally, King Ancillotto lived happily ever after with his wife and his dear children, and after marrying their daughter Serena to a noble king, they left their throne to their sons, who reigned for many years.
The end
Classical and Popular Italian Fairy Tales - Gherardo Nerucci: Bellindia (Tuscany) Part 1
Once upon a time there was a merchant from Livorno who had three daughters, called Assunta, Carolina and Bellindia: the latter, in particular, was much more expensive than the other two, because they were all ambitious, while she, however, was modest and always took care of household chores.
One day the merchant arrives home all desperate and says to his daughters: "Do you know what happens? There's bad news: the basement with all my goods inside has been lost and now we're ruined. When the news of that misfortune came, Assunta and Carolina broke down and cried, but Bellindia said: "If that's the case, patience, we'll have to live. Don't beat yourself up, there is a remedy for everything, except death. Since, therefore, because of the loss of that bastion, the merchant's family was no longer rich, they all moved to a small house in the suburbs, but the sisters of Bellindia could not give each other peace, because they were too ambitious to lead a modest life and withdrawn; taking care of household chores would be too much, for them, so, all the burden fell on poor Bellindia.
The continuation should be...