The magic treasure chest of our beautiful folk fairy tales opens, and here comes witches, wizards, orcs, princes and princesses, fairies and wonderful creatures, but also merchants, farmers, craftsmen, poor people without a penny who go in search of their fortune. "La Gatta Cenerentola", "L'Augel Belverde", "Biancabella", "I sette colombelli", "Prezzemolina", "Tredicino", "Le Tre Melangole d'Amore", "Bellindia", "Bel Miele e Bel Sole"... These are just some of the many beautiful fairy tales that the Italian people have been handing down orally for centuries. Mysteries, magic, irony, benevolent creatures, and sometimes fairy animals, which come to the aid of the unfortunate protagonist and help him to get out of trouble. In our traditional stories, a thousand characters and a thousand situations alternate and cross, to give life to fantastic, compelling, and funny stories. Originally told in the many and varied dialects of Italy, our extraordinary fairy tales are full of all those elements of love, suspense, and magic, typical of the classic fairy tale, and have nothing to envy with the stories of French novelists, Germans Grimm, or the ancient Russian fairy tales collected by Afanasiev. Our fairy tales are, in fact, many, very ancient, varied; rich in creativity, and extraordinarily expressive, but too often forgotten or even ignored. How many of our children know Italian folk tales? Today, in a historical moment of social and political disintegration, it is more important than ever to recover the spirit and the sense of belonging to the national identity, to the history of our country, of our people, of our traditions, and of our immense cultural heritage. And our fairy tales, suitable for all types of readers and all ages, can be a significant starting point to complete this difficult task.
Once upon a time there was a great king. This king had three daughters and when he was a widower he poured all his love out on them. Time passed and the three girls, seeing how affectionately and thoughtfully their father grew, educated and protected them from the sorrows and wickedness of the world, did their best to make him forget the pain he still felt for the disappearance of his wife. But one day, unexpectedly, the king called his eldest daughter and asked her: "How do you love me, my daughter?" "My father, behold, I love you like honey", she replied, after having thought for a moment about what could be sweeter in the world. "Long live you, my daughter, and may the Lord help me to enjoy your presence for as long as possible. And then he asked his second-born daughter, "How do you love me, my daughter?" "Like sugar, my father." "I wish you all the good of this world, my daughter; and may the Lord grant me for a long time the joy of your company.
The king was happy to feel so loved by his two eldest daughters. At the end he also looked at his youngest daughter, who was shyly on the sidelines, and asked her too: "And you, my daughter, how do you love me?"; "How does it go up in the kitchen, my father!" she answered, serenely, smiling at him with filial love and lowering her head and eyes, embarrassed to have to speak. When the older sisters heard her answer, they burst out laughing and looked away. And her father, with his eyebrows wrinkled and very angry, warned her: "Come here a little, reckless, so we'll understand each other better! Didn't you hear with what filial love your sisters love me? How come you didn't think like them to tell me what a sweet love you feel for your father? Is that why I am trying to raise you and educate you so that no one else in the world can match you? Get out of this house: you and your salt!" When the poor little daughter of the king felt how angry her father was with her, he wanted to sink into the bowels of the earth for having given sadness to the parent, and taking the courage to two hands, he replied: "Forgive me, father, I did not want to displease you. But I thought, with my mind, that even though my love was not equal to that of my sisters, it was not below the sugar and honey..." "But look, look..." her father interrupted her, "and do you even dare to compare yourself to your older sisters? Go away, impertinent daughter, I don't even want to hear your name again! With these words, she closed her mouth and let her drown in tears. The sisters wanted to console her with sweet words, but they did her more harm than good. When the little daughter saw that not even the sisters had mercy on her, she trusted in the Lord's help and decided to go where he would lead her. So she took only a few old and scruffy clothes from her father's house and wandered from one country to another, until she arrived at the court of another king.
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