Italian Popular Tales: Italian Popular Tales

For 19th-century folklorist Thomas Crane, the value of collecting, translating, and reproducing folktales lay in their "internationalism"?€”their capacity to reveal how the customs of a particular group, no matter how unique, are linked to many others.In his classic collection, edited and updated by contemporary folklorist Jack Zipes, Crane traces the roots of Italian folktales to their origins, often in the Orient, then shows how they diffused in unpredictable and marvelous ways throughout Italy and over the centuries. A contemporary of the brothers Grimm, Crane offers a richer, more complex selection of oral and literary tales. Unlike the Grimms, he doesn't edit or modify the tales, which deal openly with surprisingly contemporary subjects: murder, adultery, incest, child abuse, and brutal vengeance. An important reintroduction to this literature, this compilation of Thomas Crane's original translations of Italian folk stories includes new critical analysis.For 19th-century folklorist Thomas Crane, the value of collecting, translating, and reproducing folktales lay in their'internationalism'—their capacity to reveal how the customs of a particular group, no matter how unique, are linked to many others.In his classic collection, edited and updated by contemporary folklorist Jack Zipes, Crane traces the roots of Italian folktales to their origins, often in the Orient, then shows how they diffused in unpredictable and marvelous ways throughout Italy and over the centuries. A contemporary of the brothers Grimm, Crane offers a richer, more complex selection of oral and literary tales. Unlike the Grimms, he doesn't edit or modify the tales, which deal openly with surprisingly contemporary subjects: murder, adultery, incest, child abuse, and brutal vengeance. Preliminaries......Page 1 CONTENTS......Page 5 Preface to this Edition......Page 7 I Fairy Tales......Page 72 II Fairy Tales Continued......Page 148 III Stories of Oriental Origin......Page 188 IV Legends and Ghost Stories......Page 218 V Nursery Tales......Page 262 VI Stories and Jests......Page 290 Notes......Page 324 List of Works Referred To......Page 378 Index......Page 380 An important reintroduction to this literature, this compilation of Thomas Crane's original translations of Italian folk stories includes new critical analysis. In the mid-19th century, at a time when stories told by common folk were considered worthless superstitions, Thomas Frederick Crane began to gather and study Italian popular tales--fairy stories, nursery tales, and jests Forgotten for over a century, this 19th-century collection is once again available to the reading public. The original translations and illustrations of the first edition are introduced by noted contemporary scholar Jack Zipes. The tales capture the heart of Italian narrative, and open a window on old Italian customs, superstitions, beliefs, and moral values of the culture Presents forty tales written by American folklorist Thomas Frederick Crane, including "Zelinda and the Monster," "Truthful Joseph," "The Gentleman Who Kicked a Skull," and "The Fool."