Cristoforo Armeno

“ You know, my son, how long I have borne the burden of such an empire, and the government of such a great kingdom, and how I have always been careful, with all my might, to govern my subjects and vassals with as much love and charity as I could, and to obey as much as possible the commandments of God. Now that I have arrived at such advanced age, it is right that after having taken care of the well-being of my subjects and of the provinces of my kingdom for such a long time, I devote the short span of life that is left to me to think of myself and the salvation of my soul. ”

“ To whom the King, who had almost dropped his suspicion, and ardently loved the young girl, told her everything that had happened, and swore to her, that the more he watched her, the more he saw how similar she was to some extent to the wife of the young merchant, who lived in Giassamen's palace. And having finished his conversation, he thought by what signal he could ascertain himself of her. He took her by the hand and pretending to want to caress her, he squeezed her right arm in such a manner that the flesh turned black and blue. After he left her, he immediately went to Giassemen's palace. ”

“ Because I know you to be men gifted which such lofty and noble intelligence, I am led to believe that if you wish to liberate that kingdom from the misfortune of the Hand, you will bring back the Mirror to me and thus, peace and happiness to my empire. ”

“ As they were conversing one morning at a time when she was alone in her room the Empress said, "I truly see, wise and prudent animal, because you converse with me about various things so intelligently and prudently, that I cannot persuade myself, that you are irrational. Indeed, I am certain that you are the spirit of some noble person, and you have turned yourself into a parrot through some magic art. ”

“ Hence, the Emperor immediately ordered to find a sparrow, and gave it to the philosopher, who drowned it, and threw it to the ground. In a soft voice he spoke a few words over it, after which he immediately fell dead to the ground, and the revived sparrow began to fly about the room, where they were and after a good long time, it returned to the dead body of the philosopher, and sang over him until he was resuscitated while the sparrow remained dead there, as before. The Emperor endlessly admired this demonstration, and, just like the philosopher, he ardently desired to learn such a secret. ”

“ But if I could have a basket of roses, I could make bouquet which in beauty would surpass the one you brought me." Because, the old woman who believed that she was masterful in this art, was eager to see how capable the young girl was and rushed to pick the roses. As soon as she had brought those to Giulla, to console herself, she wanted to fulfill the request that Feristeno had made in her dream. She placed herself in front of a mirror, looked into it, and arranged her own face with so much skill in the bouquet that everyone could recognize her. ”

“ But the Sultan who had heard the reason for her distress from his counselor, comforted her with sweet words and asked her affectionately to tell him about her troubles. "Well, because, you command me," the guilty and malicious woman told him, "you should know Sire, that faith in anybody in this world is no longer possible. I will tell you momentarily about a grave misdeed, but God knows that I had resolved to forever remain silent about it out of respect for your honor and mine. ”

“ Sire, I myself have fallen into the pit in which I wanted others to fall, but because I always knew that you were naturally inclined to clemency, I want to believe that you will forgive me for my error because I have given you a very important warning for your life. If you have condemned someone's son to death, you should not allow his father to converse in your court.
You know, that you rightly killed my son for his misdeeds, and that notwithstanding the great affection and many gifts you have showered me with afterwards, I could never alleviate the great sorrow in my soul. ”

“ Madam, I know that I lost when we shot the arrows in the basin, and I owe it to have your name engraved on the coins. But I have not been able to repay my debt up to the present because of the illness which I have now overcome and the sudden departure to this region. I promise you that, if with your intelligence you can devise how the male of that animal that we see before us can become a female, and the female can become a male, when we have returned to our city, I will do nothing before I have fairly settled our debt. ”

“ When the Prince saw this, he became very angry and he could hardly refrain from killing both of them. However, considering his dignity he decided to keep his revenge against the wicked woman in reserve for another time, saying to himself, "Wicked woman, how can you withstand to be so ferociously beaten when your face is so delicate that the touch of a rose petal makes you faint in my presence?" And he truly realized the great craftmanship of the statue. He then left and returned to his bed to find out the wickedness of the others, but he did not speak to anyone about it. ”

“ But because Giassemen had decided to mock the King completely, he concluded together with Feristeno to let the king find Giulla in a certain part of the palace by herself the next day so he could entertain her in every way with sweet conversation.
The young woman did fully what she was asked to do and when the King came the next day to dine with the young people, he found her alone in one part of the palace. He used many beautiful words to let her know how ardently he loved her, and he begged her affectionately to give him the gift of her love. ”

“ Around the villages of your city there are a great number of beautiful and delightful gardens. Choose the most beautiful one, have accommodation prepared there in a summer house, and have yourself be led there after you have it adapted with everything you may need. I will follow you there without delay to find a remedy for your illness.’” “After you have told him this," added the Queen to the peasant, "and he has followed your advice, take your monkey there and let him play his usual games in an amusing way and he will completely regain his previous state of health." ”

“ The parrot then addressed the gentleman and told him to immediately put the hundred scudi that the harlot asked him to pay on the table.
The harlot was extremely happy and cheerful, believing that she could fill her purse with them, and the gentleman reluctantly disbursed the money in front of the mirror. "And you, madam," said the parrot, don't touch the scudi which you see gathered on the table but instead that pile of one hundred that you see inside the mirror. For if you were with the gentleman in a dream, it is only fair that the compensation you asked for, should also be dreamlike. ”

“ Upon sunrise, the old woman arrived with the roses. Giulla received her cheerfully. Around the reed with the letter she arranged a bouquet more beautiful than the one Feristeno had made. She gave it to the old woman and words cannot express how much she admired its artistry. But she became as suspicious as before that if the King would become aware of Giulla's skill in this art, she could be deprived of her position. So, she returned to Feristeno with the bouquet from Giulla and took with her a small basket of roses, so that he could arrange one even more beautiful. ”

“ They went with Giassemen to the newly bought palace where they stayed for quite some time after which Feristeno addressed Giassemen in this way, "It seems to me, my dearest Giassemen, that it pleased God that with your skill I find myself with the one which I desire most, and that we have completely realized what we wanted to do. It would be well advised that in order to escape the wrath of cruel tyrant that we leave here with Giulla and Achel to go to a safe location to live a peaceful existence." ”

“ Standing up from the tables, the counselor with his own hands presented to the Emperor a fragrant drink in a crystal cup with the following words: "Sire, since you, high and great lord have deigned to honor the banquet of your humble servant, I have also with all my power made an effort to find food and dishes worthy of you. Therefore, I had this potion prepared, the like of which cannot be found anywhere in this world. It would take too long to mention the many virtues which it possesses and there is nothing that refreshes a man's liver more than this drink. ”

“ To these words, which neither the Queen nor anyone else could believe because of their noble bearing as well as by their great prudence and their wisdom, the counselor added by saying: "Because I truly know that it is not very believable that you are the sons of poor and common parents — and in the end, it is more for that reason than for me —, nor that others will harass you — that you will be glad to swear that what you have told me is true. Therefore, that when I report that you have confirmed your status under oath, I know that your words will be fully believed. ”

“ And in the space of ten months he produced a golden lion, which lacked only the spirit to be alive. And since the lion was so heavy, he placed some wheels under its paws so that it could be easily be moved anywhere by only ten men. The King was greatly pleased by the excellent workmanship. All who saw admired it so much that they could barely be persuaded that it had been produced by human hand. Because he wanted to recognize the great merit of the goldsmith throughout the land, he assigned to him an annual income of more than one thousand scudi. ”

“ Now, the son of the Sultan came at the agreed upon time, in the form of the old woman in front of the counselor. He had brought with him a small branding iron, which he showed him. "Sir," he said, "this iron, which you see, will completely restore your health to its previous state without any other potion."
And he gave the order to lit a fire. "It is necessary," he added, "that you let each of your buttocks be branded, and if you are not completely free of your ailment, I shall be severely punished as a guilty and malicious woman. ”

“ The good man thanked Rammo greatly for this and asked him kindly to teach him this secret. "You know," Rammo said, "that the Sultan is in the habit of having a weekly public audience on Thursday for everybody, where his counselor is always present. Then, when you are at the tribunal of the Lord, you will say in a loud voice to the counselor that while he is close to the Sultan in a high and honored rank, he is really your slave and that you find yourself out of luck and you would want him, not to forget you, his master, as it is his duty to help you. ”

“ I don't remember ever having seen a city more lenient or more compassionate to the poor. As I love the beautiful customs and rituals, I have completely forgotten my own country, and if sometimes the idea of returning there crosses my mind, it seems that my nature immediately dissuades me. ”

“ IN my country, called Chimo, among other skills in which people usually train their children, it is rare if they do not also involve music. Hence, many are found there that excel in the music profession. And while I was the son of a man of few means, he willingly spent his earnings solely so that I had skills that were equal to those of other young men of my age. In my youth I tirelessly studied music so that I surpassed all my companions by far in ability. And seeing that in my city the sound of the lute was greatly appreciated, I put all of my soul into it. ”

“ And she walked until sunrise and in a village not far from the city, she reached the house of a poor peasant who made a living for his family with a monkey. And when asked about her situation she answered that she was a poor stranger who was looking for a master in the area. So, the peasant was moved to compassion, and noticing that the young woman was beautiful in appearance, willingly received her, and as he perceived every day her many virtues, he began loving her greatly and accepted her as a daughter. ”

“ I stood at the seashore and facing the Hand I raised my own hand with the index and middle fingers held straight up, and the others clenched and low, I made the Hand plunge into the sea in shame, so that it will never reappear. For if the Hand intended to symbolize that it would take five like-minded men to master the world, I showed that this was a delusion and that not five, but just two men with the same purpose would have been sufficient to accomplish this. ”

“ The Queen added to these words, "We cannot, nor must we fail to fulfill our promise made to Beramo, but to be sure that the Hand will no longer harass our country, I have an excellent remedy, and it is this: The King, my father, his memory be blessed, left me the rule of such a great kingdom, and among the many admonitions he gave me before he passed away, said to me, "Daughter, because you will inherit the rule of the kingdom after my death, I will be certain that many princes and great lords will with all means attempt to acquire it by marrying you. ”