夜游人&意大利童话

很久以前，有一个渔夫，他很穷，三个女儿都已长大了。有个年轻人向三姊妹求婚。但是这里的人们都很讨厌他，因为他在夜晚才出来转悠。大姑娘和二姑娘都拒绝了他，但三姑娘却答应了。婚礼是在夜间举行的。闹新房的人走后，新郎诚恳地对新娘说：“我把这个秘密告诉你吧：我被一个邪恶的符咒镇住了，白天变成乌龟，只能在夜里恢复成人。要破除这个符咒，只有一个办法：结婚后我马上离开自己的妻子，到外面去闯荡，夜间作人，白天作乌龟。等我回来的时候，如果妻子一直对我忠实，而且为我还忍受了种种艰难困苦，我就能永远恢复成人了。”

“我心甘情愿！”新娘说。

新郎便摘下一只鉆石戒指，给她戴在手指上，说：“如果用它来做好事的话，不论你碰到什么困难，它都会帮助你你的。”

天亮时，新郎变成乌龟爬出去，开始了他到外面闯荡的旅程。

新娘进城去寻找工作。路上，她还到一个哇哇大哭的孩子，便对他的母亲说：“让我来抱抱他吧，好教他不闹。”

“你是头一个这样做的好人！”孩子的妈妈说，“他一天到晚都在哭闹。”

新娘低声说：“让鉆石戒指的魔力使孩子欢笑、跳跃吧！”话刚说完，孩子便嬉笑欢跳起来。

接著，新娘走到一家面包房里，对老板娘说：“你要是雇我给你干活，我不会使你后悔的。”于是，老板娘雇用了她，她开始做面包，并轻声细语地说：“我在这个面包房里干活期间，让鉆石戒指指的魔力使全城的人，都到这里来买面包吧！”从这时起，人们络绎不绝地在这个面包房里进进出出，这儿的生意十分兴隆。在这些人中间，有三个小伙子，他们爱上了她。

“如果你跟我过一夜，”一个小伙子说：“我就给你一千法郎。”

“我给你两千法郎！”另一个小伙子说。

“我加到三千法郎！”第三个小伙子说。

当天晚上，她收了第三个小伙子三千法郎，偷偷地把他带进了面包房。

“我马上就跟你在一起，”她对这个小伙子说，“先让我把发酵粉放到面粉里。你等我的时候，等你帮我揉一下面团好吗？”

这个人开始揉面团。他揉啊，揉啊，揉啊。由于鉆石戒指的魔力，他无论怎样也不能从面团里拔出手来。就这样，他一直揉到了天亮。

“哟，你已经干好啦！”她对他说，“你干活真卖力。”

于是，她把这个人打发走了。

接著，她又答应了那个出两千法郎的小伙子。天一黑，她就把他带进面包房，叫他帮忙吹火，不要让它熄灭。他吹啊，吹啊，吹啊。由于鉆石戒指的魔力，他一直不停地吹到第二天早晨，脸都吹得浮肿起来，象个皮酒囊。

“你真干得好呀！”清晨，她对这个小伙子说，“你是来看我的，可整夜帮著我吹火！”

于是，她把这个人打发走了。

又一个夜晚，她把那个出一千法郎的小伙子带了进来。“我要在面粉里加发酵粉，”她对他说，“你去把大门关上吧。”

这个人关上了门，可是由于鉆石戒指的魔力，门马上又开了。他整夜都在关门，门关了又开，开了又关，不知不觉地太阳升起来，天亮了。

“你到底把门关上了没有？好啦，你现在可以把门打开啦，滚吧！”

三个小伙子憋了一肚子的气，到官府去告发她。那时候，不光有男警察，还有女警察，捉拿女犯要派女警察。于是，四个女警察前来逮捕新娘。

“让鉆石戒指指的魔力使这四个女人相互打耳光吧，”新娘说，“一直打到明天早晨。”

这四个女警察便相互打起耳光来。她们打得很重，一个个头肿得象大南瓜，可是还拚命地互打著。

四个女警察没有带回犯人来，四个男警察就去寻找她们。新娘见他们来了，便说：“让鉆石戒指的魔力使这些人玩跳蛙游戏吧！”于是，一个警察马上四肢著地，匍匐下来。另一个警察向前俯身，将手搭在头一个警察背上，跳了过去。第三、第四个警察也跟著照做。这样，他们连续做起跳蛙游戏来了。

就在这个节骨眼儿上，一只乌龟爬了过来。这正是新娘的丈夫，从外面归来了。他一见自己的妻子，瞧，他又变成了漂亮的年轻人！从此，他不再变化，跟妻子生活在一起，白头偕老。

（利古里亚海岸）

注释：

材料来源：詹姆士·安德鲁斯编《利古里亚故事集》（巴黎，1892年版）第十四和第二十一篇；搜集地区：曼敦；讲述者：艾琳·吉纳和艾琳·潘杜鲁。

这是一篇充满稀奇古怪的故事。它最引人注目的是关于女警察的描写。女警察是作为特殊警察制度这样一种历史事实来叙述的。在安德鲁斯的第一种异文里，新郎变成了癞蛤蟆。

The Man Who Came Out Only at Night

Long ago there lived a poor fisherman with three marriageable daughters. A certain young man asked for the hand of one of them, but people were wary of him since he came out only at night. The oldest daughter and then the middle daughter both said no to him, but the third girl said yes. The wedding was celebrated at night, and as soon as the couple was alone, the bridegroom announced to his bride: "I must tell you a secret: I am under an evil spell and doomed to be a tortoise by day and a man at night. Theres only one way to break the spell: I must leave my wife right after the wedding and travel around the world, at night as a man and by day as a tortoise. If I come back and find that my wife has remained loyal to me all along and endured every hardship for my sake, Ill become a man again for good."

"I am willing," said the bride.

The bridegroom slipped a diamond ring on her finger. "If you use it to a good end, this ring will help you in whatever situation you find yourself."

Day had dawned, and the bridegroom turned into a tortoise and crawled off to begin his journey around the world.

The bride went about the city in search of work. Along the way, she came across a child crying and said to his mother, "Let me hold him in my arms and calm him."

"Youd be the first person to do that," answered the mother. "Hes been crying all day long."

"By the power of the diamond," whispered the bride, "may the child laugh and dance and frolic!" At that, the child started laughing, dancing, and frolicking.

Next, the bride entered a bakery and said to the woman who owned it, "Youll have no regrets if you hire me to work for you." The owner hired her, and she began making bread, saying under her breath, "By the power of the diamond, let the whole town buy bread at this bakery as long as I work here!" From then on, people poured in and out with no sign of a letup. Among the customers were three young men who saw the bride and fell in love with her.

"If you let me spend a night with you," one of them said to her, "Ill give you a thousand francs."

"Ill give you two thousand," said another.

"And Ill make it three thousand," said the third.

She collected the three thousand francs from the third man and smuggled him into the bakery that very night.

"Ill be with you in a minute," she told him, "after Ive put the yeast into the flour. While youre waiting, would you please knead the dough a little bit for me?"

The man began kneading, and kneaded and kneaded and kneaded. By the power of the diamond, he couldnt for the life of him take his hands out of the dough, and therefore went on kneading till daylight.

"So you finally finished!" she said to him. "You really took your time!"

And she sent him packing.

Then she said yes to the man with the two thousand francs, brought him in as soon as it grew dark, and told him to blow on the fire a moment so that it wouldnt go out. He blew and blew and blew. By the power of the diamond, he had to keep right on blowing up to the next morning, with his face bulging like a wineskin.

"What a way to behave!" she said to him in the morning. "You come to see me, but spend the night blowing on the fire!"

And she sent him packing.

The next night she brought in the man with the thousand francs. "I have to add the yeast," she told him. "While Im doing that, go shut the door."

The man shut the door, which by the power of the diamond came open again right away. All night long he closed it only to see it immediately reopen, and in no time the sun was up.

"Did you finally close this door? Well, you may now open it again and get out."

Seething with rage, the three men denounced her to the authorities. In that day and time there were, in addition to policemen, women officers who were called whenever a woman was to be brought into custody. So four women officers went to apprehend the bride.

"By the power of the diamond," said the bride, "let these women box one anothers ears until tomorrow morning."

The four women officers began boxing one anothers ears so hard that their heads swelled up like pumpkins, and they still went on striking each other for all they were worth.

When the women officers failed to return with the culprit, four male officers were sent out to look for them. The bride saw them coming and said, "By the power of the diamond, let those men play leapfrog." One of the male officers dropped down at once on all fours; a second one moved up, put his hands on the officers back, and leaped over him, with the third and fourth following in his tracks. Thus began a game of leapfrog.

Right at that point, a tortoise came crawling into view. It was the husband returning from his trip around the world. He saw his wife, and behold! He was again a handsome young man, and a handsome young man he remained, by his wifes side, up to a ripe old age.

(Riviera ligure di ponente)

NOTES:

"The Man Who Came Out Only at Night" (Luomo che usciva solo di notte) from Andrews, 14 and 21, Menton, told by Iren Gena and Irene Panduro.

A tale full of oddities, the most striking of which is that of women constables, given as a historical fact regarding a particular police system. In Andrewss first variant, the bridegroom turns into a toad.

Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,

translated by George Martin,

Pantheon Books, New York 1980