Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino Read Free Book Online Page A

face with the man wreathed in seaweed. Everyone stopped. “Who is this?” asked the king. “Seize him!” The guards came up, but Samphire Starboard raised a hand and the diamond on his finger sparkled in the sunlight.
    â€œMy daughter’s ring!” exclaimed the king.
    â€œYes,” said the daughter, “this man was my rescuer and will be my bridegroom.”
    Samphire Starboard told his story, and the captain was imprisoned. Green though he was with seaweed, Samphire took his place beside the bride clad in white and was joined to her in matrimony.
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    (
Riviera ligure di ponente
)

3
The Ship with Three Decks
    Once there was a poor couple who lived way out in the country. A baby boy was born to them, but there was no one anywhere around to be his godfather. They went into town, but they didn’t know a soul there and couldn’t have the child baptized without a godfather. They saw a man wrapped in a black cloak on the church doorstep and asked, “Kind sir, would you please be this boy’s godfather?” The man agreed, and the child was baptized.
    When they came out of the church, the stranger said, “I now must give my godson his present. Take this purse, which is to be used to raise and educate him. And give him this letter when he has learned to read.” The father and mother were thunderstruck, but before they could find words of thanks and ask the man his name, he had disappeared.
    The purse was full of gold crowns, which paid for the boy’s education. Once he could read, his parents gave him the letter, which said:
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Dear Godson,
I am going back to repossess my throne after a long exile, and I need an heir. As soon as you read this letter, set out on a journey to your dear godfather, the king of England.
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P.S. Along the way, beware of a cross-eyed man, a cripple, and a mangy character.
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    The youth said, “Father, Mother, farewell. I must go to my godfather.” After a few days of walking, he met a traveler who asked, “Where are you going, my lad?”
    â€œTo England.”
    â€œSo am I. We shall travel together.”
    The youth noticed the man’s eyes: one of them looked east, and the other west, so the boy realized this was the cross-eyed man he must avoid. He found a pretext for stopping, then took another road.
    He met another traveler sitting on a stone. “Are you going to England? We’ll therefore travel together,” said the stranger, who got up and limped along, leaning on a stick. He’s the cripple, thought the youth, and changed roads again.
    He met a third traveler, whose eyes, like his legs, bespoke perfect health. As for any scalp disease, this man had the thickest and cleanest head of black hair you ever saw. As the stranger was also on his way to England, they traveled together. They stopped for the night at an inn, where the youth, wary of his companion, handed over his purse and the letter for the king to the innkeeper for safekeeping. During the night while everybody was sleeping, the stranger rose and went to the innkeeper for purse, letter, and horse. In the morning the young man found himself alone, penniless, on foot, and with no letter for the king.
    â€œYour servant came to me in the night,” explained the innkeeper, “for all your belongings. Then he left . . . . ”
    The youth set out on foot. At a bend in the road he spied his horse tethered to a tree in a field. He was about to untie it, when from behind the tree rushed last night’s companion armed with a pistol. “If you don’t want to die on the spot,” he said, “you must become my servant and pretend I’m the king of England’s godson.” As he spoke, he removed his black wig, revealing a scalp completely covered with mange.
    They set out, the mangy one on horseback, the youth on foot, and at last reached England. With open arms the king welcomed the mangy one, taking him