Tales and Popular Fictions - 1834 Author:Thomas Keightley Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 91 CHAPTER III. THE PLEASANT NIGHTS THE DANCING WATER, THE SINGING APPLE AND THE BEAUTIFUL GREEN BIRD THE THREE LITTLE BIRDS LACTANTIUS ULYSSES AN... more »D SINDBAD. Having shown, then, that a tale of the Thousand and One Nights was known in Europe in the thirteenth century, I might consider my theory established. To make, however, assurance doubly sure, I will show that one of them was printed in the sixteenth century. In the year 1550 appeared at Venice, under the title of the Pleasant Nights (Le Notti Piacevoli), a collection of tales written by a person named Stra- parola. They are divided into thirteen Nights, and are seventy-four in number. Though some of them are very indelicate, the author assures us that they are not his, but that he heard them from the lips of ten young ladies. It is probable, however, that this is merely a literary artifice, and that he picked up the tales wherever he found them. At all events, they seem not to be any of them his own invention. The following is the third story of the Fourth Night:— " THE DANCING WATER, THE SINGING APPLE AND THE BEAUTIFUL GREEN BIRD. In Provino, a famous and royal city, dwelt in times past three sisters, fair of face, polished in manners, and correct in conduct, but of low extraction ; for they were the daughters of one Master Rigo, a baker, who baked other people's bread in his oven. One of them was called Bru- nora, the other Lionella, and the third Chiaretta. As these three maidens were one day all together in their garden, in which they took great delight, Ancilotto, the king, passed by with much company, on his way to amuse himself at the chase. Brunora, who was the eldest, seeing such a fine and honourable company, said to her sisters, " If I had the king's major-domo for a husband, I would ...« less