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2021年2月10日发(作者：甜蜜具现式)

The

Twelve

Oxen

十二头牛

The Twelve Oxen

There were twelve brothers who fell out with their father, and all twelve of them

left home They built themselves a house in the woods and made their living as

carpenters

Meanwhile

their

parents

had

a

baby

girl,

who

was

a

great

comfort

to

them

The child grew up without ever meeting her twelve brothers She had only heard them

mentioned, and she longed to see them

One day she went

to bathe at

a fountain,

and

the first thing

she

did

was remove her

coral

necklace

and

hang

it

on

a

twig

A

raven

came

by,

grabbed

the

necklace,

and

flew

off

with

it

The

girl

ran

into

the

woods

after

the

raven

and

found

her

brothers'

house

No

one

was

at

home,

so

she

cooked

the

noodles,

spooned

them

onto

the

brothers'

plates,

and

hid

under

a

bed

The

brothers

returned

and,

finding

the

noodles

ready

and

waiting,

sat

down

and

ate

But

then

they

grew

uneasy,

suspecting

the

witches

had

played

a

joke

on them, for the woods were full of witches

One of the twelve kept watch the next day and saw the girl jump out from under the

bed

When

the

brothers

learned

she

was

not

a

witch

but

their

own

little

sister,

they

made

a

great

to-do

over

her

and

insisted

that

she

remain

with

them

But

they

cautioned

her to speak to no one in the woods, because the place was full of witches

One evening when the girl went to prepare supper, she found that the fire had gone

out To save time, she went to a nearby cottage to get a light An old woman at the

cottage graciously gave her the light, but said that, in exchange, she would come

to the girl on the morrow and suck a bit of blood from her little finger

you have to do is stick your little finger through the keyhole, and I'll suck it

So the old woman came by every evening to suck the blood from her, while the girl

grew paler and paler Her brothers noticed it and asked her so many questions that

she admitted going to an old witch for a light and having to pay for it with her

blood

The witch arrived, knocked, and when the girl failed to stick her finger through

the keyhole, she poked her head through the cat door One of the brothers had his

hatchet

all

ready

and

chopped

off

her

head

Then

they

pitched

the

remains

into

a

ravine

One

day

on

the

way

to

the

fountain,

the

girl

met

another

old

woman,

who

was

selling

white bowls

So when

the brothers came home thirsty, they found twelve bowels

filled

with water

They

pitched

in

and

drank,

and

instantly

changed

into

a

herd

of

oxen

Only

the

twelfth,

whose

thirst

was

slight,

barely

touched

the

water

and

turned

into

a

lamb

The

sister

therefore found herself alone with eleven oxen and one lamb to feed every day

A prince out hunting went astray in the woods and, turning up at the girl's house,

fell in love with her He asked her to marry him, but she replied that she had to

think of her oxen brothers and couldn't possibly leave them The prince took her to

his palace along with all the brothers The girl became his princess bride, and the

eleven oxen and the lamb were put into a marble barn with gold mangers

But

the

witches

in

the

woods

did

not

give

up

One

day

the

princess

was

strolling

under

the grape arbor with her lambkin brother that she always carried with her, when an

old woman walked up to her

< /p>

that

bunch

there,

they're

the

ripest,

said

the

old

woman,

pointing

to

a

bunch

above the cistern

To reach

it,

the

princess had to

stand on the rim of

the

cistern

The

old woman gave

her

a

push,

and

the

princess

fell

in

The

lamb

started

bleating,

and

bleated

all

around

the cistern, but nobody understood what it was bleating about, nor did they hear

the princess moaning

down in the

well

Meanwhile

the witch had taken the

princess's

shape

and

got

into

her

bed

When

the

prince

came

home,

he

asked,

are

you

doing

in bed?

that one out there that won't stop bleating

you

tell

me

some

time

ago,

asked

the

prince,

the

lamb

was

your

brother?

And you want to eat him now?

The

witch

had

blundered

and

was

at

a

loss

for

words

The

prince,

sensing

that

something

was

amiss,

went

into

the

garden

and

followed

the

lamb

that

was

bleating

so

pitifully

It approached the cistern, and the prince heard his wife calling

are

you

doing

at

the

bottom

of

the

cistern?

he

exclaimed

I

just

leave

you in bed?

The prince ordered his wife pulled up at once The witch was caught and burned at

the

stake

While

the

fire

burned,

the

oxen

and

also

the

lamb

slowly

turned

back

into

fine, strapping young men, and you'd have thought the castle had been invaded by

a band of giants They were all made princes, while I've stayed as poor a soul as

ever

(Monferrato)

NOTES:

The folktales about the sister who rescues her brother or brothers changed into

animals can be divided into two groups: the one where the seven sons are under a

curse (as in Basile, IV, 8, or in Grimm, 9 and 25), and the other where the sole

brother is transformed into a lamb (as in Grimm, 11, or in my no 178) The brothers

are most commonly transformed into birds (swans, ravens, doves), and the first

literary manifestation of the motif dates back to the twelfth century; the latest

is possibly Andersen's

Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,

translated by George Martin,

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