The Crystal Casket
(Italy)
There was a widower who had a daughter that he sent
away to school. Alone, she befriended one of her teachers.
Her teacher told her to try to convince her father to marry her.
Ermellina did and her father married her teacher. Her new mother
treated her badly. She made Ermellina water basil out on a dangerous
terrace. If Ermellina were to fall she would fall into a river and
die.
One day while watering the basil an eagle
came and asked why she was crying. She told the eagle and her felt
bad for her. The eagle took her away and to a palace that was run
by fairies. The eagle then returned to where he found Ermellina to
make her stepmother jealous. He told her what he did and this made
her mad. The stepmother went to a witch and asked for help.
The witch made sweetmeats and she put a charm on them. Then she wrote
a letter saying the sweetmeats were form Ermellina’s father.
She went to the palace and convinced Ermellina
to open the door and take the sweetmeats. The fairies warned her
not to trust anyone because her mother was trying to kill her, but she
did not listen to them. She ate the meats and fell dead. The
fairies found her and convinced the chief fairy to save her. The
chief fairy told Ermellina that next time she would not help her so she
must not let anyone in.
The eagle went to the mother and told her the news
to maker her jealous. The news made her mad so she went to the witch
for more help. This time the witch told her to dress up like the
family tailoress and to buy a pretty dress. Her stepmother did this.
She convinced Ermellina to open the door because she had to fit the dress.
She did and when she put the dress she fell dead. The fairies found
her and they tried to convince the chief fairy to save her but she would
not. Instead she put her in a crystal casket and put her on a horse.
She commanded the horse to run until someone said, “stop, for pity’s
sake I have lost my horse for you.”
One day a prince saw the horse and chased
after him on his horse. He ran his horse to death and than ran on
foot. He shouted out, “stop for pity’s sake I have lost my horse
for you.” The horse stopped, and when he saw Ermellina he fell in
love with her and took her home. He never left her and he thought
of her as his wife. One day he had to leave for war and asked his
mother to find two chambermaids to take care of her. She told him
that she would see to it her self, but she thought nothing more of the
casket. His mother received a letter saying that her son was to return
home soon. This panicked his mother so she sent the chambermaids
to get a new dress just like the one she had on.
When they began to take off the old dress
Ermellina came alive. Confused she wanted to know what was going
on so the prince’s mother told her what she wanted to know. When
the prince came home they hid Ermellina. The chambermaids told him
that she began to smell and they buried her. He sent his servants
to dig her up. His mother said told him that is was a dead women
but he would not listen. Seeing that he was in love with her his
mother rang a bell and Ermellina came out. He did not know what was
going on so they began to tell him what was going on. He was still
in love with her so they got married.
Return to Home