Cannetella
Dear Diary,
Ciao!
My name is Cannetella.
I am the daughter of the King of High-Hill. I am very much a daddy's
girl and he will do almost anything that I ask of him. This usually
comes in handy when I desire to have something. I am at
the age that I should probably get married, but not just any
man will suit me. My father has said that I can have whoever I
want, from a scholar, to a boy, or even someone who is small and
fat. He says that the choice is up to me, and that I will be
able to choose my husband. I wonder how long this will last, when he
finds out how picky I am. We will see soon!
Dear
Diary,
My
father is determined to have me married. Just this morning he was
hanging half way out of the castle windows looking at the
men walking by, and trying to find someone who was suitable enough
for me. My father spotted a man who looked like he would suit me and
called out to him, and told him to come up into the castle. My father
is so embarrassing at times, but I know that he means well. I
wonder how this will turn out.
Dear
Diary,
There
was a huge feast thrown for this prospective husband of mine, and I was
supposed to decide if I
desired him or not. While we were eating, an almond fell out of the
man's mouth and fell to the floor. Once he noticed this, he quickly
grabbed it up and placed it under the table cloth. I noticed this right
off the bat, and knew that this man was not for me. My father asked me
what I thought of the man, and I told him that a man that was so tall
and so big should never have let an almond drop from his mouth. My
father, the King, understood this and he went back to hanging out of
the castle windows looking for a husband for me.
Dear
Diary,
My
father has found another man on the streets today that he thinks will
suit me well. There will be another feast thrown this evening to
decide if this is the man that I should marry. I do hope that it turns
out better than the last one.
Dear
Diary,
Well,
that feast was almost worse than the first. The man that my father had
brought for me was very dull and boring. He also enjoyed the attention
from the servants a little too much, and began to order them around
like he lived here. How can I marry a person who I cannot hold a
conversation with, and who disrespects people who he does not even own?
I am beginning to doubt my father's taste in men.
Dear
Diary,
I
have told my father that I will only marry a man who has a head of
gold, and teeth of gold. This is my only request for a husband that I
have, and I want this request met. So my father once again went back to
the window
to look for a husband for me. He spent many days, and even weeks
looking
out that window until he finally spotted what he had been looking for.
There, walking along the street was a man with a head of gold, and
teeth of gold. My father declared that this man should be brought up to
the castle at once, and that I should be married.
Dear
Diary,
I
have been married but only a few days now, but something terrible has
happened. This man that my father married me to was disguised and
turned out to be my father's worst enemy. He has left me alone in a
stable, with only horses and corn to eat, and he said that he had a
journey that he must take. He told me that if I was ever to try to
leave or get noticed by anyone that he would return and take my
life. I go from one day being a beautiful privileged Princess, to
becoming dirty, poor, and lonely in a matter or days. I am so worried I
will die here.
Dear
Diary,
I
heard a man driving by the stable today and it turned out to be a
blacksmith who worked for my father. Ignoring my husband's orders, I
ran outside and told the blacksmith what had happened to me and he put
me on the back of his horse and rode away with me towards the kingdom.
When we arrived back in my father's kingdom I went home to the castle.
I
called for my father and he came, but he did not recognize me. I had
been starving for years, and who knows how long it has been since I
have had a bath. I finally convinced him that it was me and he took me
in his arms, and promised to never let anything bad happen to me again.
Dear
Diary,
I
am sure that you are wondering what happened to my husband. Well, he
returned to the stable to find I was not there and furiously came to
the castle. When he arrived, my father's men arrested him and had him
taken to the stocks. That is what happens when you mess with a
Princess!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Author's
Note
In the
original story the end was a little different. The Princess actually
left the stable two times. The first time that she left, her husband
caught her and threatened her with her life. He made her go back inside
the stable and then he left on a journey again. The next time that she
left is the part I included in my story. When she gets to the castle
her father does not recognize her because it has been many years and
she has lived in filth with nothing to eat. It took some convincing,
but he finally recognized her. When the husband came back to the
castle looking for her she saw him from her balcony and ran to her
father. She asked him to build her a room with seven doors so that
she would be safe from her husband. The husband went to a
witch to enchant the castle and make everyone fall asleep except for
the Princess. This worked and he tore down all seven doors and got to
the princess but the spell wore off and he was killed when everyone
woke up. I thought that was a lot to try to tell in a short story.
Bibliography
Story: Cannetella
Author: Giambattista Basile
Book: The Pentamerone
Year Published: 1847
Websource: Il
Pentamerone