e of paper which the old
woman had placed under her pillow fell on the floor.

In an instant all the people in the palace woke up, and as Cannetella
was still screaming for help, they rushed to her rescue. They seized
Scioravante and put him to death; so he was caught in the trap which he
had laid for the princess--and, as is so often the case in this world,
the biter himself was bit.

[From the Italian, _Kletke_.]

_THE OGRE_

There lived, once upon a time, in the land of Marigliano, a poor woman
called Masella, who had six pretty daughters, all as upright as young
fir-trees, and an only son called Antonio, who was so simple as to be
almost an idiot. Hardly a day passed without his mother saying to him;
'What are you doing, you useless creature? If you weren't too stupid to
look after yourself, I would order you to leave the house and never to
let me see your face again.'

Every day the youth committed some fresh piece of folly, till at last
Masella, losing all patience, gave him a good beating, which so startled
Antonio that he took to his heels and never stopped running till it was
dark and the stars were shining in the heavens. He wandered on for some
time, not knowing where to go, and at last he came to a cave, at the
mouth of which sat an ogre, uglier than anything you can conceive.

He had a huge head and wrinkled brow--eyebrows that met, squinting eyes,
a flat broad nose, and a great gash of a mouth from which two huge tusks
stuck out. His skin was hairy, his arms enormous, his legs like sword
blades, and his feet as flat as ducks'. In short, he was the most
hideous and laughable object in the world.

But Antonio, who, with all his faults, was no coward, and was moreover a
very civil-spoken lad, took off his hat, and said: 'Good-day, sir; I
hope you are pretty well. Could you kindly tell me how far it is from
here to the place where I wish to go?'

[Illustration: ANTONIO.IS.NOT.AFRAID.OF.THE.OGRE]

When the ogre heard this extraordinary question he burst out laughing,
and as he liked the youth's polite manners he said to him: 'Will you
enter my service?'

'What wages do you give?' replied Antonio.

'If you serve me faithfully,' returned the ogre, 'I'll be bound you'll
get enough wages to satisfy you.'

So the bargain was struck, and Antonio agreed to become the ogre's
servant. He was very well treated, in every way, and he had little or no
work to do, with the result that in a few days