collection containing the "History of Calaf."

1550. _Straparola's Nights_, by Straparola. This collection
of jests, riddles, and twenty-one stories was published in
Venice. The stories were taken from oral tradition, from the
lips of ten young women. Some were agreeable, some unfit, so
that the book was forbidden in Rome, in 1605, and an
abridged edition prepared. There was a complete Venetian
edition in 1573, a German translation in 1679, a French one
in 1611, and a good German one with valuable notes, by
Schmidt, in 1817. Straparola's _Nights_ contained stories
similar to the German _The Master Thief, The Little Peasant,
Hans and the Hedge-Hog, Iron Hans, The Four Brothers, The
Two Brothers_, and _Dr. Know-all_.

1637. _The Pentamerone_, by Basile. Basile spent his early
youth in Candia or Crete, which was owned by Venice. He
traveled much in Italy, following his sister, who was a
noted singer, to Mantua. He probably died in 1637. There may
have been an earlier edition of _The Pentamerone_, which
sold out. It was republished in Naples in 1645, 1674, 1714,
1722, 1728, 1749, 1788, and in Rome in 1679. This was the
best collection of tales formed by a nation for a long time.
The traditions were complete, and the author had a special
talent for collecting them, and an intimate knowledge of
dialect. This collection of fifty stories may be looked upon
as the basis of many others. Basile wrote independently of
Straparola, though a few tales are common to both. He was
very careful not to alter the tale as he took it down from
the people. He told his stories with allusions to manners
and customs, to old stories and mythology. He abounds in
picturesque, proverbial expressions, with turns and many
similes, and displays a delightful exuberance of fancy. A
valuable translation, with notes, was written by Felix
Liebrecht, in 1842, and an English one by John Edward
Taylor, in 1848. Keightley, in _Fairy Mythology_, has
translated three of these tales and in _Tales and Popular
Fictions_, two tales. Keightley's were the first
translations of these tales into any language other than
Italian. Among the stories of Basile are the German
_Cinderella, How Six got on in the World, Rapunzel, Snow
White, Dame Holle, Briar Rose_, and _Hansel