Once upon a time there was a merchant who was supposed to go away on business, but he was afraid to leave his daughter at home by herself, as a certain king had designs on her

"Dear daughter," he said, "I'm leaving, but you must promise not to stick your head out of the door or let anyone in until I get back"

Now that very morning the daughter had seen a handsome parrot in the tree outside her window He was a well-bred parrot, and the maiden¹ had delighted in talking with him

"Father," she replied, "it just breaks my heart to have to stay home all by myself Couldn't I at least have a parrot to keep me company?"

The merchant, who lived only for his daughter, went out at once to get her a parrot He found an old man who sold him one for a song He took the bird to his daughter, and after much last-minute advice to her, he set out on his trip

No sooner was the merchant out of sight than the king began devising a way to join the maiden He enlisted² an old woman in his scheme and sent her to the girl with a letter

In the meantime the maiden got into conversation with the parrot "Talk to me, parrot"

"I will tell you a good story Once upon a time there was a king who had a daughter She was an only child, with no brothers or sisters, nor did she have any playmates So they made her a doll the same size as herself, with a face and clothes exactly like her own Everywhere she went the doll went too, and no one could tell them apart One day as king, daughter, and doll drove through the woods in their carriage, they were attacked by enemies who killed the king and carried off his daughter, leaving the doll behind in the abandoned carriage The maiden screamed and cried so, the enemies let her go, and she wandered off into the woods by herself She eventually reached the court of a certain queen and became a servant She was such a clever girl that the queen liked her better all the time The other servants grew jealous and plotted her downfall 'You are aware, of course,' they said, 'that the queen likes you very much and tells you everything But there's one thing which we know and you don't She had a son who died' At that, the maiden went to the queen and asked, 'Majesty³, is it true that you had a son who died?' Upon hearing those words, the queen almost fainted Heaven help anyone who recalled that fact! The penalty for mentioning that dead son was no less than death The maiden too was condemned⁴ to die, but the queen took pity on her and had her shut up in a dungeon⁵ instead There the girl gave way to despair, refusing all food and passing her nights weeping At midnight, as she sat there weeping, she heard the door bolts slide back, and in walked five men: four of them were sorcerers and the fifth was the queen's son, their prisoner, whom they were taking out for exercise"

At that moment, the parrot was interrupted by a servant bearing a letter for the merchant's daughter It was from the king, who had finally managed to get it to her But the girl was eager to hear what happened next in the tale, which had reached the most exciting part, so she said, "I will receive no letters until my father returns Parrot, go on with your story"

The servant took the letter away, and the parrot continued "In the morning the jailers noticed the prisoner had not eaten a thing and they told the queen The queen sent for her, and the maiden told her that her son was alive and in the dungeon a prisoner of four sorcerers, who took him out every night at midnight for exercise The queen dispatched twelve soldiers armed with crowbars, who killed the sorcerers and freed her son Then she gave him as a husband to the maiden who had saved him"

The serant knocked again, insisting that the young lady read the king's letter "Very well Now that the story is over, I can read the letter," said the merchant's daughter

"But it's not finished yet, there's still some more to come," the parrot hastened to say "Just listen to this: the maiden was not interested in marrying the queen's son She settled for a purse of money and a man's outfit⁶ and moved on to another city The son of this city's king was ill, and no doctor knew how to cure him From midnight to dawn he raved⁷ like one possessed⁸ The maiden showed up in man's attire⁹, claiming to be a foreign doctor and asking to be left with the youth for one night The first thing she did was look under the bed and find a trapdoor She opened it and went down into a long corridor, at the end of which a lamp was burning"

At that moment the servant knocked and announced there was an old woman to see the young lady, whose aunt she claimed to be (It was not an aunt, but the old woman sent by the king) But the merchant's daughter was dying to know the outcome of the tale, so she said she was receiving no one "Go on, parrot, go on with your story"

Thus the parrot continued "The maiden walked down to that light and found an old woman boiling the heart of the king's son in a kettle, in revenge for the king's execution of her son The maiden removed the heart from the kettle, carried it back to the king's son to eat, and he got well The king said, 'I promised half of my kingdom to the doctor who cured my son Since you are a woman, you will marry my son and become queen'"

"It's a fine story," said the merchant's daughter "Now that it's over, I can receive that woman who claims to be my aunt"

"But it's not quite over," said the parrot "There's still some more to come Just listen to this The maiden in doctor's disguise also refused to marry that king's son and was off to another city whose king's son was under a spell and speechless She hid under the bed; at midnight, she saw two witches coming through the window and remove a pebble¹⁰ from the young man's mouth, whereupon he could speak Before leaving, they replaced the pebble, and he was again mute"

Someone knocked on the door, but the merchant's daughter was so absorbed in the story that she didn't even hear the knock The parrot continued

"The next night when the witches put the pebble on the bed, she gave the bedclothes a jerk and it dropped on the floor Then she reached out for it and put it in her pocket At dawn the witches couldn't find it and had to flee The king's son was well, and they named the maiden physician to the court"

The knocking continued, and the merchant's daughter was all ready to say "Come in," but first she asked the parrot, "Does the story go on, or is it over?"

"It goes on," replied the parrot "Just listen to this The maiden wasn't interested in remaining as physician to the court, and moved on to another city The talk there was that the king of this city had gone mad He'd found a doll in the woods and fallen in love with it He stayed shut up in his room admiring it and weeping because it was not a real live maiden The girl went before the king 'That is my dool!' she exclaimed 'And this is my bride!' replied the king on seeing that she was the doll's living image"

There was another knock, and the parrot was at a total loss to continue the story "Just a minute, just a minute, there's still a tiny bit more," he said, but he had no idea what to say next

"Come on, open up, it's your father," said the merchant's voice

"Ah, here we are at the end of the story," announced the parrot "The king married the maiden, and they lived happily ever after"

The girl finally ran to open the door and embraced her father just back from his trip

"Well done, my daughter!" said the merchant "I see you've remained faithfully at home And how is the parrot doing?"

They went to take a look at the bird, but in his place they found a handsome youth "Forgive me, sir," said the youth "I am a king who put on a parrot's disguise, because I am in love with your daughter Aware of the intentions of a rival king to abduct¹¹ her, I came here beneath a parrot's plumage to entertain her in an honorable manner and at the same time to prevent my rival from carrying out his schemes I believe I have succeeded in both purposes, and that I can now ask for your daughter's hand in marriage"

The merchant gave his consent His daughter married the king who had told her the tale, and the other king died of rage

(Monferrato)

NOTES:

"The Parrot" (Il pappagallo) from Comparetti, 2, Monferrato, Piedmont

See my remarks on this folktale in the Introduction, p xxx-xxxi I have taken the liberty of doctoring the two versions published by Comparetti--the Piedmontese one and a Tuscan one, from Pisa (1)--and I heightened the suspense¹² by placing the interruptions at the crucial moments

Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,

translated by George Martin,

Pantheon Books, New York 1980

鹦鹉

从前有一个商人要外出经商，但他不敢把女儿一个人留在家里，因为有个国王早就在打她的坏主意了。

他叮嘱女儿：“孩子啊，我要动身了，你一定要答应我，在我回来之前，你不要踏出家门一步，也不要为任何人开门。”

那天早晨，姑娘发现窗外的树上落着一只漂亮的鹦鹉，彬彬有礼，很讨人喜爱，她跟这只鹦鹉聊了一会，觉得很有意思。

姑娘说：“亲爱的爸爸，我一个人留在家里会很孤单的，能不能买一只鹦鹉陪伴我呢？”

商人视女儿为掌上明珠，马上就出去给她找鹦鹉。他遇到了一位卖鹦鹉的老者，而且卖得很便宜，就买下了这只鹦鹉送给了女儿。他对女儿千叮万嘱后，才离家上路。

商人刚一离家，国王就开始琢磨用什么方法能接近姑娘。他与一个老妇串通好了，派她给姑娘送去一封信。

但那时，姑娘正在跟鹦鹉说着话：“鹦鹉，你给我说些什么有趣的事呢？”

“我给你讲一个动人的故事。从前有一个国王，他只有一个女儿，因为是独生女，没有兄弟姐妹陪她玩。人们给她做了一个玩具娃娃，跟她真人一样大，脸也像她，穿的也像她。她不管到哪里总把娃娃带在身边，大家常常错把她当做娃娃，错把娃娃当成她。有一次，国王带着她和娃娃坐着马车来到一片森林，敌人袭击他们，杀死了国王，掳走了公主，把娃娃丢在了车里。公主伤心地嚎啕大哭，敌人只好放了她，她就独自一人在森林中走着。走到一个女王的王宫里，女王把她收为女仆。姑娘聪明贤惠，深得女王宠爱。别的奴仆开始嫉妒她了，为了让她失宠，她们对她说：‘你知道吗。女主人对你真的很好，有什么话都对你说，不过，有一件事情我们都知道，她却不曾对你说，就是她曾有过一个儿子但后来死了。’于是姑娘便去问女王：‘陛下，你真的有一个儿子，后来死了吗？’听到这句话，女王差点气晕过去。这件事没人敢提，谁提到她死去的儿子，就是死罪。姑娘照例要判死刑的，可是女王对她有点怜惜，只把她关进了地牢。姑娘被关进来后，觉得很失落；她吃不下饭，整夜哭泣。半夜，她正在哭着，突然听到开门的声音，只见有五个人，其中四个是魔法师，另一个正是女王的儿子，他被他们囚禁着，他们带他出来散散步。”

故事讲到这里，一个仆人打断了鹦鹉，他给姑娘送来一封信。信是那个国王写的，他想方设法让人把这封信递到了这里。但是当时姑娘正在兴头上，她想知道故事的下文，就说：“我爸爸回来之前，我不收任何信。请不要打扰我。鹦鹉，继续讲下去吧。”

仆人拿着那封信出去了，鹦鹉继续讲故事：“到了早上，看管姑娘的狱卒发现犯人什么也没吃，就禀报了女王。女王传她上殿，姑娘就把在地牢里看见王子还活着、被四个魔法师关押着、每晚半夜押他出来放风的情况告诉了女王。女王马上派了十二名军士，手持长矛来到地牢，杀死了四个魔法师，把女王的儿子就了回来。女王因为姑娘救了王子，决定让王子娶姑娘为妻。”

正讲到这里，敲门声又响了，家仆来请求小主人读一读那个国王写来的信。商人的女儿说：“好了，故事讲完了，我现在可以看信了。”

“还没完，还有一段呢。”鹦鹉急忙劝阻她，“你听着：那个姑娘并不愿意嫁给女王的儿子，她只要了些钱和一套男人服装就离开了，到了另一个城邦。这里国王的儿子得了一种病，没有一个医师能医好他：他从半夜到早晨，瞪着眼睛，胡言乱语，就像一个恶魔。姑娘穿着一身男装来了，自称是从外国来的医师，请求让自己和病人单独待上一夜。她先察看了一下床，发现床下有一个暗道口，从暗道口下去，是一条走廊，尽头放着一盏油灯。”

这时，又传来了敲门声，家仆进来说一位老妇，自称是姑娘的姑妈，想要见见姑娘。（其实她根本不是什么姑娘的姑妈，而是为国王办事的那个老妇。）商人的女儿急不可待地想要知道故事的结局，就告诉家仆不接待任何人。“鹦鹉，继续讲下去。”

鹦鹉继续讲：“姑娘走近油灯一看，只见一个老妇正在用一口大锅煮王子的心，因为那个国王曾经处死了她自己的孩子。姑娘从锅里把那颗心拿走了，并让国王的儿子吞下它，病立即就好了。国王说：‘我许诺过，哪位医师治好了我儿子，我就把城邦的一半送给他，你是一个女人，你就嫁给我儿子，当他的王后吧。’”

“真是神奇啊！”商人的女儿说，“故事讲完了，我现在可以接待那个自称是我姑妈的老妇人了。”

鹦鹉说：“故事还没完呢，后边还有一段。你仔细听着。装扮成医生的姑娘也不愿意嫁给国王的儿子，又离开了，她来到另一个城邦，这里国王的儿子中了魔法，不会说话。晚上姑娘躲在床下，到了半夜她看见两个女巫从窗户钻进来，她们从王子嘴里取出一块宝石，王子就能说话了，走的时候，她们又把那块宝石放进王子嘴里，他又变哑了。”

又响起了敲门声，不过商人的女儿正在聚精会神地听着故事，根本没听见。鹦鹉接着讲：

“第二天晚上，当那两个女巫把小宝石放在床上的时候，姑娘拽起床单，将宝石抖落在地，并顺手捡起来装进口袋。到了早上，女巫找不到宝石，只好逃走了。国王的儿子能开口说话了，姑娘被任命为宫廷御医。”

敲门声还在响个不停，商人的女儿想让屋外的人进来，就先问了鹦鹉一句：“你的故事讲玩了还是没讲完？”

“还没讲完，”鹦鹉说，“你听着：姑娘不想在王宫里做御医，又来到另一个城邦。她听说这里的国王疯了。他在森林中捡回一个玩具娃娃就爱上了它，把自己关在房间里一边凝视着娃娃，一边哭，因为它不是一个真的女人。姑娘听了这个消息后，来到国王的房间一看，惊奇地说：‘这是我的那个娃娃！’而国王看见姑娘长得跟娃娃一模一样，就说：‘这就是我要娶的新娘！’”

敲门声还在响着，鹦鹉实在不知道如何再把故事讲下去了。只是说：“等一下，等一下，还有一段呢。”但它不会往下讲了。

门外传来商人的说话声：“开门，开门啊，我是你爸爸。”

鹦鹉一听，说：“故事讲完了，国王娶了这个姑娘，两个人幸福地生活在一起了。”

姑娘这才跑去打开门，紧紧抱住远道归来的爸爸。

商人说：“我的女儿真乖，一步也没跨出家门。那只鹦鹉呢？”

他们走回房间里找鹦鹉，却找不到鹦鹉了，看到的是一个英俊的小伙子，小伙子说：“请原谅，先生，我是一个乔装成鹦鹉的国王，我爱上了您的女儿。我了解到我的情敌――另一个国王――想要拐骗您的女儿，就披上鹦鹉皮，诚心诚意地跟她交谈，阻止她陷进我的情敌设下的圈套。我相信我成功了，现在我可以向您的女儿求婚了。”

商人答应了他们的婚事，于是姑娘嫁给了那个给他讲过童话的国王，而另一个国王被气死了。