Cannetella is a Neapolitan

literary fairy tale A literary fairy tale is a fairy tale that differs from an oral folktale in that it is written by "a single identifiable author", as defined by Jens Tismar's monograph. They also differ from oral folk tales, which can be characterized as "simple ...

told by

Giambattista Basile Giambattista Basile ( – 23 February 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. His collections include the oldest recorded forms of many well-known (and more obscure) European fairy tales. He is chiefly remembered for writi ...

in his 1634 work, the ''

Pentamerone The ''Pentamerone'', subtitled ''Lo cunto de li cunti'' (), is a seventeenth-century Neapolitan language, Neapolitan fairy tale collection by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile. Background The stories in the ''Pentamerone'' were colle ...

''.

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a folkloristics, collector of folklore, folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectur ...

included it in '' The Grey Fairy Book'', as collected by Hermann Kletke.Andrew Lang, ''The Grey Fairy Book''
"Cannetella"
/ref> Another version of this tale is told in '' A Book of Wizards'', by

Ruth Manning-Sanders Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifetime ...

Synopsis

A king longed for a child, and a daughter was born to him, whom he named Cannetella. When she was grown, he wanted to marry her off; she did not want to, but at last consented if her husband would have no like in the world. He presented candidates, and when she found fault with them, concluded she did not want to marry at all. Cannetella said she would marry a man with golden hair and golden teeth. Fioravante, a mortal enemy of the king's and a magician, turned himself into a man with golden hair and golden teeth. The king agreed to their marriage, but Fioravante insisted on carrying off the princess with no attendants or baggage. When they reached a stable, he left her there with strict orders not to leave it or be seen, and to eat only what the horses left. One day, looking through a hole, she saw a garden filled with lemons, flowers, citrons, and vines. A desire for a

bunch of grapes In viticulture, the grape cluster (also bunch of grapes) is a fertilized inflorescence of the grapevine, the primary part of this plant used for food (grape leaves are also used in some culinary traditions). The size of the grape bunch greatly va ...

seized her, and she stole it. The horses told Fioravante when he returned, and he was ready to stab her, but she pleaded for her life; he set her to the same conditions and left again. A royal locksmith came by, and Cannetella called to him, persuaded him that it was really her despite her altered looks, and had him smuggle her back to her father. Fioravante came after her. He bribed an old woman to let him see the princess, and Cannetella saw him. She had her father build her a chamber with seven iron doors. Fioravante went back to the old woman and had her go to the castle, selling rouge, and slip a piece of paper in the princess's bed, to charm everyone else asleep. Everyone fell asleep. Fioravante burst through all seven doors to get to the princess, and picked her up, bed clothes and all, to carry her off, but he knocked free the paper, and everyone woke. They pounced on him and cut him to pieces.

References

{{Portal, Children's literature Italian fairy tales Fictional princesses Fairy tales about shapeshifting Fairy tales about princesses Fairy tales about wizards Fairy tales about magic Fairy tales about talking animals Female characters in fairy tales