''Misfortune'' ( it, Sfortuna) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

fairy tale, from Palermo, collected by

Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, also , ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian writer and journalist. His best known works include the '' Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the ''Cosmicomi ...

in his ''

Italian Folktales ''Italian Folktales'' (''Fiabe italiane'') is a collection of 200 Italian folktales published in 1956 by Italo Calvino. Calvino began the project in 1954, influenced by Vladimir Propp's '' Morphology of the Folktale''; his intention was to emula ...

''.Calvino and the Age of Neorealism: Fables of Estrangement -1990 - Page 382 0804766576 "Another of Messia's tales, entitled "Sfortuna" ("Misfortune"), is, according to Calvino, "an odyssey about poor women's work ..."" Another telling of the tale appears under the title ''Unfortunate'' in A Book of Enchantments and Curses, 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 lifeti ...

Synopsis

A king was captured and dethroned, and the queen had to make shift as best she could with her seven daughters. A beggar woman told the queen that all their misfortunes sprung from having a daughter who was unlucky. If she sent her away, all would go well with them, and she could find out which daughter it was: the one who slept with her hands crossed. The queen found it was her youngest; when her daughter found out why she was weeping, she left at once. She sought service at a weavers', calling herself Misfortune. Her evil fortune followed her, and as a woman, went about the shop, cutting all the threads. They blamed Misfortune and threw her out. She found service at a shopkeeper's, but when her Fortune spilled all the wine, the shopkeeper blamed Misfortune and threw her out. She worked for a laundress, and the prince, whose work the laundress did, was taken by her skill, giving ten gold pieces. The laundress bought Misfortune new clothing, and made two loaves of bread. She had Misfortune bring one to the laundress's Fortune, and ask her how she found find her own. The laundress's Fortune directed her to a foul old witch who refused the bread, but Misfortune still laid it down. They repeated this on the next washday, and on the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

time, the prince gave twenty gold pieces, so the laundress sent her off with not only two loaves, but fine clothing for Misfortune's Fortune. When the Fortune took the bread, Misfortune grabbed her, washed her, and dressed her. The Fortune gave Misfortune a tiny box, which Misfortune found contained a tiny piece of braid. and stuffed batons in it. Soon after, the laundress found the prince upset because his bride's betrothal gown lacked a tiny piece of braid that could not be matched anywhere. The laundress brought Misfortune's braid, and the prince decided to pay her its weight in gold, but no scale managed to weigh it. He demanded where it had come from, and the laundress told about Misfortune. The prince summoned her, asked who she was, paid off her old masters for the damage and warned them about their behavior, and married Misfortune instead of his betrothed bride. Meanwhile, Misfortune's parents had regained their kingdom, but were distressed by the thought of their daughter. So the prince sent word to them.

References

Italian fairy tales Fictional princesses Stories within Italian Folktales

Synopsis

See also

References