Nenillo and Nennella

"Nennillo and Nennella,"

A version of Hansel and Gretel, 

Italy, AD 1674,

Adapted from the story “Nennillo and Nennella” by Giambattista Basile from the book The Pentamerone.

There once was a good man name Jannucio, who had two children-Nennillo and Nennella-who he loved as much as himself. When his wife had been dead for a while, the man took a cruel woman as his new wife. This new wife did not like children and refused to look after Nennillo and Nennella. She called them brats and wished she had broken her neck instead of marrying Jannucio to be fed bad food and worse drink and not be able to sleep. She told him to get rid of the children or she would leave the house forever. Jannucio had grown to love his new wife and told her not to be angry that he would get rid of the children the next morning. He took Nennillo and Nennella with a basket of food into the forest to an area that was shady. He told them to stay there and that if they were to get scared, they could follow the line of ashes he had left on their way into the woods. He left them and cried all the way home. When it became dark, the children were frightened so they followed the ashes back to the house. It was midnight when they arrived, and when their stepmother saw them, she was angry at Jannucio. He promised his wife that he would take them back into the forest the next morning, and they would be rid of them. Once in the forest again, the father told his children that his new wife did not like them, and they would be more loved by a forest than by her. He did leave a path of bread for them in case they became frightened again. He left, once again, crying until he reached home. It became dark again and the children started following the bread trail home except all the bread had been eaten up, and they became lost. Wandering through the forest, a prince came upon them. Nennella ran toward the seashore and was captured by pirates who had lost their own daughter and took her in. Nennillo tried to hide, but the prince found him, took him to his castle, and taught him how to be a carver. Since the pirates were wanted by the courts, the pirate, his wife, and Nennella fled to the sea; but soon a storm appeared, the boat flipped, and an enchanted fish swallowed Nennella. Once inside the fish, Nennella thought she would die; but found beautiful gardens, a mansion, and anything she could want to live as a princess. Soon the fish was caught upon the rocks near the prince’s castle and Nennella could see her brother on the balcony sharpening knives. Nennella called to her brother, but he paid no attention. The prince did hear it and wondered how a voice could be coming from a fish. He told his servants to catch the fish and bring it to land. The prince asked everyone if they had a sister that was lost. Nennillo replied that he thought he once had a sister before the prince found him. With the fish caught, Nennillo went to the fish and opened its mouth where his sister stepped out. Nennella told the prince their sad story but couldn’t remember her father or stepmother’s name. The prince sent out a proclamation for anyone who had lost two children with the names Nennillo and Nennella in the woods to come to the palace. Jannucio, hearing his children were alive, rushed to the palace and told the prince his story. The prince scolded him, but then reunited the father and his children. He then called for the stepmother to come in and showed her the children. He asked her what the person who had discarded them should deserve. She replied that the person should be put in a closed casket and rolled down a mountain. The prince said it would be done, and she received the punishment she had come up with. The prince found a rich lord for Nennella to marry and the daughter of another lord for Nennillo to marry. They lived with their father and needed nothing as they now had everything they could want. The stepmother, closed in the casket, continued to cry through the hole in the casket as long as she had breath.