Page:Crane Italian Popular Tales.djvu/20

xvi and ending of the stories. Those from Sicily begin either with the simple "cc' era" (there was), or " ' na vota cc' era" (there was one time), or "si raccunta chi' na vota cc' era" (it is related that there was one time). Sometimes the formula is repeated, as, "si cunta e s' arricunta" (it is related and related again), with the addition at times of "a lor signuri" (to your worships), or the story about to be told is qualified as "stu bellissimu cuntu" (this very fine story). Ordinarily they begin, as do our own, with the formula, "once upon a time there was." The ending is also a variable formula, often a couplet referring to the happy termination of the tale and the relatively unenviable condition of the listeners. The Sicilian ending usually is:—

(They remained happy and contented, and we are without anything.) The last line often is "E nui semu ccà munnamu li denti" (And here we are picking our teeth), or "Ma a nui 'un ni dèsinu nenti" (But to us they gave nothing), which corresponds to a Tuscan ending:—

(They stayed and enjoyed it, and gave nothing to me.) A common Tuscan ending is:—

(In holy pious peace tell yours, for I have told mine.) In some parts of Sicily (Polizzi) a similar conclusion is found:—

(Story written, story told; tell yours, for mine is told.) So in Venice,—

(Long yours, short mine; tell yours, for mine is ended.) The first line is sometimes as follows:—