Page:The Pentamerone, or The Story of Stories.djvu/14

vi Adriana, a celebrated singer, to Mantua, and entered the service of the Duke, whose favour he enjoyed. He travelled much in Italy, and returned to Naples, where he must have died about the year 1637. . . The numerous editions which the work has gone through would alone bespeak a certain value, but we may add that this collection of tales is indeed the best and richest that has been made in any country. Not only was tradition at that period more complete, but the author possessed peculiar skill in seizing upon it; in addition to which he had a perfect knowledge of the Neapolitan dialect. These stories are consequently almost entire. . . in two-thirds of them we observe the same leading features as in the German tales, existing to the present day. Basile has introduced no alteration, scarcely a single addition of any importance, and this circumstance gives his work a peculiar value. His narration has all the sportive, witty, and lively spirit of the Neapolitan people; he makes continual allusion to the manners and customs of the country, as well as to ancient history and