“The Three Sisters." Stories from the Pentamerone, by Giambattista Basile; selected and edited by E.F. Strange, London: Macmillan; 1911, pp. 88-95.

Tale Summary

There was once an old woman with three daughters. Two of them were very unlucky but the youngest, Nella, was perfect and lucky in every way, making the eldest sisters jealous. The girl secretly was married to an enchanted Prince, who had a wicked mother. So as not to arouse suspicion from her, the Prince made a crystal passage from the royal palace to Nella’s apartment, eight miles in length. He gave her a powder, and said whenever she threw some in the fire, he would instantly come through the passage as quickly as a bird. The two sisters caught on after some time, and broke the passage at parts, so that when Nella gave the signal, her husband hurt himself terribly on the broken crystal, which was enchanted so his wounds were mortal with no human remedy. The King proclaimed that anyone could cure him they would (if a woman) have him for a husband, or (if a man) have half the kingdom. Nella heard this and disguised herself to see him, but night fell as she neared the house of an ogre and she climbed up a tree. From there, she could hear the ogre and his wife talking through an open window, and learned of the manner of how her husband became wounded, wondering to herself who had broken the passage. She then heard the ogre tell his wife that there was a cure, but she must not ever repeat it to anyone. It was the fat of the ogre and the ogress, which if applied to his wounds, would cure him. Nella went to the door and begged for charity, and the ogre feigned charity by letting her sleep in their house, wanting to eat her. Him and his wife were rather tipsy, and fell asleep. Nella took the opportunity to cut them up, collecting the fat into a phial, and went before the court with it. The Prince was instantly cured. The King intended to fulfill his promise, and told the Prince he must marry the girl. The Prince lamented that his heart belonged to another, and Nella asked for a basin of water and washed her face in it, revealing herself as the Prince’s true love. They embraced and she was recognized as his true wife, and then her sisters were thrown into an oven.