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Tale Summary

There was once a very poor man named Masaniello, who had twelve daughters whom he could barely afford to take care of. One day, the peasant came to the mouth of a cave while working the land, and was met with a large lizard, who was very friendly. The lizard requested that he give her his youngest daughter, whom she would raise as her own, and promised him an ill fate if he refused. Troubled, he went home to his wife, who encouraged him to do as the lizard asked as she might be a friend in disguise. When the lizard received the little girl, named Renzolla, she gave the peasant a sack of gold and he was soon able to marry off the rest of his daughters and live the rest of his days comfortably with his wife. The lizard transformed the cave into a castle and Renzolla was brought up like a princess. One day, the king of the country was hunting nearby, and requested a night’s lodging at the palace. The lizard, a fairy, transformed herself into a beautiful woman and welcomed him warmly. He fell in love with Renzolla, and the fairy gave her consent to their marriage, but she did not receive any gratitude from the girl. She resolved to punish her, and transformed her face into that of a goat. The king was horrified and put her in one of his castle’s rooms with a waiting-maid, and gave them both ten bundles of flax and demanded that they be spun by the end of the week. Renzolla, not knowing that she had a goat face and being used to pampering, threw the flax out the window and spent the days complaining about her treatment. She grew afraid of being punished for not working as the diligent waiting-maid finished her chores, and so went to the fairy who gave her a sack full of spun flax. The king then gave both girls a little dog and told them to look after the animals and train them carefully. Disgusted at the thought of caring for a dog with her own hands, Renzolla tossed the dog out of a window and killed it. After several months, the king sent a message wanting to see how the dogs were doing, and the girl became frightened and once again ran to the fairy. She found an old man at the door of her palace and was very rude to him, and so he took out a mirror to show her that she had a goat face. He told her that she was a peasant’s daughter and the fairy turned her into a queen, but still the girl was ungrateful and so was punished. He suggested that she apologize, and so she did, and was very sorry for her conduct. The queen gave her back her former face, and dressed her in a gold dress and brought her back in a beautiful carriage to her husband, who once again fell in love with her and regretted his treatment. Renzolla lived happily ever after because she loved her husband, honored the fairy, and was grateful for the old man for telling the truth.

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