Tale of Tales. Pentamerone

We present to the reader the first collection of fairy tales in the history of European literature — the book by Neapolitan writer Giambattista Basile (1566–1632), aptly titled — 'Tale of Tales'. In the tale of a young princess who leaves the palace in search of her destined husband, fifty other stories are enclosed like a frame, divided into five days (hence the second title under which this book is known — 'Pentamerone'). The plots and motifs of Basile influenced many storytellers in subsequent centuries — both directly (on Charles Perrault, Carlo Gozzi, and the Brothers Grimm) and indirectly (up to A. S. Pushkin, P. P. Yershov, and P. P. Bazhov). However, what makes Basile's book an unparalleled work of Baroque prose is not just the plots, but the vivid author's style — the richness of the narrative with the everyday realities of Italy in the 17th century, proverbs and sayings, quotes from Latin and Italian authors, children's folklore, examples of the jargon of students, soldiers, and card sharks, instantaneous transitions from gallant speech to street swearing and back, and inexhaustible inventiveness in epithets and comparisons.