Peruonto was penned by Giambattista Basile in Neapolitan. The lazy boy archetype is in full force in this tale, as well as the awful mother trope. Join me as we explore this classic, funny, and largely untold fairy tale.
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The theme of this tale falls into a category known as 'The Lazy Boy.' It is an unfortunately labeled theme as, most often, the boy in question is not actually lazy but kind and caring, yet dim-witted, bordering on stupid. Though our title character, Peruonto, is far from intelligent, he is a very sweet boy, and his compassion is rewarded handsomely by forest fairies.
This story was penned by a man named Giambattista Basile in Neopolitan. I'm sure you will notice there are elements to this story based on idioms that would be entirely amusing in their native tongue. Unfortunately, though don't quite turn out as funny or relatable as it should, I promise you, this does not interfere with the integrity of the story or our ability to enjoy it.
For this reason, Basile did not gain as much notoriety as Charles Perrault or the Grimms Brothers. During translations of Basile, no one could quite capture the essence of his stories which are equally absurd, vulgar, foul, beautiful, and always entertaining.
Famed fairy tale expert, Jack Zipes, calls Basile the "most talented and innovative of all the fairy-tale writers in Europe through the present day."
Let's find out why, shall we?
I mean, who knows anyone that likes raisins that much? I suppose If I were stuck in a barrel afloat at sea, I would chow down on some raisins, too. But seriously, if the King didn't have counselors, they would have all been dead long before raisins could become currency.
The King - thankfully - seems incapable of making a decision without the help of his counselors, who test his patience with their suggestions of inactivity. And what an unpaternal father the King was, even saying he felt cuckolded while acting like a spurned lover over his daughter's mysterious pregnancy.
This story is filled with genuinely unadulterated human undertones that simply don't make the cut in the Grimms collections. From the onset, we're meant to perceive Peruonto as a fool barely able to be trusted to fetch wood, yet he does have the wherewithal to build a shelter for strangers simply because they were in need.
We see him grow and transform from essentially the village idiot that children throw broccoli and lemons into a much higher, grander social plane and finally into a handsome, well-behaved prince, all because he was kind to strangers.
Every girl's dream, really...except the having twins without getting laid part.
The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm (Norton Critical Editions)