意大利童話 Crack and Crook 克利克和克羅克

　　In a distant town there was a famous thief known as Crack, whom nobody had ever been able to catch The main ambition of this Crack was to meet Crook, another notorious thief, and form a partnership with him One day as Crack was eating lunch at the tavern across the table from a stranger, he went to look at his watch and found it missing The only person in this world who could have taken it without my knowledge, he thought, is Crook So what did Crack do but turn right around and steal Crook's purse When the stranger got ready to pay for his lunch, he found his purse gone and said to his table companion, "Well, well, you must be Crack"

　　"And you must be Crook"

　　"Right"

　　"Fine, we'll work together"

　　They went to the city and made for the king's treasury, which was completely surrounded by guards The thieves therefore dug an underground tunnel into the treasury and stole everything Surveying his loss, the king had no idea how he might catch the robbers He went to a man named Snare, who had been put in prison for stealing, and said, "If you can tell me who committed this robbery, I'll set you free and make you a marquis"

　　Snare replied, "It can be none other than Crack or Crook, or both of them together, since they are the most notorious thieves alive But I'll tell you how you can catch them Have the price of meat raised to one hundred dollars a pound The person who pays that much for it will be your thief"

　　The king had the price of meat raised to one hundred dollars a pound, and everybody stopped buying meat Finally it was reported that a friar had gone to a certain butcher and bought meat Snare said, "That had to be Crack or Crook in disguise I'll now disguise myself and go around to the houses begging If anybody gives me meat, I'll make a red mark on the front door, and your guards can go and arrest the thieves"

　　But when he made a red mark on Crack's house, the thief saw it and went and marked all the other doors in the city with red, so there was no telling in the end where Crack and Crook lived

　　Snare said to the king, "Didn't I tell you they were foxy? But there's someone else foxier than they are Here's the next thing to do: put a tub of boiling pitch at the bottom of the treasury steps Whoever goes down to steal will fall right into it, and his dead body will give him away"

　　Crack and Crook had run out of money in the meantime and decided to go back to the treasury for more Crook went in first, but it was dark, and he fell into the tub Crack came along and tried to pull his friend's body out of the pitch, but it stuck fast in the tub He then cut off the head and carried it away

　　The next day the king went to see if he had caught the thief "This time we got him! We got him!" But the corpse had no head, so they were none the wiser about the thief or any accomplices he might have had

　　Snare said, "There's one more thing we can do: have the dead man dragged through the city by two horses The house where you hear someone weeping has to be the thief's house"

　　In effect, when Crook's wife looked out the window and saw her husband's body being dragged through the street, she began screaming and crying But Crack was there and knew right away that would be their undoing He therefore started smashing dishes right and left and thrashing the poor woman at the same time Attracted by all that screaming, the guards came in and found a man beating his wife for breaking up all the dishes in the house

　　The king then had a decree posted on every street corner that he would pardon the thief who had robbed him, if the thief now managed to steal the sheets out from under him at night Crack came forward and said he could do it

　　That night the king undressed and went to bed with his gun to wait for the thief Crack got a dead body from a gravedigger, dressed it in his own clothes, and carried it to the roof of the royal palace At midnight the cadaver, held by a rope, was dangling before the king's windows Thinking it was Crack, the king fired one shot and watched him fall, cord and all He ran downstairs to see if he was dead While the king was gone, Crack slipped into his room and stole the sheets He was therefore pardoned, and so that he wouldn't have to steal any longer, the king married his daughter to him

　　(Monferrato)

　　NOTES:

　　"Crack and Crook" (Cric e Croc) from Comparetti, 13, Monferrato, Piedmont

　　This is one of the oldest and most famous tales, which has occupied the attention of scholars for generations The Piedmontese version I followed is faithful to the oldest tradition and includes the curious character-names and a brisk dose of rustic cunning Herodotus (Histories) tells in detail about Egyptian King Rhampsinitus's treasure, chief source of the vast narrative tradition concerning wily robbers put to the test by a ruler The beheading of a cadaver so it will not be recognized is also encountered in Pausanias, who presents the myth of Trophonius and Agamedes (Description of Greece, IX, 372) Either through the Greeks or through oriental tradition the tale entered medieval literature, in the various translations of the Book of the Seven Sages and other Italian, English, and German texts Literary versions by Italian Renaissance story writers are numerous

　　Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,

　　translated by George Martin,

　　Pantheon Books, New York 1980

　　克利克和克羅克

　　在一個(gè)遙遠(yuǎn)的小鎮(zhèn)上，有一個(gè)出了名的盜賊，人送外號(hào)克利克①，并且認(rèn)為永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)有人抓到他。這個(gè)盜賊很想結(jié)識(shí)另一個(gè)與他同樣出名的外號(hào)叫克羅克的盜賊，想與他聯(lián)手作案。一天，克利克在一家酒館吃飯，同桌坐著一位陌生人?？死艘磿r(shí)間的時(shí)候才發(fā)現(xiàn)懷表已經(jīng)不翼而飛了?？死讼耄阂沁@人能不被我察覺(jué)而偷走我的表，那他一定就是克羅克。他回手就偷來(lái)了那個(gè)人的錢(qián)包。陌生人要付帳的時(shí)候發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的錢(qián)包也沒(méi)了，便對(duì)同桌的人說(shuō)：“看來(lái)你就是克利克了。”

　　另一個(gè)答道：“那你一定就是克羅克嘍。”

　　“對(duì)。”

　　“好極了，我們合伙吧。”就這樣兩個(gè)盜賊聯(lián)起手來(lái)。

　　兩個(gè)人進(jìn)城，來(lái)到了由侍衛(wèi)嚴(yán)密把守的國(guó)王寶庫(kù)。他們挖了一條通向?qū)殠?kù)的地道，盜走了寶庫(kù)里的一些東西。國(guó)王眼看著寶庫(kù)被盜，卻找不到一點(diǎn)盜賊的線索，就去找一位關(guān)押在獄的盜賊，人稱(chēng)灰漿盆，國(guó)王對(duì)他說(shuō)：“你要是能告訴我偷寶庫(kù)的人是誰(shuí)，我就放了你，還封你為侯爵。”

　　灰漿盆答道：“這一定是克利克和克羅克聯(lián)手干的，他們是兩個(gè)最棒的盜賊。不過(guò)，我有辦法抓住他們。您下令把肉價(jià)抬高到每磅一百里拉，誰(shuí)還去買(mǎi)肉，誰(shuí)就一定是盜賊。”

　　國(guó)王依計(jì)把肉價(jià)抬到一百里拉一磅，沒(méi)有人再去買(mǎi)肉了。好不容易來(lái)人報(bào)告說(shuō)有一個(gè)修道士到一家肉鋪買(mǎi)過(guò)肉。灰漿盆說(shuō)：“這一定是克利克或克羅克化裝的。我也化裝成一個(gè)乞丐，挨家挨戶去乞討，誰(shuí)給我肉吃，我就在他家的門(mén)上劃一個(gè)紅色標(biāo)記，這樣侍衛(wèi)就能抓到他。”

　　但是當(dāng)他在克利克家門(mén)上劃上紅色標(biāo)記時(shí)，克利克發(fā)覺(jué)了?？死私o城里所有人家的門(mén)上都劃上了同樣的標(biāo)記，結(jié)果灰漿盆一無(wú)所獲。

　　灰漿盆又向國(guó)王獻(xiàn)計(jì)說(shuō)：“我不是跟您說(shuō)過(guò)他們是兩個(gè)很狡猾的人嗎?但是，有人比他們更狡猾。您這么辦：讓人在寶庫(kù)臺(tái)階的下面放上一桶滾燙的松樹(shù)油，進(jìn)去偷東西的人就會(huì)掉下去，我們便可以坐等收尸了。”

　　克利克和克羅克不久就把偷來(lái)的錢(qián)用光了，只好再去寶庫(kù)偷錢(qián)?？肆_克摸黑走在前面，結(jié)果掉進(jìn)了桶里?？死丝吹脚笥训暨M(jìn)松油桶死了，就想把尸體撈出來(lái)帶走，但怎么也撈不出來(lái)。他只好砍下克羅克的腦袋，帶走了。

　　第二天，國(guó)王到了現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，說(shuō)：“這次抓到了，這次抓到了!”可是，只找到一具無(wú)頭尸，沒(méi)法辨認(rèn)身分，也無(wú)法斷定誰(shuí)是同謀。

　　灰漿盆又說(shuō)：“我還有一計(jì)。你讓人用兩匹馬拖著這具尸體在全城示眾，聽(tīng)到哪里有哭聲，就一定是盜賊的家。”

　　真的，克羅克的妻子從窗戶看到丈夫的尸體被拖著游街，就又哭又嚎起來(lái)。克利克也在那里，他立即意識(shí)到這樣會(huì)使自己暴露。于是，他開(kāi)始摔盤(pán)子，砸碗，并且打克羅克的妻子。正在這時(shí)，侍衛(wèi)們循著哭聲進(jìn)來(lái)了，看到的卻是一個(gè)婦人打碎了盤(pán)、碗，而男人給了她幾個(gè)耳光，婦人就哭了起來(lái)。

　　國(guó)王無(wú)計(jì)可施，便讓人在全城貼出告示說(shuō)，誰(shuí)有本事偷走他床上的床單，他就原諒他的偷盜之罪?？死寺?tīng)到消息就來(lái)了，說(shuō)自己有本事做到。

　　晚上國(guó)王脫衣上了床，手里拿著一桿火槍等著盜賊?？死藦木蚰谷四抢镆獊?lái)一具尸體，給他穿上自己的衣服，帶到王宮的屋頂。等到半夜，克利克用繩子把尸體吊在國(guó)王寢室的窗戶前。國(guó)王以為這就是克利克，朝他開(kāi)了一槍?zhuān)挚匆?jiàn)他帶著繩子摔了下去。國(guó)王跑下去看看人是不是死了?？删驮谕瑫r(shí)，克利克從屋頂下到國(guó)王的寢室，偷走了國(guó)王的床單?？死吮粐?guó)王赦免了，而且因?yàn)樗呀?jīng)無(wú)所不能偷了，國(guó)王就把自己的女兒嫁給了他。

　　(蒙費(fèi)拉托地區(qū))

　　①這篇故事中的兩個(gè)盜賊的外號(hào)“克利克”與“克羅克”都是形容斷裂、破碎的象聲詞。