Includes bibliographical references (pages 359-364).

Once upon a time (in the nineteenth century, actually), a young woman wandered into the Sicilian countryside and gathered wonderful stories from peasant women. Like a character from fiction, Laura Gonzenbach died young, leaving behind only these delightful entertainments, which quickly disappeared from view. Now, in one of the most startling literary discoveries of recent years, Jack Zipes has uncovered this neglected treasure trove of Sicilian folk and fairy tales. Gonzenbach collected wonderful stories - some on subjects that readers will know from the Grimms or Perrault, some entirely new - and published them in German. Her early death and the destruction of her papers in the Messina earthquake of 1908 only add to the mystery behind her achievement. Beautiful Angiola is an instant classic. Gonzenbach's tales delight us with heroines and princes, sorcery and surprise, the deeds of the brave and the treacherous, and the magic of the true storyteller. The Green Bird, The Humiliated Princess, Sorfarina, The Magic Cane, the Golden Donkey, and the Little Stick that Hits are titles destined to become new favorites for readers everywhere. Yet while the stories enchant us, the wry taglines with which they often end ("And so they remained rich and consoled, while we keep sitting here and are getting old") gently bring us back to earth. Beautiful Angiola is the richest of gifts, a genuine literary surprise. -- Dust jacket.

Translated from the German.

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