Le Tre Vecchie

"Le Tre Vecchie" is an Italian fairy tale by Italo Calvino. It tells the story of three very old sisters that deceive a young king. The oldest sister drops her handkerchief off of her balcony and the young king finds it. The king assumes that since the handkerchief is beautiful its owner must be beautiful. He goes to the house to ask for what he thinks is the young woman that dropped it. One of the old sisters answers the door. She tells him that there is a young and beautiful woman in the house and he may only see her after he marries her. So the king agrees, despite a warning from his mother. The king goes back to the house and asks to see a finger of the woman. The old women deceive him and show him a fake finger. The next day they are married. The old woman wears seven veils to conceal herself. Even then he is not allowed to see the bride. Finally, that night the king steals a candle and while the old woman was sleeping he looks under the blanket. When he realizes they tricked him into marrying an old woman he becomes so angry he throws the woman out the window. On her way down she becomes stuck on a vine trellis. While she is hanging there three fairies come along. At first, they laugh at her. Then to make amends they make her a beautiful young woman and promise that she will live a happy life with her husband. In the morning the prince looks out the window to make sure the night before was not a dream. He sees the beautiful woman and pulls her up with a sheet. Once he leaves her sisters ask how she became so beautiful. She tells them she went to the carpenter and he used one of his tools on her face. One of her sisters runs to the carpenter and asks him to do the same to her. The carpenter ends up killing her. It is unknown what happened to the third sister. The oldest sister lives happily ever after with the king. 

The story is originally Venetian. The original story has the old woman spitting a wad of jam into the king's hand. Calvino changed it so the woman dropped a handkerchief. This story is part of Calvino's book Italian Folktales. 

I found this fairy tale very interesting. In many of the fairy tales I have read good usually wins over evil. However, in this one that is not the case. The oldest sister should have been punished for deceiving the king, but she is the one that lives happily ever after. There is no moral as many other stories from this genre have. I can tell the story was meant to be humorous, not only from the plot, but also from the writing. When the story is read in Italian, there are many sarcastic lines. For example, at one point Calvino refers to the sisters as young, even though they are in their sixties, seventies, and nineties. This, in my opinion, made the story more enjoyable. I also found it interesting that only one name was mentioned in the entire story and it was not even the name of a main character. The name of the middle sister, the one that dies, is mentioned. Her name is Clementina. I found it difficult to read this story critically. I had to just accept all of the events and not think to hard because some of the events are so ridiculous. All in all I enjoyed it very much. 

Eyes of a Blue Dog by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The short story "Eyes of a Blue Dog" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is written in the literary genre of magic realism. Magic realism adds mythical elements to a realistic story. This story is about a man and a woman, neither of which have names. The man and the woman are unable to find each other outside of the dream like situation they are in. The woman says she has written "eyes of a blue dog" in different places, but she can not remember where she wrote it. Once she wrote it in a drug store and the manager made her clean it up. She is hoping the man will see the words, remember her and try to find her. However, the man can never remember the woman or the words once they are out of this alternate reality.

I thought the story took place in a dream. However, it was difficult to tell. I also wondered whether or not the man and the woman were in the same time. It was possible that the man was living in one time period while the woman was living in another. This could be why they could not find each other.
The man and the woman were not able to touch each other in the dream. This gives the feeling of loneliness.

Although the people seem to want to find each other in their real lives, I think they may want to keep their relationship in the dream. As long as the relationship is only in the dream then nothing can come between them. If they are not together in the real world then they do not have to deal with all of the problems that could break off their relationship. The two people can not touch in the dream, however, the woman fears that if they touch each other everything will be ruined.

I found this final line of the story to be very interesting. It implies that the man in the story is the only man that can not remember what he has dream. The woman is criticizing him for this. However, this is ironic because the woman can not remember where she wrote the phrase "eyes of a blue dog." I find this hypocritical. Overall I liked the story and think that I would enjoy reading other things by Marquez.

April Love by Ernest Dowson

April Love
By Ernest Dowson
We have walked in Love's land a little way,
We have learnt his lesson a little while,
And shall we not part at the end of day,
With a sigh, a smile?
A little while in the shine of the sun,
We were twined together, joined lips, forgot
How the shadows fall when the day is done,
And when Love is not.
We have made no vows--there will none be broke,
Our love was free as the wind on the hill,
There was no word said we need wish unspoke,
We have wrought no ill.
So shall we not part at the end of day,
Who have loved and lingered a little while,
Join lips for the last time, go our way,
With a sigh, a smile?

I chose this poem to memorize and recite in front of the class. I would say the first reason I decided on this one was because I liked the way it sounded. It is pretty and light. It makes me smile. I did not have to think about its meaning too much. I enjoy being able to read a poem and understand its meaning right away. I do not enjoy the task of picking apart a poem until finally I think I know what the author is trying to say. I liked that I could take the poem for face value. It was not dark or haunting. It was beautiful. It was perfect for me. I will admit it was easy to memorize but I did not realize this until after I picked it.

Dowson describes a one time only affair. "We have made no vows--there will none be broke," refers to the fact that neither person has promised the other anything. No one will be disappointed or held to anything once this day is over. The people are free to go on their way. The poem was very unexpected for the time in which it was written. There are mentions of public displays of affection which were very bold for the Victorian era.

My favorite part of the poem is the ending. It all ends with a smile. The two people seem to be happy and content at the end. The question mark makes the reader wonder if there is more to come. Maybe this isn't all there is, the couple may meet again. They do not know what the future will bring. The question mark allows the reader's imagination to work. I can imagine what I want to happen. I can pick my own ending.