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Zezolla, The Cat Cinderella: An Italian Fairytale
Within four days, the date-tree had grown as tall as a woman, and out of it came a Fairy, who said to Zezolla, “What do you wish for?”
Before Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, Basile penned the first modern literary version of the Cinderella fairytale. It is the story of Zezolla, the daughter of an Italian Prince, who is betrayed by her governess and forced to live the life of a servant—that is until the King announces a feast. With assistance from a date-tree given to her by the Fairies of Sardinia, Zezolla is able to attend the feast and her life is forever changed.
In addition, this book contains The She-Bear—a close variant of The Cat Cinderella, also from Giambattista Basile’s The Pentamerone—for an English readership to enjoy.
[Folklore Type: ATU-510: Cinderella and Catskin – A + B (Persecuted Heroine + Unnatural Love)]
29 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1634
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81 people want to read
About the author
Giambattista Basile
132 books56 followersBorn to a Neapolitan middle-class family, Basile was, during his career, a courtier and soldier to various Italian princes, including the doge of Venice. According to Benedetto Croce he was born in 1575, while other sources have February 1566. In Venice he began to write poetry. Later he returned to Naples to serve as a courtier under the patronage of Don Marino II Caracciolo, prince of Avellino, to whom he dedicated his idyll L’Aretusa (1618). By the time of his death he had reached the rank of "count" Conte di Torrone.
Basile's earliest known literary production is from 1604 in the form of a preface to the Vaiasseide of his friend the Neapolitan writer Giulio Cesare Cortese. The following year his villanella Smorza crudel amore was set to music and in 1608 he publish his poem Il Pianto della Vergine.
He is chiefly remembered for writing the collection of Neapolitan fairy tales titled Lo cunto de li cunti overo lo trattenemiento de peccerille (Neapolitan for The Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones), also known as Il Pentamerone published posthumously in two volumes by his sister Adriana in Naples, Italy in 1634 and 1636 under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis. It later became known as the Pentamerone. Although neglected for some time, the work received a great deal of attention after the Brothers Grimm praised it highly as the first national collection of fairy tales. Many of these fairy tales are the oldest known variants in existence. They include the earliest known versions of "Rapunzel" and "Cinderella".
Basile's earliest known literary production is from 1604 in the form of a preface to the Vaiasseide of his friend the Neapolitan writer Giulio Cesare Cortese. The following year his villanella Smorza crudel amore was set to music and in 1608 he publish his poem Il Pianto della Vergine.
He is chiefly remembered for writing the collection of Neapolitan fairy tales titled Lo cunto de li cunti overo lo trattenemiento de peccerille (Neapolitan for The Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones), also known as Il Pentamerone published posthumously in two volumes by his sister Adriana in Naples, Italy in 1634 and 1636 under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis. It later became known as the Pentamerone. Although neglected for some time, the work received a great deal of attention after the Brothers Grimm praised it highly as the first national collection of fairy tales. Many of these fairy tales are the oldest known variants in existence. They include the earliest known versions of "Rapunzel" and "Cinderella".
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 6, 2020
What?? What did I just read?! I tried my hardest to keep any notion of the original Cinderella out of mind when reading this, but it is impossible with a story that has been so ingrained into my childhood and recounted countless times for me across film, media and books since then. But while this story does have its similiarities, it strikes me as very different.
Mostly, I was shocked at how Cinderella wasn't painted to be a kind and loving person. Neither was the godmother for that fact. When we first meet Cinderlla, she rushes to do something so terrible that she cannot be upheld as a good character in my mind.
The outcome and the shift of the moral focusing on what the stepsisters did and represented rather than Cinderella herself was so interesting to me... it goes to show she was not what the entirety of the story was about. For a moral though, it felt quite ambigious and vague... which meant it lacked meaning and the punch that a message should bring.
The writing style was a bit weird to me. Sometimes it read quite modern and then sometimes Shakespeare could have written it. It went back and fourth so frequently and copped some bizarrely hilarious lines which made me laugh out loud.
Tl;dr: this is such a laugh, but also so outrageously different to the story we have come to know that it's a shock.
Mostly, I was shocked at how Cinderella wasn't painted to be a kind and loving person. Neither was the godmother for that fact. When we first meet Cinderlla, she rushes to do something so terrible that she cannot be upheld as a good character in my mind.
The outcome and the shift of the moral focusing on what the stepsisters did and represented rather than Cinderella herself was so interesting to me... it goes to show she was not what the entirety of the story was about. For a moral though, it felt quite ambigious and vague... which meant it lacked meaning and the punch that a message should bring.
The writing style was a bit weird to me. Sometimes it read quite modern and then sometimes Shakespeare could have written it. It went back and fourth so frequently and copped some bizarrely hilarious lines which made me laugh out loud.
Tl;dr: this is such a laugh, but also so outrageously different to the story we have come to know that it's a shock.
September 8, 2020
LA GATA CENICIENTA de Giambattista Basile
Este cuento también es llamado Zezolla, por su protagonista, es un antecedente del famoso cuento "La Cenicineta". Zezolla es una hija de un príncipe que luego de casarse con la maestra de Zezolla, que parecía ser muy dulce siempre con ella, sufre los maltratos de su nueva madrastra quien trae a sus seis hijas a la casa y hace pasar penurias a Zezolla.
Sin embargo Zezolla tiene la visita de una paloma que la ayudará a vincularse a una hada que la ayudará a salir de su situación. Es muy parecida desde luego al cuento posterior incluso el episodio del zapato, pero desde luego tiene el estilo de su época, un poco vulgar a la hora de hacer algunas bromas o comparaciones.
Este cuento también es llamado Zezolla, por su protagonista, es un antecedente del famoso cuento "La Cenicineta". Zezolla es una hija de un príncipe que luego de casarse con la maestra de Zezolla, que parecía ser muy dulce siempre con ella, sufre los maltratos de su nueva madrastra quien trae a sus seis hijas a la casa y hace pasar penurias a Zezolla.
Sin embargo Zezolla tiene la visita de una paloma que la ayudará a vincularse a una hada que la ayudará a salir de su situación. Es muy parecida desde luego al cuento posterior incluso el episodio del zapato, pero desde luego tiene el estilo de su época, un poco vulgar a la hora de hacer algunas bromas o comparaciones.
September 12, 2020
Una historia un poco diferente a la de Perrault y más parecida a la de los Grimm al ser una palmera de dátiles la que le concede los deseos a Zezolla (Cenicienta). En esta versión no solo el padre está vivo sino que él también la desprecia. Me gustó el hecho de que Zezolla se vistiera con distintas ropas. Aquí el calzado es de cobre y, al final, de oro.
April 3, 2020
3.5 stars
May 6, 2021
A short volume containing the more obscure fairy tales Zezolla, The Cat Cinderella and The She-Bear. Both of the stories are translated from their original Italian and are decent in the world of fairy tales. I enjoyed The She-Bear more than the titular tale, but they are both worth reading.
January 11, 2024
horrible
April 5, 2022
This was different than what I expected.
When we hear about Cinderella, we think of the mice, magical carriages, beautiful dress, and Crystal shoes and how king/loving Cinderella was as represented in Disney. But here’s one thing: The ORIGINAL is different.
This version told the story of a prince and his daughter, Zezolla, who is treated poorly by her stepmother. Zezolla complains to her governess, Carmosina, how awful her stepmother was. Carmosina convinces Zezolla that if she murder her stepmother, she would become her new mother and love her dearly.
Without warning, Zezolla kills her stepmother using a wooden chest. After that, she begs her father to marry Carmosina which, of course, he agrees.
At the ceremony, a pigeon speaks to Zezolla and tells her she can wish upon the pigeon of the fairies should she ever be in need.
Turns out, Carmosina was keeping a secret this whole time. She had 6 daughters of her own. The prince soon loses interest in his own daughter, Zezolla, who becomes known as the Cat Cinderella.
Not long after the marriage the Prince is summoned to Sardinia, the land of the fairies, and asks each of his daughters what they would like him to bring back for them. Each asks for material objects but Cat Cinderella asks for nothing but a recommendation to the pigeon of the fairies, and should he forget, he will not be able to return. Of course, predictably, he does forget and finds his ship won’t move. It is not until a fairy comes to the master of the ship in a dream that the message is passed on and his memory is jogged. So, the Prince goes to the fairy’s grotto and the beautiful fairy thanks him for his daughter’s remembrance. In thanks, she gifts him a date tree. The Prince returns home and Cat Cinderella is overjoyed with the tree. After four days it has grown and a fairy appears out of it.
The King is to hold a festival and Cat Cinderella wishes to go. Like magic, the tree gives her a beautiful dress. She dances with the Prince all night but runs away at the end of the night. The King sends a servant to follow her but Cat Cinderella throws coins and he stops to pick them up. Cat Cinderella gives her dress back to the tree just in time for the stepsisters to come home full of praise for the beautiful mystery guest. This story repeats itself twice more, the second time Cat Cinderella gets six horses and footmen to accompany her and she distracts the servant following her with pearls and jewels. The third time, she receives a golden carriage with a whole host of staff to support her. This time the servant is ready and follows the carriage but Cat Cinderella orders it to go faster and loses a slipper. The servant takes the slipper to the King who suggests holding a banquet and inviting all the women to try it on. However, none of the women’s feet fit. He announces that everyone must return the next day and not a single woman is to be left at home. The Prince mentions Cinderella and the King encourages him to bring her along. Of course, the slipper fits and he immediately puts a crown upon her head. In the end the stepsisters return home angry and upset.
In Perrault’s version, it is pretty much like the Disney Cinderella we know. In The Grimm Brother’s version, the birds are the ones who help Cinderella. They live on the tree that grew on her mother’s grave. The end is really shocking and violent. The King brings the slipper to Cinderella’s house and the stepsisters cut off their toes to fit the slipper. However, this didn’t fool the King. He noticed all the blood and discovered that the real owner was Cinderella. She fits the slipper perfectly and marries the King. The birds peck out the stepsisters eyes, leaving them blind and hopeless.
Anyway the text was a little hard for me to read because it was modern like Shakespeare’s.
When we hear about Cinderella, we think of the mice, magical carriages, beautiful dress, and Crystal shoes and how king/loving Cinderella was as represented in Disney. But here’s one thing: The ORIGINAL is different.
This version told the story of a prince and his daughter, Zezolla, who is treated poorly by her stepmother. Zezolla complains to her governess, Carmosina, how awful her stepmother was. Carmosina convinces Zezolla that if she murder her stepmother, she would become her new mother and love her dearly.
Without warning, Zezolla kills her stepmother using a wooden chest. After that, she begs her father to marry Carmosina which, of course, he agrees.
At the ceremony, a pigeon speaks to Zezolla and tells her she can wish upon the pigeon of the fairies should she ever be in need.
Turns out, Carmosina was keeping a secret this whole time. She had 6 daughters of her own. The prince soon loses interest in his own daughter, Zezolla, who becomes known as the Cat Cinderella.
Not long after the marriage the Prince is summoned to Sardinia, the land of the fairies, and asks each of his daughters what they would like him to bring back for them. Each asks for material objects but Cat Cinderella asks for nothing but a recommendation to the pigeon of the fairies, and should he forget, he will not be able to return. Of course, predictably, he does forget and finds his ship won’t move. It is not until a fairy comes to the master of the ship in a dream that the message is passed on and his memory is jogged. So, the Prince goes to the fairy’s grotto and the beautiful fairy thanks him for his daughter’s remembrance. In thanks, she gifts him a date tree. The Prince returns home and Cat Cinderella is overjoyed with the tree. After four days it has grown and a fairy appears out of it.
The King is to hold a festival and Cat Cinderella wishes to go. Like magic, the tree gives her a beautiful dress. She dances with the Prince all night but runs away at the end of the night. The King sends a servant to follow her but Cat Cinderella throws coins and he stops to pick them up. Cat Cinderella gives her dress back to the tree just in time for the stepsisters to come home full of praise for the beautiful mystery guest. This story repeats itself twice more, the second time Cat Cinderella gets six horses and footmen to accompany her and she distracts the servant following her with pearls and jewels. The third time, she receives a golden carriage with a whole host of staff to support her. This time the servant is ready and follows the carriage but Cat Cinderella orders it to go faster and loses a slipper. The servant takes the slipper to the King who suggests holding a banquet and inviting all the women to try it on. However, none of the women’s feet fit. He announces that everyone must return the next day and not a single woman is to be left at home. The Prince mentions Cinderella and the King encourages him to bring her along. Of course, the slipper fits and he immediately puts a crown upon her head. In the end the stepsisters return home angry and upset.
In Perrault’s version, it is pretty much like the Disney Cinderella we know. In The Grimm Brother’s version, the birds are the ones who help Cinderella. They live on the tree that grew on her mother’s grave. The end is really shocking and violent. The King brings the slipper to Cinderella’s house and the stepsisters cut off their toes to fit the slipper. However, this didn’t fool the King. He noticed all the blood and discovered that the real owner was Cinderella. She fits the slipper perfectly and marries the King. The birds peck out the stepsisters eyes, leaving them blind and hopeless.
Anyway the text was a little hard for me to read because it was modern like Shakespeare’s.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2025
Ho letto questo in Italiano. E ho imparato una frase che descrive meglio questa novella: "Ogni ora parve mille anni". Zezolla è una fanciulla malvagia. Sono tutti malvagi. Ah, un'altra frase che mi piace - "Ma tante volte Zezolla tirò di piatto, che alla fine colpi di punta." E una buona novella per studiare la lingua, ma...la morale? Non lo so, è indiavolata.
June 15, 2019
Never thought Cinderella this way. Very unique and fresh. A good read.
October 1, 2020
Conto curto, nada muito diferente do que conhecemos. A experiência foi divertida, ainda assim!
January 2, 2021
Adorei, me inspirou para um RPG.
July 25, 2021
Pela primeira vez eu acho que algo é melhor na versão estadunidense, que história blé!
August 25, 2025
Note to self: I only read Cinderella (Zezolla), not the she bear
September 7, 2024
WHY DOES HE LIKE FEET SO MUCH 😭
June 28, 2025
The Italian Cinderella, an interesting twist where our heroine is not the sweet innocent we see in other tales but willing to do anything to make her way to the top.
May 1, 2020
E viveram felizes para sempre! Bléeee.
September 8, 2022
Rispetto alle altre versioni, non c'è la restrizione della mezzanotte e il principe (qui un re) riesce a riconoscere Cenerentola, quindi non è così stupido, e utilizza la scarpetta soltanto come conferma.
Il fatto che Zezolla uccida la prima matrigna diminuisce l'empatia che si può avere nei suoi confronti, in quanto (a parte essere un'assassina) "se l'è cercata".
Il fatto che Zezolla uccida la prima matrigna diminuisce l'empatia che si può avere nei suoi confronti, in quanto (a parte essere un'assassina) "se l'è cercata".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 20, 2021
Read this for a fairy tales class I took in college. Good read.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews