The Princess's Stories
Sun, Moon and Talia
Once there was a great lord, who had a daughter named Talia. He asked for the wise men in his lands to predict her future. They predicted that she would be in great danger from a splinter of flax.
When Talia had grown up, she found women who were spinning. Talia being interested began to stretch the fax, unfortunately getting a splinter under her nail, falling dead upon the ground. Once the father heard, he had her laid out in one of his country mansions.
Once a king was hunting and ended up passing the mansion. His falcons ended up getting loose and flying into the house.The king ended up entering the house, believing it to be empty.
The king found Talia sleeping and was enchanted by her. He attempted to wake her up, but she didn't he took her to a bed and had his way with her. He ended leaving back to his kingdom, forgetting all about the incident.
Nine months later, Talia ended up giving birth to a boy and a girl. While searching for a nipple, the babies ended up finding Talia's finger. The babies sucked the flax splinter out, and Talia woke up.
The king took the acknowledgment of Talia and their kids the Sun and Moon though he kept them secret. Soon, his wife began to become suspicious, soon finding out about Talia and the children. She ordered the cook to cook the children. Though the cook did not and brought the kids home for his wife to hide, serving lamb instead.
The queen ordered Talia to be tossed into the fire, but the king interrupted in time for Talia to be saved. Now knowing what the queen did, the king ordered her to be set afire. With the queen gone, the king married Talia. Him, Talia, and their children lived happily ever after.
Giambattista Basile was an Italian poet, who wrote Sun, Moon and Talia, and he was born in Italy in 1575. He is an extremely important person when it comes to fairytales. He is important because he was an important source for fairytale writers later on, including Charles Perrault and the brothers Grimm.
Giambattista Basile
Flax
Flax is mentioned in the story which is interesting due to the fact Italy cultivated Flax and Hemp during the time period the story was written. It is also interesting that the only time that Flax is mentioned is when the sleeping beauty takes place in Italy.