european cultural

Of that which happened to a King and three Impostors. Spain

                                                                          Spain

AUTHOR

D. Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena (5 May 1282 – 13 June 1348)was a Spanish medieval writer, nephew of the king AlfonsoX of Castile.Juan Manuel was born in the Castle of Escalona, in the provinceof Toledo,and was a politician and very active soldier.

Don Juan Manuel is the author of Talesof Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del condeLucanor y de Patronio ("Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor andof Patronio") It was first written in 1335.

The book is divided into parts and the tale 7,"Of that which happened to a King and three Impostors" tells thestory that HansChristian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.

CHAPTERVII

Of that which happened to a King and three Impostors.

COUNT LUCANOR, conversing at another time withPatronio, his adviser, said: —

“Patronio, a man came to me and told me something,giving me to understand it would be of great advantage to me if I followed hissuggestions; but he said no man must be informed of the secret that I musttrust in him, and, more than this,  affirmed that if Ishould confide it to any man in the world I should place not only my propertybut my life in danger. And as I know no man able to detect a fraud so quicklyas yourself I pray you give me your opinion in this case.”

“My lord,” said Patronio, “in order that you may knowhow to act under these circumstances, it would please me to be permitted toinform you what happened to a King and three impostors.”

The Count requested to know what that was.

“My lord,” said Patronio, “three impostors came to aKing, and told him they were cloth-weavers, and could fabricate a cloth of sopeculiar a nature that a legitimate son of his father could see the cloth; butif he were illegitimate, though believed to be legitimate, he could not see it.

“Now the King was much pleased at this, thinking thatby this means he would be able to distinguish the men in his kingdom who werelegitimate sons of their supposed fathers from those who were not, and so beenabled to increase his treasures, for among the Moors only legitimate childreninherit their father’s property; and for this end he ordered a palace to beappropriated to the manufacture of this cloth. And these men, in order to convincehim that they had no intention of deceiving him, agreed to be shut up in thispalace until the cloth was manufactured, which satisfied the King.

“When they were supplied with a large quantity  of gold, silver, silk, and many other things, they entered thepalace, and, putting their looms in order, gave it to be understood that theywere working all day at the cloth.

“After some days, one of them came to the King andtold him the cloth was commenced, that it was the most curious thing in theworld, describing the design and construction; he then prayed the King tofavour them with a visit, but begged he would come alone. The King was muchpleased, but wishing to have the opinion of someone first, sent the LordChamberlain to see it, in order to know if they were deceiving him. When theLord Chamberlain saw the workmen, and heard all they had to say, he dared notadmit he could not see the cloth, and when he returned to the King he statedthat he had seen it; the King sent yet another, who gave the same report. Whenthey whom he had sent declared that they had sent the cloth he determined to gohimself.

“On entering the palace and seeing the men at work,who began to describe the texture and relate the origin of the invention asalso the design and colour, in which they all appeared to agree, although inreality they were not working; when the King saw how they appeared to work, andheard the character of the cloth so minutely described, and yet could not seeit, although those he had sent had seen it, he began to feel very uneasy,fearing he might not be the son of the King, who was supposed  to be his father, and that if he acknowledged he could not seethe cloth he might lose his kingdom; under this impression he commencedpraising the fabric, describing its peculiarities after the manner of theworkmen.

“On the return to his palace he related to his peoplehow good and marvellous was the cloth, yet at the same time suspected somethingwrong.

“At the end of two or three days the King requestedhis ‘Alguacil’ (or officer of justice) to go and see the cloth. when theAlguacil entered and saw the workmen, who, as before, described the figures andpattern of the cloth, knowing that the King had been to see it, and yet couldnot see it himself, he thought he certainly could not be the legitimate son ofhis father, and therefore could not see it. He, however, feared if he was todeclare that had could not see it he would lose his honourable position; toavoid this mischance he commenced praising the cloth even more vehemently thanthe others.

“When the Alguacil returned to the King and told himthat he had seen the cloth, and that it was the most extraordinary productionin the world, the King was much disconcerted; for he thought that if theAlguacil had seen the cloth, which he was unable to see, there could no longerbe a doubt that he was not the legitimate son of the King, as was generallysupposed, he therefore did not hesitate to praise the excellency of the clothand the skill of the workmen who were able to make it.

“On another day he sent one of his Councillors, and ithappened to him as to the King, and the others of whom I have spoken; and inthis manner and for this reason they deceived the King and many others, for noone dared to say he could not see the cloth.

“Things went on thus until there came a great feast,when all requested the King to be dressed in some of the cloth; so the workmen,being ordered, brought some rolled up in a very fine linen and inquired of theKing how much of it he wished them to cut off; so the King gave orders how muchand how to make it up.

“Now when the clothes were made and the feast day hadarrived the weavers brought them to the King, informing his Majesty that hisdress was made of the cloth as he had directed, the King all this time notdaring to say he could not see it.

  “When the King had professed to dress himselfin this suit he mounted on horseback and rode into the city; but fortunatelyfor him it was summer time. The people seeing his Majesty come in this mannerwere much surprised; but knowing that those who could not see this cloth wouldbe considered illegitimate sons of their fathers, kept their surprise tothemselves, fearing the dishonour consequent upon such a declaration. Now so,however, with a negro, who happened to notice the King thus equipped; for he,having nothing to lose, came to him and said, “Sire, to me it matters notwhose  son I am, therefore I tell you that you areriding without any clothes.’ On this the King commenced beating him, saying thathe was not the legitimate son of his supposed father, and therefore it was thathe could not see the cloth. But no sooner had the negro said this, than otherswere convinced of its truth, and said the same; until, at last, the King andall with him lost their fear of declaring the truth, and saw through the trickof which these impostors had made them the victims. When the weavers weresought for they were found to have fled, taking with them all they had receivedfrom the King by their imposition.

“Now you, Count Lucanor, since that man of whom youspeak forbids your trusting to any one, and demands your entire confidence, becareful you are not deceived; for, you ought to know very well that he can haveno reason for seeking your advantage more than his own; nor has he more reasonto serve you than have those who are indebted to you and are already in yourservice.”

Count Lucanor found this to be good advice, so adoptedit.

And Don Juan, also seeing that it was a good example,wrote it in this book and made these lines, which say as follows: —

Who counsels thee tosecrecy with friends
Seeks to entrap thee for his own base ends.

NOTES

The false promises made by the impostors, arising out of want anddesperation, recall to mind the old Spanish proverb, “Cuando el Corsariopromete misas y cera, con mal anda la galera; (The galley is in a bad way whenthe Corsair promises masses and candles).”

 Translation by the pupils of 5^th and 6^thPrimary.

 Ilustrations by Lucía Oliva Villa (1^stPrimary), Álvaro Aragonés Fernández (1^st Primary), Alekxia GarcíaMarbán (2^nd Primary), Rocío Gómez Guerrero (3^rd Primary),Clara Brigidano Gutiérrez (4^th Primary), Lucía García Malagón (5^thPrimary), Carolina Rey García (5^th Primary) and Gabriela HernándezJaime (6^th Primary).

Natale 2013

                        Un felice e sereno Natale per tutti

il giovane gambero.

" THE YOUNG SHRIMP "             Italy
Tale by Gianni Rodari

A young crawfish thought : - Because in my family walk backwards ? I want to learn to walk forward , like frogs , and my tail fall down if I can not. -
He began to practice in secret, between the stones of the brook native , and the early days of the enterprise cost him a great deal of effort: He hit everywhere, you dent the armor and crushing one leg with the other. But a bit ' at a time , things went better, because you can learn everything if you want .
When he was quite sure of himself , he presented himself to his family and said : - Watch this. - And he made a magnificent jog forward.
- My son, - the mother burst into tears , - gave you out of your mind ? Back to you, walks like your brothers who love you so much.
- Her brothers , however, were not you laugh .
His father watched strictly for a while, then said : - That's it . If you want to stay with us, walks like other shrimp . If you want to do things your own way , the stream is great : go away and never come back . -
The good shrimp loved his , but he was too sure of being right to have doubts : the mother hugged and greeted his father and brothers and headed for the world.
Its passage immediately aroused the surprise of a knot of frogs by good wives had gathered to have a chat around a lily pad .
- The world is upside down , - said a frog - look at that shrimp and give me wrong if you can . -
- There is more respect, - said another frog.
- Ohibò ohibò , - said a third .
But the shrimp went right , it's appropriate to say, on his way . At one point he heard himself called by an old prawn a melancholic who was all alone next to a stone. - Good morning , - said the young shrimp .
The old man looked at him for a long time , then said : - What are you doing ? Me too, when I was young , I thought I teach shrimp to walk forward . And here 's what I got : I live all alone , and people cut off the language, rather than speak to me : Since you are in time , from ' Listen to me resigned to do like the others and one day I thank the Board . -
The young shrimp did not know what to say and kept quiet . But he thought to himself :
- I 'm right. -
And greeted kindly old man resumed his walk proudly .
It will go away ? Will luck? Straighten all the wrongs of this world? We do not know , because he is still walking with the courage and the decision of the first day. We can only wish him with all my heart : - Have a good trip ! -

"IL GIOVANE GAMBERO"

favola di Gianni Rodari
Un giovane gambero pensò: - Perché nelle mia famiglia tutti camminano all'indietro? Voglio imparare a camminare in avanti, come le rane, e mi caschi la coda se non ci riesco. -
Cominciò a esercitarsi di nascosto, tra i sassi del ruscello natio, e i primi giorni l'impresa gli costava moltissima fatica: Urtava dappertutto, si ammaccava la corazza e si schiacciava una zampa con l'altra. Ma un po' alla volta le cose andarono meglio, perché tutto si può imparare, se si vuole.
Quando fu ben sicuro di sé, si presentò alla sua famiglia e disse: - State a vedere.- E fece una magnifica corsetta in avanti.
- Figlio mio,- scoppiò a piangere la madre, - ti ha dato di volta il cervello? Torna in te, cammina come i tuoi fratelli che ti vogliono tanto bene.
- I suoi fratelli però non facevano che sghignazzare.
Il padre lo stette a guardare severamente per un pezzo, poi disse : - Basta così. Se vuoi restare con noi, cammina come gli altri gamberi. Se vuoi fare di testa tua , il ruscello è grande : vattene e non tornare più indietro.-
Il bravo gamberetto voleva bene ai suoi, ma era troppo sicuro di essere nel giusto per avere dei dubbi: abbracciò la madre, salutò il padre e i fratelli e si avviò per il mondo.
Il suo passaggio destò subito la sorpresa di un crocchio di rane che da brave comari si erano radunate a far quattro chiacchiere intorno a una foglia di ninfea.
- Il mondo va a rovescio, - disse una rana, - guardate quel gambero e datemi torto, se potete.-
- Non c'è più rispetto, - disse un'altra rana.
- Ohibò ohibò, -disse un terza.
Ma il gamberetto proseguì diritto, è proprio il caso di dirlo, per la sua strada. A un certo punto si sentì chiamare da un vecchio gamberone dall'espressione malinconica che se ne stava tutto solo accanto ad un sasso. - Buon giorno, - disse il giovane gambero.
Il vecchio lo osservò a lungo, poi disse: - Cosa credi di fare? Anch'io, quando ero giovane, pensavo di insegnare ai gamberi a camminare in avanti. Ed ecco cosa ci ho guadagnato: vivo tutto solo, e la gente si mozzerebbe la lingua, piuttosto che rivolgermi la parola: Fin che sei in tempo, da' retta a me: rassegnati a fare come gli altri e un giorno mi ringrazierai del consiglio.-
Il giovane gambero non sapeva cosa rispondere e stette zitto. Ma dentro di sé pensava:
- Ho ragione io.-
E salutato gentilmente il vecchio riprese fieramente il suo cammino.
Andrà lontano? Farà fortuna? Raddrizzerà tutte le cose storte di questo mondo? Noi non lo sappiamo, perché egli sta ancora marciando con il coraggio e la decisione del primo giorno. Possiamo solo augurargli, di tutto cuore: - Buon viaggio! -
(Gianni Rodari)

Moral of the tale "The Young Shrimp"

The fairy tale is slight but profound, as its morals.

The author Gianni Rodari is able to invite young readers to have courage, not to be afraid to break away from the path taken by their fathers if they feel to live differently from them.

The young shrimp refuses to respect the tradition that condemns him to walk backwards and he goes bravely on his way pursuing his dream. The desire for independence and self-confidence led him to break away from her parents forever.

 Morale del racconto  "Il giovane gambero”

La fiaba è lieve ma profonda, come la sua morale.

L’autore Gianni Rodari riesce ad invitare i giovani lettori ad avere coraggio, a non aver paura di distaccarsi dalla strada intrapresa dai loro padri se si sentono di vivere diversamente da loro.

 Il giovane gambero rifiuta di rispettare la tradizione che lo condanna a camminare all’indietro e coraggiosamente va avanti per la sua strada inseguendo il suo sogno. Il desiderio di autonomia e la fiducia in se stesso lo porta a staccarsi per sempre dai suoi genitori.

schiaccianoci

La favola dei giocattoli dallo Schiaccianoci .

visita alla Scuola Speciale SPZ

lWe visited SPZ School (Special Padagogical Center),

a Special School for children with special needs.

The Principal.

Abbiamo visitato una scuola speciale.

Il preside ci ha accolto cortesemente

nella sua scuola.

Attenti ascoltatori

Siamo attenti osservatori

visita Vienna

visita alle classi

visita alla scuola primaria Schaffergasse di Vienna

We visited the Primary School "Schaffergasse". We saw the classes at work.

Abbiamo visitato la Scuola Primaria "Schaffergasse"

comenius team

This is our wonderful Comenius team

Questa è la nostra meravigliosa squadra Comenius

vincitore logo

Belgium logo has been the winner of the contest

il logo scelto è quello creato

dai ragazzi del Belgio

i logo

logo created by Spanish students, Belgian students, Czech students, Irish students and Italian students

i logo creati dai ragazzi spagnoli,
belgi,cechi, irlandesi e italiani

creazione del logo per il comenius

lavoriamo per la creazione
del logo per il progetto comenius
con i ompagni della V°D
we are working on
the comenius logo