Folk Tales of Catalonia — Part 2 (The Creation · The Three Brothers · John the Fool · The Golden Ox)
Part two of the Catalonia shelf: four more folk tales collected by Francesc de Sales Maspons i Labrós and published in his Lo Rondallayre (Barcelona, 1871–1875), heard here in a fresh translation from the Catalan, made for this episode. In The Creation (La creació), the proud bee and the proud salamander ask God for gifts He will not give, and the earth learns why everything returns to her. In The Three Brothers (Los tres germans), a spyglass that sees across the world, a carpet that flies in an instant and an apple that heals are all three needed to win a cousin's hand — and an arrow settles the rest. In John the Fool (Joan lo tonto), a boy who cannot be trusted to sell a sack of walnuts burns the house down, carries a door into the forest, and makes his family rich by accident. And in The Golden Ox (Lo bou d'or), an enchanted princess hidden in a golden ox steals jewel after jewel until her road runs to the palaces of the sun, the stars and the moon. The episode opens and closes with its theme, Wind Swept Flight, heard also briefly between the stories.
Disclosure: this performance is narrated by AI-generated voices.
The Creation — God sets heaven and earth in order, and every creature receives what it deserves.
The Three Brothers — three brothers, three wonders, and one arrow shot into the middle of the sun.
John the Fool — the boy who could not sell walnuts, and the door that saved his family.
The Golden Ox — a golden ox, a thieving little bird, and the palaces of the sun, the stars and the moon.
The tales:
1:01 The Creation
3:40 The Three Brothers
6:54 John the Fool
13:04 The Golden Ox
From Lo Rondallayre: Quentos populars catalans by Francesc de Sales Maspons i Labrós (1840–1901), published in three volumes (Barcelona, 1871–1875), public domain — The Creation and The Three Brothers from the first volume (1871), John the Fool and The Golden Ox from the third (1875), complete and in book order, in a fresh translation from the Catalan; lawful copies: Project Gutenberg #75409 and #76026. Two tales are held by name for a ruling: La gavia d'or and Barba d'or. Fourteen tales are excluded by name: Lo claveller · La flor del penical · La fustots · La rateta · La perera · Lo beneyt · Las tres taronjas del amor · La cirereta · Altafulla · La cabreta · Los dos geperuts · La noya dels cabells d'or · La coloma blanca · Lo espabilat. One further screened tale, Lo camí del cel, stands aside on a recorded tone flag for a future ruling. The collection's second volume has no lawful copy and the remaining tales of the first and third volumes await screening; no claim of completeness for the collection is made.
Narrated by Violetta. Music: Wind Swept Flight, as opening and closing theme and as short separators between the stories; no music under the narration.
KacheliTV — world classics, read aloud.
