NEW YORK FOLKLORE QUARTERLY
Vol. XIX, No. 3, September, 1963

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FOLKLORE FROM THE HEART OF ITALY—PART I
Lydia Q. Pietropaoli

INTRODUCTION

IN THE YEAR 1943 a knock came to our door. Mother answered it. “Red Cross—message for Maria Pietropaoli from Teresa Trenca,” a woman spoke.

Teresa Trenca! How long it had been since she had heard from her mother across the ocean! Had anything happened to her? Her brothers and sisters—had the blight of war touched them?

My mother asked the messenger to read the telegram, because by then her tears had obscured the printed word. I was at my mother’s side when, with all the curiosity and enthusiasm of a youngster, I urged, “Let me read it!”

The kindly messenger explained that the telegram was written in the Italian language and so both of us had to wait for mother.

The twenty-four word message written in Italian told us that everyone was alive....

On that day I determined to learn the Italian language!

This study has endowed me with a better appreciation of the stories about ancient Italy I have heard since childhood, told to me by my grandparents, Catherine and A. John Pietropaoli, who spent part of their lives there. Mother and father, both innate storytellers, provided me with additional fascinating tales and helpful information.

A love for Italy and its beauty I owe my maternal grandmother, Teresa Trenca, whom I have never seen, but with whom I have corresponded since I learned from my mother how to say a few words in the Roman tongue.

Particularly, I would like to mention my aunt, Italia Trenca of Rome, who has devoted much of her time, talent and effort in the collection of many stories and proverbs. Many of the stories sent me were collected by my aunt from a woman over eighty, who knows neither how to read nor write. Perhaps many of these tales have never appeared on paper before now. In translating, I have tried to retain the musical cadence which runs through Italian speech....

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