NOTES.
Reading edition
INTRODUCTION.
Cuccurucù, No' noe n' cchiù.
(Cuccurucù, there is no more.)
Cuccurucù. Sa' 'o vuo' cchiù bello, t' o dice tu.
(Cuccurucù, if you want it finer, tell it yourself.) See also Pitrè, vol. I. p. 196, note 2. The most curious introductions and endings are those in De Nino, Usi e Costumi abruzzesi, vol. III. There is no general formula, but each fiaba has one of its own. Some are meaningless jingles, but others are quite extensive poems on religious subjects. Among these may be found legends of various saints, St. Nicholas, p. 335, etc.
The most valuable contributions to the question of the origin of Italian popular tales are those by Pitrè in the first volume of his Fiabe, pp. xli.-cxlv., and in the same author's Nov. pop. tosc. pp. v.-xxxviii.