ABSTRACT
Once during a journey this tale was told about a husband and wifewho had a daughter. The man’s name was Uncle Capriano, and hehad a place near the village where he always worked. One day, thirteen thieves happened to pass by his place. They saw Uncle Capriano, dismounted, and began talking to him. In short, they formed a friendship with him. Ever since that day they always visited him and kept up their friendship. When they arrived, they would greet each other this way:
“Good day, Uncle Capriano!” “At your service, my lords,” he would respond. “What can I do for your
lordships?” “We’ve come to entertain ourselves. Go, Uncle Capriano, go and have your
lunch. We’ll do your work for you.” Uncle Capriano would go and eat, and they did his work for him. In the
meantime, what do you think Uncle Capriano tried to do? Well, he began conceiving of a way to get some money out of them. When he went to his wife, he said, “Since I have this friendship with the thieves, I’d like to try to steal some of their money, and I want to tell them that we have a rabbit that I send home by itself every evening with firewood and vegetables for the soup that my wife cooks.”
