Week 14 Story: Caterina and Her Fate

Author's Note. I wrote this as a "1001-word" experiment, taking a story that was considerably longer (around 1700 words) and reducing it in size. Think of it as a kind of Scheherazade thing, but instead of "1001 nights," the idea is "1001 words" for each story. My goal is to create a whole anthology of fairy tales like this, starting with long fairy tales that I then whittle down to the shorter length.

To shorten this fairy tale, I left out some minor characters while zooming in on the crucial repetitions. I also elaborated on some details that were not clear in the original story, like just how it happened that Caterina's Fate was found sleeping under seven blankets. You can see the original story here: The Story of Catherine and her Fate in Thomas Crane's Italian Fairy Tales.

Crane is translating a German version of a Sicilian story collected by Laura Gonzenbach; she published the stories in German only, but there is another Sicilian story very similar to this one that was collected by Giuseppe Pitre: Sfurtuna, "The Unfortunate Woman." In that story, the character called Fate in Crane's English (and Schicksal in Gonzenbach's German) is called Sorti in Sicilian, which means fate, destiny, fortune, luck, etc. That Sicilian word shares the same Latin root as our word "sorcery" too!

As you will see, these women called "Fate" are a kind of "Lady Luck" (both good luck and bad luck), and they control the "wheel of fortune" that goes both up and down. You can read more about the Wheel of Fortune, the Latin Rota Fortunae, at Wikipedia.

(Fortuna and her wheel, 15th century)

Now here is the 1001-word fairy tale:

CATERINA AND HER FATE

There was once a rich merchant, and he had a daughter whose name was Caterina. One day when Caterina was alone in the house, the door swung open, and she beheld a strange woman, tall and beautiful. In the woman's hand was a wheel.

"I am your Fate," the woman said. "Now tell me: do you prefer to be happy in your youth and suffer hardships later, or vice versa?"

The wheel in her hand was spinning around and around.

"Hardships now," Caterina replied. "While I am young, I can bear any hardship."

"So be it," said the woman, and then she vanished.

That same day, Caterina's father learned that all his ships were lost at sea. The next day, his warehouse burned to the ground. On the third day, he died of grief, leaving Caterina alone and penniless, so she went to work as a lady's maid.

One evening when Caterina was alone in her mistress's house, the door swung open, and in walked her Fate. "Did you think this was the end of your hardships?" she asked. "Think again!" Caterina's Fate then ransacked the house, breaking all the porcelain, throwing all the linens on the floor, and upending all the furniture before she vanished as before.

Terrified what her mistress would do, Caterina ran away to a distant city. She found employment there again as a lady's maid, but that lasted only a few weeks. Just as before, Caterina's Fate arrived when the mistress was out. "Did you think you could escape me?" she shouted, ransacking the house so that Caterina had to flee once again.

Each time after Caterina ran away, her Fate returned and put everything back in order, but Caterina did not know this. Her Fate would then go home to bed, pulling a thick blanket up over her head as she slumbered. Caterina thus went from town to town, ever pursued by her Fate. Years went by, and her Fate was sleeping deeply under seven thick blankets, one for each time she had visited poor Caterina.

Then one day, Caterina's new mistress said to her, "I have a difficult task for you, Caterina, a very difficult task."

"Do not fear, my lady. I will be brave!" Caterina replied.

"To the north of town there is a mountain," said her mistress. "You must go up that mountain, carrying a loaf of bread. When you get to the top of the mountain, you must shout: 'O Fate of my mistress, here is your bread.' Then my Fate will come and take the bread from your hands."

"Oh," said Caterina, "you are blessed if all your Fate requires from you is a loaf of bread. I am glad to do this task for you."

So Caterina went up the mountain and delivered the bread. Coming back home, she started to weep. If only her Fate would ask her for bread! How much easier her life would be!

When the mistress saw that Caterina had been crying, she asked what was wrong, and Caterina told her the story of her life. "Dear girl," said her mistress, "when you deliver the bread tomorrow, ask my Fate if she can persuade your Fate to leave you in peace."

"What good advice, my mistress!" said Caterina. "I will do as you say."

So the next day Caterina took the bread up the mountain and called out, "'O Fate of my mistress, here is your bread." When the Fate appeared, Caterina fell to her knees and cried, "O Fate, I beg you to entreat my Fate to spare me more hardship, for pity's sake."

The Fate replied, "Your Fate is sleeping deeply now beneath seven thick blankets, but wait here; I will see if I can wake her."

So the Fate went and roused her sister, and then brought Caterina to the bedside. Caterina's Fate said sleepily, "Take this," offering her a skein of silken thread. "It will be . . .  useful." Her Fate then pulled the blankets up over her head again and went back to sleep.

Clutching the skein of silken thread in her hand, Caterina rushed home happily, eager to see how the gift might change her life for the better.

Meanwhile, the young king's tailors were sewing new garments for his wedding. The king had not yet found a bride, but he wanted to have his wedding clothes prepared in advance. The tailors had almost finished the garments when they ran out of thread. They went to the marketplace, but there was no thread that matched the color they needed. The king himself then proclaimed that whoever could supply thread of the proper color would receive a rich reward.

Caterina's mistress brought her the news. "Your skein of thread is just the right color! Quickly, go dress yourself in my finest clothes and take the thread to the king."

So Caterina dressed herself up and went to the king's court. He was awestruck at her beauty.

"Your Royal Majesty," she said, bowing, "here is the thread that you seek."

The king rejoiced and said, "Yes, my fair lady, that is the thread I need! Put the skein here on the scales, and I will pay you its weight in gold."

Caterina placed the skein of thread on one side of the scales, and the king put a gold coin on the other side. The skein of thread was heavier! The king put more coins onto the scale, and still the skein was heavier! Finally the king took off his crown and placed that on the scale; still the skein was heavier!

"Where did you get this skein of thread?" exclaimed the king.

Caterina then told the king the whole story, beginning from the day that her Fate made her choose between hardship and happiness.

"Ah," said the king. "You have suffered hardships indeed, but I will now place this golden crown on your head, and you will be my queen."

Caterina then married the king, and they lived happily ever after.