The name of Giambattista Basile (1566-1632), author of 'The Tale of Tales,' has only recently become known to Russian-speaking readers, and yet they are well acquainted with Basile's stories—as retold by Charles Perrault, Carlo Gozzi, and the Brothers Grimm. In the Neapolitan author, however, these wandering plots often take on a completely unexpected twist: in his work, Cinderella is able to give her stepmother a fitting rebuff, and Sleeping Beauty, upon awakening, behaves far from the best...
Frivolous and even cruel plots, the intervention of fairies and orcs, heroes who do not mince their words, the ardor of youth and the despondency of old age, edifications and adventures—all this is contained in a five-day fairytale marathon, in fifty entertaining and instructive stories (hence another title of the book—'Pentameron,' or 'five-day diary').