倔強的彼埃拉人&義大利童話
一個農夫要去彼埃拉。正趕上颳風下雨的惡劣天氣，路都幾乎無法走了。但這個農夫有要緊的事，他低著頭頂著風雨雷電繼續往前走。
他遇上一個老人，對他說：「你好啊！你這樣急急忙忙的要去哪裡啊？好人。」
「去彼埃拉。」農夫答道，繼續往前走。
「你至少應該說一聲『願上帝保佑』吧。」
農夫停了下來，望著面前的老人高聲說：「如果上帝保佑，我去彼埃拉；如果上帝不保佑，我照樣得去。」
其實，那個老人就是上帝。他對農夫說：「那好吧，你七年以後才能到彼埃拉去，現在，你跳進池塘，在裡面待上七年吧。」
農夫立即變成了一隻青蛙，跳進了池塘。
七年過去了。農夫從池塘中出來，又變回人，他戴緊帽子，又上路了。
沒走幾步，上次那個老人又出現了。「好人，你這是去哪裡啊？」
「去彼埃拉。」
「你應該祈禱一聲『願上帝保佑』。」
「要是上帝保佑，那很好；要是不保佑，那個懲罰我知道，我會自己跳進池塘里去。」
說完，他再也不開口說話了。
（比埃拉地區）
Those Stubborn Souls, the Biellese
A farmer was on his way down to Biella one day. The weather was so stormy that it was o impossible to get over the roads. But the farmer had important business and pushed onward in the face of the driving rain.
He met an old man, who said to him, "A good day to you! Where are you going, my good man, in such haste?"
"To Biella," answered the farmer, without slowing down.
"You might at least say, God willing."
The farmer stopped, looked the old man in the eye, and snapped, "God willing, Im on my way to Biella. But even if God isnt willing, I still have to go there all the same."
Now the old man happeo be the Lord. "In that case youll go to Biella in seven years," he said. "In the meantime, jump into this s and stay there for seven years."
Suddenly the farmer ged into a frog and jumped into the s.
Seven years went by. The farmer came out of the s, turned bato a man, clapped his hat on his head, and tinued on his way to market.
After a short distance he met the old man again. "And where are you going, my good man?"
"To Biella."
"You might say, God willing."
"If God wills it, fine. If not, I know the sequend ow go into the s unassisted."
Nor for the life of him would he say one word more.
(Biellese)
NOTES:
"Those Stubborn Souls, the Biellese" (I biellesi, gente dura) from Virginia Majoli Faccio (Lintesimo della mezzanotte, [Il Biellese nelle sue leggende], Milan, 1941), Valdengo, Piedmont.
This tale is also found in Trieste, starring the Friulians (Pii, 51).
Cht: Italian Folktales Selected aold by Italo Calvino,
translated by Gee Martin,
Pantheon Books, New York 1980