"Crack and Crook" (Cric e Croc) from Comparetti, 13, Monferrato, Piedmont.

另一個答道：「那你一定就是克羅克嘍。」

灰漿盆又說：「我還有一計。你讓人用兩匹馬拖著這具屍體在全城示眾，聽到哪裡有哭聲，就一定是盜賊的家。」

國王無計可施，便讓人在全城貼出告示說，誰有本事偷走他床上的床單，他就原諒他的偷盜之罪。克利克聽到消息就來了，說自己有本事做到。

晚上國王脫衣上了床，手裡拿著一桿火槍等著盜賊。克利克從掘墓人那裡要來一具屍體，給他穿上自己的衣服，帶到王宮的屋頂。等到半夜，克利克用繩子把屍體吊在國王寢室的窗戶前。國王以為這就是克利克，朝他開了一槍，又看見他帶著繩子摔了下去。國王跑下去看看人是不是死了。可就在同時，克利克從屋頂下到國王的寢室，偷走了國王的床單。克利克被國王赦免了，而且因為他已經無所不能偷了，國王就把自己的女兒嫁給了他。

Snare said, "Theres one more thing we can do: have the dead man dragged through the city by two horses. The house where you hear someone weeping has to be the thiefs house."

灰漿盆答道：「這一定是克利克和克羅克聯手乾的，他們是兩個最棒的盜賊。不過，我有辦法抓住他們。您下令把肉價抬高到每磅一百里拉，誰還去買肉，誰就一定是盜賊。」

But when he made a red mark on Cracks house, the thief saw it and went and marked all the other doors in the city with red, so there was no telling in the end where Crack and Crook lived.

In effect, when Crooks wife looked out the window and saw her husbands body being dragged through the street, she began screaming and crying. But Crack was there and knew right away that would be their undoing. He therefore started smashing dishes right and left and thrashing the poor w九_九_藏_書oman at the same time. Attracted by all that screaming, the guards came in and found a man beating his wife for breaking up all the dishes in the house.

（蒙費拉托地區）

「對。」

Snare replied, "It can be none other than Crack or Crook, or both of them together, since they are the most notorious thieves alive. But Ill tell you how you can catch them. Have the price of meat raised to one hundred dollars a pound. The person who pays that much for it will be your thief."

克利克和克羅克&義大利童話

在一個遙遠的小鎮上，有一個出了名的盜賊，人送外號克利克①，並且認為永遠也不會有人抓到他。這個盜賊很想結識另一個與他同樣出名的外號叫克羅克的盜賊，想與他聯手作案。一天，克利克在一家酒館吃飯，同桌坐著一位陌生人。克利克要看時間的時候才發現懷錶已經不翼而飛了。克利克想：要是這人能不被我察覺而偷走我的表，那他一定就是克羅克。他回手就偷來了那個人的錢包。陌生人要付帳的時候發現自己的錢包也沒了，便對同桌的人說：「看來你就是克利克了。」

This is one of the oldest and most famous tales, which has occupied the attention of scholars for generations. The Piedmontese version I followed is faithful to the oldest tradition and includes the curious character-names and a brisk dose of rustic cunning. Herodotus (Histories) tells in detail about Egyptian King Rhampsinituss treasure, chief source of the vast narrative tradition concerning wily robbers put to the test by a ruler. Theread.99csw.com beheading of a cadaver so it will not be recognized is also encountered in Pausanias, who presents the myth of Trophonius and Agamedes (Description of Greece, IX, 372). Either through the Greeks or through oriental tradition the tale entered medieval literature, in the various translations of the Book of the Seven Sages and other Italian, English, and German texts. Literary versions by Italian Renaissance story writers are numerous.

"And you must be Crook."

Crack and Crook had run out of money in the meantime and decided to go back to the treasury for more. Crook went in first, but it was dark, and he fell into the tub. Crack came along and tried to pull his friends body out of the pitch, but it stuck fast in the tub. He then cut off the head and carried it away.

The next day the king went to see if he had caught the thief. "This time we got him! We got him!" But the corpse had no head, so they were none the wiser about the thief or any accomplices he might have had.

「好極了，我們合夥吧。」就這樣兩個盜賊聯起手來。

They went to the city and made for the kings treasury, which was completely surrounded by guards. The thieves ther九_九_藏_書efore dug an underground tunnel into the treasury and stole everything. Surveying his loss, the king had no idea how he might catch the robbers. He went to a man named Snare, who had been put in prison for stealing, and said, "If you can tell me who committed this robbery, Ill set you free and make you a marquis."

第二天，國王到了現場，說：「這次抓到了，這次抓到了！」可是，只找到一具無頭屍，沒法辨認身分，也無法斷定誰是同謀。

Pantheon Books, New York 1980

Crack and Crook

國王依計把肉價抬到一百里拉一磅，沒有人再去買肉了。好不容易來人報告說有一個修道士到一家肉鋪買過肉。灰漿盆說：「這一定是克利克或克羅克化裝的。我也化裝成一個乞丐，挨家挨戶去乞討，誰給我肉吃，我就在他家的門上劃一個紅色標記，這樣侍衛就能抓到他。」

The king had the price of meat raised to one hundred dollars a pound, and everybody stopped buying meat. Finally it was reported that a friar had gone to a certain butcher and bought meat. Snare said, "That had to be Crack or Crook in disguise. Ill now disguise myself and go around to the houses begging. If anybody gives me meat, Ill make a red mark on the front door, and your guards can go and arrest the thieves."

The king then had a decree posted on every street corner that he would pardon the thief who had robbed him, if the thief now managed to steal the sheets out from under him a九九藏書t night. Crack came forward and said he could do it.

灰漿盆又向國王獻計說：「我不是跟您說過他們是兩個很狡猾的人嗎？但是，有人比他們更狡猾。您這麼辦：讓人在寶庫台階的下面放上一桶滾燙的松樹油，進去偷東西的人就會掉下去，我們便可以坐等收屍了。」

That night the king undressed and went to bed with his gun to wait for the thief. Crack got a dead body from a gravedigger, dressed it in his own clothes, and carried it to the roof of the royal palace. At midnight the cadaver, held by a rope, was dangling before the kings windows. Thinking it was Crack, the king fired one shot and watched him fall, cord and all. He ran downstairs to see if he was dead. While the king was gone, Crack slipped into his room and stole the sheets. He was therefore pardoned, and so that he wouldnt have to steal any longer, the king married his daughter to him.

真的，克羅克的妻子從窗戶看到丈夫的屍體被拖著遊街，就又哭又嚎起來。克利克也在那裡，他立即意識到這樣會使自己暴露。於是，他開始摔盤子，砸碗，並且打克羅克的妻子。正在這時，侍衛們循著哭聲進來了，看到的卻是一個婦人打碎了盤、碗，而男人給了她幾個耳光，婦人就哭了起來。

"Right."

克利克和克羅克不久就把偷來的錢用光了，只好再去寶庫偷錢。克羅克摸黑走在前面，結果掉進了桶里。克利克看到朋友掉進松油桶死了，就想把屍體撈出來帶走，但怎麼也撈不出來。他只好砍下克羅克的腦袋，帶走了。

但是當他在克利克家門上劃上紅色標記時，克利克發覺了。克利克給城裡所有人家的門上都劃上了同樣的標記，結果灰漿盆一無所獲。

(Monferrato)

Copyright: Italian Folktales Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino,

①這篇故事中的兩個盜賊的外號「克利克」與「克羅克」都是形read.99ｃsｗ•cｏm容斷裂、破碎的象聲詞。

translated by George Martin,

"Fine, well work together."

Snare said to the king, "Didnt I tell you they were foxy? But theres someone else foxier than they are. Heres the next thing to do: put a tub of boiling pitch at the bottom of the treasury steps. Whoever goes down to steal will fall right into it, and his dead body will give him away."

NOTES:

In a distant town there was a famous thief known as Crack, whom nobody had ever been able to catch. The main ambition of this Crack was to meet Crook, another notorious thief, and form a partnership with him. One day as Crack was eating lunch at the tavern across the table from a stranger, he went to look at his watch and found it missing. The only person in this world who could have taken it without my knowledge, he thought, is Crook. So what did Crack do but turn right around and steal Crooks purse. When the stranger got ready to pay for his lunch, he found his purse gone and said to his table companion, "Well, well, you must be Crack."

兩個人進城，來到了由侍衛嚴密把守的國王寶庫。他們挖了一條通向寶庫的地道，盜走了寶庫里的一些東西。國王眼看著寶庫被盜，卻找不到一點盜賊的線索，就去找一位關押在獄的盜賊，人稱灰漿盆，國王對他說：「你要是能告訴我偷寶庫的人是誰，我就放了你，還封你為侯爵。」