Nerino and Biondina

Nerino and Biondina

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Once upon a time there was a woman that had a son with very black hair and very black eyes, thus his name was Nerino, from the Italian word “nero” that means “black”. He really loved his mother and was very happy to live with her, but one day she got sick and soon after she died. The boy was grief-stricken and did not want to keep living in his mother’s house, so full of  memories, so he left and sought his fortune. He was walking in the forest at the end of the first day and he was extremely tired, so when he saw a house he asked for hospitality. The door was opened by a wizard, who told him: “This evening you can stay and sleep here, but tomorrow you will have to uproot all the trees of my garden, and if you won’t be done by sunset I will eat you in one bite!”. Nerino was scared to death, but was so exhausted that he fell asleep very soon. Early in the morning he woke up and went to the wizard’s garden, and almost had a heart attack when he saw how many trees there were. When he was starting to uproot the first one, a beautiful young girl approached him. She was blond and had blue eyes, and her name was Biondina. “Don’t despair, young boy. I am the wizard’s housemaid and I will help you. Here is a magic wand which I will use to uproot all the trees”. After saying that she moved the wand in the air, and one by one all the trees were uprooted. The wizard came back around the sunset and was surprised seeing the garden without trees. He said, then: “Tonight you can sleep, but tomorrow morning you will have to hoe the ground and sow the wheat, and if you won’t be done by sunset I will eat you in one bite!”. Nerino was frightened, and barely managed to close his eyes during the night. The following morning the boy started to hoe the ground, and this time the evil wizard was there to observe him. Behind the house, though, there was Biondina, who had fallen in love with and wanted to save him. She used the magic wand to help Nerino in doing his task, and in just a few hours the job was done. The wizard did not know what to say, and he was thinking of eating the boy in any case during the night. After he went inside, Biondina called a horse, jumped on it and invited Nerino to escape with her. They started running, but soon the wizard realised they had left and started following them, running fast thanks to his magic boots. Biondina, though, was a very wise girl, and had three magic boxes with her. She threw the first one, that transformed into a giant bar of soap after touching the ground. The wizard slipped on it, but kept following them. Then Biondina threw on the ground the second box, from which a lot of needles came out. The wizard had to slow down a big deal to avoid them, but still was on his way to catch them. Finally, she threw the third box, from which many spears appeared. This time the wizard did not manage to skip them and died stubbed by them. Nerino and Biondina reached a peaceful land, and there they got married and lived happily ever after. 

Tags: love; wizard; boy; magic wand; fairytale. 

Question: What does Nerino do the first night at the wizard’s house?

  1. He falls in love with Biondina
  2. He does not manage to sleep
  3. He sleeps for the whole night

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