Storia di Stefano (R)

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The Storia di Stefano, first edited by Rajna in 1880 (and thereby taking the siglum 'R'), is the only verse version of the Italian Seven Sages. It is designated as part of the 'Versio Italico' family, and though it is not part of the 'rama antico' tradition (e.g. Il Libro dei Sette Savi de Roma (C), Storia d'una Crudele Matrigna (M), and Versio Italica historiae septem sapientum (L)), it is sometime seen as part of that subgroup, as those texts also name the prince 'Stefano'. However, it is also sometimes grouped alongside Erasto and L'Amabile di Continentia as the later, and more varying, iterations of the Libro dei Sette Savi tradition. Despite the clear textual differences, this text is also presumed to be related to Storia favolosa di Stefano (S); D'Agostino (2022) suggests that the two share a (now lost) source text, possibly descended from Italian Prose (V) (due to the detectable influence of French Version L) (p. 181).

Storia di Stefano appears in one 15th-century manuscript. It is written in ottava rima, and consists of about 6,000 lines, composed of 706 octaves, broken into 23 cantos.

The Storia di Stefano is also unique in the stories it includes, and the order of those stories. The embedded tales in Stefano initially follow the expected Version I story order, as seen in the older 'rama antico' texts: the narrative begins with the first sage's story Canis and continues as expected through the 13th story, the sage Charaus' rendition of Puteus. However, instead of then concluding with Prince Stefano's tale, all of the previous tale-tellers have a chance to speak once more, on the 8th day. The empress tells a three-part story (listed below as separate tales, though narrated jointly), then each of the seven sages tells another tale. Malchidas's tale is also a tripartite narrative, split into three separate tales below, but usually listed as one block of narration in criticism. Therefore, before the prince at last tells Vaticinium to bring about the narrative's conclusion, 22 (or, if we divide the narratives, as below, 26) stories have already been told, with more than half of them on the final day. Rajna (1878) wryly observes the excessive, imballanced nature of this, saying: "Rassomigliano a colpi di cannone, che un esercito vittorioso si divertisse per ore ed ore a tirar contro una fortezza ridotta con indicibili sforzi ad arrendersi, in cambio di entrare dalle porte, già belle e spalancate" [They resemble cannon shots, which a victorious army would amuse itself by firing for hours at a fortress forced to surrender with unspeakable efforts, in exchange for entering through the gates, already wide open] (p. 370).

Most of the new stories added to the 8th day of Stefano are unique to this version. One - Senes - is also found in the Dolopathos tradition; none of the rest appear anywhere in the Seven Sages or Book of Sindbad narratives.

[Added by Jane Bonsall]

Identification and general Information
Reference Number
Siglum of the version of the Seven Sages
Title	Storia di Stefano
Author

Tradition and Lineage
Branch of the tradition	Seven Sages of Rome
Adapted from (version)
Adapted into (version)
Source for composition and adaptation information

Recorded secondary versions
I (Versio Italico) Erasto (Es) English Erasto French Erasto Italian Erasto Mario Teluccini, Erasto in verse Spanish Erasto Il Libro dei Sette Savi de Roma (C) L'Amabile di Continentia (Em) Storia d'una Crudele Matrigna (M) Storia di Stefano (R) Versio Italica historiae septem sapientum (L)

Connected manuscripts
Manuscript Language Location Date of Production Venice Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana It. IX 621 (=10697) Italian Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana 1401 - 1500

Language and Composition
Language of version	Italian
Language of text	Italian
Regional or specific language of version	Veneto
Translated into (languages)
Place of composition	Northern Italy
Date of composition	1420 - 1470
Islamic date of composition
Hebrew date of composition
Source for date of composition	Rajna (1880), Rajna (1878)

Modern Scholarship and Editions
Modern research literature	Rajna (1880), Rajna (1878)
Modern Editions	Rajna, Storia di Stefano, figliuolo d'un imperatore di Roma (1880)

Notes and Commentary
Note

Pattern of embedded stories in this version

Has Short Title Has Sequence Number Has Narrator Has Name Variation Canis – The Faithful Dog 1 Lenziles   Arbor – The Tree 2 Empress   Medicus – The Doctor 3 Lentulus Lentulis Aper – The Boar and the Fruit 4 Empress   Tentamina – The Test 5 Anxilles Ansiles Sapientes – The Wise Men 6 Empress   Avis – The Bird 7 Malquidras Malchidas Gaza – The Treasure 8 Empress   Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife 9 Caton Catone Roma – Rome Beseiged 10 Empress   Vidua – The Widow 11 Jesse Esepe, Espe Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels 12 Empress   Puteus – The Well 13 Charaus   Filius ingratus 15 Empress   Nepos 16 Empress   Arca – The Chest of Stones 17 Empress   Turdi – The Gluttonous Wife and the Nine Thrushes 18 Lenziles   Dimidius amicus 19 Anxilles Ansiles Mucius Scaevola 20 Lentulus Lentulis Tergi 21 Malquidras Malchidas Pirus incantata 22 Malquidras Malchidas Copy Embedded Stories Copy Embedded Stories × Select Target Page: Close Process

Connected prints
No connected prints