Caepulla: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:57, 6 November 2025

ChildrenDeathDeath of sonDeceitful womanGriefFather/son relationshipsIllnessLesson: women’s cleverness and deceitMedicineMurderSuicideFood and drinkEvidenceRemorse

A man has a gravely ill son, whom no doctors can cure. The boy desperately craves a specific fruit or vegetable (onions in the Italian version, watermelon in the 40 Viziers). The man's wife persuades him to not allow the son to eat that food, claiming it will kill him; eventually the boy dies. An autopsy reveals that a growth of something hard, like bone, in the boy's organs was what had killed him. To commemorate the boy, the father has that bone crafted into the handle of a knife. Some time later, the knife is used to cut up the fruit the boy had craved, and the juice of that fruit causes the bone to dissolve - the father realises that eating it would have cured his son. In rage and grief, he kills his wife (the boy's mother) and then himself.

Adapted from Wikeley (1983) by Ava Byrne, edited by Jane Bonsall.

Note
In the Italian versions, the son desires an onion. In the Forty Vezirs, it is a watermelon.

Critical Literature
Wikeley (1983), Nishimura (2001)

Caepulla appears in the following versions and secondary versions

Caepulla is narrated in the following occurrences
No recorded narrations available.

Caepulla appears in the following manuscripts
This inset story appears in no manuscripts of the database

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 {{Inset Story
 |Has Critical Literature=Wikeley (1983); Nishimura (2001)
-|Has Motif=Children; Death; Death of son; Deceitful woman; Grief; Father/son relationships; Illness; Lesson: women’s cleverness and deceit; Medicine; Murder; Suicide
+|Has Motif=Children; Death; Death of son; Deceitful woman; Grief; Father/son relationships; Illness; Lesson: women’s cleverness and deceit; Medicine; Murder; Suicide; Food and drink; Evidence; Remorse
-|Has Summary=A man has a gravely ill son, whom no doctors can cure. The boy desperately craves a specific fruit or vegetable. The man's wife persuades the him to not allow the son to eat that food, and eventually the boy dies. An autopsy reveals that a growth of bone in the boy's organs was what had killed him. The doctor later learns that an onion would have cured his son, kills his wife (the boy's mother) and then himself.
+|Has Summary=A man has a gravely ill son, whom no doctors can cure. The boy desperately craves a specific fruit or vegetable (onions in the Italian version, watermelon in the 40 Viziers). The man's wife persuades him to not allow the son to eat that food, claiming it will kill him; eventually the boy dies. An autopsy reveals that a growth of something hard, like bone, in the boy's organs was what had killed him. To commemorate the boy, the father has that bone crafted into the handle of a knife. Some time later, the knife is used to cut up the fruit the boy had craved, and the juice of that fruit causes the bone to dissolve - the father realises that eating it would have cured his son. In rage and grief, he kills his wife (the boy's mother) and then himself.