1In a town in Calabria, a long time ago,
2there lived an old lady everyone called Strega Nona, which means "Grandma Witch."
3Although all the people in town talked about her in whispers,
4they all went to see her if they had troubles.
5Even the priest and the sisters of the convent went,
6because Strega Nona did have a magic touch.
7She could cure a headache with oil and water and a hairpin.
8She made special potions for the girls who wanted husbands.
9And she was very good at getting rid of warts.
10But Strega Nona was getting old,
11and she needed someone to help her keep her little house and garden,
12so she put up a sign in the town square.
13And Big Anthony, who didn't pay attention, went to see her.
14"Anthony," said Strega Nona,
15"you must sweep the house and wash the dishes."
16"You must weed the garden and pick the vegetables."
17"You must feed the goat and milk her."
18"And you must fetch the water."
19"For this, I will give you three coins and a place to sleep and food to eat."
20"Oh grazie," said Big Anthony.
21"The one thing you must never do,"
22"is touch the pasta pot."
23"It is very valuable and I don't let anyone touch it!"
24"Oh sì, yes," said Big Anthony.
25And so the days went by.
26Big Anthony did his work
27and Strega Nona met with the people who came to see her for headaches and husbands and warts.
28Big Anthony had a nice bed to sleep in next to the goat shed,
29and he had food to eat.
30One evening when Big Anthony was milking the goat,
31he heard Strega Nona singing.
32Peeking in the window, he saw Strega Nona standing over the pasta pot.
33And she sang...
34...
35And the pasta pot bubbled and boiled and was soon filled with steaming hot pasta.
36Then Strega Nona sang...
37...
38"How wonderful!" said Big Anthony.
39"That's a magic pot for sure!"
40And Strega Nona called Big Anthony in for supper.
41But too bad for Big Anthony,
42because he didn't get to see Strega Nona blow three kisses to the magic pot.
43And this is what happened.
44The next day when Big Anthony went to the town square to fetch the water,
45he told everyone about the pasta pot.
46And naturally everyone laughed at him, because it sounded so silly,
47a pot that cooked all by itself.
48"You'd better go and confess to the priest, Big Anthony," they said. "Such a lie!"
49And Big Anthony was angry
50and that wasn't a very good thing to be.
51"I'll show them!" He said to himself.
52"Someday I will get the pasta pot and make it cook!"
53"And then they'll be sorry."
54That day came sooner than even Big Anthony could have thought,
55because two days later Strega Nona said to Big Anthony,
56"Anthony, I must go over the mountain to the next town to see my friend, Strega Amelia."
57"Sweep the house and weed the garden."
58"Feed the goat and milk her,"
59and for your lunch, there's some bread and cheese in the cupboard.
60"And remember, don't touch the pasta pot."
61"Oh, yes, yes, Strega Nona," said Big Anthony.
62But inside he was thinking,
63"my chance has come!"
64As soon as Strega Nona was out of sight,
65Big Anthony went inside,
66pulled the pasta pot off the shelf,
67and put it on the floor.
68"Now, let's see if I can remember the words," said Big Anthony.
69And Big Anthony sang,
70...
71And sure enough, the pot bubbled and boiled and began to fill up with pasta.
72"Aha!" said Big Anthony, and he ran to the town square, jumped on the fountain, and shouted,
73"Everybody get forks and plates and platters and bowls."
74"Pasta for all at Strega Nona's house."
75"Big Anthony has made the magic pasta pot to work."
76Of course everyone laughed,
77but ran home to get forks and plates and platters and bowls, and sure enough,
78when they got to Strega Nona's, the pasta pot was so full
79it was beginning to overflow.
80Big Anthony was a hero!
81He scooped out pasta and filled the plates and platters and bowls.
82There was more than enough for all the townspeople, including the priests and the sisters from the convent.
83And some people came back for two and three helpings,
84but the pot was never empty.
85When all had had their fill, Big Anthony sang,
86...
87But, alas,
88he did not blow three kisses!
89He went outside and to the applause of the crowd,
90Big Anthony took a bow.
91He was so busy listening to compliments from everyone that he didn't notice the pasta pot was still boiling,
92and still bubbling until a sister from the convent said,
93"Oh, Big Anthony, look!"
94And pasta was pouring out of the pot all over the floor of Strega Nona's house
95and was coming out the door!
96Big Anthony rushed in and shouted the magic words again,
97but the pot kept bubbling.
98He took the pot off the floor,
99but the pasta kept pouring from it.
100Big Anthony grabbed a cover and put it on the pot and sat on it.
101But the pasta raised the cover, and Big Anthony as well,
102and spilled on the floor of Strega Nona's house.
103"Stop!" yelled Big Anthony.
104But the pasta did not stop and if someone hadn't grabbed poor Big Anthony,
105the pasta would have covered him up.
106The pasta had all but filled the little house.
107Out of the windows and through the doors came the pasta and the pot kept right on bubbling.
108The townspeople began to worry.
109"Do something, Big Anthony," they shouted.
110Big Anthony sang the magic song again
111but without the three kisses it did no good!
112By this time the pasta was on its way down the road and all the people were running to keep ahead of it.
113"We must protect our town from the pasta," shouted the mayor.
114"Get mattresses, tables, doors, anything to make a barricade."
115But even that didn't work.
116The pot kept bubbling and the pasta kept coming!
117"We are lost," said the people,
118and the priest and the sisters of the convent began praying.
119"The pasta will cover our town," they cried.
120And it certainly would have, had Strega Nona not come down the road, home from her visit.
121She didn't have to look twice to know what had happened.
122She sang the magic song and blew the three kisses
123and with a sputter the pot stopped boiling
124and the pasta came to a halt.
125"Oh, grazie, thank you, thank you, Strega Nona," the people cried.
126But then they turned on poor Big Anthony.
127"String him up," the men of the town shouted.
128"Now, wait," said Strega Nona.
129"The punishment must fit the crime."
130And she took a fork from a lady standing nearby
131and held it out to Big Anthony.
132"All right, Anthony,"
133"you wanted pasta from my magic pasta pot,"
134"and I want to sleep in my little bed tonight."
135"So start eating."
136And he did.
137Poor Big Anthony.
138The end.