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The Beauty of the Earth: Fairy Tales from the Arbëreshë of Sicily
Hardcover
Publisher: Albanika Press
Published: Oct 15 2026
Pages: 170
Weight: 1.07
Height: 0.56 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
In the fairy-tale world of the Arbëreshë of Sicily, serpents become young men, mysterious Ladies ride through the air on butterflies, animals speak, impossible tasks must be overcome, and the warmth and light of the sun can change a life.
The Arbëreshë are Albanian-speaking communities in southern Italy and Sicily whose ancestors settled there centuries ago, preserving their language, customs, and traditions across generations. The Beauty of the Earth brings together fifteen of their traditional fairy tales selected from Giuseppe Schirò's 1923 collection of material from the Albanian communities of Sicily. Translated into English by Albert Lulushi from both the Arbërisht and Italian source texts, the stories preserve the repetitions, humor, darkness, strangeness, and wonder of tales shaped by a long oral tradition.
Kings and princes, courageous young women, jealous sisters, cruel stepmothers, Fairies, the Devil, enchanted animals, dangerous journeys, riddles, transformations, and unexpected acts of loyalty inhabit these stories. Beneath their supernatural events lie enduring human concerns: love and betrayal, poverty and wealth, family, courage, cunning, greed, friendship, and the hope that hardship may eventually give way to happiness.
Seventy-three original pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations by Lulushi accompany the tales, giving visible form to their world while leaving space for the reader's imagination.
Intended for adults and older children, The Beauty of the Earth opens a window onto the remarkable cultural inheritance of the Arbëreshë community of Sicily.
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