This is one of those stories grandmothers used to tell their grandchildren by the fireplace: “Oggi vi racconterò la storia di Pecciu Mattu”, “today I’ll tell you the story of Pecciu Mattu”.
Many years ago there lived a mother who had a rather simple son called Pecciu. Since he didn’t have all his marbles, everyone in town called him Pecciu Mattu, “Crazy Pecciu”. To help him earn a little money, his mother would send him to the market to sell honey, o mèle in the local dialect.
The honey sold to the statue
One morning Pecciu arrives at the market and starts shouting: “Chi vone o mèle, mmè?”, “Who wants honey?”. Women answer from every side, “Eo! Eo! Eo!”, “Me! Me! Me!”, and he, irritated by all that shouting, snaps: “Lo dongo a chi fa minu parole!”, “I’ll give it to whoever talks the least!”.
And nobody in the square talks less than the statue. So Pecciu walks up to it and hangs the honey on it: “Ecco, lo dongo a ti!”, “Here, I’m giving it to you!”.
“And the money?”
Back home, his mother asks: “L’hai vennutu tuttu o mèle?”, “Did you sell all the honey?”. “Yes, Ma!”. “And the money?”. “She didn’t give me any money!”.
At that, his mother starts screaming like a woman possessed, and the blows rain down. “Enough, Maaaa! Stop, I’ll go and get it!”, Pecciu promises. But she throws him out: “Nn’areveni senza sordi!”, “Don’t come back without the money!”.
So Pecciu goes back to the statue to settle the account: “You took the honey, now give me the money, or my mother won’t let me back in the house! Do you understand? I want the money! So, are you giving me the money?”. The statue, of course, says nothing.
The hidden treasure
Exasperated, Pecciu picks up a rock and hurls it at the statue: it breaks, and out of it tumble sacks full of coins. “Se rompe a statua e comenzeno a cascà nzacchi e sordi!”.
Delighted, Pecciu gathers up the sacks and happily brings them to his mother, who, in disbelief, “pe la prima vota in vita sea, aremase senza parole”: for the first time in her life, was left speechless.