4 ELEMENTS

Project logo
Improve the foreign language learning and intercultural competences of adults through e-learning

The project

FOUR ELEMENTS is an initiative called to raise awareness and appreciation of the importance of culture and heritage as well as to train educators working with adult learners who want to improve their skills and competences necessary in today’s EU labour market.

The project will take advantage of the potential of the common European cultural values associated to the 4 elements earth, water, air and fire) to empower adults to improve their digital, foreign language and intercultural competences.

The partnership expects to develop and deliver innovative teaching materials presented in a culturally accessible E-book consisting of European legends and stories – giving visibility to the underlying common EU values and principles, especially adapted to learners with special needs.

To achieved such objectives, partners will develop:

An interactive map: a collection of legends and stories related to earth, water, air and fire, in different EU countries.

Digital Books with national legends and stories related to the four elements.

Methodological recommendations for adult educators.

To find more information, access the Four Elements platform here.

Digital books

The nations of Europe all have rich cultures of myth and folklore which give the different regions their particular individual flavour. Here we have grouped traditional stories from Belgium, Estonia, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia and Spain according to the four elements: earth, air, wind and fire.

They are specially adapted to adult learners and can be used to develop language or ICT skills among your students while enhancing intercultural understanding.

Alongside the stories, this digital book contains interactive exercises and is in Easy Read format. All the material in it can be downloaded and printed. Teachers and trainers will find tips and suggestions for how to use it on the Recommendations section of this site.

European partnership

Four Elements is an Erasmus+ KA204 project designed to highlight the importance of culture and heritage at European Union level. It aims to train educators working with adult learners to enable them to acquire the skills and competences, including linguistic and digital skills and competences, required in the European labour market.

The project is coordinated by : CVO EduKempen (Belgium). The partnership also includes DomSpain Consulting (Spain), The Central Library of Võru County (Estonia), Les Apprimeurs (France), Istituto dei Sordi di Torino (Italy), Slovenian Third Age University (Slovenia), MyArtist (Greece).

Erasmus+ project

Erasmus logo The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The torch of the desires

FAIRY TALE

Main element: Fire

Language of the original: Italian

Date of origin: Between 1909 and 1913

Author: Guido Gozzano born in 1883 and died in 1914, always in Turin, even if he spent his life around the city: in the mountains and by the seaside because his health was really delicate. He was really active in cultural life of Turin, became poet and wrote many stories following Grimm Brothers and Andersen’s style. The majority of his stories, including this one, was written between 1909 and 1913.

Once upon a time there was an old farmer who lived in a poor hut with his son Fortunato. Fortunato’s name was misleading. The boy was sickly, hunchbacked and crippled. When he was nearly eighteen, Fortunato decided to leave his home and slowly to go on the road with his crutch to seek his fortune, considering that up to that moment it had not been very good.

He crossed mountains, lowlands and rivers, hungry and thirsty. But no good fortune arrived.

One day, at sunset, he got lost into a wood. He hurried as much as he could, but already he could hear wolves howling. At last he arrived at a lamp-lit hut. The door opened and a small old lady appeared. Fortunato asked for help and refuge. She let him come inside her small house and offered him for dinner a bowl with one crumb and two grains of rice in it. Fortunato saw the old lady make a sign with her right hand and then the bowl started to grow until its contents had been transformed into appetizing, steaming hot soup! Fortunato ate, amazed, and the curious old lady asked him to tell her his story. The boy took advantage of their friendly conversation to ask her a spell for finding good fortune. The old woman fondly responded saying that unfortunately she was not a powerful fairy, therefore she could not help him very much. However, she could reveal the way to the Castle of Desires and how he could enter it.

So next morning, at sunrise, the old lady took Fortunato to a crossroads in the woods and explained to him what to do. The boy would have to walk for three days and three nights, but he could only reach the castle if he never looked back. He could enter the castle only by knocking with a stone given by the old woman. Inside the castle he would have to go through rooms and long hallways until he reached an old wizard who was asleep on his feet and with a green candle in his hand. That candle was the talisman that Fortunato had to take and which would give him whatever he desired. He had to watch out for the wizard, the dragons and the spirits in the castle: they fell asleep from midday to one o’clock and if he was still there when they woke, he would be lost forever.

Fortunato took the stone, thanked the old woman and set off with his crutch on the path she had indicated. Three times he heard someone calling him as if people were in danger, and so he looked back three times. Each time he had to start again from the beginning, until he decided to plug his ears with wads of cloth.

Arriving at the castle, he knocked at the door with the stone given to him by the old woman and when he entered he saw a courtyard full of giant salamanders, toads, vipers and huge scorpions. Fortunato was horrified, but it was midday and they were all sleeping. So with his crutch he passed through those beasts. As the old woman had told him, he went through long hallways and courtyards and through three rooms: one full of silver coins, the second full of gold coins and the last one full of precious gems. Each time Fortunato went through one of those rooms he emptied and filled his pockets with the new wealth that he found. Finally he arrived in a big, dark room: here there was the sleeping wizard with the candle in his hand. Fortunato took the candle and immediately started to run because the time was expiring and soon all the creatures in the castle would be awake. As soon as he was safe out of the castle, he heard dreadful cries coming from inside the walls behind him: it was monsters discovering the theft!

Fortunato immediately lit the candle and asked it to make his hump disappear and straighten his legs. As he spoke each desire he lit the candle and then he extinguished it so as not to waste it. Since it was now evening, Fortunato told the candle he wanted a wonderful palace on a hill above a city. In the morning, the city’s inhabitants admired Fortunato’s beautiful building. But the tyrant King was envious and sent a servant to Fortunato commanding him to come to his court. Fortunato didn’t accept this order and continued living his rich life of splendor and luxury, but he wasn’t happy, feeling something was missing.

One day, walking through the city Fortunato saw, leaning out of a window in the palace, the King’s daughter, and fell in love with her. He didn’t know how to get close to her. Then he thought of the candle and asked for Nazzarena, the king’s daughter, to become invisible and brought to him. His desire was granted. At the beginning the girl was afraid, but after Fortunato had spoken gentle words expressing all the love he felt for her, Nazzarena was happy. At sunrise Fortunato commanded at the green candle to bring the princess back in the castle. These night-time visits became frequent.

An envious maid discovered the movements of the princess and revealed them to the King. The King asked a wizard for advice, and was told to hang a perforated bag with flour inside on Nazzarena’s nightdress, to show where the girl went every night.

The perforated bag was hung secretly on the nightdress and the following morning the King with his army followed the trail of flour which led them to Fortunato’s palace.

The King captured Fortunato while he was sleeping, had him locked up in prison and sentenced him to death. On the day of his execution, Fortunato was allowed to have one last desire granted, and Fortunato asked for the candle for which he cared so much. So, Fortunato in front of the flame of the candle asked that all of the inhabitants of the kingdom, except Nazzarena, could sink into the ground up to the chin. And everyone suddenly sank into the earth. Fortunato took the princess and went up to the King to ask for his daughter in marriage. The King saw that the boy was young, beautiful, strong and rich and thought that he could be a good successor. He also wanted to be dug up, so he accepted!

That same day, instead of the death sentence, the wedding was celebrated.

La fiaccola dei desideri

FIABA

Elemento: Fuoco

Lingua originale: Italiano

Data di origine: Between 1909 and 1913

Autore: Guido Gozzano born in 1883 and died in 1914, always in Turin, even if he spent his life around the city: in the mountains and by the seaside because his health was really delicate. He was really active in cultural life of Turin, became poet and wrote many stories following Grimm Brothers and Andersen’s style. The majority of his stories, including this one, was written between 1909 and 1913.

C’era una volta un vecchio contadino che viveva in una povera capanna con il figlio Fortunato. Al contrario del nome, il ragazzo era malaticcio, gobbo e storpio. Verso i diciotto anni, Fortunato decise di partire e mettersi piano piano in cammino con le sue stampelle per cercare la buona sorte, visto che fino a quel momento non ne aveva avuta molta.

Attraversò monti, pianure, fiumi, ebbe fame e sete. La fortuna non arrivava.

Un giorno, al tramonto, si perse in un bosco. Si sbrigava il più che poteva, ma già sentiva gli ululati dei lupi. Ad un certo punto arrivò a una capanna illuminata, la porta si aprì e spuntò una piccola vecchietta. Fortunato le chiese aiuto e accoglienza. Lei lo fece entrare nella sua piccola dimora e gli offri come cena una ciotola con una briciola e due chicchi di riso. Fortunato vide la vecchina fare un segno con la mano destra e la ciotola crebbe così come il suo contenuto e tutto si trasformò una zuppa appetitosa e calda fumante! Fortunato mangiò meravigliato e la vecchietta curiosa gli chiese di raccontarle la sua storia. Il ragazzo approfittò della confidenza per chiederle un incantesimo per trovare la buona sorte. La vecchina gli rispose amorevolmente dicendogli che lei purtroppo non era una fata potente, quindi non poteva aiutarlo molto, ma poteva indicargli sia la via sia come arrivare al castello dei desideri.

Fu così che il mattino dopo, all’alba, la donna accompagnò Fortunato fino a un incrocio tra i boschi e lì gli spiegò cosa fare: il ragazzo avrebbe dovuto camminare per tre giorni e tre notti, ma sarebbe arrivato al castello solo se non si fosse mai voltato. Sarebbe riuscito a entrare nel castello solo bussando con una pietra donatagli dalla vecchia. Nel castello avrebbe attraversato stanze e lunghi corridoi arrivando da un vecchio mago addormentato in piedi con un cero verde in mano. Quel cero era il talismano che Fortunato avrebbe dovuto prendere e che avrebbe esaudito i suoi desideri. Doveva fare attenzione al mago, ai draghi e agli spiriti nel castello: loro si addormentano da mezzogiorno all’una e se lui ci avesse messo più tempo, sarebbe stato perduto per sempre.

Fortunato prese la pietra, ringraziò la vecchina e intraprese il cammino con le sue stampelle della strada indicata. Per tre volte sentì qualcuno che lo chiamava e persone in pericolo e così si voltò. Sempre rincominciò da capo la strada fino a decidere di tapparsi le orecchie con dei batuffoli di stoffa.

Arrivato al castello, bussò alla porta con la pietra della vecchia e quando entrò vide un cortile pieno di salamandre giganti, rospi, vipere e scorpioni enormi. Fortunato era inorridito, ma era mezzogiorno e tutti dormivano e con le sue stampelle passò tra queste bestie. Come aveva detto la donna, passò attraverso lunghi corridoi e cortili e attraverso tre stanze: una piena di monete di argento, la seconda piena di monete d’oro e l’ultima piena di gemme preziose. Ogni volta che passava in una di queste stanze Fortunato svuotava e riempiva le tasche delle nuove ricchezze che trovava. Arrivò finalmente in una sala enorme e scura: qui stava il mago addormentato con il cero tra le mani. Fortunato prese il cero e subito scappò di corsa perché il tempo stava scadendo e presto si sarebbero svegliati tutti. Appena fu salvo fuori dal castello, alle sue spalle, all’interno delle mura, si alzarono delle grida spaventose: erano i mostri che si stavano accorgendo del furto!

Fortunato accese subito il cero e chiese che gli sparisse la gobba e che le gambe si raddrizzassero. Per ogni desiderio accendeva il cero e subito dopo lo spegneva per non consumarlo. Dato che si era già fatta sera, Fortunato espresse come altro desiderio un palazzo meraviglioso su una collina sopra la città. Al mattino, gli abitanti erano ammirati da quel bellissimo edificio, mentre il Re tiranno ne era invidioso e mandò un valletto da Fortunato ordinandogli di andare a corte. Lui non accettò e continuò la sua vita ricca di sfarzi e lusso, ma non era felice, sentiva che gli mancava qualcosa.

Un giorno, attraversando la città vide affacciata ad una finestra nella Reggia la figlia del Re e se ne innamorò. Non sapeva come fare per avvicinarsi a lei, poi pensò al cero e chiese che Nazzarena, così si chiamava la ragazza, diventasse invisibile e fosse portata da lui e il desiderio si avverò. La ragazza subito era spaventata, ma dopo le gentili parole di Fortunato e l’esposizione di tutto l’amore che provava per lei, Nazzarena fu felice e le visite notturne diventarono abituali. All’alba Fortunato comandava al cero verde di riportare la principessa nel castello.

Una ancella invidiosa, si accorse dei movimenti della principessa e fece la spia al Re ed egli a sua volta chiese consiglio a un mago: appendere alle vesti da notte di Nazzarena un sacco bucato di farina, così da vedere dove andava la ragazza nella notte. Di nascosto fu appesa alla tunica la borsa traforata e al mattino il Re con l’esercito seguì la traccia di farina che conduceva al palazzo di Fortunato.

Il Re fece catturare Fortunato mentre dormiva, lo fece rinchiudere nelle prigioni e lo condannò a morte. Il giorno del supplizio anche al ragazzo fu concesso esprimere un ultimo desiderio e Fortunato chiese che gli fosse portato il cero a cui tanto teneva. Il Re gli concesse questa richiesta. Allora, Fortunato davanti alla fiamma del cero desiderò che tutti gli abitanti del regno tranne Nazzarena sprofondassero nella terra fino al mento. Ecco tutti inabissarsi all’improvviso. Fortunato prese la principessa e si avvicinò al Re chiedendogli la figlia in sposa. Il Re vide il giovane bello, forte e ricco e pensò che sarebbe stato un buon successore, inoltre voleva essere dissepolto, quindi accettò!

Il giorno stesso invece della condanna a morte, furono celebrate le nozze.

Gozzano G. (1995), La danza degli gnomi e altre fiabe, La biblioteca ideale tascabile Junior, Milano.