Title: Sarah’s Willow

General Information about Item: 

• Literature, Childhood story, Fiction
• Language: English, translated into Italian
• Country of Origin: Unknown; informant heard it in Italy
• Informant: Sara Fossati
• Date Collected: 11-06-19

Informant Data: The informant’s name is Sara Fossati. Sara is a twenty-one-year-old female who attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH as an exchange student from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Sara studies economics with a focus on finance. Sara was born and raised in Sovico, Italy, a small town approximately 20 minutes outside of Milan; she lives there today. Sara lives with her mother and father—she is an only child.

Contextual Data:  Sara’s mother would read this story to her at bedtime when she was about 5 or 6 years old. Sara loved to hear this story, and always wanted to hear this particular story because she was able to relate to the plot of the story. The tale centers around a whimsical willow tree where two girls spend their time playing. The tree is threatened to be taken down, and the girls succeed in keeping it alive for future generations. Sara explained that when she was growing up, she also had a willow tree in her backyard where she would play. One day, the tree had to be cut down. This story holds a special place in her heart because she had a personal connection to it.

Item:

“Once upon a time there were these two little girls who used to play under this willow. At some point, unfortunately, they discovered that the tree would’ve been uh—I don’t know how to say that—that they will take away the tree. And they were very, very sad about this. They talked about this with their parents and so their parents brought them to like, a new place and they decided to plant a new tree—a new willow so that like, in the future their daughters, their sons, could play under a similar willow like they used to.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Sara Fossati – Italian & English

Informant’s Comments:

“I think that my favorite part was when their parents helped the two girls plant a new tree because they really understood that it was an important thing for their daughters, which was very sweet…I mean for me, I remember that in my garden we used to have a similar willow, which I loved, but at some point, they had to uh cut it. And so, this story really reminded me of that—of my willow. So, I think that it was special to me because of that.”

Collector’s Comments: 

Sara’s childhood bedtime story is actually a work of literature, written by Friedrich Recknagel, that did not originate in Italy. After Sara told me this story, I did some research on my own to see if I could find out more details; when I searched it up, I read in a blurb on Amazon that the story presents the themes of loss and renewal. Sara interpreted the story as one that tells children to stay true to their roots, which is very different from loss and renewal. She also only happened to remember the parts of the story that were similar to her own life experience growing up. This is interesting because she interpreted the story from the perspective of her own experiences and connections to it. The message she learned as a child contrasts to the one the author intended to communicate.

Collector’s Name: Milla McCaghren

Tags/Keywords: Literature, Childhood story, Magic, Fiction