Arlecchino, on horseback, and Facanapa, on a donkey, are strolling, when they meet a man wearing a hairshirt. Arlecchino thinks that he is a wizard and his enemy, and challenges him. The man tells him that, if he wins, Arlecchino will have to follow him everywhere. Arlecchino answers that if he is the one to win, the man will have to assist the noble Colombina, his beloved. Arlecchino loses the duel, and is forced to follow the man to a castle where he is locked up with Facanapa. The owner explains that he is not a wizard but the marquis Francesco Del Ponte, back from a pilgrimage. He assures that Arlecchino is not a knight but the servant Arlecchino Battocchio, and that Facanapa is a peasant, and he tells them to stop their madness. Arlecchino is sad, angry and hungry, but the marquis says that he will not give them food until they stop fooling around. Later, Arlecchino meets the castle elderly maid who recognises him. She had met him when he was a child, but he does not believe that. After fighting over a piece of bread, Arlecchino and Facanapa manage to escape and reach the woods. There, they fight against imaginary enemies made up by Arlecchino’s hallucinations. Arlecchino fiercely fights a herd of pigs, wounding and killing them. Guards arrive and throw themselves at him. Arlecchino, who thinks he has been turned into a donkey, starts braying. Facanapa concludes, and says that a servant can become both a knight and a donkey.

String marionette

All audiences

Italy

Printed

Wandering

Knight

Madness

Comical

Arlecchino cavaliere errante e Facanapa suo scudiere (circa 1900)

Italian

Arlecchino

Facanapa

Horseman

Sancho Panza

Marquis

Maid

Guardian

Duel scene

Misunderstanding

Hallucination

Confinement

Scene of recognition

Blow-with-a-stick

Fight with an animal

Scene of madness

Arlecchino cavaliere errante e Facanapa suo scudiere

Harlequin the wandering knight and Facanapa his horseman