Isabella and her servant Pedrolino return to Naples after ten years and decide to impersonate gypsies with bizarre results in this outrageous farce based on a scenario first performed by the Gelosi troupe four hundred years ago in Italy and France. Franceschina plucks her chicken and wails for her dead husband, Pedrolino reads her fortune by feeling the bumps on her body, someone has eaten Arlecchino's dog, Oratio is stark, raving mad and is pouring pastafazoola all over the cow, Captain Spavento longs to rub bath oil on the beauteous Flaminia, Flavio and Isabella exchange the most wretched Petrarchian sonnets in history, Gratiano believes the cow is in love with him, Pantalone is strongly advised not to relieve himself in the soup, and Arlecchino discovers the secret of life and a very unfortunate recipe for cookies.
Published in The Gypsy Woman & Other Plays.