Sicilian Folklore

The story of Nicola

Nicola was a little boy from Sicily who lived by the sea.  He loved swimming so much he would spend every day out in the water.  Every night his mother would call out to him when dinner time approached "Coooooolllaaaaa!"  She would shout until he found his way back home.  The kids in his town would often make fun of him, he had no true friends.  His whole childhood was spent in the sea.  He was able to stay under water for long periods of time, all day even.  Eventually he even developed webbed feet and gills like that of a fish.  This of course, only caused more teasing from his peers.

As he grew older, his fondness for the sea grew stronger.  Sometimes he would be gone for days even.  One day the King of Sicily got word of his special gift of being such a strong swimmer.  He came to Cola and explained that Sicily and all it's people were in great danger.  You see, back then, Sicilians believed that Sicily was being held up by large posts.  Over time, the posts were beginning to erode.  The King asked Cola if he would come on this special mission with him and Cola obliged.  The King took Cola out far deep into the Sea and asked him to swim as deep as possible to see if the posts were failing and if Sicily would soon sink under water.  

Cola agreed and dove deep under the Sea.  But, he never returned.  The people of Sicily believe that there are three possible outcomes to this story.  Did Cola find the broken post and stay under water forever, holding Sicily up and thus being a hero and saving it from sinking?  Did Cola go too deep and be taken away lost forever in the Sea?  Or did Cola eventually turn fully into a fish and swam away, becoming free from society's demands and ridicule?  

I was told this folklore on my last night in Alcamo while hanging out at the natural Termo's.  Of course I cannot tell it as good as Massimo who is from Sicily and who's grandparents told him the story that was passed down from generation to generation.  After he finished we discussed the outcome.  My friends believed that Cola was still under the Sea holding up Sicily and saving it from sinking.  To them, this made him the hero.  But I thought otherwise.  I hope that he swam away and is free, instead of holding the weight of the world on his shoulders for people who never made him feel welcome or loved in the first place.  They thought my view was horrible and it takes away from Cola being a hero and turns him into a coward.  I disagree.  I think it is most courageous to chose freedom over enslavement.  The idea of him holding up the island forever and ever makes me sad.  The idea of him swimming away and becoming a fish makes me happy and that makes him more of a hero in my eyes.