Păcală

Păcală (Romanian, from a păcăli, "to dupe"; Romanian Cyrillic: Пъкалъ; sometimes rendered Pâcală or Pîcală) is a fictional character in Romanian folklore, literature and humor. Primarily associated with Transylvania and Oltenia, he is depicted as a native of Vaideeni, located in an area of contact between those two regions. An irreverent young man, seemingly a peasant, he reserves contempt and irony for the village authorities (whether Orthodox priest, boyar or judge), but often plays the fool, or displays an erratic and criminal behavior that scholars attribute to the eclecticism of sources weaved into the narrative. Păcală seems to be at least partly modeled on other characters in European folklore, in particular Giufà and Till Eulenspiegel. He may therefore be borrowed from Western chapbooks, with scholar Traian Bratu hypothesizing that Romanians were introduced to the Eulenspiegel anecdotes by their prolonged contact with the Transylvanian Saxons. The stories were then adapted and, in at least some cases, substantially modified, for instance by the addition of a native mythological layer, and by the appearance of a sidekick, the more slow-witted Tândală.

The first written mentions of Păcală are found in early-to-mid 19th-century Saxon and other German collections of Romanian tales, which identify him as distinct from Eulenspiegel. He then became a subject of interest for Romanian writers, originally with spin-off parodies of oral accounts, generally with political content. These were produced by authors from various regions—including Costache Negruzzi, Alexandru Pelimon, Ion Heliade Rădulescu, Vasile Alecsandri, and Iosif Vulcan. From the 1860s, the stories were also collected and expanded upon in a number of editions, creating an opportunity for updated and polished versions of the myth. Several derivative works codify the various versions of Păcală-themed anecdotes. Early on, Petre Ispirescu issued a printed version as Întâmplările lui Păcală ("The Adventures of Păcală"), part of Legende sau basmele românilor. This was followed closely by Isprăvile lui Păcală ("Păcală's Achievements"), authored by Petre Dulfu, then by Păcală în satul lui ("Păcală in His Village"), composed by Ioan Slavici. Some variants obscure those accounts which have Păcală interacting with figures in Christian mythology, and focus more or less exclusively on his relationship with anti-clericalism. Many versions, particularly derivative ones produced under the communist regime, promote his image as an anti-establishment folk hero.

First adapted as a character for Romanian theater in three plays by Alecsandri, he was readapted by Victor Eftimiu in 1911, with Înșir'te mărgărite, and again by Horia Furtună, in 1927; numerous puppet and children's theater versions have followed. Romanian cinema had begun exploring the notion of a Păcală-based feature film in 1914, with Aurel Petrescu working the subject matter into the first product of Romanian animation (in 1921), and then into a live-action film (1926). Also the subject of an opera by Sabin Drăgoi, he inspired Tudor Arghezi to write a poetic cycle and encourage a new project in cinema, undertaken by Geo Saizescu. Saizescu only completed his film in 1974—a box-office success, it made its lead, Sebastian Papaiani, be widely perceived as Păcală's real-life version.