''La ilustre fregona'' (''The Illustrious Kitchen Maid'' or ''The Illustrious Scullery-maid'') is a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

, published in the collection ''

Novelas ejemplares ''Novelas ejemplares'' ("Exemplary Novels") is a series of twelve novellas that follow the model established in Italy. The series was written by Miguel de Cervantes between 1590 and 1612 and printed in Madrid in 1613 by Juan de la Cuesta. ''No ...

''. It tells the story of two wealthy young men who fall in love with a kitchen maid in Toledo. The story contains mistaken identities, ironic comments and genre traits of the

picaresque novel The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for " rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...

and pastoral romance. It was the basis for the 1928 Spanish film ''

La ilustre fregona ''La ilustre fregona'' (''The Illustrious Kitchen Maid'' or ''The Illustrious Scullery-maid'') is a novella by Miguel de Cervantes, published in the collection ''Novelas ejemplares''. It tells the story of two wealthy young men who fall in love wit ...

'', directed by Armando Pou.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilustre fregona 1613 short stories Spanish novels adapted into films Short stories by Miguel de Cervantes