Păcală

Păcală (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

, from ''a păcăli'', "to dupe"; sometimes rendered Pâcală or Pîcală) is a fictional character in

Romanian folklore The folklore of Romania is the collection of traditions of the Romanians. A feature of Romanian culture is the special relationship between folklore and the learned culture, determined by two factors. First, the rural character of the Romanian ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and humor. An irreverent young man, seemingly a peasant, he reserves contempt and irony for the village authorities (whether priest, boyar or judge), but often plays the fool. Several derivative works codify the various versions of ''Păcală'' anecdotes. Examples include: ''Pâcală'', by Ion Creangă; ''Păcală în satul lui'' ("Păcală in His Village") by

Ioan Slavici Ioan Slavici (; 18 January 1848 – 17 August 1925) was a Romanians, Romanian writer and journalist from Hungary, later from Romania. He made his debut in ''Convorbiri literare'' ("Literary Conversations") (1871), with the comedy ''Fata de biră ...

; ''Isprăvile lui Păcală'' ("Păcală's Achievements") by

Petre Dulfu Petre Dulfu (10 March 1856 – 31 October 1953) was an Austrian Empire, Imperial Austrian-born Romanian poet, translator and playwright. Born in Tohat, Maramureș County, his parents were Nichifor Dulfu and his wife Agapia (''née'' Bran), memb ...

; and ''Întâmplările lui Păcală'' ("The Adventures of Păcală"), part of ''

Legende sau basmele românilor ''Legende sau basmele românilor'' ("Legends or Romanian Fairy-tales") is a collection, in several volumes, of Romanian folktales, first published in 1872 by Petre Ispirescu. Contents (note: these are some of the tales) *''Tinerețe fără de b� ...

''. ''Păcală'' legends also served to inspire other creations, from the eponymous satirical magazine put out by Pantazi Ghica in the 1860s to Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopșor's 1960s sequel ''Tivisoc şi Tivismoc'' ("Tivisoc and Tivismoc"). He is the main protagonist in two Romanian films, both written and directed by

Geo Saizescu Geo Saizescu (14 November 1932 – 23 September 2013) was a Romanian actor and film director.Sandu Florea Sandu Florea (; born 28 June 1946) is a Romanian-American comic book and comic strip creator, also known as an inker and book illustrator. A trained architect and a presence on the science fiction scene during the 1970s, he became a professional ...

to create his first comic strip (1968). Fictional Romanian people Romanian humour Romanian mythology Literary characters Mythological tricksters Romanian folklore Humor and wit characters {{lit-char-stub