“Scherza coi fanti e lascia stare i santi” is an Italian sentence that means “don’t mix the sacred with the profane”. Clearly, more than two-thousand years of Christianity have molded and deeply influenced the culture and traditions of many parts of Italy. This book is formed by tales Selected from the Book: Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane. These stories will present the origin of many idioms and customs of many Italian regions, and also how in many Italian tales' tradition, religious characters – such as Saint Peter or the Holy Mary or even the Devil - replace the classic fairytale characters: fairies, robbers, gnomes and so on.