On his way to the market he met an old woman who asked him if she could eat the grapes because she was very hungry. The boy did so, and after she ate most of his grapes, the old woman turned into a beautiful young girl wearing a purple cloak. She then told him to go home and plant the remaining grapes. As he did so he found gold coins beneath them in the basket. The grapes grew into purple crocus.
This is very interesting.
In Sicily the grape harvest runs between August and November. So the story takes place probably end of October beginning of November...
Which is also the time when wild crocuses start blooming in Sicily.
Which is why the last remaining grapes when planted grew into purple crocuses...
And crocus is the source of saffron, which has always been worth its weight in gold...I talked about this in my post "Saffron"...
So the legend actually describes real things that happen every year in Sicily. You finish grape harvest and start gold (saffron) harvest...
The old woman would then be the Old Hag, Winter earth (November, December, January)...But who in Eastern Mediterranean is also a beautiful young maiden, Winter earth (November, December, January)...???
:) It's complicated...It's to do with East mediterranean climate...Have a look at these posts:
"Goat riding thunder god" "Abdication of Persephone"
your interpretation is very interesting!
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