The Moro's Head - Sicilian legend

It is said that around the year 1100, the period of Arab domination in Sicily, in Palermo, lived a beautiful girl. The girl spent her days almost exclusively at home, devoting herself to the care of the plants that adorned her balcony. One day a young dark man saw the beautiful girl intent on watering her flowers, and immediately fell in love with it. He decided to want it all for himself and, without delay, went into the house of the girl to declare his love.
The girl, struck by that ardent and intense feeling, returned the love of the young dark-haired, but when she learned that he would soon leave her to go back to her lands in the East, where the wife and her children awaited her, she took advantage of the night and he killed him as he lay asleep. The girl cut off his head, and with this he made a vase where he planted a basil plant. Finally he put it on display outside in the balcony, so that the man would remain forever with her.