"Corvetto" is an Italian

literary fairy tale A literary fairy tale is a fairy tale that differs from an oral folktale in that it is written by "a single identifiable author", as defined by Jens Tismar's monograph. They also differ from oral folk tales, which can be characterized as "simple ...

written by

Giambattista Basile Giambattista Basile ( – 23 February 1632) was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector. His collections include the oldest recorded forms of many well-known (and more obscure) European fairy tales. He is chiefly remembered for writi ...

in his 1634 work, the "

Pentamerone The ''Pentamerone'', subtitled ''Lo cunto de li cunti'' (), is a seventeenth-century Neapolitan language, Neapolitan fairy tale collection by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile. Background The stories in the ''Pentamerone'' were colle ...

". It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type include "

The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa () is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in ''Narodnye russkie skazki''. It is one of many tales written about the mythical Firebird. It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type ...

", " Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful", " King Fortunatus's Golden Wig". Another, literary variant is

Madame d'Aulnoy Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d'Aulnoy (September 1652 – 14 January 1705), also known as Countess d'Aulnoy, was a French author known for her literary fairy tales. Her 1697 collection ''Les Contes des Fées'' (Fairy Tales) ...

's "La Belle aux cheveux d'or", or " The Story of Pretty Goldilocks".Paul Delarue, "The Borzoi Book of French Folk-Tales", p 363, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York 1956

Synopsis

Corvetto served a king loyally and was favored by him. Envious fellow servants tried to slander him, but failed. An ogre lived nearby, with a magnificent horse, and finally the servants said that the king should send Corvetto to steal it. Corvetto went, and jumped on the horse. It shouted to its master, who chased after with wild animals (one of them being a

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

), but Corvetto rode it off. The king was even more pleased, and the other servants told him to send Corvetto after the ogre's tapestry. Corvetto went, hid under the ogres' bed, and in the night stole both the tapestries and the counterpane from the bed (causing the ogre and ogress to argue about who hogged them). He dropped them from a window and fled back to the king. The servants then persuaded him to send Corvetto for the entire palace. He went and talked with the ogress, offering to help her. She asked him to split wood for her. He used the axe on her neck. Then he dug a deep pit in the doorway and covered it. He lured the ogre and his friends into it, stoned them to death, and gave the king the palace.

References

{{Authority control Italian fairy tales Fictional servants Fairy tales about ogres Fairy tales about werewolves ATU 500-559

Synopsis

See also

References