A dying king is told that his only hope for a cure is a magical feather from an ogre known to kill any human it sees. When no one else volunteers to face the creature, one of his most loyal attendants steps forward. The story from here shares elements found in several other European and Eastern folktales: during the journey, he encounters people who request him to ask the ogre for solutions to problems they have been experiencing. Two of the solutions will change his and the ogre’s life. Themes include good vs. evil, loyalty, helping others, courage and bravery.
Our source for the story was a book called Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino. The beauty of the book, which contains 200 stories, is that they have all been presented in the same easy to read, modern-day English as this one.
Original Text / PDF (1,650 words)