Fearless Giovannino

Once upon a time, there was a young man who feared nothing in the world. That’s why they called him Giovanni the Fearless. One day, while wandering the world, he stopped at an inn and asked to stay the night. "We have no room," said the innkeeper, "but if you’re not the timid type, I can show you the way to a castle."

"What’s there to be afraid of?"

"There are voices... No one has ever come out alive. I’ve seen it myself—more than once—how in the morning, a funeral procession heads to the castle with a coffin for the brave soul who dared to spend the night there."

And you know what Giovanni did? He took a candle, a flask of wine, a good chunk of sausage, and went to spend the night in the castle.

Exactly at midnight, as he sat at the table having his supper, a voice came from the fireplace:

"Shall I throw it?"

"Go ahead, throw it!" replied Giovanni. A human leg fell out of the fireplace. Giovanni drank a glass of wine.

And the voice again:

"Shall I throw it?"

"Go ahead, throw it!" A second leg tumbled out.

Giovanni took a big bite of sausage.

"Shall I throw it?"

"Throw it!" An arm fell out. Giovanni started whistling.

"Shall I throw it?"

"Throw it!" A second arm fell out.

"Shall I throw it?"

"Throw it!" A torso dropped down. The arms and legs immediately attached themselves to it. And a headless man stood up.

"Shall I throw it?"

"Throw it!" A head rolled out and landed on the shoulders. Before Giovanni stood a giant.

The young man raised his glass and said:

"To your health!"

"Take the candle and follow me," said the giant. Giovanni took the candle but didn’t move.

"You go first," said the giant.

"You go first," replied Giovanni.

"You!" said the giant.

"You!" replied Giovanni.

The giant went ahead. They walked through the entire castle like that, with Giovanni following behind, holding the candle. Finally, they came to a small door under the stairs.

"Open it," the giant told the young man.

But Giovanni said:

"You open it."

The giant pushed the door with his shoulder, and it swung open. A spiral staircase led deep underground.

"Go down," said the giant.

"You go down first," replied Giovanni. They descended into the dungeon, and the giant pointed to a huge stone slab on the ground.

"Lift it."

"You lift it!" said Giovanni, and the giant lifted the slab as if it were made of pumice, not stone.

Under the slab lay three pots of gold.

"Take them upstairs," said the giant.

"You take them," replied Giovanni. The giant carried all the gold upstairs.

When they returned to the hall with the fireplace, the giant said:

"Giovanni, the spell is broken." The giant’s leg fell off and disappeared into the fireplace. "Take one pot of gold for yourself." An arm vanished into the fireplace. "Give the second one to the people who will come for you, thinking you’re dead." The second arm fell off and followed the first. "Give the third pot to a poor man who passes by." The second leg separated, and the torso collapsed to the floor. "Take the castle for yourself: its owners died long ago, and their line has ended." The head detached from the body and fell to the floor beside it.

The torso rose and disappeared into the fireplace. The head flew after it.

At dawn, singing was heard: "Miserere mei!..." (The beginning of a Catholic funeral prayer: "Have mercy on me..." (Latin)). It was the funeral procession with a coffin, coming to the castle for Giovanni’s body. But he stood by the window, puffing on his pipe.

From that day on, Giovanni lived happily and richly in the castle. And he lived just until one day something happened to him... What do you think? He turned around, saw his shadow, got so frightened that he dropped dead on the spot.

↑ To the top

Fearless Giovannino

More fairy tales