Tredichino

Once there was a poor woman who had thirteen children. The youngest was named Tredichino. This was because he was the thirteenth of the brothers, and in Italy, such boys are always called Tredichino. The poor woman found it very difficult to feed her children.

When the children grew up, she called them to her one day and said:

"I've grown old, I can no longer feed you—you'll have to take care of yourselves."

The brothers set off to seek their fortune. They walked and walked until they saw a house at the edge of the forest. In this house, the king lived during the summer. Tredichino knocked on the door and asked the king for a piece of bread for his hungry brothers. The king puffed up like a turkey and said:

"I can't give bread to every hungry ragamuffin! But if there's a brave one among you who can take my blanket from the wolf, then I'll give him bread and even money."

The brothers were at a loss and didn't know how to respond to the king. Only Tredichino wasn't afraid. He approached the king and said:

"Give me a big needle, and I'll bring you the blanket."

They gave Tredichino the needle, and he went straight to the wolf's house. Tredichino hid behind a tree and waited. As soon as the wolf left the house to hunt, Tredichino quietly climbed onto the roof, descended through the chimney, and hid under the wolf's bed. The wolf returned from the hunt tired, took the blanket out of the chest, lay down on the bed, and immediately began to snore. Then Tredichino crept up to the wolf and started poking him with the needle, now in the side, now in the back. The wolf twisted and turned—the blanket slipped off him. Tredichino grabbed it, climbed back up the chimney, and ran straight to the king.

Now, you should know that the wolf had a wise parrot. Whatever you asked the parrot, he could answer anything and even tell the time. The wolf woke up in the morning and asked the parrot what time it was.

"It's only five in the morning, and the cunning boy Tredichino has already stolen your blanket!" replied the parrot.

"If that little rogue ever falls into my paws, I'll show him!" growled the wolf so loudly that all the hares in the forest were frightened.

Meanwhile, Tredichino was already in the king's house, waiting for the promised reward. But the king had no intention of keeping his promise.

"This isn't my blanket," he said to Tredichino. "Take the blanket with bells from the wolf. Then I'll definitely reward you!"

"Alright," replied Tredichino. "Give me some cotton and thread, and I'll bring you your blanket with bells."

At night, Tredichino sneaked into the wolf's house, and to keep the bells from ringing, the clever boy wrapped them in cotton and tied them with thread. Then he grabbed the blanket and ran to the king's house.

The wolf woke up in the morning and asked the parrot what time it was.

"It's only four in the morning, and Tredichino has already managed to steal your blanket with bells!"

The wolf grew even angrier, gnashed his teeth, and growled:

"If I catch Tredichino, I'll tear him to pieces."

By then, Tredichino had already run back to the king's house, handed the blanket to the servants, and waited for his reward. Do you think the king rewarded the boy? No!

Now the king wanted to get his hands on the wise parrot—so it could tell him the time when he woke up.

Tredichino was saddened: "How can I take the parrot? As soon as I approach it, it will screech so loudly that the wolf will hear immediately."

But Tredichino was the smartest of the brothers for a reason. He figured out how to outwit the parrot.

Tredichino asked the king's servants for various sweets, put them in a basket, and went back to the forest.

He waited until the wolf went to fetch water, sneaked into the house, placed the open basket on the table, and hid under the table. The parrot saw the basket of sweets and no one around. How could the parrot resist the sweets, which it loved more than anything in the world! It climbed into the basket, stuffed its mouth full, chewed, and clicked its tongue in delight.

Then Tredichino crept up, slammed the lid shut, grabbed the basket, and ran as fast as he could to the king.

Poor Tredichino thought that now all his trials were over and he and his brothers would return home. But that wasn't the case. The king took the parrot from Tredichino and said to him:

"Listen, Tredichino, I give you my royal word that I will reward you as promised. But first, you must fulfill my last wish: I want you to catch the wolf himself. If you don't catch him, you won't escape death. Understand?"

All night, poor Tredichino thought about how to catch the wolf, and he came up with a plan. In the morning, he built a large box, placed it on a cart, and went into the forest.

He approached the wolf's house and started shouting at the top of his lungs:

"The king has ordered the capture of the disobedient Tredichino! Who will help him catch Tredichino?"

And the wolf was right there:

"Is it you, boy, who wants to catch Tredichino? I'll help you. That wretched boy won't escape us now!"

"I've already prepared a box," Tredichino said to the wolf. "I'm just afraid it might be too small. They say Tredichino is about your size. Please lie down in the box, and I'll check."

The foolish wolf obediently climbed into the box. Before he could settle in properly, Tredichino grabbed a hammer and quickly started nailing the lid shut.

"What are you doing, kind boy? I might suffocate like this!" cried the wolf.

"Don't worry, don't worry, Brother Wolf, it's not a long journey. You can endure it," replied Tredichino.

And that's how Tredichino caught the evil wolf.

This time, the king had no choice but to give Tredichino and his brothers the promised reward.

The brothers returned to their mother, happy. They built themselves a new house and lived in it together, happily and joyfully.

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Tredichino

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