An Interesting, Short Story About Medioevo Italiano

If the sights and arts of Italy are an interesting thing, then you haven’t sat down to listen to some of the best stories that have originated here. One such story is that of ‘the dragon’. A story is told of a king who had a vast kingdom. The king was a cruel man and during one of his trips outside his kingdom, a sorceress usurped his power and took over the kingdom. The sorceress did this with the power of a wooden oracle. The oracle also told the queen that the king would only get his kingdom back if the sorceress were to lose sight.  

A Besieged King 

With his kingdom taken, it became apparent that the king could not be able to get a hold of the sorceress in any way as a result of her being well guarded. As a result, the king decided to start killing all the women that he could lay his eyes on. He mercilessly did so for a long time until his eyes met those of a maiden named Porziella. She was the most beautiful woman that the king had ever set his eyes on. As a result, the king made her his wife. However, his cruelty and spitefulness took the best of him and in no time he also wanted to kill Porziella as well.  

The Fairy 

One day, the king took a dagger and raised it up to Porziella in order to strike her down with it. As he brought the dagger down, a bird that was flying above let fall a certain root on the king’s arm which made him tremble so hard that the dagger fell right out of his hand. The bird in real sense was a fairy. This fairy had a rich history with Porziella. One day as the fairy was sleeping, a certain satyr was about to rob her and luckily she was woken up by Porziella. As a result, this fairy swore that it would repay Porziella for that good deed. 

However, the king never knew what had happened. He assumed that Porziella’s beauty was so striking that nothing could harm her. He therefore ordered that Porziella be locked up in a four walled room and be forgotten forever.

No food or water would ever be served to her and she would die a slow death while all alone.  

Porziella’s Lockdown 

With Porziella locked up, there was no place that she could get food or water from. The bird seeing her in this state, vowed to do all her best to help her. The bird went to the king’s pantry and brought Porziella a knife. It then directed Porziella to dig up a hole at the corner of the floor. Through this hole the bird could be able to sneak in food from the king’s pantry to Porziella’s dungeon. 

The King’s Son 

After some time it emerged that Porziella had been pregnant with the king’s child. She gave birth to a happy boy whom she named Muiccio. The bird continued to feed both of them until Muiccio became a boy. The bird then directed Porziella to dig up a bigger hole through which Muiccio could fit through and be snuck out. However, the boy was warned not to speak about who her mother was or where he had come from. Once in the pastry, he was asked to seal the hole with a board so that it could not be noticeable.  

The pastry chef was the one who found Muiccio and he immediately grew fond of him. After some time he took him to the king’s quarters and the king immediately grew fond of him as well. As a result, Muiccio grew up to be the most established person in the king’s court. 

The Queen And Her Rage 

The queen, Muccio’s stepmother, also started to pay attention to the boy but for the wrong reasons. She didn’t like the close relationship that the boy had with the king. As a result, she wickedly planned of a way to get rid of her. One day she went to the king and falsely told him that Muiccio had said that he could build castles in the air. The king called Muiccio and asked him to build castles in the air, failure to which he would have him killed. Muiccio was confused and went away dejected knowing that it would be an impossible feat. However, the bird came to Muiccio’s rescue and told him to draw castles on a cardboard. The bird then took the cardboards and flew them up. When the king saw this he was astonished and his fondness for the boy grew. 

The Return Of The King To His Kingdom 

One day, the queen again plotted against Muiccio. She went and told the king that Muiccio has said that he could take back the king’s kingdom from the sorceress. As a result the king tasked him with that failure to which he would die. Again Muiccio was confused and went away dejected knowing that it would be an impossible feat. However, the bird came to his rescue. She asked other birds to help her on this mission to which one sparrow happily accepted. on a sunny day, the sparrow went flying into the sorceress quarters and found her sleeping. It then went on pluck both her eyes out. This signalled the fall of her kingdom and the sorceress not willing to be captured alive, went and killed herself. 

Hence the king went back to his kingdom. 

Final Strike For The Queen 

However, the queen was still not happy with this boy’s feat. She then decided to coin another plan that was so sinister that the boy couldn’t survive. There was a dragon in the kingdom that had been born the same year as the queen and the queen had been told that the death of one of them would mean the death of the other. However, no army had ever survived in front of this dragon and she knew how much the king hated it. She told the king that Muccio said he would kill the dragon for him. As a result the king tasked him with that failure to which he would die. Again Muiccio was confused and went away dejected knowing that it would be an impossible feat. However, the bird again came to his rescue. It helped him bring the dragon to its knees and kill it. this finally meant that the queen would die also as she was bound to the dragon.  

Alas! The king came to realize how wicked his queen had been to Muccio. However, as a final wish, the queen had asked the king to have her body brushed with the dragon’s blood (unknown to him that the dragon’s blood would bring her back to life). This he tasked Muccio with. However, when Muccio was about to leave for this task, the bird appeared to Muccio and told him about what would happen if he brought the blood back.It even suggested that Muccio go back to the castle and live with her mom because this would only mean more grief for him once the queen came back to life. 

Unknown to them, the king had been listening to everything all along. He didn’t know that Muiccio was his son and that Porziella was still alive. He ordered that Porziella be brought to him and she was as beautiful as ever thanks to the bird. She was immediately reinstated as the queen.

The king also having heard about all the good things that the fairy had done, decided to give her part of his kingdom. However, she refused but instead asked that Muiccio marry her. Immediately the king accepted, the bird turned into a beautiful maiden and Muiccio and the fairy wed and went to live happily ever after.