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Overview

A large black bird speaks over the sea while an elder prince carries a dancing mouse, a singing bird and an abducted woman home to his younger brother. Its three warnings connect each gift with the brother’s dangerous fascination and say that explaining the danger will turn the messenger into marble. The bird’s voice is heard during the voyage; no physical encounter or attack by it is described.

The elder brother kills the two animal gifts but presents the woman and remains silent. Imprisoned and condemned by his suspicious brother, he finally explains each warning and becomes stone progressively: first to his waist, then his breast, then completely. A physician restores him with the children’s blood and subsequently restores the children as well. That physician identifies himself as the woman’s magician father. The text does not explicitly identify the black bird as the father’s transformed body, so the two figures remain separate.

Large black birdThree spoken warningsDisclosure followed by progressive petrification
01

Origins & earliest records

Thomas Frederick Crane, Italian Popular Tales (1885), XVII, In Love with a Statue, pp. 85–88; identified source: Comparetti 29, L’Innamorato d’una Statua.

02

Records & interpretation

The creature is described in the specified historical English tale. Its actions belong to this account, rather than to a general species definition.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Italian Popular Tales: XVII, In Love with a Statue, pp. 85–88

    Thomas Frederick Crane · 1885

    English witness; source attribution: Comparetti 29, L’Innamorato d’una Statua. Original-language collection not independently collated.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary historical literary collectionCrane, Italian Popular Tales (1885): XVII, In Love with a Statue, pp. 85–88Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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