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Overview
A king sends a boasting cobbler against two magicians living on a mountain and promises his daughter if he succeeds. The traveller reaches an inn whose keeper and wife are the threatened pair. Above his bed he notices a great stone and sleeps in a corner instead. At a fixed hour the innkeepers let the stone fall, crushing the bed; they try a different room the following night, with the same result.
The cobbler survives by recognizing their trap rather than by winning a magical contest. When the pair return separately from gathering firewood, he offers to help unload their bundles and uses a sickle to behead each. He then signals his victory with the king’s flag and trumpet. His subsequent marriage is cut short because his habitual sleeping movements disturb the princess, and the king pays him to leave. Although the tale calls the couple magicians, it attributes no transformation, spell or invulnerability to them. Crane’s story list and note 33 identify the selected text as Milanese; the nearby Sicilian comparative material is not its provenance.
Origins & earliest records
Thomas Frederick Crane, Italian Popular Tales (1885), XIX, The Cobbler, pp. 94–95; Chapter I note 33; identified source: Novellaja fiorentina, p. 575, El Sciavattin.
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.
- 01
Italian Popular Tales: XIX, The Cobbler, pp. 94–95; Chapter I note 33
English witness; source attribution: Novellaja fiorentina, p. 575, El Sciavattin. Original-language collection not independently collated.
Family & connections
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References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary historical literary collectionCrane, Italian Popular Tales (1885): XIX, The Cobbler, pp. 94–95; Chapter I note 33Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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