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

Overview

Three royal infants are abandoned after their jealous aunts bribe the nurse to substitute puppies and falsely report the queen’s delivery. Passing fairies rescue the children by giving them three gifts: a nursing deer, a purse that remains full and a warning ring. The deer feeds and cares for the children until they grow up. When the fairy who supplied it suggests moving into the city, one of the brothers proposes hiring a house.

The deer then speaks, directing him to choose a house opposite the royal palace. That location allows the hostile aunts to see the household, initiates their renewed attempts to destroy the children and eventually enables their father to recognize them. The animal is a foster carer supplied by a fairy, rather than the children’s biological mother. Crane’s selected account provides no later fate, personal name or transformation history for it.

Nurses abandoned infantsHuman speechAdvises palace-facing houseFairy-provided foster guardian
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Origins & earliest records

Crane, Italian Popular Tales (1885), IV, The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird, pp. 17–25; selected from Giuseppe Pitrè, Fiabe, Novelle e Racconti, no. 36, Li Figghi di lu Cavuliciddaru.

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Records & interpretation

The complete selected English narrative distinguishes the animal foster carer, the disguised fairy guides and the bird’s successive dangerous and protective roles. Crane acknowledges changes of tense and occasional condensation; this record does not claim inspection of the original Italian witness.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Italian Popular Tales, IV: The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird, pp. 17–25

    Thomas Frederick Crane; selected from Giuseppe Pitrè, no. 36 · 1885

    Complete English narrative through family recognition, punishment and the bird’s departure; Pitrè’s Sicilian collection identified by Crane.

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 textCrane 1885, complete selected tale IVResearch 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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