Once upon a time there was a guy who was not afraid of anything in the world. So they called him Giovanino the Fearless. One day, while wandering around the world, he walked into an inn and asked to spend the night. “We don’t have room,” says the owner, “but if you’re not timid, I’ll show you the way to the castle.”
- Why be afraid!
“There are voices there... no one left there alive.” I myself have seen more than once how in the morning a funeral procession heads to the castle with a coffin for the brave man who dared to spend the night there.
And do you know what Giovanino did?! He took a candle, a flask of wine, a good piece of sausage and went to spend the night in the castle.
Exactly at midnight, when he was sitting at the table and having dinner, a voice was heard from the fireplace:
- Quit?
- Well, quit it! – answered Giovanino. A human leg fell out of the fireplace. Giovanino drank a glass of wine.
And the voice again:
- Quit? Giovanino:
- Well, quit it! The second leg fell out.
Giovanino took a large bite of sausage.
- Quit?
- Drop it! The hand fell out. Giovanino began to whistle.
- Quit?
- Drop it! The second hand fell out.
- Quit?
- Drop it! The body fell. His arms and legs immediately fused to him. And the headless man rose to his feet.
- Quit?
- Drop it! The head rolled out and onto the shoulders. A giant stood before Giovanino.
The guy raised his glass and said:
- Your health!
“Take the candle and follow me,” said the giant. Giovanino took the candle, but did not move.
“Go first,” said the giant.
“Go yourself,” answered Giovanino.
- You! - said the giant.
- You! – answered Giovanino.
The giant went ahead. So they walked through the entire castle. Giovanino walked behind with a candle in his hand. Finally they came under the stairs, where there was a small door.
“Open it,” the giant says to the guy.
And Giovanino:
- Open it yourself.
The giant pushed the door with his shoulder - it swung open. A spiral staircase went deep down.
“Come down,” said the giant.
“You go down first,” answered Giovanino. They went down into the dungeon, and the giant pointed to a huge stone slab on the ground.
- Pick her up.
- Pick it up yourself! - said Giovanino, and the giant lifted the slab, as if it were not stone, but made of pumice.
Under the stove lay three pots of gold.
“Bring it up,” says the giant.
“Bring it yourself,” answered Giovanino. The giant carried all the gold upstairs.
When they were back in the room with the fireplace, the giant said:
- Giovanino, the spell has broken. - The giant's leg fell off and disappeared in the fireplace. - Take one pot of gold for yourself. - A hand disappeared in the fireplace. - Give the other one to the people who will come for you, thinking that you are dead. - The second hand fell off and followed the first. - Give the third pot to the poor man who passes by. - The second leg separated, and the body sat on the floor. - Take the castle for yourself: its owners have long been died, and their race faded away. - The head separated from the body and fell next to him on the floor.
The body rose and disappeared into the fireplace. Following him, the head flew away.
At dawn, singing was heard: “Miserere mei!...” (The beginning of the Catholic funeral prayer: “Have mercy on me...” (Latin)) This funeral procession with the coffin was heading to the castle for the body of Giovanino. And he stood at the window and puffed on his pipe.
Since then, Giovanino has lived happily and richly in the castle. And he lived exactly until one day something happened to him... What do you think? He looked around, saw his shadow and was so scared that he died immediately.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru