“The Enchanted Snake.” The Green Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1892, pp. 186-193.

Tale Summary

Once upon a time there was a poor woman named Sabatella who longed for a child. Her husband, Cola-Mattheo brought a baby snake home, who asked her to mother him. The snake grew bigger and bigger under her care, and one day told Cola-Mattheo about his desire to marry the princess, and asked the man to go to the King and ask for this. The King told him that if the snake could turn the palace into ivory, gold, and silver by noon the next day, he may have his daughter. The snake told his father to find green herbs and rub them on the castle before dawn, and so he did, and the castle was transformed per the King’s task. Delighted, the King demanded more tasks be fulfilled, starting with turning the paths and walls of his garden into pure gold. The snake told his father to collect rubbish from the streets and throw it into the garden, and when Cola-Mattheo did this the next morning, it was all transformed into gold. The King then asked for all the trees and fruit of his garden to be turned into precious stones, and the snake told his father to buy fruits from the market and sow the seeds in the palace garden. When Cola-Mattheo did this the next morning, the King’s wish was fulfilled, and he felt obligated to give his daughter, named Grannonia, to the snake. Her new bridegroom appeared at court in a gold carriage drawn by six white elephants, but despite his elegance, all were afraid of him and fled, all except for Grannonia. The snake wrapped itself around her and led her into a room and shut the door, and here he shed his skin and became a beautiful young man. The King and his wife peeked through the keyhole and were amazed, and together burst into the room to burn the skin, causing the prince to transform into a dove and fly away out the window. The princess could not be comforted and disguised herself as a peasant woman and left to find her love, and soon met a fox on the outskirts of the town who offered to accompany her. She gladly accepted, and the next day they awoke together to listen to the birdsong. The fox, after much entreatment by the princess, told her that the birds spoke of the misfortunes of a beautiful young prince whom a wicked enchantress turned into a snake for seven years, and who had wounded himself mortally while flying out of a window as a dove. Grannonia asked the fox if there was any hope, to which he replied that the prince was the son of the King of Vallone Grosso, and the only way to save him was to rub his wounds with the blood of the very birds they listened to. The fox agreed to catch the birds for her that night, and the princess collected the blood in a little vial. The fox then told her the blood was useless unless it was mixed with his own, and so she resorted to flattering the fox into staying with her for the rest of the journey. Not long after, the girl killed him with a stick and collected his blood, and then went straight for the Royal palace. The King granted her permission to see the prince, promising him to her in marriage if she could cure him. When she rubbed the wounds with the blood, he was instantly cured, and the King informed his son that he was to be married with the peasant woman who had cured him. The Prince answered that he couldn’t because he was already in love with another maiden, and would not consent to the marriage, and told the disguised Grannonia that nothing could change his mind. She threw off her disguise and revealed herself, and the joyful prince informed his father who she was. A wedding feast was thrown, and proved that there is nothing better for the joys of true love than pangs of grief.