Thrice blessed

written by Lionel Bottari, illustrated by Jean Parisi

Once, in the province of Lombardy, there lived a young couple, Bernio and Alchia. They fervently wanted to have a family, but the years went by without their wish being granted. Unwilling to give up their dream, they went to an orphanage and adopted one of the infants, who they named Fortunio.

But as luck would have it, Alchia became pregnant some time afterward. This child, also a boy, they named Valentino.

Until Valentino was born, Fortunio was the center of their attention, but as they grew older it became obvious to the elder boy that Valentino was now his parents’ favorite.

While Fortunio did his best to be a good big brother, nothing he tried made him the center of Bernio and Alchia’s attention. Little Valentino sensed that he could get away with almost anything and devised ways to tease and torment Fortunio.

When Valentino heard the rumor that Fortunio was adopted, it gave the younger boy an opportunity to call his stepbrother “Bastardo.” The other boys took up the teasing and this hated nickname stuck.

As Fortunio approached manhood, he asked Alchia why his brother got whatever he wanted but he had to wear the same worn-out clothes every day. When he demanded that she take his side and order Valentino to stop calling him “Bastardo,” Alchia angrily blurted out the truth.

“But you are a ‘bastardo!’ You should be grateful we took you in, since your own mother didn’t want you!” she shouted. “May you be swallowed by a sea serpent! You have no home here anymore. Get out!”

So Fortunio, cast off by his adopted family, went to seek his fortune elsewhere. Alone, he wandered on the mountain trails, staying with hermits he met along the way. Eventually, he came to an enchanted forest where, to his amazement, the wild creatures could talk.

He came across an ant, an eagle and a wolf who were arguing over the body of a dead rabbit.

“Look,” said the ant, “a human being! Why don’t we let him judge as to how we should share this food?”

The other animals nodded in agreement. Then the eagle said, “Human! We want to fairly divide up this kill! How shall we do it?”

Fortunio thought for a while, then said, “Let the eagle take his fill of the flesh, the wolf the rest plus the skin and bones, and the brain to the ant.”

The enchanted animals were pleased with this judgment. After each creature took his share of the rabbit, they went into a huddle and discussed what to offer this human for helping them.

The eagle said, “We are so satisfied with your fairness in dividing this kill that we want to offer you a reward. From now on, you’ll be able to assume the body, form and powers of any one of us just by wishing it so.”

Fortunio continued on his journey, coming to a large city, where a festival was being prepared to accompany a large jousting and martial arts tournament. Overhearing the local gossip, he learned that the king, Odescalco, was so passionate about this competition that he was offering the hand of his daughter, Doralice, to the winner.

This princess was being held as a virtual prisoner because the knight favored to win the tournament was a very ugly but powerful ogre who she wanted no part of.

Hearing this, Fortunio turned himself into an eagle and flew up to the high balcony, which was where the princess had her sole access to the outdoors. He landed right in front of the young woman, frightening her so much that she screamed.

As the armed guard unlocked the door and came into the room, Fortunio wished himself into an ant. The soldier looked around and, seeing nothing amiss, asked Doralice why she had cried out.

“A huge eagle flew onto the balcony!” she answered.

The guard went onto the balcony, looked around, then quickly went back in, just as the princess was attempting to escape into the hallway. Grasping her by the wrist, he pulled her back into the room.

“A giant eagle, eh? Don’t try that again. Your father wants you to stay put until your future husband wins your hand.”

The guard went back into the hallway, slamming the door shut. Doralice threw herself on the bed, weeping.

Then Fortunio took his human form and, in a low voice, said, “Do not fear me, I come as a friend.”

The princess let out a yelp of surprise and the guard shouted from the hallway, “I know that trick! Try something else next time!”

The young man held his finger in front of his lips for a full minute, then said, “I am called Fortunio. May I offer you my assistance? I will use all my powers to help you escape the fate you’re threatened with!”

Doralice calmed down and so began their conversation. Over the next week, she accepted Fortunio’s offer to be her champion. She gathered her most precious jewelry into a sack, and Fortunio, as an eagle, carried it off to where, in his human form, he could sell or trade it for armor, a sword and shield, a lance, and a powerful war horse.

The young man took advantage of all the training he could, working up the strength he would need to stand up to the ogre. Then, in his ant form, then as an eagle and a wolf, he went to visit each of his animal benefactors in turn to convince them to help him when it was his time to face the ogre.

The nocturnal wolves offered to howl outside the ogre’s tent so that he would get no sleep. The ants agreed to bite the ogre’s horse under its saddle just as the monster came into striking position in the joust. The eagles agreed to bombard his enemy with their excrement during the sword fighting.

At the joust, when the ogre had defeated all the other knights, Fortunio challenged him in front of the king, Princess Doralice and his court.

“I’ll make short work of this weakling,” the ogre growled.

But the next day, exhausted from being kept up all night by the unaccountable howling of a wolf pack, he looked like a fool when his charger bucked him nearly out of the saddle, allowing Fortunio’s lance to finish the job of knocking him to the ground. Landing with a loud crash, he rolled over and looked up, receiving a dive-bombing eagle’s load straight into the eye slit of his helmet. He managed to get to his feet, battered and exhausted, trying to defend himself as the agile Fortunio pounded on him mercilessly.

At last the ogre asked for quarter, admitting defeat.

The king took Doralice by the hand and called to Fortunio to approach them. In a loud voice as the young man knelt before him, he declared him a knight of the realm and offered him his daughter’s hand.

The wedding took place soon after, and in nine months, the couple was blessed with a baby boy. The king was very happy, and presented the couple with three magical orbs: one of copper, one of silver and one of gold.

A year later, when the admiral of the king’s fleet died unexpectedly, Fortunio was offered the position. Despite his inexperience and misgivings, he felt he had to accept.

His feelings were prophetic, for no sooner had he set sail than a terrific storm blew up, a huge wave inundated the ship and down it went to the bottom of the sea.

The few survivors swore that they had witnessed their admiral being swallowed whole by a huge sea serpent, which rode in on a storm-tossed wave.

Doralice went to the seashore regularly with the baby to pray for the soul of her husband. She would kneel in the sand while the child played on a blanket with the orbs.

One morning, they were horrified to see the sea serpent emerge from the waves and shout to them, “Do you want to see your husband again? Give me the copper orb and I will show him to you!”

Doralice overcame her fears and threw the copper orb to the monster. True to his word, Fortunio appeared from the chest up.

“Do you want to see more of him? Give me the silver orb, too!”

She threw him the silver one and Fortunio appeared from the waist up.

“Now, do you wish to see him whole? Give me the golden one!”

But this time, as Fortunio appeared, he turned himself immediately into an eagle and flew in a circle over the beach. As the monster lurched up onto the shore, the great bird swooped down and plucked at its eyes with its powerful talons. Then the bird turned into a huge wolf, which attacked the monster, and it swiftly retreated back to sea.

Fortunio had been saved by Doralice, just as he had rescued her. Together they returned to their palace home, where they raised a family and lived happily ever after.

The article above appears in the July 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

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