By Matteo Fetta

Violino was a farmer in Italy; he lived with only his mother. They sold many things for money, mostly cheese. One day, while Violino was on the street, selling cheese, he noticed all the flies hovering around it. With one hand, he smacked all the flies. Counting them, he saw that he killed 365 flies with one hand. When he was done selling his cheese, he went to the local tailor, where he asked the man to make him a hat that would say “with one hand 365 dead plus injured”.

After the hat was made, Violino was walking in the town when the king made an announcement saying that “there is a monster not far from here and he is very dangerous. Whoever can get rid of the monster will earn one wish within my power”. When Violino Forto heard this, he knew he was going to do this, as Violino always wanted to marry the King’s daughter. 

After hearing this announcement, Violino went off to the cave where the monster resided.  Before he left, he got an idea, so he brought with him a huge, strong chain. When Violino arrived at the monster’s house, he knocked on the door. In 10 seconds, the beast came out and said, “Why are you here? Have you come to die?” 

Violino kept his cool and said, “Monster, I have come to warn you that the king is ready to send an entire army here to kill you”. The Monster laughed and said, “I have nothing to worry about, I am the strongest thing in this country. No army can defeat me”. Violino then said to the monster, who was losing patience, “Prove it. I have brought a very strong chain here with me. If you can break out of the chain, then I will believe you that you are the strongest”. 

The Monster took the bet and let Violino wrap him in chains. At first, the monster was perfectly fine, saying that he could break the chain easily. Over time, Violino kept putting the chains around him to a point where the monster could no longer break out of them. So the monster said to Violino, “Ok, you win. I cannot break this chain now, let me free”. 

Violino looked around the monster’s house to see many weapons from dead knights. He picked up one of the swords and said this to the monster, “I don’t think I will let you go, you have killed many people, and the reward for your head is too big for me to pass up, so say goodbye”. As the monster began to scream in rage, Violino then used the sword and decapitated the monster. 

After this, Violino went back to the town with the monster’s head and knocked on the castle door saying, “I have killed your monster, now let me in to get my wish”. When the king’s knights told the king that this one man said he killed the monster, the King said, “There is no way one man could kill that thing. That monster could take down a whole army, and you say to me that this one man killed him”. 

One of the knights then told the king about the hat Violino was wearing, saying how it says “with one hand 365 dead plus injured”. The king did not know what to say to this, so after a minute passed, he said, “Let the man in so I can see him”. When Violino walked in, he showed the king the head of the monster, proving how he killed it. 

After this, the king then asked Violino what his wish was. Violino said, “I want to marry your daughter”. 

The king was shocked to hear this and said, “I cannot let you marry my daughter. She is of noble blood, and I would never let her marry someone who is not of noble blood”. Then Violino made a threat to the king, saying, “You see what I did to this monster; if you do not grant my wish, this will be you”. 

The King was scared and believed that this man was too powerful for his army to kill. So he said, “Fine, you can marry my daughter if you promise to help defend this land”. Violino said yes to the deal. 

One week later, Violino’s marriage to the king’s daughter happened. Everyone in the town was there to celebrate it, even Violino’s mother, who does not get out much. They all wore fancy clothing except for Violino’s hat, which he would wear forever.

THE END