How the Hermit Helped to Win the King's Daughter is an Italian fairy tale, collected by Laura Gonzenbach in Sicilianische Märchen.
The king offered his daughter to whoever built a ship that traveled over both land and sea.
He hired everyone, included a little old man with a white beard whom his brothers had rejected but whom he appointed as overseer.
The king agreed to the marriage, but promised only as much dowry as one man could carry, though it was unfit for a princess.
The son drew his sword to cut her in pieces, but the hermit stopped him, and gave him back all the treasure too, promising to come to his aid if ever he needed it.