As the girl, named Perina (from pear), grew up, she and the prince fell in love, which caused the other maidservants to grow envious.
She went on, gave the millet to three women in a bakery, sweeping out the ovens with their hair, threw the bread to some mastiffs, crossed by a red river with a charm that the little old woman had given her, and greased the hinges of the witch's house.
The chest began to speak, but the door refused to slam on her, the river to drown her, the dogs to eat her, and the women in the bakery to bake her.
Curious, she opened the chest and a golden hen with her chicks escaped, or musical instruments that played on their own, but the little old woman or prince put them back.
[7] In a review of Calvino's work, folklorist Walter Anderson classified the tale, according to the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, as type AaTh 428, "The Wolf".
[9] Calvino's tale (numbered 11 in his collection) was listed by Italian scholars Alberto Maria Cirese [it] and Liliana Serafini under type AaTh 428, Il Lupo ("The Wolf").
[16] Author Angelo de Gubernatis collected a tale from Santo Stefano di Calcinaia with the title La comprata ("The Bought One").
The jealous ladies lie to the queen that Melarosa boasted that she could steal some possessions of Fata Morgana: first, her sieve; next, the "scatola degli artisti" ('box of artists'), and finally the "cassa del sole e della luna" ('box of the Sun and the Moon'), which contains a clock.
Melarosa meets a young man, a prince, who offers his help and advice in the tasks: he advises her to bless the people and objects on the road to Fata Morgana (bakers, women, dogs and gates).
Back at the palace, the sun and the moon dance and, to the chime of the clock, the prince, the queen's lost son and the one that helped Melarosa, appears to them, since Fata Morgana has been defeated and his curse is broken.
The queen takes a liking to the girl, spurring the envy of other ladies, who begin to spread false rumours about Nina-delle-mele.
As for the third task, he advises Nina-delle-mele on how to proceed on the road to Fata Morgana, by acting with kindness towards the servants she finds on the path.