The Merchant is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone.
In the night, he found it was haunted by three ghosts, lamenting their treasure.
Another time, he crossed a river to find a fairy being attacked by robbers; he helped her, but refused to come to her palace to be rewarded.
He came to a town where a seven-headed dragon devoured a maiden every day, and now the lot had fallen the princess, Menechella.
The king had the dog followed back to Cienzo, who revealed that the heads that the man had brought as proof were missing the tongues, which he had.