The King fell gravely ill, and the doctors said that only a remedy made with the feather of a griffin bird (uccello grifone) could save him.
So his three sons set off in search of it, with the promise of a great reward for whoever found it. It was the youngest who found it… but he never came back. The other two returned to the castle with the feather, and the family was left in immense grief.
The singing bone
Many years went by. One day the King and his two sons were riding through the forest when they saw a strange bone on the ground, shaped like a pipe. The King picked it up and blew into it, and the bone began to sing:
Caro babbo che in braccio mi tieni, tienimi stretto e tienimi bene: per la penna d’uccello grifone m’hanno ammazzato a Monte Leone!
“Dear father who holds me in your arms, hold me tight and hold me well: for the griffin bird’s feather, they killed me at Monte Leone!”
The King handed the bone to one of his sons, and when he played it, the voice sang again:
Caro fratello che in braccio mi tieni, tienimi stretto e tienimi bene: per la penna d’uccello grifone m’hanno ammazzato a Monte Leone!
“Dear brother who holds me in your arms, hold me tight and hold me well: for the griffin bird’s feather, they killed me at Monte Leone!”
The truth
Then it was the other brother’s turn, but he was reluctant and nervous: “Me? No, I won’t play it!”. The King insisted, and when the son finally blew into the bone, the voice sang:
Fratellaccio che in braccio mi tieni, tienimi stretto e tienimi bene: per la penna d’uccello grifone m’hai ammazzato a Monte Leone!
“Wicked brother who holds me in your arms, hold me tight and hold me well: for the griffin bird’s feather, you killed me at Monte Leone!”
It was a terrible revelation. The King, furious and grief-stricken, discovered the truth: that son had killed his youngest brother to take the feather and the reward for himself. The King disinherited him and banished him forever. Justice was done, but the grief remained.