The Pig King

"The Pig King" or "King Pig" (Il re porco) is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giovanni Francesco Straparola. Madame d'Aulnoy wrote a French, also literary, variant, titled Prince Marcassin. A queen who desperately wants to have a child dreams that three fairies talk about giving her a child. The king is anxious that the third fairy meant ill, but the queen is convinced her desire for a child made her dream it.Soon after, she gives birth to a son but a wild boar. His father is persuaded not to drown him by his wife, who thinks the child has misfortune enough in being born a pig. They try to raise him as a prince. He learns to speak and walk on his hind legs, and in many ways learns how to act the prince. His mother tries to argue him from it, because it is beneath his rank, and princesses, being less free than other women, would marry him. He kills her without help, and flees to the forest to avoid any more such events.