Once upon a time, there lived a poor man with three sons: Peppe, Alfin, and the youngest, Ciccu. Facing starvation, the sons devised a plan to take their frail father to the forest, build a hut, and sell firewood. They cared for him until his death.
On his deathbed, the father left them a small house and a fig-tree. Peppe inherited the branches, Alfin the trunk, and Ciccu the fruit. He also left an old coverlet to Peppe, a purse to Alfin, and a horn to Ciccu.
The brothers continued woodcutting. One evening, three fairies passed by as they slept. Unseen by the others, Ciccu was awake and heard the fairies bestow magical gifts: the coverlet would transport its user anywhere, the purse would provide endless gold, and the horn could summon or sink ships.
The next day, Ciccu cleverly persuaded his brothers to give him the coverlet and purse. He then left for the city to seek his fortune. Using the magic purse, he gained wealth, bought a grand house opposite the palace, and even covered his staircase with gold to attract the king's attention.
The king and his beautiful daughter visited. Ciccu, smitten by the princess, foolishly revealed the secret of his magical items and lent her the purse. She betrayed him, refusing to return it. Enraged, Ciccu used the coverlet to enter her chamber at night, beat her, and reclaimed his purse.
The princess complained to the king, who seized all three magical items from Ciccu, leaving him destitute. Ciccu returned to his brothers, only to find them quarreling over the fig-tree due to their father's peculiar will. A judge ruled that Ciccu could pick the figs, but must give the first two baskets to his brothers as payment for using the branches and trunk.
The brothers decided to each take a basket of figs to the king. On the way, Peppe and Alfin each met a mysterious old man. Being rude, their baskets were cursed: Peppe's turned to dirt, Alfin's to horns, and both were severely whipped by the angry king. Ciccu, however, was kind to the old man, shared his figs, and was rewarded. His basket remained full of beautiful figs, pleasing the king, who rewarded him with money and a position at court.
Jealous of Ciccu's success, his brothers convinced the king to send Ciccu on impossible quests: first to steal the sword of the fearsome Man-eater, then to capture the Man-eater himself, and finally to bring the fairest woman in the world to be the king's bride.
With the help of his wise, talking horse, Ciccu succeeded in all tasks. He tricked the Man-eater into a coffin and brought him back. To find the fairest woman, the horse helped Ciccu rescue a swarm of bees, a fish, and an eagle along the journey. These creatures later helped him retrieve the woman's lost veil and ring when she set further challenges.
The final challenge was for Ciccu to jump into a blazing oven. Following his horse's advice, he coated himself in a special foam and emerged unharmed. The king, desperate to marry the woman, asked Ciccu his secret. Ciccu, resentful of the king's earlier betrayal, lied and said he used fat. The king jumped in and was burned to ashes.
The fairest woman then chose Ciccu, and they married, making him the new king.