Currado Gianfigliazzi—Chichibio

The relationship between Currado Gianfigliazzi and Chichibio moves from the ordinary authority of master over cook to a comic confrontation, then back to peace. When Chichibio’s lie about a missing crane leg is exposed, he escapes the punishment Currado threatens through a timely answer that makes his master laugh.

Master and Cook

Currado Gianfigliazzi is presented as a noble and generous citizen who enjoys hawking and hunting. After his falcon brings down a young, fat Crane (bird), he sends it to his Venetian cook, Chichibio, with instructions to roast it for supper and prepare it well. The work places Chichibio in Currado’s service, responsible for turning the master’s prized catch into a meal for him and his guests.

The Missing Leg and the Lie

As the bird nears completion, Brunetta, a woman from the neighborhood whom Chichibio loves, enters the kitchen and asks him for one of its legs. He initially refuses, but relents when she threatens that he will receive nothing from her to please him. He cuts off a leg and gives it to her. When Currado and his guests are served the remaining bird, Currado notices that it has only one leg and demands an explanation. Chichibio claims that cranes have only one leg and offers to show Currado a living example the following morning. Currado, unwilling to prolong the dispute in front of his guests, postpones judgment—but warns that Chichibio will regret the lie if the claim proves false.

A Morning Test

Currado’s anger survives the night. At daybreak he has horses brought and takes Chichibio toward a watercourse where cranes gather, intent on making him substantiate his claim. Frightened and without a way to escape, Chichibio scans the birds along the route, seeing them as standing on two legs. Near the river, however, he spots a dozen cranes resting on one leg and points them out as proof. Currado goes closer and cries out; the birds lower their other legs and take flight, disproving Chichibio’s assertion.

Wit and Reconciliation

When Currado asks how Chichibio can maintain his story now, Chichibio answers that Currado had not cried out to the roasted bird the previous evening; had he done so, it too would have put out its other leg. The explanation does not repair the lie by logic. Instead, its comic timing transforms the confrontation: Currado’s anger gives way to laughter, and he accepts Chichibio’s answer with the acknowledgment that he should have tried the same call. The tale thus ends not with punishment or lasting resentment, but with the master and servant reconciled through Chichibio’s quick wit.