The Language of Animals Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane (1885):
A father had a son who was in school for many years and one day the teacher told the father to take the son away because he could not learn anything.
The father decided to have a banquet for his son and during the speeches one asked the boy to name one thing he had learned.
The boy replied that he learned the language of certain animals (dogs, frogs, birds).
The father was so ashamed of the answer he ordered the servants to take him to the woods and kill him and bring back his heart.
The servants did not want to disobey but also did not want to kill the boy. So they found a dog and brought its heart back to the father.
The boy fled the country and found a castle and the prince allowed the boy to live there. When suddenly so many dogs were around. The prince asked why this was and the boy told the prince that he could understand them and that they were warning him that assassins were coming for the prince that very night.
The prince was so grateful he offered up his daughter to the boy. The boy was very thankful but declined and said he would be back in 1 year and 3 days.
While away he became pope and found his father who begged for forgiveness.
Dog at Castle. Caroline Johnston, 2017. Flickr.
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