To all the people who want read this story.

The legend tells of a poor farmer in the Tronto Valley who owned nothing but a small piece of land. The work was hard, but the fruits were few and he could barely feed his family. Most of the fruit came from three pear trees, which dried up during the winter, but when spring came, first they covered themselves with beautiful flowers, then they loaded themselves with big juicy fruits. The farmer would pick these beautiful fruits and sell them at the market. They were so good that they sold like hot cakes and provided the farmer with enough money to buy grain for the winter.

 One year, at harvest time, the farmer realised that someone was stealing his fruit, his only wealth. The theft took place at night, when the poor man was resting after a hard day's work. He was desperate, because without those pears he could not support his family.

Pirillo, one of the farmer's sons, only 10 years old, said to his father: "Dad, tonight I will keep watch. You will see that I will discover the thief". At sunset, the child, very agile and cunning, hid in the highest branches of one of the trees. The wait was unnerving, but suddenly Pirillo saw a strange figure advancing: it was a witch. A horrible woman with a goat's beard and boar's tusks. The witch, not noticing the presence of the child, reached out her hand to take a piece of fruit, but Pirillo, with a lightning gesture, cut off her hand with the billhook he had brought with him.

The witch cried out in pain and then, in a pleading voice, said to Pirillo: "Give me a pear, boy, just a pear".

And Pirillo answered: "You have already stolen so many, go away!".

"If you don't give me a pear," threatened the witch, "I shall shake the tree until you fall down!"

Pirillo burst out laughing: "Try, if you can!"

Then the witch really began to shake the pear tree, and with such force that Pirro ended up falling to the ground at the old woman's feet. The old woman grabbed him in an instant, tied him tightly to her apron and, riding a broom, flew swiftly to her home in a little hut in the woods.

"Here we are! Now, instead of pears, I'm going to eat you!" exclaimed the old woman in a shrill voice. Pirillo was terrified. The horrible witch lit a fire in the fireplace and put a huge pot of water on top. When the water boiled, Pirillo said to the witch: "Untie me, at least, and let me undress. You don't want to eat me with all my clothes on!".

The old woman approved, untied the boy, then rumbled threateningly: 'Now, get undressed, come on, the water is ready.

While Pirillo was pretending to undress, she turned to the cauldron and uncovered it. It was a moment: Pirillo threw himself on the witch, grabbed her by the feet and threw her into the boiling water, into the cauldron where he should have been. The boy thus saved himself and returned home victorious, although several days passed before he saw his family again, since the witch's farmstead was far away, immersed in the dense vegetation of the forest.