The Enchanted Snake or The Snake (Neapolitan: Lo serpe)[1] is an Italian fairy tale written by author Giambattista Basile in the Pentamerone, as the fifth story of the second day.[2] The tale is related to the international cycle of the Animal as Bridegroom or The Search for the Lost Husband, wherein a human maiden marries a prince cursed to be an animal, loses him and has to search for him.
It is Aarne-Thompson type 425A, "The (Animal) Monster as Bridegroom". Others of this type include The Black Bull of Norroway, The Brown Bear of Norway, The Daughter of the Skies, The Enchanted Pig, The Tale of the Hoodie, Master Semolina, The Sprig of Rosemary, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and White-Bear-King-Valemon.[3] The second part of the tale, wherein the heroine finds the cure for her lover's ailment and cures him, ties it to tale type ATU 432, "The Prince as Bird".