What is "peruonto"

Peruonto is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone.

It is Aarne-Thompson type 675. Other literary tales of this type are Straparola's "Peter The Fool" (night three, fable one) and Madame d'Aulnoy's The Dolphin. A folk variant is the French Half-Man.