Once upon a time there was a rooster who wanted to go to Rome and have himself elected Pope. So he set out on his way. During his journey he found a letter, which he took with him. At one point he met a hen who asked him, “Mr. Rooster, where are you going?”

“I’m going to Rome and want to become Pope.”

“Will you take me with you?” she asked.

“First I must check my letter to see if you can come,” the rooster said and looked at the letter. “All right, you can come. When I become Pope, you can become Mrs. Pope.”

So Mr. Rooster and Mrs. Hen continued on their way together, until they met a cat.

“Where are you going, Mr. Rooster and Mrs. Hen?” the cat asked.

“We're going to Rome and want to become the Pope and Mrs. Pope.”

“Will you take me along?”

“Wait until I've checked my letter to see if you can come,” the rooster responded. “All right. Come along. You can be our chambermaid.”

After a short while they met a weasel, who asked them, “Where are you going, Mr. Rooster, Mrs. Hen, and Mrs. Cat?”

“We're going to Rome,” the Rooster answered. “I want to be the Pope there.”

“Will you take me along?”

“Wait until I check my letter,” said the Rooster, and after he had looked at it, he continued, “All right. Come along.”

So the animals continued traveling on their way to Rome. When it became dark, they came to a little cottage inhabited by a witch, but she had just gone out. So the animals chose a place according to their pleasure. The weasel laid down in the closet, the cat on the warm ashes in the hearth, while the rooster and the hen flew on top of the beams above the door. When the witch came home, she wanted to fetch a candle from the closet, but the weasel hit her in the face with his tail. She wanted to light the candle and went to the fireplace, but she mistook the shining eyes of the cat for glowing coals and tried to light the candle with them. As she stuck the candle into the eyes of the cat, the cat sprang at her face and scratched her terribly. When the rooster heard all the noise, he began to crow very loudly. All at once the witch realized that they were not ghosts but simple animals. So she took a club and chased all four of them out of the house.

The cat and the weasel no longer had any desire to continue the journey, but the Rooster and the Hen continued on their way. When they finally reached Rome, they went into an open church, and the Rooster said to the sacristan, “Let all the bells ring. I'm here to become the Pope.”

“All right,” said the sacristan. “We can do this. Just come with me.”

Then he led Mr. Rooster and Mrs. Hen into the sacristy, where he closed the door and grabbed hold of them. Once he had them in his hands, he twisted their necks and put them into a cooking pot. Then he invited his friends to dinner, and they ate Mr. Rooster and Mrs. Hen with great relish.

Source:

“The Rooster Who Wanted to Become Pope.” The Robber with a Witch's Head: More Stories from the Great Treasury of Sicilian Folk and Fairy Tales, collected by Laura Gonzenbach, edited and translated by Jack Zipes, pp. 32, 66.