Dolphin (disambiguation)

Dolphin usually refers to any member of the mammal families Delphinidae (oceanic dolphins) and Platanistoidea (river dolphins).

It can also refer to either species in the fish family Coryphaenidae:

Dolphin may also refer to:

Sports

The Dolphin (fairy tale)

The Dolphin is a French literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy.

Another literary tale of this type is Giambattista Basile's older Peruonto. A folk variant is the French Half-Man.

Synopsis

A king and queen had several children, but loved them only if they were good and beautiful. One, Alidor, being ugly, in time left his parents secretly. More distressed over their reputation than his fate, they sent after him, but he had chosen his path with care and vanished. He met a young man in service to the King of the Woods and heard of his beautiful daughter Livorette, and so resolved to go there. Once there, Livorette and all her ladies laughed at his ugliness. The queen, however, drew him aside and inquired after him. He soon became a favorite at the court because of his intelligence and courtesy, but Livorette still laughed at him, and being madly in love with her, Alidor soon became melancholy. Trying to distract himself, he fished, but he caught nothing, and Livorette mocked him for it. One day, he caught a dolphin. The dolphin asked him to put it back, promising to help him, and reasoned with him about the princess. When he freed it, he despaired, but it came back and gave him an abundance of fish. It then discussed how to win Livorette, saying it would be necessary to deceive her. He brought back the fish, and then turned himself into a canary. In this form, he wooed the princess but would not speak to anyone else.