The text is the result of a collaboration between the playwright Francesco Niccolini and the actor Massimo Schuster, who have worked together on several shows. The text actually reflects the theatrical genre played by Schuster, a story theatre mixed with puppet and object manipulation. In the edition of Titivillus, the text is published in Italian and French. The book contains photos of the show and the puppets created by the artist Enrico Baj, as well as testimonials from the artists.

The narrator establishes an ideal link with the figure of Don Quixote: like Cervantes' hero, he is a middle-aged man who has lost his mind in books, and who now identifies himself with the stories of the Paladins of France. So he begins to tell his ideal lady, Dulcinea del Toboso, the story of Roland. Peace reigns in Charlemagne's kingdom, until the beautiful princess Angelica arrives at his court: the paladin who manages to defeat her brother Argalia in a duel will get her in hand in marriage. During the duel, the paladin Ferraù hits him in the back, violating the rules, and flees. Angelica got lost in the Ardennes forest while trying to return to her homeland, and all the paladins, who are madly in love with her, go looking for her. The kingdom was thus deprived of its heroes, and Marsilio, King of Spain, took advantage of this to invade France. While inside the court, Gano di Magonza hatches a plot against Charlemagne, Ferraù tries to unmask him and save the kingdom. The Paladins, united under Roland’s leadership, decide to confront Marsilio's entire Spanish army on their own, without calling on the French troops, and thus they all perish.