Master, if it pleases you, I would be glad to tell that tale.
[SHE'S GOING WESTERN FOR THIS because i'm running out of stories.]
It is related, O Master, that the king of a distant kingdom had a daughter who became ill. He consulted his prophets, who told him that she would be made well only by eating an apple. The king declared that whoever brought the apple to cure her would have her as his bride. Across the kingdom, many sought to win her hand. Among these was a peasant with three sons: the eldest, Uele, the middle son, Seame, and the youngest, Hans.
First, the peasant sent Uele with a basket of apples. Uele met on the road a little iron man, who asked him what was within the basket. Wary of the stranger's intentions, Uele answered "Frog's legs," and the little man said, "It is so." Uele continued onward, but when he reached the king, his basket did indeed contain frogs' legs. The king sent him away, and so the peasant turned to his second son.
On the road, Seame encountered the little iron man, who asked him what was within the basket. As wary as his elder brother, Seame answered, "Hogs' bristles," and the little man said, "It is so." As before, the son found that the basket contained what he had said on arriving before the king, and was driven back to his home.
The youngest son, Hans, was a fool, and begged to go as well as his brothers. At last, taking pity, the peasant allowed it. When Hans met the iron man, being a fool, he answered honestly, and said the basket contained apples that would cure the princess. The little man said, "It is so," and when Hans reached the castle and gave the apples to the princess, she was cured.
The king, however, refused to let them marry until he had a boat that traveled over dry land and sea. Hans went home and told his father. His father sent Uele to the forest to make such a ship; the iron man came to him and asked what he was making; when Uele said "Wooden bowls" that was what he made. Seame went second, and when asked, he answered that he was making chairs, and as with Uele, somehow he created what he said he would. When at last Hans went to build, he told the iron man that he was making a ship that would travel over land and sea. And so it is what he made.
Yet the king still wished to test Hans, so he set Hans to watch a hundred hares in a meadow all day. Hans did so, not losing any. The king sent a maid to beg one from him, for guests. Hans refused it, but said he would give one to the king's daughter. Then the iron man gave him a whistle that would summon any hare back. Hans gave the king's daughter a hare but then whistled it back.
The king sent Hans to fetch him a feather from the griffin's tail. On the way, a lord of a castle asked him to ask the griffin where was the lost key to his money chest; another lord, how their ill daughter could be cured; a giant, why he had to carry people over a lake. At the griffin's castle, he met the griffin's wife, who warned him that the griffin would eat him, but at night, he could pull out a feather, and then she would get the answers for him.
Hans did as she said, and when he pulled the feather, the griffin woke. The wife told him that a man had been there and gone away, but told her some stories first. She repeated them, and the griffin said that the key was in the wood house, under a log; that a toad had made a nest of the daughter's hair, but she would recover if they took the hair out; that the giant had only to put someone down in the middle of the lake and he would be free. Hans left and told the other lords what he had learned; they gave him rich treasures. When he reached the king, he claimed the griffin had given them. The king set out to get some, but he was the first man to reach the giant, who put him down in the lake, where he drowned.
partly stolen from wikipedia because i got tired
[SHE'S GOING WESTERN FOR THIS because i'm running out of stories.]
It is related, O Master, that the king of a distant kingdom had a daughter who became ill. He consulted his prophets, who told him that she would be made well only by eating an apple. The king declared that whoever brought the apple to cure her would have her as his bride. Across the kingdom, many sought to win her hand. Among these was a peasant with three sons: the eldest, Uele, the middle son, Seame, and the youngest, Hans.
First, the peasant sent Uele with a basket of apples. Uele met on the road a little iron man, who asked him what was within the basket. Wary of the stranger's intentions, Uele answered "Frog's legs," and the little man said, "It is so." Uele continued onward, but when he reached the king, his basket did indeed contain frogs' legs. The king sent him away, and so the peasant turned to his second son.
On the road, Seame encountered the little iron man, who asked him what was within the basket. As wary as his elder brother, Seame answered, "Hogs' bristles," and the little man said, "It is so." As before, the son found that the basket contained what he had said on arriving before the king, and was driven back to his home.
The youngest son, Hans, was a fool, and begged to go as well as his brothers. At last, taking pity, the peasant allowed it. When Hans met the iron man, being a fool, he answered honestly, and said the basket contained apples that would cure the princess. The little man said, "It is so," and when Hans reached the castle and gave the apples to the princess, she was cured.
The king, however, refused to let them marry until he had a boat that traveled over dry land and sea. Hans went home and told his father. His father sent Uele to the forest to make such a ship; the iron man came to him and asked what he was making; when Uele said "Wooden bowls" that was what he made. Seame went second, and when asked, he answered that he was making chairs, and as with Uele, somehow he created what he said he would. When at last Hans went to build, he told the iron man that he was making a ship that would travel over land and sea. And so it is what he made.
Yet the king still wished to test Hans, so he set Hans to watch a hundred hares in a meadow all day. Hans did so, not losing any. The king sent a maid to beg one from him, for guests. Hans refused it, but said he would give one to the king's daughter. Then the iron man gave him a whistle that would summon any hare back. Hans gave the king's daughter a hare but then whistled it back.
The king sent Hans to fetch him a feather from the griffin's tail. On the way, a lord of a castle asked him to ask the griffin where was the lost key to his money chest; another lord, how their ill daughter could be cured; a giant, why he had to carry people over a lake. At the griffin's castle, he met the griffin's wife, who warned him that the griffin would eat him, but at night, he could pull out a feather, and then she would get the answers for him.
Hans did as she said, and when he pulled the feather, the griffin woke. The wife told him that a man had been there and gone away, but told her some stories first. She repeated them, and the griffin said that the key was in the wood house, under a log; that a toad had made a nest of the daughter's hair, but she would recover if they took the hair out; that the giant had only to put someone down in the middle of the lake and he would be free. Hans left and told the other lords what he had learned; they gave him rich treasures. When he reached the king, he claimed the griffin had given them. The king set out to get some, but he was the first man to reach the giant, who put him down in the lake, where he drowned.
And so Hans married the princess and became king