There once was a king who had an ill
daughter. No doctor could cure her. The king was told that she would become well
after eating an apple. So the king told
the country that whoever brought her the apple would have her as wife and
become king.
A peasant with three sons told the oldest
to gather a basket of apples from the garden and take them to the princess in
hopes that one of them would cure her.
On his way the boy met “a little iron man” who asked what he had. The boy said “Frogs’ legs,” and the little
man said, “So shall it be.”
When he got to the palace, all of his
apples had turned to frogs’ legs and the king had him driven out. He went home and told his father what
happened. So the father sent the middle
son. When the middle son met the little
iron man who asked what he had, he replied with “Hogs’ bristles.” When he got
to the palace they didn’t want to be fooled again, but he convinced them his
apples were the real deal. But his
apples had all turned to hogs’ bristles and he too was driven from the
palace.
The youngest son was known as Stupid Hans
wanted to try. But his father said he
was too stupid to do it. But Hans went
anyway. When he met the little man he
said he carried apples to cure the princess.
When he got to the palace they didn’t want to let him in, but eventually
they did. When the king saw the apples,
he sent them to his daughter, who was cured as soon as she ate one.
But the king didn’t want to marry his
daughter. So he challenged Hans to make
a boat quicker on dry land than on water.
Hans went home and told his father everything.
The eldest son went to the forest to make
such a boat. At noon the little man came
by and asked what he was doing. The son
replied making bowls for the kitchen.
When the boy finished his boat, it turned into wooden bowls. He went home and told his father.
The next day the middle son went to make
such a boat, and the same thing happened.
The third day, Hans went out. When the little man came to ask what he was
doing, Hans replied making a boat quicker on land than water. The little man said, “So shall it be,” and
left. That evening Hans finished his
boat and flew like the wind with it to the palace.
But the king still didn’t want to marry
off his daughter. So he tasked Hans with
taking a hundred hares out to pasture and bringing them all back. The next morning Hans took the hundred hares
out. A few hours later, a servant came
and said some visitors had come and the king wished to serve them hare
soup. But Hans figured it was a trick
and said he’d only give a hare to the princess.
After the servant left, the little man
showed up. After Hans explained what he
was doing, the little man gave him a whistle that would draw all the hares to
him. The princess came out and Hans gave
her a hare, but after she had gone he whistled and it hopped back.
But the king still didn’t want to marry
off his daughter, so he challenged Hans to bring back a feather from the Griffin’s
tail. So Hans set out. That night he came to a castle and spent the
night. When he told them he was going to
see the Griffin – who knew everything – they asked him to ask about their lost
key to the money chest. The next night,
Hans came to another castle with a sick daughter. They asked him to ask the Griffin how to cure
her. The third day Hans came to a lake. Instead of a ferry, there was a tall man who
carried people across. He wanted Hans to
ask the Griffin why he had to carry everyone across the lake.
Hans arrived at the Griffin’s house, but
only his wife was in. She told him that
the Griffin ate Christians so he should leave.
But Hans explained everything and the wife told him to hide under the
bed. In the night when the Griffin was asleep,
he could pull out a feather and she would ask his questions.
When the Griffin arrived home he said that
he could smell a Christian, and the wife said that one had been there but had
left. That night once the Griffin was
asleep, Hans yanked out a feather. This
woke the Griffin who said he could still smell a Christian. The wife explained that one was there and had
asked questions about a lost key, a sick, princess, and a guy bored with
carrying people across a lake. The
Griffin explained that the key was under a log in the wood-house, the girl was
sick because a toad had made a nest with her hair, and all the bored ferryman
had to do was set someone down in the middle of the lake and he would be
done.
The next morning the Griffin left and shortly
afterwards Hans did as well. When he
came to the lake, he told the ferryman to carry him across and then he’d tell
him what the Griffin told him. The man
did, and when he told him to just set someone down in the middle of the lake,
the ferryman was so happy he offered to carry Hans across the lake twice more,
but Hans said he was good.
At the second castle he found the toad’s
nest and the princess got her hair and health back. Her parents gave him all the gold and silver
they could. At the first castle, after
finding the key, they gave him more gifts and livestock.
When he got back the king asked where he
had gotten everything. Hans told him the
Griffin gave everyone what they asked for.
So the king set out and got to the lake.
He was the first person to come along, so the ferryman set him down in
the middle of the lake and left. The
king drowned. Hans married the princess
and became king.
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Is this how the little man announced himself?
So the oldest brother was a bit of a jerk
saying he had frogs’ legs, but how stupid was the middle brother to repeat the
mistake? And how stupid were both of
them for still being a jerk to the iron man when building their boats?
Did nobody else try to cure the princess?
Why did the older brothers try to make
boats? If the king didn’t want to marry
his daughter to the man who brought the apple that cured her, why would he
marry her to guys who brought frogs’ legs and hogs’ bristles?
Where did the little man go? Was he tired dealing with Hans and he left?
One story, two sick princesses.
This reminds me a lot of “The Devil’s Three Gold Hairs.”
What exactly to Christians smell like?
What exactly do these devils and griffins
do all day to be out of the house?
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