Grimm's Household Tales

Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons. Two of them were clever and wise, but the third did not speak much, was simple-minded, and was called Simpleton. When the King had become old and weak and was thinking of his end, he did not know which of his sons should inherit the kingdom after him. Then he said to them, “Go out, and whoever brings me the most beautiful carpet will be King after my death.” And so that there would be no dispute among them, he took them outside his castle, blew three feathers into the air, and said, “You must go wherever they fly.” One feather flew to the east, another to the west, but the third flew straight up, did not fly far, and soon fell to the ground. And now one brother went to the right and the other to the left, and they mocked Simpleton, who had to stay where the third feather had fallen. He sat down and was sad. Then all at once he saw that there was a trapdoor close by the feather. He lifted it, found some steps, and went down them. Then he came to another door, knocked at it, and heard someone inside calling,

“Little green maiden small, / Hopping here and there; / Hop to the door, / And quickly see who is there.”

The door opened, and he saw a big, fat toad sitting there, and all around her a crowd of little toads. The fat toad asked what he wanted. He answered, “I would like to have the prettiest and finest carpet in the world.” Then she called a young one and said,

“Little green maiden small, / Hopping here and there, / Hop quickly and bring me / The big box here.”

The young toad brought the box, and the fat toad opened it and gave Simpleton a carpet out of it, so beautiful and so fine that none like it could have been woven on the earth above. Then he thanked her and went back up. The other two, however, had thought their youngest brother so stupid that they believed he would find and bring nothing at all. “Why should we go to a great deal of trouble to search?” they said, and they got some coarse handkerchiefs from the first shepherds’ wives they met and carried them home to the King. At the same time Simpleton also came back with his beautiful carpet, and when the King saw it he was astonished and said, “If justice is done, the kingdom belongs to the youngest.” But the other two gave their father no peace. They said that it was impossible for Simpleton, who lacked understanding in everything, to be King, and they begged him to make a new agreement with them. Then the father said, “Whoever brings me the most beautiful ring will inherit the kingdom,” and he led the three brothers out and blew three feathers into the air, which they were to follow. The feathers of the two eldest again went east and west, and Simpleton’s feather flew straight up and fell down near the door into the earth. Then he went down again to the fat toad and told her that he wanted the most beautiful ring. She at once ordered her big box to be brought and gave him a ring out of it. It sparkled with jewels and was so beautiful that no goldsmith on earth would have been able to make it. The two eldest laughed at Simpleton for going to look for a golden ring. They went to no trouble but knocked the nails out of an old carriage ring and took it to the King; but when Simpleton produced his golden ring, his father again said, “The kingdom belongs to him.” The two eldest did not stop tormenting the King until he made a third condition and declared that the one who brought home the most beautiful woman should have the kingdom. He again blew the three feathers into the air, and they flew as before.

Then Simpleton, without more ado, went down to the fat toad and said, “I am to take home the most beautiful woman!” “Oh,” answered the toad, “the most beautiful woman! She is not at hand at the moment, but you will have her all the same.” She gave him a yellow turnip that had been hollowed out, with six mice harnessed to it. Then Simpleton said quite mournfully, “What am I to do with that?” The toad answered, “Just put one of my little toads into it.” Then he seized one at random out of the circle and put her into the yellow coach, but she had hardly seated herself inside it when she turned into a wonderfully beautiful maiden, and the turnip into a coach, and the six mice into horses. So he kissed her, drove off quickly with the horses, and took her to the King. His brothers came afterward; they had gone to no trouble at all to look for beautiful girls but had brought with them the first peasant women they happened to meet. When the King saw them he said, “After my death the kingdom will belong to my youngest son.” But the two eldest deafened the King’s ears afresh with their clamor: “We cannot consent to Simpleton’s being King.” They demanded that the one whose wife could leap through a ring hanging in the center of the hall should be preferred. They thought, “The peasant women can do that easily; they are strong enough, but the delicate maiden will jump herself to death.” The aged King agreed to this as well. Then the two peasant women jumped, and jumped through the ring, but they were so stout that they fell, and their coarse arms and legs broke in two. And then the pretty maiden whom Simpleton had brought with him sprang, and sprang through as lightly as a deer, and all opposition had to cease. So he received the crown and has ruled wisely for a long time.