Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons, two of the princes thought they were clever and wise, the third prince did not speak much, his brothers always teased him and called him the simpleton.
For many years the king ruled his kingdom but he had become old and weak . The old kings mind was troubled because he did not know which of his sons should inherit the kingdom after him. He thought long and hard on the problem of how he would choose his heir .
One day he called the princes into the throne room and said to them , " My dear sons , I am growing old and weak and the time has come for me to choose an heir to the throne . I have decided to set you a task , go forth , and he who brings me the most beautiful carpet shall be king after my death."
Making sure the princes all had a fair start , the old king called for his chicken keeper , " Good man , bring me 3 feathers one black , one brown and one white , but they must be the same size and shape ." The chicken keeper immediately set off to gather the feathers for his king and returned with them only minutes later . " Ah Yes , these will be perfect." said the king .
Taking the princes outside of the castle the old king turned to his sons , " Peter , my first born , your horse is black so you shall have the black feather , William , my second born , your steed is brown so you shall have the brown feather and John my youngest child , your feather is white the same as the colour of your horse .... each of you is to search in the direction your feather flies ." With this he blew the three feathers in the air . The black feather flew to the east , the brown to the west but the white flew straight up and soon fell to the ground near the old kings feet.
Prince Peter went to the left and Prince William to the right , they were laughing at Simpleton who was forced to stay where the third feather had fallen . Prince John sat down , the sound of his brothers mean laughter ringing in his ears , he was very sad . He looked at his feather laying on the dusty ground beside him , then all at once he saw that there was a trap-door close by the feather . With great curiosity he lifted it up only to discover a set of narrow earthy steps leading down , without a second thought Prince John went down the stairs . When he reached the bottom of the stairs he came to another door . The second door was made of very dark stone with a picture of a frog carved into it and decorated with emeralds , there was a huge iron knocker on the door , Prince John lifted the heavy knocker and rapped it against the door , He heard a voice from behind the door calling -
The door opened , and he saw an enormous fat toad sitting in the middle of a large room , and all around the enormous toad was a crowd of little toads and frogs . The fat toad asked what he wanted . Prince John answered , "Madam toad , I have come in search of the prettiest and finest carpet in the world , it is to be a gift for my father " . The great toad looked about her and flicking her long tongue towards a young one she said -
The young toad brought the box and set it at the great toad's feet . Dismissing the young toad with a flick of her tongue , the fat toad leaned forward and opened it , she rummaged through the box for a few moments then , with a satisfied croak , she pulled from it the most magnificent carpet Prince John had ever seen , it was so beautiful and so fine it took his breath away . He felt sure that no-one on the earth above could have made such a fine carpet . "It must be work of the fairy folk" though he . He thanked the enormous toad and bid her farewell , then climbed back up the stairs and out into the sunshine above , closing the trap door behind him .
Meanwhile , the older princes rode until they were out of town , where they dismounted and sat together under a shady tree, laughing about their brother . Prince Peter looked around and noticed some peasant women beating their rugs. " Why should we go to the trouble of searching far and wide for a carpet ?" , he said " Simpleton is so stupid he won't find anything . We'll get a carpet from the farmhouse yonder and give that to father. Prince William agreed and soon the 2 princes were back at the castle each of them with a carpet for the king .
At the same time simpleton also came back, and gave his father the beautiful carpet . The old king was astonished . "This surely must be the most beautiful carpet in the world " he said , "if justice be done, the kingdom belongs to my youngest son , Prince John ". But the two older princes grumbled and complained and gave their father no peace, they said it was absurd that simpleton should become king, and entreated him to make a new agreement with them .
The old King thought a while and said, "He who brings me the most beautiful ring shall inherit the kingdom" , then led the three brothers out of the castle again , and taking the three feathers which the princes were to follow , blew them into the air . Those 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 .
Prince John again opened the trapdoor , descended the earthy stairs and knocked on the big black stone door . Soon he heard a voice from within saying ....
The door opened and Prince John walked inside , where once again he saw the enormous toad surrounded by many little frogs and toads . He bowed to the fat toad . "Madam toad greetings , once again I have come to ask for your help . I am in search of a gift for my father " , and told her that he wanted the most beautiful ring in the world . The great toad looked about her and flicking her long tongue towards a young one said -
She opened the box and rummaged through it , after a minute she pulled out a golden ring and gave it to Prince John . The ring sparkled with jewels , and was so beautiful that no goldsmith on earth would have been able to make it.
The two older princes rode out of town to the same shady tree , dismounted and sat down laughing at simpleton for going to seek a golden ring . " Why should we tire ourselves searching for a beautiful ring . Fathers eyes are old , a carriage-ring will do just as well "
They gave themselves no trouble, and 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 John , for the ring he has given me is surely the most beautiful ring on earth ".
The two eldest did not cease from tormenting the king until he made a third condition , declaring , "He who brings home the most beautiful woman to be their bride , will inherit the kingdom . " . He again blew the three feathers into the air, and they flew as before.
Prince John again opened the trapdoor , descended the earthy stairs and knocked on the big black stone door . Soon he heard a voice from within saying ....
The door opened and Prince John walked inside , again he saw the enormous toad surrounded by many little frogs and toads . He bowed to her and said . "Madam toad greetings , once again I have come to ask for your help . I am searching for the most beautiful woman , when I find her I will take her home to be my bride ". "Oh," answered the toad , "the most beautiful woman .... She is not at hand at the moment, but still you shall have her ". She gave him a yellow turnip which had been hollowed out and to which six mice were harnessed . Then simpleton looked at the turnip and the mice and said quite mournfully , "What am I to do with that ?" The giant toad answered , " You are to put one of my little maidens into it " . Prince John looked at the little frogs and toads asking , " Which of you would like to climb into this turnip ?" The little maid frog who had fetched the box hopped forward and jumped into the turnip , hardly was she seated inside it than she turned into a wonderfully beautiful maiden , the turnip changed into a fabulous golden coach , and the mice into six magnificent grey horses . Prince John was so happy he kissed the beautiful maiden , jumped into the carriage beside her and drove off at once to the king.
The two older princes , who came afterwards, had given themselves no trouble at all looking for beautiful girls , but had brought with them the first peasant women they chanced to meet. When the king saw them he said , "After my death the kingdom belongs to my youngest son , Prince John ". But the two eldest deafened the king's ears afresh with their clamor , "We cannot consent to simpleton's being king ! " , and demanded that the one whose wife could leap through a ring which hung in the centre of the hall should have the kingdom as their own . The brothers 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 his sons demands saying , "This is to be the final test , there will be no other . My decision will not be argued , You will all swear that you will accept the outcome without question ". The 3 princes agreed and promised the king there would be no argument .
Then the two peasant women jumped, and jumped and jumped and jumped trying to leap through the ring , but they were so clumsy that they fell down unsuccessful after every try . Soon they were so bruised they could try no more . Then the pretty maiden whom simpleton had brought with him, took her turn , she leaped through as lightly as a deer and landed gracefully on the other side , there she turned and leaped again sailing through the ring with what seemed no effort . Both Prince Peter and Prince William turned to their brother and shook his hand saying , "Brother you have won the crown fairly , we will be loyal to you when you are king "
When the old king finally died Prince John and his lovely bride became king and queen of the realm . King John ruled the kingdom wisely for many many years and during his reign the land florished and the people were very happy .
Jennifer T
March 1999
