The Three Feathers

The Three Feathers

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons, two of whom were clever and intelligent, but the third one did not talk very much, was simple minded, and the only name they gave him was the Simpleton.

When the king became old and weak, and thought that he was nearing his end, he did not know which of his sons should inherit the kingdom after him, so he said to them, "Go forth, and the one of you who brings me the finest carpet, he shall be king after my death."

So there would be no dispute among them, he led them to the front of his castle, blew three feathers into the air, and said, "As they fly, so shall you go."

The one feather flew to the east, the other to the west, and the third feather flew straight ahead, falling quickly to the ground after going only a short distance. The one brother went to the right, the other to the left, and they laughed at the Simpleton who had to stand there where the third feather had fallen.

The Simpleton sat down and was sad. Then he suddenly noticed that there was a trapdoor next to his feather. He lifted it up, found a stairway, and climbed down inside. He came to another door and knocked on it, upon which he heard someone calling out from within:

Maiden green and small, Hopping toad, Hopping toad's puppy, Hop to and fro, Quickly see who is outside.

The door opened, and he saw a big, fat toad sitting there, surrounded by a large number of little toads. The fat toad asked what he wanted.

The Simpleton answered, "I would like the most beautiful and finest carpet."

Then the fat toad called to a young toad, saying:

Maiden green and small, Hopping toad, Hopping toad's puppy, Hop to and fro, Bring me the large box.

The young toad brought the box, and the fat toad opened it, then gave the Simpleton a carpet from it. It was so beautiful and so fine, the like of which could never have been woven in the world above. He thanked the toad and climbed back out.

Now the other two thought that their brother was so stupid that he would not find anything to bring home.

"Why should we spend a lot of effort looking for a carpet?" they said, so they took some pieces of course cloth from the first shepherd's wife they came to, and took these back home to the king.

At the same time they returned home, the Simpleton arrived, bringing his beautiful carpet. When the king saw it, he was astounded, and said, "It is only right that the kingdom should go to my youngest son."

However, the two other sons gave their father no peace, saying that it would be impossible for the Simpleton to become king, because he lacked understanding in all things. They asked him to declare another contest.

Then the father said, "He who brings me the most beautiful ring shall inherit the kingdom." Leading the three brothers outside, he blew the three feathers into the air that they were to follow.

The two oldest brothers again went to the east and to the west, and the Simpleton's feather again flew straight ahead, falling down next to the door in the ground. Once again he climbed down to the fat toad and told it that he needed the most beautiful ring. The toad had the box brought out again and gave him from it a ring that glistened with precious stones and was so beautiful that no goldsmith on earth could have made it.

The two oldest brothers laughed at the Simpleton, who was going to look for a golden ring, and they took no effort at all. Instead, they drove the nails out of an old wagon ring and brought it to the king. However, when the Simpleton presented his ring, the king said once again, "The kingdom belongs to him."

The two oldest sons tormented the king endlessly, until finally he declared a third contest, saying that he who would bring home the most beautiful woman should have the kingdom.

Once again he blew the three feathers into the air and they flew in the same directions as before.

Without hesitating, the Simpleton went back to the fat toad and said, "I am supposed to take home the most beautiful woman."

"Oh!" answered the toad. "The most beautiful woman! She is not here at the moment, but you shall have her nonetheless."

The fat toad gave him a hollowed out yellow turnip, to which were harnessed six little mice.

The Simpleton said sadly, "What am I to do with this?"

The toad answered, "Just put one of my little toads inside it."

The he grabbed one of them from the group and set it inside the yellow coach. The little toad was scarcely inside when it turned into a beautiful young lady, the turnip into a coach, and the six mice into horses. He kissed her, raced away with the horses, and brought her to the king.

His brothers came along afterward. They had given no effort to find a beautiful woman, but simply brought along the first peasant women they had come upon.

After looking at them, the king said, "After my death the kingdom belongs to my youngest son."

However, the two oldest sons again deafened the king's ears with the cry, "We cannot allow the Simpleton to become king," and they demanded that the preference should go to the brother whose woman could jump through a hoop that was hanging in the middle of the hall.

They thought, "The peasant women will be able to do that very well. They are very strong, but the dainty lady will jump herself to death."

The old king gave in to this as well. The two peasant women did indeed jump through the hoop, but they were so plump that each one fell, breaking her thick arms and legs. Then the beautiful lady, that the Simpleton had brought home, jumped, and she jumped through the hoop as lightly as a deer.

After this all the protests had to stop. Thus the Simpleton received the crown, and he ruled wisely for a long time.

从前有个国王，他有三个儿子。老大和老二聪明伶俐，小儿子却头脑简单，不爱说话，人们管他叫「缺心眼」。国王年纪大了，身体虚弱，想到身后之事，觉得难以确定究竟由哪个儿子来继承王位。他把三个儿子找来对他们说：「你们谁带回来的地毯最漂亮，谁就能继承王位。」他认为这样他们就没甚么可争辩的了。他将儿子们领到外面，对着三片羽毛吹了一口气，说：「你们分头跟着羽毛所指的方向去找吧。」三片羽毛一片朝东，一片朝西，第三片直着朝上飞了一阵就落在地上了。两个哥哥对「缺心眼」弟弟嘲笑了一番，因为他只能留在本地，然后他们一东一西去寻找最美丽的地毯去了。小王子十分难过地坐到地上，猛然发现羽毛边有扇地板门。他掀开盖板，看到有几级楼梯，就沿着梯级往下走。不久又是一道门，他伸手敲了敲，听到有人在里面说：

「青青侍女跛着脚，跛脚小狗到处跳，瞧瞧有谁会来到。」

门开处，只见一只巨大的蟾蜍蹲在那儿，四周挤满了小蟾蜍。它问小王子要甚么，小王子说：「我想要世界上最漂亮、质地最好的地毯。」大蟾蜍召来一个小蟾蜍对它说：

「青青侍女跛着脚，跛脚小狗到处跳，搬来大箱子瞧一瞧。」

小蟾蜍於是搬来一口大箱子，大蟾蜍打开盖，从里面拿出一块地毯给「缺心眼」。那地毯质地优良，图案和色彩也十分漂亮，世界上简直没谁能织得出。小王子谢过大蟾蜍之后，带上地毯出来了。再说两个哥哥认为弟弟傻，相信他找不到甚么好地毯，也就不想费周折用心找了。他们都是从最先遇到的牧羊人的妻子那里买了些织得很粗糙的羊毛手帕带了回来。这时，「缺心眼」也回来了，他将那块美丽无比的地毯交给了父亲，国王一看惊讶地说：「公正地说，王位该归小王子。」

可是另外两兄弟吵吵嚷嚷说不能让「缺心眼」当国王，因为他干甚么都考虑不周全。他们吵得国王不得安宁，非要再比试比试不可。国王於是说：「谁带给我的戒指最漂亮，谁就继承王位。」说着又将三个儿子带到外面，朝空气中吹了三片羽毛，让他们跟着羽毛所指的方向去寻找。大王子和二王子又是一东一西，而「缺心眼」的羽毛又是朝上升起之后落到原地。哥哥们讥笑他，说他找不到金戒指，自己却取出旧的金戒指拿到金店去重新打制。小王子像上次一样爬了下去，向大蟾蜍要世界上最漂亮的戒指。大蟾蜍吩咐搬来大箱子，从里面取出一个闪闪发光的宝石戒指，其工艺之精湛，是地上任何工匠都做不出来的。当小王子将金戒指拿给国王时，做父亲的又说：「王位属於小王子。」可两个哥哥仍不甘心，他们不断给父亲施加压力，非让他答应再比试一次。还说看谁带回家的姑娘最漂亮谁就继位。国王还是朝天上吹了三片羽毛，它们所指的方向和以前一样。

「缺心眼」立刻下去找大蟾蜍，说：「我要把世界上最美丽的姑娘带回家！」「哦？最漂亮的姑娘！」大蟾蜍说，「她这会儿不在家。不过你还是可以带她回家的。」说着就将一个套着六只小老鼠的空心萝蔔交给他。「缺心眼」小王子无可奈何地说：「我拿这些有甚么用呢？」大蟾蜍说：「抓只小蟾蜍放进去就行了。」他随手抓了一只放了进去，那小蟾蜍还没坐下，就立刻变成了一位美丽端庄的姑娘，萝蔔变成了真正的马车，六只小老鼠变成了六匹骏马。「缺心眼」吻了吻姑娘，立刻赶着马车回来见父亲。他的两个哥哥随后也回来了，他们不愿意多费力气寻找美丽的姑娘，而是把最先遇到的农家姑娘带了回来。国王一看就说：「我死后王位由小王子继承。」两个哥哥又吵又闹，说：「我们不同意'缺心眼'当国王！」直吵得国王耳朵都要聋了。他们要求在大厅中央挂一个圆圈，谁的妻子能跳着钻过去，谁就能继承王位。他们暗想：「农家姑娘结实强壮，跳过那圈子不会有问题，而那漂亮姑娘准会摔死。」国王没法，只好同意了。首先是两个村姑跳，她们跳过去了，但是笨拙得摔折了粗手大脚；轮到小王子的美貌姑娘，只见她轻轻一跃就过去了，轻盈得像只小鹿。这一下谁都无话可说了。小王子继承了王位，成了一位英明的国王。