THE THREE BROTHERS AND THE QUEEN BEE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20587, 28 November 1936, Page 13 (Supplement)

THE THREE BROTHERS AND THE QUEEN BEE

By JACOB AND WILLIAM GRIMM.

A king once had two sons who were considered clever; yet they wasted their time and money in folly and dissipation, and were scarcely ever at home. They had a younger brother, whom they called stupid because he was quiet and simple, and they used to make sport of and mock him, and say that such a simpleton as he would never fight his way through the world, for they, with all their cleverness, found it a very hard matter.

One evening, however, they took him for a walk with them, and on their way they met with an ant hill, and the two elder brothers wanted to overturn the little hill that they might see the little ants running and creeping about in their fright, and carrying their eggs away to a place of safety. But the simpleton said: “No, leave the little creatures in peace. I do not like to see them disturbed.” Then the brothers gave way to him, and they went on quietly till they came to a lake on which a large number of ducks were swimming, and the brothers wished to catch one or two for roasting; but the simpleton said: “Leave the poor birds in peace; I cannot endure that you should kill any of them.” So the ducks were left to live, and the three brothers walked on again until at length they came to a bees’ nest in a tree, with so much honey that it ran over the trunk. The two brothers wanted to light a fire under the tree to smother the bees, that they might take away the honey; but the younger brother held them back. “Leave the poor insects in peace," he said: “I cannot bear to think of them being burned. Again they listened to him, stupid as they thought him, and the three brothers walked on till they came to the castle where in the stable stood horses of pure stone. They went over all the rooms and through the castle till they reached a door to which were three locks. The centre of this door was glass, through which one could see into the room. They looked and saw a very old man sitting at a table. They called him more than once, but he did not hear until they called a third time. Then he rose, opened the three locks, and came out. Even then he uttered not a word, but led them into a richly prepared table, and, after they had eaten and drunk as much as they wished, he allowed them to remain all night, and sleep in his own chamber.

The next morning the old grey man came to the eldest brother, made signs for him to follow, and led him to a stone table, on which were engraved the following words:

“In. the wood under the moss are scattered the pearls of the king’s daughter. They are a thousand in number, and whoever can find them all in one day before the sun goes down will release the castle of its enchantment; but if he should search and not succeed before the sun goes down, he will be turned to stone.” The eldest brother read these words, and determined to try. He searched for a whole day, but when the hour of sunset arrived he had only found a hundred pearls, and according to the writing on the table he was turned to stone.

Notwithstanding this, the second brother made an attempt, and began his task in the evening, so that he searched all night, but with very little more success than his brother. By sunset next day he had found only two hundred pearls; he was therefore then turned into stone.

At last the turn of the simpleton came to seek among the moss; but he had no confidence in himself, and was so miserable at having to find the pearls that he went quite reluctantly, and when he reached the place sat down on a stone and wept. As he sat there weeping he saw coming toward him the ant king, whose kingdom of life he had saved, with five thousand of his ants, and it was not long before they had found all the pearls, and piled them up in a large heap. Then they went home scarcely waiting for his thanks; they had Intended to show their gratitude. The poor simpleton was quite overjoyed; but on returning to the castle he found the second task awaiting him. It was to fetch the key of the princess's sleeping chamber from the bottom of the lake, into which it had been thrown; so the simpleton went to the shore of the lake, wondering what he should do. But the ducks knew him in a moment, and were ready to help him, because he had saved their lives, and asked what he wanted. No sooner had he told them than they dived to the bottom, and in a few moments brought up the key up and gave it to him.

There was still another task to perform, and the most difficult of all. He had to go into the room where the king’s three daughters were sleeping, find out which was the youngest and the most beloved and wake her. The three sisters exactly resembled each other. The only thing by which they could be distinguished was that, before they went to sleep, the eldest had eaten barley sugar, the second a little syrup, and the youngest a spoonful of honey. But in the midst of the trouble and wonder how he should

find out which was the youngest daugter, in came the queen bee, whose community he had saved from the fire, and she went to the mouths of the three sleepers, and quickly discovered by the breath of the youngest that she had eaten honey. She remained sitting on her and the youth knew by this Which of the king’s daughters to waken. No sooner had he done this than the castle was disenchanted, and all who had been turned to stone resumed their proper forms. The simple brother married the youngest daughter of the king, and became king after her father’s death. His brothers married her two sisters. After all, it was better to be simple and kind-hearted than clever and cruel.