Once, long ago, a king and his entire family went walking together. While they were walking a great storm arose, and everyone started to run back to the palace. But when they arrived there, they discovered that the queen was missing, for she apparently had become lost in the storm. Soldiers and servants were immediately sent out to search for her, but she was nowhere to be found.
Now the king had two sons, who thought that they were very clever, and they had a young Jewish lad who served as their servant.
The king sent out his two sons and their servant to search for the queen, since all of the others had been unable to find her. They sought her for many months, but had no success, and the two princes were ready to turn back, but their servant reminded them that the king might be angry if they returned without the queen, and they decided to continue their quest.
Then it happened one night that while they were sleeping the servant had a dream in which an old man came to him and told him a riddle:
Not wasteland But an underground palace With all its treasures underground— That is where the queen can be found.
When the servant awoke he remembered the dream and the riddle, and at once told the two princes. Now they did not put any faith in dreams or riddles, but because they had no other clues to go by, they agreed to follow the servant if he could figure out the riddle's meaning. The young man brooded on it for a long time, and at last he said: I think we must search for a palace that lies underground, beneath a wasteland. But first we must find out what wasteland is meant. Now in our kingdom the only wasteland is to be found in the North, not far from where we are. This is an area in which we have not yet searched, so let us go there. And the two princes agreed that this was as good an interpretation of the riddle as any other, so they agreed to search there.
They made their way into the vast wilderness of the North, in which nothing was to be found, except for the wild brush that grew up everywhere, and a multitude of birds. And the first night they slept in that wasteland the servant again dreamed that an old man came to him, and this time he told him another riddle:
Not a dead end But an entrance is what you will find If you follow the flock And do not linger behind.
Once again the servant recalled the dream and the riddle, and shared it with the two princes. But they said that they had had enough of riddles—after all, the first one had taken them to that desolate place, where nothing had been found. Still, the servant pleaded with them to consider the riddle, for it was the only clue that they had. So the two princes agreed that they would let the servant figure it out, since he was so good at riddles, and if what he said made sense they would follow him.
The servant did not sleep any more that night, but contemplated that riddle until dawn, and at last he decided that it was telling them to follow a flock of birds to a place that would not be a dead end but an entrance—perhaps an entrance to an underground palace. He shared this interpretation with the two princes in the morning, and while they were discussing it a great flock of birds passed above them in the sky, so many that the sky was covered with birds and grew dark. The servant noticed the great flock at once, and jumped up, telling the two princes to hurry, for surely this was the flock they should follow. But the two princes were too tired to follow it, and besides they had not yet eaten that day, so they told the servant to go ahead and follow the flock, and they would catch up with him later. And when he arrived at wherever it was that he was going, he should build a fire and when they saw the smoke they would seek him out.
So the servant packed up his belongings and hurried after the great flock of birds, always keeping it in sight. He ran after it all that morning and into the afternoon, and just before dusk the great flock came to rest in a circle of trees. The young servant also came to that place, and when he arrived there he discovered in the center of that circle a large stone, flat and round, which lay upon the ground. He tried to lift up the stone, but it was much too heavy for him. Then he built a fire, and lay down to await the dawn, when, he hoped, the two princes would catch up with him.
Meanwhile the two princes had laughed when the servant ran off, for they did not have faith in dreams or riddles, and besides, they did not care to continue the quest. Instead they decided to turn back, and perhaps to wait for the servant in an inn near the border where the wilderness began. And if he did not show up in a few days, well, they would return without him.
So it was that the servant waited all the next day, keeping his fire going, hoping that the two princes would soon arrive, so that they could help him lift up that stone. But when dusk came and they still had not arrived, he began to lose hope, and became discouraged. For he had traveled that far, and felt that he might have reached the source of the secret, since it was possible after all that something might be found there, and that it might not turn out to be a dead end but an entrance to an underground palace. And that night the servant dreamed for the third time that the old man came to him and told him a riddle:
Not scattered sparks But magic seeds That take root in the ground Wherever they touch down.
Now when the servant awoke from this dream, he began to consider this riddle at once, for he hoped that it would reveal how to raise the heavy rock. It was then that he noticed how the fire he had built sometimes threw out scattered sparks, and that wherever these landed they took root, and a new plant sprang up in that place. Then the lad built a new fire, right beside the rock, using the same wood as before. And lo and behold, as the fire began to scatter sparks, and these landed around the rock, plants began to sprout up with a great many roots, and these roots burrowed beneath the rock on all sides, and before the fire burned out these roots cast off the heavy rock as if it were a feather.
Then the lad bent down and peered inside, and saw that the rock had covered a deep pit, although he could not see what was at the bottom. But when he listened he thought he could hear distant voices, and he decided that he must descend into that pit, in the hope that he might find the lost queen there.
Then the lad tied one end of a rope around the heavy stone that lay beside the entrance, and lowered himself inside. As he reached the bottom he found himself in a palace chamber, decorated with paintings, illumined with lamps that cast flickering shadows on the walls. The room was empty, and the lad went to look at the paintings.
In the first painting he saw a lovely princess, seated in an elaborately decorated chamber. In the second was the portrait of another princess, even more beautiful than the first. In the third painting there was yet another princess, the most beautiful of all.
And in the fourth he saw the lost queen, whom he had been seeking for so long. And then he knew that he had interpreted each of the riddles correctly, and that they had led him to the right place.
The lad began to search through all the rooms of that enormous underground palace, which extended in every direction.
All of the rooms were empty of people, but filled with objects.
One was filled entirely with golden coins, not in sacks, but piled loose up to the ceiling. Another was filled with silver, also piled in a great heap. But other rooms were not filled with treasures, but with bones, great heaps of them. And when he saw those bones, the boy became afraid, for he knew he was in the presence of something evil, but he did not know what it was.
Now every room that he had come to so far had been open, but then it happened that he came to a door that was locked.
Then he knocked softly at the door and heard a voice say: Who is there? And he replied: The servant of a king, who seeks to set you free. And without further ado, the door opened and the lad found himself face to face with the first princess, whose portrait he had seen in the room he had descended into from above.
She was very glad to see him, and told him that she was a princess who had been wandering in the woods outside the palace when a great whirlwind had suddenly snatched her away and carried her to that place. There she had been forced to marry a terrible giant who was invincible because he had a magic flask of oil, which, when he spread it on his body, made it impossible for anyone to harm him. The lad begged the princess to steal the flask of oil for him, and so she did, hoping that he would save her from her cruel fate. Then the boy spread the oil over his body and hid the flask of oil in a pouch. Suddenly he felt himself grow strong as ten lions. Just then the giant rushed into the room, and when he saw the lad he said: So, you have come to save your queen, have you? You may know that you will never see her, for I am about to kill you and eat you! For I not only collect gold, but also bones, and I want to add yours to my collection! But the boy felt himself bursting with strength, and without hesitating he strode up to the giant, raised his fist, and gave him such a mighty blow that the giant fell dead at his feet.
After this the lad went farther into the underground palace, taking the princess with him, and soon they came to a second locked room. The lad knocked and when the second princess heard it was the servant of a king, she opened the door at once.
There the lad found that this princess was even more beautiful and charming than the first, and looked exactly as she was portrayed in the painting in the room he had reached from above.
The lad asked her how she had gotten there, and she told him that she had been walking in the palace garden when a great bird had swooped out of the sky and carried her off to that terrible place, where she had been forced to marry a giant even more ferocious than the first. This one got his strength from eating the apples of a certain tree that grew near her room. The lad asked her to steal one of the apples for him, and she did so. He ate the apple, and finished it just in time, for all at once the giant confronted him and said: So, you have come to rescue the queen, have you? But you shall not see her, for I shall first eat you, and add your bones to the pile I am collecting, which is already larger than that of my brother! Then the giant noticed the princess, and he said: And how is it that you are here, my pretty princess?
Why are you not with my brother? And the giant reached for the princess, but before he touched her the lad drew back his arm and gave him a mighty blow that left him dead before his body hit the floor.
The boy then traveled farther into the underground palace, taking the two princesses with him. When he reached a third door that was locked, he knocked again, and soon found himself face to face with a third princess, the most beautiful and charming of all, even lovelier than she appeared in her portrait, which he had seen in the first chamber. And when the young man saw that beautiful princess, he fell in love with her at first sight. Then he asked her how she had come to be there, and she told him that she had been sleeping in her bed, when a giant had crept up to the palace and had reached inside and carried her off in the dead of night, so that no one knew that she was missing until the next day, and then it was too late. That terrible giant had forced her to marry him, and no one could save her; he was stronger than any man on earth, for he got his strength from a magic pool inside the palace, in which he bathed every day. The lad asked her to tell him where the pool was, and the princess pointed down the corridor to a large oak door. Then the lad went and bathed in the pool, and when he emerged from it he felt even stronger than he had after he had covered his body with the magic oil and eaten the magic apple. For now the strength of all three magic potions made him feel as if he were a whirlwind of strength. When he was returning to the room of the third princess, the giant saw him, and rushed toward him waving his arms in anger. But before the giant had a chance to do anything, the lad took a mighty swing and killed him with a single blow.
Then the boy went on through the palace, followed closely by the three princesses. At last they came to a very large room that was locked. But when the lad knocked at the door and identified himself, the queen opened it at once, and embraced him, so happy was she that she had been found. Then she grew sad again, and began to weep, and while she wept she told how the giant had created a great storm and in the confusion had carried her off as his prisoner. And now he was forcing her to marry him, although she was already married to the king, and the marriage was planned for the very next day. Then she begged the servant and the other princesses to hide themselves, for he was a terrible monster who would stop at nothing. She said that his strength came from a staff he carried, which gave him enough power to overthrow an entire city. The servant begged her to steal the staff, and later that day, while they were hidden, she managed to take it from him. But no sooner did the boy have the staff in his hand than the giant saw what the queen had done. He rushed at the boy while thunder and lightning rent the air, and the room became filled with smoke. But as the giant was about to grab the staff away from the lad's grasp, the boy raised it and struck a great blow, and the giant collapsed on the floor, dead.
Now when the queen saw this, she was overjoyed. Then she and the lad and the three princesses returned to the entrance, taking with them all the gold that they could carry. They climbed out of the pit, and afterward used the lad's rope to pull up the gold that they had brought with them. Then they followed the lad, who led them through the wilderness, and when they had emerged from it, they decided to take their rest in the inn near the border where the wilderness began. It was there, in that inn, that they found the two princes, who had been drinking day and night since they had left the servant. They were delighted to see the queen, and greatly impressed with the beauty of the princesses.
But most of all they were fascinated to see all the gold, and refused to return to the palace until the servant had shown them where it could be found. So the lad left the queen and the princesses at the inn, and he led the two princes to the underground palace. There he descended with them, and showed them all the treasures to be found there, as well as all of the bones. Then the princes filled their pouches with gold, and climbed out, ahead of the servant. But when they got to the top they hurried and pulled the great rock over the entrance, trapping the servant inside. Then they left him and returned to the inn. There they frightened the queen and the princesses, and made them vow never to tell the king the truth about what had happened, but to say instead that the two clever princes had saved them all.
When they returned to the palace, the king was overjoyed to see the queen, and gave each of the princes great rewards. And when the king asked where the servant was, they said that he had become lost somewhere in the wilderness, for he was a fool and could never find his way anywhere. Soon afterward a wedding was arranged for the two princes and the first two princesses, and a great celebration was planned. It was to be the finest wedding that had ever been seen in that country.
Meanwhile the servant had been trapped in the underground palace, and did not know what to do. Suddenly he remembered the staff of the third giant, and took it in his hand, and as soon as he did so a powerful demon appeared and asked the lad what it was that he wanted him to do. The boy then told him to throw off the heavy rock from the entrance, and this the demon did in the wink of an eye. After this the lad told the demon to carry him to the king's palace, along with all of the gold to be found in that underground palace. This too presented no difficulties to the demon, and in a flash the lad found himself standing outside the gates of the king's palace, and beside him was a pile of gold as tall as the palace itself.
While he was standing there the lad heard the sound of music inside, and he noticed that there were lights in all the windows, and that many people had gathered there. He went inside, and asked the people what was taking place, and they told him that on that day the two princes were to marry the princesses they had saved from the underground palace. This made the lad terribly angry, and he decided to get even with the princes. So he disguised himself as a merchant, and went to that part of the palace where the third princess was living. When the princess heard that a merchant was there, she came out and asked him what he had for sale. He showed her some of the very same treasures that the giant had kept in her room, and when she saw them she grew frightened, and asked where he had gotten them.
With that the lad revealed who he was, and the princess recognized him as the one who had saved her from the giant. Then she ran through the palace until she came to the king, and for the first time revealed the true story of how they all had been saved. The king asked the queen if the story was true, and she confirmed it in every detail, and also told how she and the princesses had been threatened by the two princes not to reveal the truth.
The king grew very angry when he heard of the cowardly and treacherous conduct of his sons, and wasted no time in expelling them from his realm and sent the princesses they were planning to marry back to their own kingdoms. Then he adopted the brave Jewish boy as his own son, and made him the heir to the throne. The lad soon married the third and most beautiful of the princesses, whom he had loved from the first, and they lived happily ever after.