本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived an evil queen whose mighty power no one dared oppose. She was a wicked sorceress who loved to torture and torment. More so was how she could snare men to ruin. The queen had a beautiful daughter. She was so wonderful that men adored her and the sun himself loved and wondered at her radiance. Many dazzled men came to ask the girl for her hand in marriage. When very often a suitor appeared, the old lady would say no unless they performed a task. These tasks were often grueling and very near impossible to accomplish.

So therefore, many men tried but always without success to accomplish drinking the valley's river or cutting down 300 forests. Then, failing the task, they were forced to kneel down in front of the old sorceress and have his head cut off.

Oh how she loved this. In her palace, amongst her precious jewels and fine silk robes, she would laugh. High pitched and cold. When every time when a man entered the castle door. She got the greatest delight of knowing the torture she was to bestow upon him. Even after many years, not a single man could win the beautiful princess.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

Far away, a young prince heard of the girl and wanted her for his own. ''Father, I beg you, let me go to the palace and win her.'' "No son, never .If you are to go, you will go to certain death.''

So the youth took to his bed and became sick for three years. No doctor could do him the least good and his father was very upset. Finally, seeing that there was no hope in him getting better anymore, the father allowed him to go to the beautiful girl.

''Go if you like and try your luck. I don’t know what else to do anymore.''

So the prince got up in happy sprits and seemed to be completely well again. He got his mare and rode towards the castle of the girl. While riding in the forest, he saw something like a great hill. When he came closer, it proved to be a large man lying on the ground. When he saw the prince, he got up quickly and said, “If you want anyone as a servant, than please, take me.”

''What am I to do with such a large servant?'' asked the prince.

''It doesn’t matter as long as I serve you well.'' replied the large man. ''I can make myself fatter if you like.'' he added.

''Very well then. You may be of some use.’’

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛So the two went along their way and walked for some time. It was a hot summers morning and the prince began to get very thirsty. So, spotting a small creek near by, he walked over and began to drink. The large man also bent down and started to drink from the river. In one great gulp, he drank all the water. All that was left was a line of dry land. The prince was amazed and became very happy that he came upon such a special servant.

While they walked, they saw a frail man shivering on the ground. It was a very hot day and the prince found it very strange that anyone would be shivering.

“Why do you shiver so?’’ asked the prince. “It’s such a hot day.’’

“Because I am very cold.’’ replied the man. “You see, I am different from other people. When it is hot I become cold and when it is cold I become very hot. So in the midst of a burning fire, I become blue with cold and on a cold day I am very hot and sweat pours from my body.’’
“I see.” said the prince.

“Are you in need of a servant?’’ the shivering man asked. ‘’I can be very helpful.’’

“Yes you may come with us.” replied the prince. You may be of some use.’’更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

So the large, fat man and the shivering man walked along the prince towards the castle of the princess. On their way, they saw the strangest thing. It was a pair of feet. The prince and the two servants followed the feet until they came upon a pair of legs. But the rest of the body was invisible. After walking for a while, the body and arms were seen, then the neck and finally the head.

“ My gosh! How long you are.’’ exclaimed the prince.

“Yes.’’ Replied the man. “If I where to stretch myself out properly, I am a thousand times longer. Taller than the highest mountain, longer than the widest plains. I am looking for employment. Take me and I will serve you well.’’

“Fine.’’ replied the king’s son. “You may be of some use.’’

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛After walking out of the forest, the prince and his three servants came to a small village where they stayed to rest the afternoon. Upon sitting down, the prince saw a strange little man with his head on the grass.

“ What are you doing with your head upon the grass?’’ he asked.

“Why I am listening,” he replied. “ to all that is going on in the world. I can hear the grass grow, the wind blowing miles away. Even the stars at night as they twinkle in song. In fact, I heard the conversation you had with your father about winning the princess and how these are your servants who will be accompanying you to help.’’

“My, you are indeed an interesting fellow; I would be very glad if you were to come with us.’’

The listening man agreed and they went off with the horseman on their journey. After leaving the village, they walked through a mountain area where they saw a man sitting on the ground. His eyes were blindfolded.
The prince asked, “Why do you wear a blindfold? Can you not see?’’
The man sitting on the ground said that he indeed, could see.

“ You see,’’ said the man sitting on the ground “my vision is so sharp that if I were to look at anything with my bare eyes, they will shatter into a million pieces.’’

“You will be useful to me in winning the princess.’’ said the prince. “Please, come along with us.’’更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛So the blindfolded man followed the prince along with the four other servants. They climbed over a hill and saw what appeared to be a head on top of the mountain. The head was gazing far away into the distance and didn’t notice the six people. After the prince walked over to the other side of the mountain, the head turned out to be attached to a very long, slender neck. Then a normal sized body beneath the neck.
“ My, how long his neck is!’’ exclaimed the prince to his five servants.
“ Excuse me sir!’’ shouted the prince. (He had to shout for the head was so far up) ‘’Why is your neck so long?’’

The man gazing over the mountain turned around and looked down at them.
“Why, because I have such good vision of course!” The man sat down so that they could see him clearer. This was, indeed no help at all for the head of the man still appeared to be a small speck up in the sky.

“I can see everything and anything I wish to see. I have such keen eyes that I can see over forests miles away, any town, village anywhere on the planet. Even to the end of the world! This long neck is my aid to seeing far because then I can look over high objects that are in my way.’’

“Come with me and be my servant, it would not do at all to pass by such a marvelous gift.’’更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛The seeing man agreed and said he would be very glad to come along.
So the prince and his six amazing servants arrived at the town where evil sorceress and the beautiful princess lived. They went to an inn where they spent the night and rested for the task they were to perform the next day.

Early the next morning, the prince entered the castle and was brought to the Queen at once. The Queen was delighted at yet another valiant man falling onto her devilish trap.

“ I will give you a three part task,” she said, “upon completing it, you shall have my daughter’s hand in marriage.”

“Fine.’’ said the prince. “ What is the first task?”

The Queen smiled her wicked smile. This man seemed so innocent and brave. Such a shame this is to suffer for nothing. In the end, you like all the others will have your head chopped off.
“ There is a ring, it’s gold with a large ruby on it. I have dropped it in the Red Sea.’’ the sorceress said. “Retrieve it for me.’’

So the prince left the castle and went to his servants. “The first task is a difficult one. There is a ring in the bottom of the Red Sea. I must fetch it for the Queen. How must this be accomplished?”

The man with the slender neck and the very keen eyes said that he is able to see it.
“Yes, it’s hanging on a very sharp rock at the bottom of the sea. You, lanky one, two or three steps can get you there.”

“ If only I could see it”, the very long man said.

“ Is that all!” exclaimed the large, fat man. And with that, he bent down to the Red Sea and drank all of the water in a few great gulps. It was as dry as a desert. Then the long, lanky man bent down to get the ring and in a few seconds, he came back with it, gold, ruby and all.

The prince was delighted. He took the ring and brought it back to the castle. The old lady was very surprised.
“Yes, that’s the right ring.” she said. “You have completed the first part of your task.”更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛The Queen was astounded and amazed. This man has gone further than anyone has before him. Still, she didn’t worry. It only meant that he’d suffer more to that awful end. She smiled wickedly.

“The second part of your task is this: ” she said to the prince. “See those oxen outside the gates?”

The prince nodded.

“ There are 300 of them. You are required to consume them all, every part of them. Including their horns, hoofs and hair. After which you must go to the castle cellar; there are 500 jugs of wine there. You must drink all of it, every single drop. If you don’t, then I shall have you killed.

“May I bring a guest with me to the feast?” asked the prince.

“No meal is very appealing without company.”

The old Queen laughed. “You may bring only one person.’’

The prince went back to the inn and said to the fat man, “Come along with me, you will have a filling meal for once. The large man happily followed the prince to the 300 oxen. He unbuckled his belt and ate all of the oxen in a few minutes; he was three hundred times larger than he was before. He then patted his stomach and said, “I sure am thirsty.” At which the prince took him to the castle cellar and the mountainous man drank all of the wine to the very last drop. He smiled at the very filling meal he had had and burped appreciatively.

The prince was delighted. He showed the old Queen the empty gates where the large man had eaten the oxen and the cellar where there was not a single drop of wine in the any of the 500 jugs. The Queen was stunned. How could he have done this? “This man seems to be able to do greater wonders than I,” she thought. But still, she didn’t worry. He shall never complete the last task and will have his head cut off.
“You have completed the second task. Here is your third and last: Tonight I will bring my daughter to your room. She is to stay there until midnight. I will come at that time to see that you are still awake and she remains there. But be warned, if the princess has vanished then you shall be killed.”更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛The prince left the castle and went back to the inn where his servants were waiting.

“The third task seems easy enough.” he said. And the six servants were told of what the old Queen said.
“One cannot be too careful.” said the shivering man. “This task seems only too easy; there must be a trap.”

So, that night, the prince went to the castle and took the princess back to the inn. Taking caution of the old witch’s words, the prince’s chamber door was guarded by the great and outsized man. No one could escape the room. The prince sat on the bed with the princess around his arms while the long, lanky one wrapped himself in a circle around the two of them. He was on the floor. They sat there, the prince gazing into her eyes. She didn’t say a word but the prince didn’t care. He was so happy. The princess was so beautiful and the moonlight shone onto her face. They remained there until eleven o’clock at which the sorceress cast a spell and everyone fell asleep. Then she appeared in the room and sent the princess far away.

At a quarter to twelve, the spell’s power faded and they slowly woke up.
“Oh misfortune!” cried the prince. “I have lost her.” And at that, the prince called for his other servants and told them the dilemma. “What shall we do?” Immediately the man with the keen hearing one told everyone to be quiet while he listened intently.
After a moments silence, the man said, “She is within a rock that is so thick and strong that even the heaviest of hammers cannot crack it.

You,” he turned to the blindfolded man, “ you can smash it into atoms with your eyes.” The blindfolded man nodded.

The man with the keen eyes and long neck looked into the distance. “She is within 300 hundred hours journey from here.”

“I shall go.” said the lanky one. “ Two or three strides will get me there but you must come with me and the blindfolded man.”

The long necked one nodded in agreement and the three of them left with the long one carrying them on his shoulders. The keen eyed man directed the lanky one and in mere moments they got to the big rock. The blindfolded man removed his blindfold and looked at the rock. Immediately his sharp vision pierced it into a million pieces and the lanky one brought the princess back to the inn. The prince was delighted!更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛At twelve o’clock the old Queen walked towards the inn. She was pleased; there wasn’t anything this prince could do to save his life now. It was impossible. She smiled wickedly as she opened to door of the prince’s room. Astonishment overwhelmed her. There was the prince and her daughter. She was frightened and muttered, “Here’s a man who’s able to do greater wonders than I.”

Reluctantly the Queen said, “ You have completed the third and last task. You now have my daughter’s hand in marriage.” At which the old witch managed to whisper into the girl’s ear:
“ Shame on you to obey the commands of crude people; not to choose your bridegroom from your own free will.”

The maiden’s proud and spirited soul rose in anger and she planned revenge. The next day, the princess ordered that 100 logs were to be set on fire. She then told the prince that although he had completed the three tasks, she would not marry him unless he sent someone from his group into the burning fire. She imagined that none of his party would go into the fire for his master’s sake and so he, out of love for her would go in himself. Thus getting rid of him.

The prince went to his six servants and told them what the maiden had said.
“This will be simple enough.” the fat man had said. “All we have to do is send the shivering man into the flames.”

The man agreed to this and bravely walked into the burning logs. The flame rose to the sky and was as high as a large hill. The fire burned for three days until it subsided and then died down. The shivering man walked out blue and shivering violently like a leaf.

“Such a chill, the iciness of it all. If I had stayed in that frost a day longer, I might have froze to death!” he exclaimed.

The prince thanked the shivering man and went to the princess and told her the news. The beautiful maiden had no other choice; she was obliged to marry the prince. They set a time and date for the wedding and invited a large number of guests. They were to get married in the village’s church and then return to the prince’s kingdom. The old Queen heard of this news immediately and was outraged. This man would not have her daughter.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛On the day of the wedding, the Queen ordered a large number of her soldiers to the church to kidnap the princess and bring her back to the castle. The man with the good hearing pricked up his ears and heard the commands the old Queen gave to the officers. He informed the prince at once and when the army arrived, they were ready. The large man had come up with a plan and it was to release a part of the Red Sea that he had swallowed. It was only a small portion of the large sea in his belly but it was indeed enough to drown the whole army and wash them away. When the old sorceress heard of this, she quickly sent large reinforcements to the church. But all it took was for the sharp-eyed man to remove his bandage and look at them for the armed soldiers to smash into minuscule pieces.

No one interrupted the wedding ceremony after that and when it had ended, the six servants waited for the prince at the church door.

“All your wishes have been satisfied.” They said to their master. “You will have no need of assistance from us anymore. We will therefore, leave and travel on to seek our wealth.” And they left.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛The prince took his new wife on his mare and rode for half and hour until they reached a small village.

“Do you know what I really am?” he asked his wife. “I am not really a prince at all. But a simple swine heard who tends to his pigs.”

And with that, he took her to a small house where an old man was feeding the pigs. “That is my father.” said the prince. He took her inside the house where there were only three rooms. Two bedrooms and a living room, all of which were very small. The prince then gave her coarse clothing to replace her royal garments.

“Every day you must feed and care for the pigs and do housework.” said the prince.

And so the maiden did as she was told and believed that her husband was truly a swine heard. She felt that this was what she deserved for being so arrogant. And so she worked hard and long everyday tending to the pigs. By the end of the tenth day she was exhausted; her feet were sore, she was hungry and tired and her back ached. She wondered if she could take anymore of this. In the morning, a few people visited her house. They asked if she knew what her husband really was.

“Of course I know; he is a swine heard.” she had answered them. They then took her to the castle and brought her to the prince. He was dressed in elegant clothes and she almost didn’t recognize him.

“My dear wife, I am a prince and this is my castle. I have suffered a lot for you and now you have suffered some for me.”

And she truly loved him. Her rags were taken away and she changed into her royal garments. The wedding feast was grand and elegant. The prince and the princess soon became King and Queen and they lived happily ever after.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net