151 The Three Sluggards

A certain King had three sons who were all equally dear to him, and he
did not know which of them to appoint as his successor after his own
death. When the time came when he was about to die, he summoned them to
his bedside and said, “Dear children, I have been thinking of something
which I will declare unto you; whichsoever of you is the laziest shall
have the kingdom.” The eldest said, “Then, father, the kingdom is mine,
for I am so idle that if I lie down to rest, and a drop falls in my
eye, I will not open it that I may sleep.” The second said; “Father,
the kingdom belongs to me, for I am so idle that when I am sitting by
the fire warming myself, I would rather let my heel be burnt off than
draw back my leg.” The third said, “Father, the kingdom is mine, for I
am so idle that if I were going to be hanged, and had the rope already
round my neck, and any one put a sharp knife into my hand with which I
might cut the rope, I would rather let myself be hanged than raise my
hand to the rope.” When the father heard that, he said, “Thou hast
carried it the farthest, and shalt be King.”



151* The Twelve Idle Servants

Twelve servants who had done nothing all the day would not exert
themselves at night either, but laid themselves on the grass and
boasted of their idleness. The first said, “What is your laziness to
me, I have to concern myself about mine own? The care of my body is my
principal work, I eat not a little and drink still more. When I have
had four meals, I fast a short time until I feel hunger again, and that
suits me best. To rise betimes is not for me; when it is getting near
mid-day, I already seek out a resting-place for myself. If the master
call, I do exactly as if I had not heard him, and if he call for the
second time, I wait awhile before I get up, and go to him very slowly. In this way life is endurable.”

The second said, “I have a horse to look after, but I leave the bit in
his mouth, and if I do not want to do it, I give him no food, and I say
he has had it already. I, however, lay myself in the oat-chest and
sleep for four hours. After this I stretch out one foot and move it a
couple of times over the horse’s body, and then he is combed and
cleaned. Who is going to make a great business of that? Nevertheless
service is too toilsome for me.”

The third said, “Why plague oneself with work? Nothing comes of it! I
laid myself in the sun, and fell asleep. It began to rain a little, but
why should I get up? I let it rain on in God’s name. At last came a
splashing shower, so heavy indeed, that it pulled the hair out of my
head and washed it away, and I got a hole in the skull; I put a plaster
on it, and then it was all right. I have already had several injuries
of that kind.”

The fourth said, “If I am to undertake a piece of work, I first loiter
about for an hour that I may save up my strength. After that I begin
quite slowly, and ask if no one is there who could help me. Then I let
him do the chief of the work, and in reality only look on; but that
also is still too much for me.”

The fifth said, “What does that matter? Just think, I am to take away
the manure from the horse’s stable, and load the cart with it. I let it
go on slowly, and if I have taken anything on the fork, I only
half-raise it up, and then I rest just a quarter of an hour until I
quite throw it in. It is enough and to spare if I take out a cartful in
the day. I have no fancy for killing myself with work.”

The sixth said, “Shame on ye; I am afraid of no work, but I lie down
for three weeks, and never once take my clothes off. What is the use of
buckling your shoes on? For aught I care they may fall off my feet, it
is no matter. If I am going up some steps, I drag one foot slowly after
the other on to the first step, and then I count the rest of them that
I may know where I must rest.”

The seventh said, “That will not do with me; my master looks after my
work, only he is not at home the whole day. But I neglect nothing, I
run as fast as it is possible to do when one crawls. If I am to get on,
four sturdy men must push me with all their might. I came where six men
were lying sleeping on a bed beside each other. I lay down by them and
slept too. There was no wakening me again, and when they wanted to have
me home, they had to carry me.” The eighth said, “I see plainly that I
am the only active fellow; if a stone lie before me, I do not give
myself the trouble to raise my legs and step over it. I lay myself down
on the ground, and if I am wet and covered with mud and dirt, I stay
lying until the sun has dried me again. At the very most, I only turn
myself so that it can shine on me.” The ninth said, “That is the right
way! To-day the bread was before me, but I was too idle to take it, and
nearly died of hunger! Moreover a jug stood by it, but it was so big
and heavy that I did not like to lift it up, and preferred bearing
thirst. Just to turn myself round was too much for me, I remained lying
like a log the whole day.” The tenth said, “Laziness has brought
misfortune on me, a broken leg and swollen calf. Three of us were lying
in the road, and I had my legs stretched out. Some one came with a
cart, and the wheels went over me. I might indeed have drawn my legs
back, but I did not hear the cart coming, for the midges were humming
about my ears, and creeping in at my nose and out again at my mouth;
who can take the trouble to drive the vermin away?”

The eleventh said, “I gave up my place yesterday. I had no fancy for
carrying the heavy books to my master any longer or fetching them away
again. There was no end of it all day long. But to tell the truth, he
gave me my dismissal, and would not keep me any longer, for his
clothes, which I had left lying in the dust, were all moth-eaten, and I
am very glad of it.”

The twelfth said, “To-day I had to drive the cart into the country, and
made myself a bed of straw on it, and had a good sleep. The reins
slipped out of my hand, and when I awoke, the horse had nearly torn
itself loose, the harness was gone, the strap which fastened the horse
to the shafts was gone, and so were the collar, the bridle and bit. Some one had come by, who had carried all off. Besides this, the cart
had got into a quagmire and stuck fast. I left it standing, and
stretched myself on the straw again. At last the master came himself,
and pushed the cart out, and if he had not come I should not be lying
here but there, and sleeping in full tranquillity.”



152 The Shepherd Boy

There was once on a time a shepherd boy whose fame spread far and wide
because of the wise answers which he gave to every question. The King
of the country heard of it likewise, but did not believe it, and sent
for the boy.