134 The Six Servants

In former times there lived an aged Queen who was a sorceress, and her
daughter was the most beautiful maiden under the sun. The old woman,
however, had no other thought than how to lure mankind to destruction,
and when a wooer appeared, she said that whosoever wished to have her
daughter, must first perform a task, or die. Many had been dazzled by
the daughter’s beauty, and had actually risked this, but they never
could accomplish what the old woman enjoined them to do, and then no
mercy was shown; they had to kneel down, and their heads were struck
off. A certain King’s son who had also heard of the maiden’s beauty,
said to his father, “Let me go there, I want to demand her in
marriage.” “Never,” answered the King; “if you were to go, it would be
going to your death.” On this the son lay down and was sick unto death,
and for seven years he lay there, and no physician could heal him. When
the father perceived that all hope was over, with a heavy heart he said
to him, “Go thither, and try your luck, for I know no other means of
curing you.” When the son heard that, he rose from his bed and was well
again, and joyfully set out on his way. And it came to pass that as he was riding across a heath, he saw from
afar something like a great heap of hay lying on the ground, and when
he drew nearer, he could see that it was the stomach of a man, who had
laid himself down there, but the stomach looked like a small mountain. When the fat man saw the traveller, he stood up and said, “If you are
in need of any one, take me into your service.” The prince answered,
“What can I do with such a great big man?” “Oh,” said the Stout One,
“this is nothing, when I stretch myself out well, I am three thousand
times fatter.” “If that’s the case,” said the prince, “I can make use
of thee, come with me.” So the Stout One followed the prince, and after
a while they found another man who was lying on the ground with his ear
laid to the turf. “What art thou doing there?” asked the King’s son. “I
am listening,” replied the man. “What art thou listening to so
attentively?” “I am listening to what is just going on in the world,
for nothing escapes my ears; I even hear the grass growing.” “Tell me,”
said the prince, “what thou hearest at the court of the old Queen who
has the beautiful daughter.” Then he answered, “I hear the whizzing of
the sword that is striking off a wooer’s head.” The King’s son said, “I
can make use of thee, come with me.” They went onwards, and then saw a
pair of feet lying and part of a pair of legs, but could not see the
rest of the body. When they had walked on for a great distance, they
came to the body, and at last to the head also. “Why,” said the prince,
“what a tall rascal thou art!” “Oh,” replied the Tall One, “that is
nothing at all yet; when I really stretch out my limbs, I am three
thousand times as tall, and taller than the highest mountain on earth. I will gladly enter your service, if you will take me.” “Come with me,”
said the prince, “I can make use of thee.” They went onwards and found
a man sitting by the road who had bound up his eyes. The prince said to
him, “Hast thou weak eyes, that thou canst not look at the light?”
“No,” replied the man, “but I must not remove the bandage, for
whatsoever I look at with my eyes, splits to pieces, my glance is so
powerful. If you can use that, I shall be glad to serve you.” “Come
with me,” replied the King’s son, “I can make use of thee.” They
journeyed onwards and found a man who was lying in the hot sunshine,
trembling and shivering all over his body, so that not a limb was
still. “How canst thou shiver when the sun is shining so warm?” said
the King’s son. “Alack,” replied the man, “I am of quite a different
nature. The hotter it is, the colder I am, and the frost pierces
through all my bones; and the colder it is, the hotter I am. In the
midst of ice, I cannot endure the heat, nor in the midst of fire, the
cold.” “Thou art a strange fellow,” said the prince, “but if thou wilt
enter my service, follow me.” They travelled onwards, and saw a man
standing who made a long neck and looked about him, and could see over
all the mountains. “What art thou looking at so eagerly?” said the
King’s son. The man replied, “I have such sharp eyes that I can see
into every forest and field, and hill and valley, all over the world.”
The prince said, “Come with me if thou wilt, for I am still in want of
such an one.”

And now the King’s son and his six servants came to the town where the
aged Queen dwelt. He did not tell her who he was, but said, “If you
will give me your beautiful daughter, I will perform any task you set
me.” The sorceress was delighted to get such a handsome youth as this
into her net, and said, “I will set thee three tasks, and if thou art
able to perform them all, thou shalt be husband and master of my
daughter.” “What is the first to be?” “Thou shalt fetch me my ring
which I have dropped into the Red Sea.” So the King’s son went home to
his servants and said, “The first task is not easy. A ring is to be got
out of the Red Sea. Come, find some way of doing it.” Then the man with
the sharp sight said, “I will see where it is lying,” and looked down
into the water and said, “It is sticking there, on a pointed stone.”
The Tall One carried them thither, and said, “I would soon get it out,
if I could only see it.” “Oh, is that all!” cried the Stout One, and
lay down and put his mouth to the water, on which all the waves fell
into it just as if it had been a whirlpool, and he drank up the whole
sea till it was as dry as a meadow. The Tall One stooped down a little,
and brought out the ring with his hand. Then the King’s son rejoiced
when he had the ring, and took it to the old Queen. She was astonished,
and said, “Yes, it is the right ring. Thou hast safely performed the
first task, but now comes the second. Dost thou see the meadow in front
of my palace? Three hundred fat oxen are feeding there, and these must
thou eat, skin, hair, bones, horns and all, and down below in my cellar
lie three hundred casks of wine, and these thou must drink up as well,
and if one hair of the oxen, or one little drop of the wine is left,
thy life will be forfeited to me.” “May I invite no guests to this
repast?” inquired the prince, “no dinner is good without some company.”
The old woman laughed maliciously, and replied, “Thou mayst invite one
for the sake of companionship, but no more.”

The King’s son went to his servants and said to the Stout One, “Thou
shalt be my guest to-day, and shalt eat thy fill.” Hereupon the Stout
One stretched himself out and ate the three hundred oxen without
leaving one single hair, and then he asked if he was to have nothing
but his breakfast. He drank the wine straight from the casks without
feeling any need of a glass, and he licked the last drop from his
finger-nails. When the meal was over, the prince went to the old woman,
and told her that the second task also was performed.