Three Heads in the Well

Long before the time of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, there ruled in East Anglia a king who lived with his court in Colchester.

At the height of his glory, his wife, the queen, passed away. She left him with an only daughter, about fifteen years old, so beautiful and kind that everyone marveled at her. But then the king heard of a very wealthy lady—a widow with an only daughter—and decided to marry her, even though this lady was an ugly, hunchbacked old woman with a hooked nose. And her daughter turned out to be a sallow-faced, ill-tempered, and envious girl—in short, cut from the same cloth as her mother.

Nevertheless, a few weeks later, the king, accompanied by all the nobility, brought his ugly bride to the palace, where they were wed.

No sooner had the new queen settled into the palace than she turned the king against his beautiful daughter with her deceitful slander. The young princess saw that her father no longer loved her and decided she could no longer stay at court. One day, she met her father in the garden and, with tears in her eyes, begged him to let her go—she said she wanted to seek her fortune.

The king agreed and ordered his wife to give the princess whatever she wished for her journey. The princess went to the queen, who gave her a loaf of black bread, a piece of stale cheese in a canvas bag, and a bottle of beer. It was a pitiful dowry for a king's daughter, but the princess took what she was given, thanked them, and set off on her journey.

She walked through groves, forests, and valleys until she finally saw an old man sitting on a stone at the entrance to a cave. The old man said to her:

"Good day, beauty! Where are you hurrying to?"

"I am seeking my fortune, father," replied the princess.

"And what do you have in your bag and bottle?"

"In my bag, I have bread and cheese, and in the bottle, some delicious mild wine. Would you like to try some?"

"With great pleasure!" replied the old man. The girl laid out all the food and invited the old man to partake. The old man ate, thanked her, and said:

"You will come across a thick hedge of thorny bushes. It will be hard to pass through. But take this twig in your hand, wave it three times, and say, 'Hedge, hedge, let me through,' and it will part at once. You will go further and see a well. Sit on its edge. Then three golden heads will rise to the surface and speak to you, and you must do everything they ask."

The princess promised to do as he said and bid the old man farewell. Soon she came to the hedge, waved the twig three times, and the hedge parted, letting her through. Then the princess approached the well, but before she could sit on its edge, a golden head rose and sang:

"Wash me, comb me,
And lay me on the shore,
So I may dry wondrously,
And to those who pass by,
So I may appear beautiful."

"Very well," replied the princess.

She took the head onto her lap, combed its hair with a silver comb, and then placed it on the yellow sand.

Then a second head rose, followed by a third, and both asked for the same as the first. The princess fulfilled all their requests, then took out her provisions and began to eat.

Meanwhile, the heads conferred:

"What shall we give this girl for her kindness?" And the first head said:

"I will make her so beautiful that the most powerful prince on earth will fall in love with her."

The second said:

"And I will grant her a voice so tender that not even the nightingale's song can compare."

The third said:

"My gift will be no less. She is a king's daughter, and I will make her the wife of the greatest ruler in the world. That is how I will make her happy."

Finally, the princess lowered the heads back into the well and continued on her way. Soon she met a young king who was hunting in the park with his retinue. The princess tried to hide, but the king noticed her, approached, and when he saw how beautiful she was and heard her tender voice, he fell passionately in love with her and immediately begged her to become his wife.

The groom learned that she was the daughter of the king of Colchester, and as soon as they were married, he decided to visit his father-in-law. The young couple arrived in a chariot adorned with gold and jewels.

The old king was amazed when he learned of his daughter's good fortune, and the young king told him everything that had happened. The entire court rejoiced at the princess's happiness, but the evil queen and her knock-kneed daughter nearly burst with envy.

Feasts, merriment, and dancing lasted for many days. Finally, the young couple returned home, taking with them the dowry that the father had given to his own daughter.

Then the ugly princess thought to herself that if her sister had been so fortunate when she went out to seek her fortune, then she too might be lucky. So she announced to her mother that she would go out to seek her fortune, and they prepared her for the journey. They sewed her fine clothes, gave her sugar, almonds, and sweets for the road, and she also took with her a large bottle of malaga wine. She set off with her provisions along the same path her sister had taken.

She approached the cave, and the old man asked her:

"Where are you hurrying to, girl?"

"What business is it of yours?" she replied.

"Well, what do you have in your bag and bottle?" he asked.

"I have something, but it's not for the likes of you," she answered.

"Won't you give me a little?" the old man asked.

"Not a crumb, not a sip—may you choke on it!" The old man frowned and said:

"A bitter fate awaits you."

The princess trudged on and soon came to the hedge. She noticed a gap in the hedge and decided to squeeze through. But it was not so easy: the bushes closed in, and the thorns pierced her body. She barely made it through the thicket. The thorns scratched her until she bled, and she began to look for water to wash herself. She looked around and saw a well. As soon as she sat on the edge of the well, a golden head rose and began to plead:

"Wash me, comb me,
And lay me on the shore..."

But before it could finish, the wicked princess struck it with her bottle and said:

"Here's your washing!"

Then a second head rose, followed by a third, but the princess treated them no better. And so the heads held a council to decide what misfortunes to inflict upon the wicked princess.

The first head said:

"Let her face be struck with leprosy!"

The second said:

"Let her voice become as raspy as a corncrake's!"

The third said:

"Let her marry a poor village cobbler!"

And so it was.

The princess continued on her way and finally arrived in some town. It was market day, and the streets were crowded with people. But as soon as they saw the princess's hideous face and heard her raspy voice, they all fled; only a poor village cobbler remained.

Not long before, he had repaired the shoes of an old hermit. The hermit had no money, so instead of payment, he gave the cobbler a jar of ointment for leprosy and a vial of tincture for a raspy voice. The cobbler took pity on the girl, approached her, and asked who she was.

"I am the stepdaughter of the king of Colchester," replied the princess.

"Ah, is that so?" said the cobbler. "Well, if I cure you—make your face and voice as they were—will you take me as your husband?"

"Of course!" she replied. "With joy."

And so the cobbler cured the princess with his remedies in a few weeks. Then they were married and went to the castle in Colchester.

When the queen learned that her daughter had married some poor cobbler, she became so enraged that she hanged herself in anger. The old king was glad to be rid of her so quickly and, in his joy, gave the cobbler a hundred pounds, on the condition that the couple leave his court immediately and go somewhere far away, into the wilderness.

And so they lived for many years: the cobbler mended boots, and his wife spun thread for him.

↑ To the top

Three Heads in the Well

More fairy tales