The Tale of the Clever Shepherd Boy

Once upon a time, there was a king who had a daughter who could not speak. She was already over twenty years old, but she had never uttered a single word. The king had promised to give her in marriage to whoever could make her speak. Noblemen from all corners of the land gathered at his court and tried to make the girl speak, but in vain.

One day, a lady was walking through the forest and came across a shepherd boy tending a herd of oxen and cows. She greeted the boy:

"Hello, dear! Have you heard any news around here?"

"Oh, madam, what could I have heard? I spend all day in the woods tending my cattle. I see no one and hear no news!"

"Ah, so you haven't heard any news? Don't you know that the king's daughter has never spoken a word in her life?"

"Of course, madam, I've heard about that often."

"Well then, you must go there. You should see her; perhaps you can make her speak."

"What are you saying, madam? How could I? Even the noblemen, who are far more learned than I, have failed to make her speak! No, it's impossible!"

"Never mind! You must go."

"Oh, madam! I can't leave my herd!"

"Don't worry, you can go, and your cattle won't budge. Not a single cow will stray. Here, take this parrot and this stick. Whatever your stick touches will not escape you."

So, the young man decided to go. He set off with his stick and parrot. When he had gone far, far away, night fell. It was completely dark. He finally found an inn and asked for a room for himself and his parrot. They were given a room.

The parrot was so beautiful and amused the maid so much that she wanted to take it for herself. "At night," she thought, "the boy must be fast asleep." So, she went to his room to take the parrot. But as soon as she touched the parrot:

"Stick, strike! Whoever touches it will be caught!"

And the maid stuck to the parrot. She was caught with her hands reaching out for the parrot.

In the morning, the servant got up, looked for the maid, called and called—no one answered. The maid was nowhere to be found! No one knew where she had gone. He decided to check the shepherd boy's room and found the maid with her hands stuck to the parrot.

"Shameless girl, what are you doing here? And with this young man! Is this your place? Why did you come here?"

She was completely naked—she hadn't had time to dress, so eager was she to steal the parrot. The servant decided to give her a beating.

"Stick, strike! Whoever touches it will be caught!"

And so, they both were caught—the servant's hand stuck to the maid's backside.

By then, the innkeeper had gotten up. Neither the servant nor the maid was to be found. He called for them everywhere. No one could be found! He decided to go to the shepherd boy's room and found both servants at the boy's bedside.

"What are you doing here, you rascals? I've been looking for you for so long! What are you up to in this young man's room?"

And he gave the servant a kick.

"Stick, strike! Whoever touches it will be caught!"

And so, the innkeeper was caught—his foot stuck to the servant's backside.

Then the innkeeper's wife got up, called for her husband, and looked for him everywhere. He was nowhere to be seen. She decided to go to the shepherd boy's room and saw that everyone was stuck to the boy's parrot.

"What are you all doing here? What mischief are you up to? I've been looking for you for so long, and not a single one of you is to be found!"

She grabbed her husband by the hand and pulled him.

"Stick, strike! Whoever touches it will be caught!"

And so, the wife was caught—she stuck to her husband.

But it was getting late. The boy got up and set off to reach the king's court. On the way, he passed by a small house. Two women lived there. One was sweeping the yard, and the other was making cheese.

The woman sweeping the yard ran up with her broom and said:

"What is this? What are these rascals doing running around naked? This is outrageous!"

And she ran with her broom, swinging it.

And so, the woman with the broom was caught and cried for help! Her companion ran after her, even forgetting to put the cheese down. She grabbed her companion by the sleeve.

"Stick, strike! Whoever touches it will be caught!"

The woman with the cheese in her hand stuck to her companion, and the shepherd boy continued on his way with this entire entourage.

He arrived at the king's court. He asked the gatekeeper if the king's daughter, who could not speak, lived there. They replied that she did and that, no matter how hard they tried and what they did, they could not make her speak.

The shepherd boy asked to be let into the king's court. No sooner had he entered than the king's daughter appeared at the window.

"Oh, my God," she said, "this is hilarious! I've never seen anything funnier!"

And she began to speak as if she had been talking all her life! Everyone came out—the noblemen and courtiers, and people gathered from all around to marvel.

"Well, Your Majesty, remember your promise to give your daughter in marriage to whoever made her speak!"

All the noblemen exchanged glances:

"Oh, Your Majesty, surely you won't give your daughter to some wretched shepherd boy?"
But before the king would give his daughter to the shepherd boy, he demanded one more thing from him—he ordered him to guard a hundred rabbits in his royal park, ensuring that not a single one escaped.

The boy was at a loss. He decided to take a short walk and encountered the same lady again.

"Well, boy, it seems you've made the king's daughter speak? That means you'll get to marry her."

"Yes, madam! But now the king demands something else from me: he has a hundred rabbits, and he wants me to guard them in the royal park."

"Well, that's not so hard, my boy! Here's a whistle for you, and every time your rabbits start to scatter in different directions, just blow it, and they'll all come back, don't worry."

So, the shepherd boy returned to the king and said, "Release your rabbits!" And the rabbits began to scatter in all directions, hopping wildly. He led them to the park.

Meanwhile, the noblemen began to conspire among themselves:

"We must get at least one rabbit from him, so that by evening he won't bring them all back."

Then the knight, who had been most eager to win the king's daughter, said:

"I'll go to him myself and buy a rabbit from him."

So, he went to find the boy, approached him, and said:

"Ah, boy, what beautiful rabbits you have! Sell me one, will you?"

"What are you saying, sir! I don't sell them; they're not for sale."

"Why not sell one?"

"I won't sell it to you. But if you really want a rabbit, you can earn it."

"How can I earn it?"

"Sir, if you agree to let me poke you three times in the backside with an awl, you'll get one of my rabbits."

"Oh, boy, you wouldn't want to poke me three times with an awl! Oh, surely you wouldn't!"

"Well, then, sir, you won't get a rabbit."

So, the knight agreed to let the boy poke him three times with the awl. But when the shepherd poked him the first time, only halfway in, the knight cried out:

"Ow-ow-ow!"

The second time, the awl went in deeper.

"Ow-ow-ow! You scoundrel! It hurts!"

The third time, the shepherd drove the awl in up to the handle, and the knight screamed and fell to the ground.

"You scoundrel! I'm dying, ow-ow-ow!" After a minute, the pain subsided.

"Well, my dear, give me the rabbit, I've honestly earned it!"

The shepherd caught a rabbit, and the knight tucked it under his arm.

The knight walked away, beaming, and though the rabbit had cost him dearly, he thought to himself:

"Well, now it's clear that tonight the shepherd will be one rabbit short."

But when he had gone quite a distance, a whistle sounded, and the rabbit slipped from his hands and returned to the herd.

The knight came back completely bewildered, muttering:

"I was already bringing the rabbit here, but suddenly it slipped away and ran off!"

"Ah," said the princess, "it slipped away from you! Goodness! Well, I'll go there myself."

And she put on an apron made of rough canvas.

"From here, it won't escape!"

So, she went to the park to find the little shepherd, and when she saw him, she called out:

"Hello, boy!"

"Hello, Princess!"

"My, what beautiful rabbits you have, boy!"

"What can I say, Princess!"

"Won't you sell me one?"

"Oh no, Princess, I don't sell them, but they can be earned!"

"How can they be earned?"

"If you agree to let me kiss you three times here in the park, you'll get one of my rabbits."
— Oh, you rascal, do you want to kiss me? You?

— Well then, princess! If you don’t want to, you won’t get my rabbits.

And so the princess allowed herself to be kissed three times, just to get at least one rabbit.

The shepherd caught a rabbit and handed it to her; she placed it in her apron and held it tightly. Oh, she was sure she was holding it firmly and squeezed it harder and harder in her apron!

When she was already far away, a whistle sounded. The rabbit tore through the apron and returned to its flock.

And so our princess was fooled, just like the knight before her. She returned completely bewildered and kept saying:

— But I held it so tightly! Look, it tore my apron!

Then her father, the king, saw this and shouted:

— What a disaster! My God, you can’t even hold onto a rabbit! A rabbit! I’ll go after it myself on my horse. I’ll tie it so tightly to the saddle that it won’t even think of running away.

And the king galloped to the park to the shepherd, catching up with him:

— Well, hello there, boy!

— Hello, Your Majesty!

— My, what beautiful rabbits you have! Such rabbits! Won’t you sell me one?

— Oh no, Your Majesty, I don’t sell them, but you can earn one.

— How can I earn one?

— Your Majesty, if you deign to kiss your horse under its tail three times, you’ll get one of my rabbits.

— Oh, you rascal! You want me to kiss my horse under its tail three times? Oh, you scoundrel!

— Well then, Your Majesty! You won’t get a rabbit!

And so His Majesty the king decided to kiss his horse under its tail three times.

Then the shepherd caught a rabbit and gave it to the king, who tied it to his saddle, twisted and turned it, and squeezed it so hard that the rabbit’s guts nearly came out. And he said, mounting his horse:

— This one won’t escape me!

When he had ridden far away, the shepherd whistled on his whistle! The rabbit tore through the straps, broke free, and returned to its flock.

And His Majesty the king returned to his palace beside himself with frustration:

— Oh, it ran away from me too! It tore through all the straps, broke free, and fled. No matter, it won’t last the evening: its guts were already coming out.

And so evening came, and the little shepherd drove his rabbits back. When he appeared before the king, the courtiers began to count and recount the rabbits, checking if they were all there. And the rabbits were all present and accounted for, not a single one missing!

The courtiers began to exchange glances.

— Oh, Your Majesty, surely you won’t give your daughter to some wretched little shepherd? It can’t be! You can’t possibly agree to this. Demand first that he fill three sacks with truth to the brim.

What could be done? The shepherd was very puzzled by this order. He went for a walk and met that very lady.

— How are things, boy? I suppose you’ve driven all the rabbits home?

— Oh yes, ma’am!

— Well, is the king giving you his daughter now?

— Oh no, ma’am! He wants me to first fill three sacks with truth to the brim.

— Well then, my boy, you can do that. It’s not hard. Just ask for three sacks, and there’ll be enough truth to fill all three to the brim.

Then the shepherd appeared before the king and his courtiers.

— Well then? Will you undertake to fill three sacks with truth to the brim?

— Yes, Your Majesty, give me three sacks!

He asked for three sacks, three plain sacks. He placed two beside him and held the third open.

— Look here, this gentleman came to me in the park to buy one of my rabbits. I told him I don’t sell them, but they can be earned. And he allowed me to poke him three times with a needle in the rear, just to get one of my rabbits. Get into my sack—there, one is already full.

Look here, this is the princess; she came to me in the park to buy one of my rabbits. And I told her I don’t sell them, but they can be earned. And she allowed me to kiss her three times in the park, just to get one of my rabbits. Get into the sack—there, two are full!

Then the shepherd looked at His Majesty the king.

— And here is His Majesty the king; he came to me in the park to buy one of my rabbits. And I told him I don’t sell them, but they can be earned. He kissed...

— Oh, hush! You’ll get the princess. Be quiet, be quiet! You’ll have her.

And so the shepherd took the king’s daughter as his wife.

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The Tale of the Clever Shepherd Boy

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