Learn a Craft

Whether it happened or not—there once lived a king who had an only son. The king grew old and decided it was time to marry off his son. But the son said:

"Allow me to travel through our kingdom—I will choose my own bride!"

The king replied:

"Go and search!"

The prince set off. He traveled through all the towns and villages, looking and searching, but he couldn’t find a bride. Only in one poor village, on its very outskirts, in the poorest house, did he see a girl of unparalleled beauty. He fell in love with her at first sight. The prince said to her:

"Be my wife!"

The girl asked:

"Tell me, what craft do you know?"

He replied:

"I know none, I am a prince."

"If you don’t know any, that’s your misfortune!" said the girl. "Being a prince is not a craft! Today you are a king, but tomorrow you may not be—then how will you earn your bread? Go and learn a craft—then I will marry you."

The prince grew sad, not knowing which craft he could learn quickly. He returned to his father and told him:

"I have chosen a girl. There is no one better in the whole world. But she refused to marry me. She said I must first learn a craft. I cannot give up on this girl. I cannot look at others. She is the only one I need. Help me learn some craft."

The king summoned all the craftsmen. Carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, masons, and stove-makers came. The king asked the carpenter:

"How long will it take you to teach the prince your craft?"

"Five years," replied the carpenter.

"Oh! In five years, my bride will marry someone else—she won’t wait for me," said the prince.

They asked the others:

"Who can teach the prince their craft the fastest?"

The shoemaker said:

"I can teach him in four years!"

The mason said:

"I can teach him in three years!"

The stove-maker said:

"I can teach him in two years!"

Finally, an old man stepped forward and said:

"I make felt and craft cloaks. I can teach the prince my craft in three days!"

The prince was overjoyed. He went to the felt-maker and in three days learned how to make felt and craft cloaks: long, shaggy ones for riders and short, smooth, seamless ones for pedestrians.

After that, he went to the girl.

"Why have you come again?" asked the girl.

"To propose to you."

"Have you learned a craft?"

"I have. I can make cloaks."

"Well, that craft will come in handy!" said the girl. "Now I will marry you!"

They married and lived happily.

Soon, the old king died, and the prince became king. One day, he decided to see his kingdom: to see how people lived, what made them happy, what grieved them, and what they said about him. He dressed in poor clothes and set off.

He walked and walked until he came to a town, and he grew hungry. He found a tavern, entered, greeted the people, and said:

"Feed me, good people!"

The owners welcomed him kindly and did not refuse—they fed him.

A tavern is a small inn.

But these were cannibal bandits. They led the king to a cellar and opened the door.

"What’s in this cellar?" asked the king.

"See for yourself!" said the bandits and pushed him inside.

The king looked around and saw three other people sitting there.

"Why are you sitting here?" asked the king. "What will they do to you?"

"These cannibal bandits will kill and eat us," replied the prisoners. "And the same fate awaits you."

The king grew frightened, not knowing what to do. The bandits killed the three prisoners. It was the king’s turn. He said to the bandits:

"Don’t kill me! I will make you a cloak so fine that you will get a thousand tomans (a large gold coin) for it! Take it straight to the young queen—she will buy it without haggling."

The bandits were delighted. They brought him wool. The king began crafting the cloak. He made it and adorned it with such patterns that it was a sight to behold. Between the patterns, he embroidered the words:

"I am held captive by cannibal bandits in such-and-such town, in such-and-such house, in the cellar. If you do not come to my aid within two days, they will kill me."

One bandit took the cloak, carried it on his head, and brought it to the city.

He brought it to the queen’s palace and tried to sell it. The queen examined the cloak and read the words embroidered among the patterns. She paid a thousand tomans for the cloak and sent the bandit away. Then she called her warriors and followed the bandit to rescue her husband. The bandit walked, suspecting nothing, while the queen and her warriors followed. They arrived, surrounded the bandits’ house, and made sure no one could escape.

The warriors rushed into the house, captured all the bandits, and killed them. They descended into the cellar, freed the king, and brought him to his wife.

"See!" she said. "If you didn’t know a craft, it wouldn’t have mattered that you are king: they would have slaughtered you like a sheep and eaten you."

"You’re right," replied the king. "I wouldn’t be alive! Only my craft saved me!"

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