How the Shepherd Outsmarted the Princess
The king had a daughter of unparalleled beauty and extraordinary intelligence. Many suitors came to ask for her hand in marriage, but none could match the wit of the beautiful princess. So, the king proclaimed throughout the lands that he would give his daughter in marriage to the one who could pose her three riddles she could not solve.Yet, even in other kingdoms and states, no worthy suitor could be found.
A shepherd from the Carpathian Mountains heard about the extraordinary princess.
"What kind of wonder lives in the royal palace? What if I outsmart her and take her as my wife?!" the shepherd said to his friends.
With these words, the shepherd mounted his horse and rode to the palace. Along the way, he grew thirsty. He stopped by a well, scooped water with his hat, and drank. While he was drinking, his horse ate the bread from his bag.
"That's one riddle!" thought the shepherd, and he rode on.
In a dark forest, he lost his way. He began to examine the trees, looking for moss to determine the direction and find his path. Once he found it, he thought:
"That's the second riddle!"
And he rode on. He really wanted to find a third riddle in the forest. Then he saw a hunter aiming at a hare.
"That's the third riddle!" the young man rejoiced.
Many days and nights passed before the shepherd finally reached the royal palace.
"I have come, good king, to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage!"
"My daughter?" the king was surprised. "Many have wanted her as their wife, but none had the wit to match hers!"
"But I will win her!"
The king liked the young man and ordered the royal gates to be opened for the shepherd. He was brought to the princess. She didn't even look at the shepherd. She said:
"I am listening to your riddles!"
"First riddle: the bread ate the horse."
No matter how much the princess pondered, she could not solve it.
"I don't know!" she said.
"The bread ate the horse, my princess, like this: I had a horse, earned through years of hard work. Once, it ate bread from my bag, but the bread was poisoned. And so, my poor horse died—thus, the bread ate it."
The princess listened to the tale and said it could have happened.
"That's a good riddle. I would never have guessed it."
"Second riddle: the deaf and blind show the way." The princess thought and thought but could not solve it.
"I can't solve this one either."
"It's the trees, princess," the shepherd replied. "In the forest, we use trees to tell where north and south are."
Again, the princess agreed that the riddle was clever.
"What is the third riddle?" she asked.
"There is a third: the meat ran away, but the iron stayed in place."
No matter how much the clever princess racked her brains, she could not solve the third riddle.
"I can't solve this one either," the girl admitted.
"A hunter shot at a hare," the young man said. "The hare ran away, but the hunter with his gun stayed in place."
Whether the king wanted to or not, he gave his daughter in marriage to the simple shepherd from the Carpathian Mountains, who proved wiser than the king's own sons.
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