The Lad and the Flying Chest

Once upon a time, there lived two young men, a weaver and a carpenter, and they both courted the same girl. They visited her often, and one day she said to them:

"I can't marry both of you," she said, and then turned to the carpenter: "You must make me a chest that can fly through the air." Then she turned to the weaver: "And you must weave me a shirt that is seamless."

After she said this, they both left.

The weaver went home and pondered how to make such a shirt. He remembered how the Jews made seamless stockings and fashioned a wooden frame to weave the shirt.

Meanwhile, the carpenter built the chest as requested, and a blacksmith reinforced it with iron. If someone climbed inside and turned a handle, it would fly through the air. Both men brought their gifts to the girl, and she was very pleased. She examined the seamless shirt and agreed to marry the weaver. Then she looked at the chest, unsure if it could really fly.

The weaver said to the carpenter, "Why don’t you get in?"

But the carpenter replied, "No, you get in!"

Neither of them wanted to climb into the chest. But the weaver, being foolish, got inside, turned the handle, and rose a mile into the air. He never returned to the girl. And so, after he flew away, the carpenter married her.

The weaver flew for a whole week and eventually landed on a haystack. When evening came, he saw a city glowing two miles away. He turned the handle again and flew toward the lights. He approached a window and knocked. It turned out to be a palace where a king lived. The king had a beautiful daughter, so beautiful that he had to take her to the third floor every night to keep her safe, fearing she might cause trouble.

The weaver knocked on the window, and the princess asked, "Who’s there?"

"It’s me, Saint Peter," he said. "God has sent me to bring you comfort."

He talked with her for a while, then flew away. The next evening, he returned, and she had prepared food and drink for him. After eating, he asked if her father would allow him to marry her. They talked, and then he flew away again.

The next morning, her father asked, "Why are you so cheerful? Did someone visit you last night?"

She replied, "Saint Peter comes to me and asks if you will allow me to marry him."

Her father said, "How can I let you marry him when you’re already betrothed to the son of the neighboring king? If I let you marry him, he’ll declare war on me. Ask him, when he comes again, if he can offer advice and help if we marry. That king is stronger than I am."

When Saint Peter returned that night, she told him everything. He said, "Very well, I will advise and help."

And so, the king allowed her to marry Peter. When the neighboring king found out she had married someone else, he immediately declared war.

Both kings prepared for battle, but the neighboring king was stronger and had a larger army. The weaker king asked his son-in-law, "Well, son-in-law, what should we do?"

"Don’t worry," Peter said. "Go out to battle." Meanwhile, Peter stayed at home, heated large cauldrons of oil and boiling water, and flew out to attack the enemy. As he poured the hot oil and water from above, the enemy king realized, "It must be true that this is Saint Peter, punishing us from heaven."

They made peace, and the war ended. But soon, the stronger king thought, "Why should I yield to such a fool?" and declared war again.

The father asked his son-in-law, "Well, son, what should we do now?"

Peter replied, "Go out to battle again. I’ll help you." They went to war, and Peter filled the chest with burning coals and flew out to attack the enemy. As he rained fire from above, the enemy had no choice but to make peace. They said, "It’s true, this must be Saint Peter!" And the war ended once more.

Six months passed, and the stronger king said, "I won’t yield to such a fool," and wrote that he would wage war again.

When Peter heard this, he was deeply troubled. After the last war, a large piece of coal had remained in the chest, and the wings he used to fly had burned. When the two kings went to battle again, Peter ordered a horse without a saddle or bridle to be brought to him. He mounted the horse and had his legs tied beneath its belly. He rode out into the field, thinking the horse would kill him, as he had no way to defend himself in this third war. The horse galloped across the field, and Peter hoped to reach the forest. He thought, "When the horse runs past a tree, I’ll grab it with my hands. Since my legs are tied, the horse will tear me apart."

But the horse galloped straight toward the battle and didn’t run toward the forest. As it raced across the field, Peter saw an old crucifix by the road. As the horse sped past, Peter grabbed the crucifix, thinking it would be his death. But the base of the crucifix was rotten and broke off, and Peter charged into the enemy army with it. He swung the crucifix, smashing the enemy with the cross in one direction and the base in the other. He rode through the enemy ranks several times and killed more than half of their army.

The enemy realized things were going badly and had to make peace, as they no longer had enough soldiers to fight. The king said, "This is a sign that my son-in-law truly is Saint Peter. I started three wars with him, hoping to win, but I couldn’t, because he punished me from heaven."

And so, the poor man remained the king’s son-in-law. And that’s the end of the story.

↑ To the top

The Lad and the Flying Chest

More fairy tales