The story of three feathers:
Once upon a time, there was a king who had three sons. The eldest and the second are clever, and the third is silent. Both big brother and second brother call him "fool". The king felt old and wanted to pass the throne to his son, but he didn't know who to pass it to.
One day, the king had a good idea, so he called his three sons to him and said to them, "I want to pass the throne to one of you." I will pass the throne to whoever can bring me back the most exquisite carpet. "Say that finish, the king took out three feathers, blew them into the air, and then said," The direction the feathers fly is the direction you want to go. Go, children! " "
I saw one feather flying east, one flying west, the third flying forward and soon falling to the ground. The king's two clever sons, one followed the feather to the east, and the other followed the feather to the west. As they walked, they laughed at the third son who could only stay next to the third feather.
The third child sat on the ground and looked at the feather, feeling infinitely sad. Suddenly, a curtain door appeared beside the feather. The third child was surprised to open the curtain door and found a small house inside. He went up to him and knocked on the door, and there came a touching song:
"Qingqing Shantou walked slowly, taking the puppy around to see who was knocking at the door."
The third child waited for a while, the door opened, and a big toad was sitting upright in the middle of the house, surrounded by a group of little toads. Toads like their third child very much. The toad asked the third child, "What do you want?" The third said, "I want the best carpet in the world."
At this moment, a little toad sang again:
"Qingqing Shantou walked slowly with the puppy and soon brought the box."
After a while, a little toad moved to a big box. The big toad opened the box and took out a beautifully made carpet from it, which is almost impossible for human beings to have. Old three came out happily with a carpet.
The two brothers of Lao San thought that Lao San must have found nothing, so they didn't want to bother to find a beautiful carpet, so they asked the old shepherd woman for a thick felt to put on them and came back.
The king was surprised to see the carpets brought back by his three sons, but he said fairly, "According to the rules I just set, the third one is the future king." But the old three's two brothers disagreed and insisted that the king re-set the rules and re-compete. The king was entangled with them and had to agree. The requirement this time is to find the most beautiful ring.
Like last time, the king took out three feathers and blew them into the air. One of the three feathers flew east, one flew west, and the third one flew straight ahead and soon fell to the ground. The eldest brother and the second brother laughed at the youngest brother while following the feathers.
This time, the third child didn't squat down beside the feather and worry. He opened the curtain door and went to toad's house. He told the toad that he wanted the most beautiful ring in the world. The big toad called the little toad, took out a unique gem ring from the big box and gave it to the third child. The third child thanked him and came out. The other two sons of the king still thought that the third one would get nothing, so they found an old tire, knocked a rivet on it and gave it to the king as a ring.
The king is not confused. He saw the rings handed over by his three sons and announced loudly, "The third one is the future king." However, the eldest and the second still don't agree with the third to inherit the throne. The king had to promise them to try again. He said, "whoever can bring back the most beautiful woman will be the future king." He blew his feathers into the air for the third time, and they pointed in the same direction as the previous two times.
The third time, the third child came to toad's house and said to the big toad, "I want the most beautiful woman in the world."
"Beautiful woman? This can be a bit troublesome. " "But it's not difficult," said the big toad. It will be fine in the future. " After that, the big toad took out a hollowed-out radish, caught six little mice and put them on the radish.
"But what's the use?" The third child said doubtfully.
"All you need is a little toad." When the big toad finished speaking, he asked the third child to catch a little toad from his side and put it in the radish. A miracle happened! Toad became a noble princess, radish became a carriage, and mouse became a horse. The third child kissed the princess happily and went back to the palace with her.
The king's two eldest sons also came back soon, along with their bride. Because I didn't want to spend much effort to find it, I only brought back two ordinary-looking peasant girls.
After seeing the bride brought back by his three sons, the king announced loudly, "The third one is the future king." But Big Brother and Second Brother still disagreed, and they asked for another game. They said, "This time, whoever brings the bride back can jump over the iron ring in the middle of the hall and inherit the throne." The king turned a deaf ear to their noise and had to agree to their proposal.
The eldest brother and the second thought, "The peasant woman works a lot and is strong, so she is sure to jump over. The princess brought back by that fool is too weak to pass. " However, the result of the game was unexpected. Two peasant women are very heavy. One has a broken arm and the other has a broken leg. It was the third bride's turn, only to see the little toad turn into a princess and easily jump over the hoop. This time, everyone present had nothing to say. The third child succeeded to the throne and became king.
About the author:
Jacques Bugrin (1785- 1863) and william green (1786- 1859) are both German folk literature collectors. Born into an official family, they all studied law at Marburg University, worked in the Gexi Library and served as professors at Yengen University. 184 1, became an academician of the Academy of Green Sciences. Together, they compiled children's and family fairy tales (the last edition was published in 1857, with 2 16 stories). Among them, Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and Brave Little Tailor have become masterpieces loved by children all over the world. In addition, since 1808, the Brothers Grimm began to collect German folklore and published two volumes of German Legends, with a total of 585 articles. They also wrote German Grammar (18 19- 1837), German Language History (1848) and German Dictionary (1852), which contributed to the development of Germanic linguistics.