In a fairy tale, if you want to marry a princess, you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you. You will be asked to demonstrate great strength, wisdom, and the ability to get along with others. Also, patience, long-suffering, and above all else, courage.
This week, we read two stories where the hero is put to the test. One a prince. One a lowly tailor. Both with a shot at marrying a princess if they can pass the test…and the next test…oh, and maybe one more.
In The Two Kings’ Children, the king keeps piling on the work for the prince to complete, and in The Cunning Little Tailor, it is the princess herself who changes the rules of engagement.
Let’s start with The Two Kings’ Children where the king is setting the test:
Test #1: Stay awake all night watching over his daughter from the threshold of the door.
“I have three daughters, thou must keep watch over the eldest for one night, from nine in the evening till six in the morning, and every time the clock strikes, I will come myself and call, and if thou then givest me no answer, to-morrow morning thou shall be put to death, but if thou always givest me an answer, thou shalt have her to wife.”
Apparently, this was hard to do, because the eldest daughter asked a statue to answer for the prince so he wouldn’t be killed.
Since the king received an answer every time he called, the prince passed the test. Or did he? The test was repeated with the other two daughters, who also used talking statues to help the prince out.
Test #2: Cut down a forest in one day…using glass tools…and then the king would think about letting him marry one of his daughters.
The next morning the King said, “Thou hast indeed watched well, but I cannot give thee my daughter now; I have a great forest, if thou cuttest it down for me between six o’clock this morning and six at night, I will think about it.” Then he gave him a glass axe, a glass wedge, and a glass mallet.
Test #3: Clear out the fish pond and restock it by six o’clock…using glass tools
“I have a great fish-pond,” said the King. “Thou must go to it to-morrow morning and clear it of all mud until it is as bright as a mirror, and fill it with every kind of fish.” The next morning the King gave him a glass shovel and said, “The fish-pond must be done by six o’clock.”
Test #4: Clear the land and build a castle by six o’clock…using glass tools
The King said he had a great mountain on which there was nothing but briars which must all be cut down, and at the top of it the youth must build up a great castle, which must be as strong as could be conceived, and all the furniture and fittings belonging to a castle must be inside it. And when he arose next morning the King gave him a glass axe and a glass gimlet with him, and he was to have all done by six o’clock.
The prince in this story would have failed if not for the king’s clever daughters, in particular the youngest one who seems to have taken a liking to the prince. The eldest two decline to bring him food during his forestry challenge, but she goes, comforts him in his distress over the enormity of the challenge, and uses her magic handkerchief to summon the “earth workers” to complete the task. But notice the change in the prince during this last task…he has fallen in love with the youngest princess:
Then he was quite miserable, and waited for his dearest to see if she would not come and help him in his need.
All’s well that ends well. Eventually. (This is an epic tale!)
The king won’t let them get married until the eldest two daughters get married first. So the couple runs away and the the story continues for quite some time with the now-in-love prince and princess on the run and hiding.
In another story we read this week, The Cunning Little Tailor, a proud princess comes up with a riddle and promises to marry the man who can solve it. Perhaps she values cleverness above all else to find a husband? Or at least, she thinks she does.
Then said the princess, “I have two kinds of hair on my head, of what color is it?”
In the end, when the lowliest tailor comes up with the correct answer, she quickly changes her mind about the marriage deal
“Thou hast not won me yet by that; there is still something else that thou must do. Below, in the stable is a bear with which thou shalt pass the night, and when I get up in the morning if thou art still alive, thou shalt marry me.”
Apparently, she really thought no man would ever solve her riddle. So, she wasn’t really looking to get married…just out to have some fun? It’s unclear.
But, this is a fairy tale and the clever tailor figures out a way to trick the talking bear. Once he escapes, the princess agrees to marry him. The end of the story reveals the tailor living with her as happy as a woodlark, but no mention of her feelings on the marriage.
For similar discussions, read Palace Intrigue, The Princess as Reward, and Royal Dishonesty.
