The Riddle

Once upon a time, a prince felt a strong desire to travel the world, so he set off with only his faithful servant. One day they came to a great forest, and as darkness fell, they couldn't find any shelter. They didn't know where to spend the night.

Then the prince saw a girl walking toward a small house. When he got closer, he saw that the girl was young and beautiful. He spoke to her and said, "Dear child, can my servant and I find shelter for the night in that little house?" "Oh yes," said the girl in a sad voice, "you certainly can, but I don't advise you to go in.

Please don't enter." "Why not?" asked the prince. The girl sighed and said, "My stepmother practices wicked magic. She doesn't like strangers." Then the prince understood that he had come to a witch's house, but it was dark and he couldn't go any further, and he wasn't afraid, so he went inside.

The old woman sat in an armchair by the fire and looked at the stranger with her red eyes. "Good evening," she growled, pretending to be friendly. "Sit down and rest." She stirred the fire, where she was cooking something in a small pot.

The daughter warned the two to be careful: they must not eat or drink anything, because the old woman brewed evil drinks. They slept quietly until early morning. When they were getting ready to leave and the prince was already on his horse, the old woman said, "Wait a moment, I'll give you a farewell drink." While she went to fetch it, the prince rode off.

The servant, who had to tighten the saddle, was the only one there when the wicked witch came with the drink. "Take this to your master," she said. But at that moment the glass broke, and the poison splashed onto the horse.

The poison was so strong that the animal dropped dead instantly. The servant ran after his master and told him what had happened, but he didn't want to leave the saddle behind, so he ran back to get it.

When he reached the dead horse, a raven was already sitting on it, eating it. "Who knows if we'll find anything better today?" the servant said. So he killed the raven and took it with him. They journeyed through the forest all day, but couldn't find their way out.

By nightfall they came to an inn and went in. The servant gave the raven to the innkeeper to cook for supper. But they had stumbled into a den of murderers. In the darkness, twelve murderers came, intending to kill the strangers and rob them.

Before setting to work, they sat down to supper, and the innkeeper and the witch sat with them. Together they ate a bowl of soup that had the raven meat cut up in it. Hardly had they taken a few mouthfuls when they all fell down dead.

The raven had passed on the poison from the horse meat. No one else was left in the house except the innkeeper's daughter, who was honest and had not taken part in their evil deeds. She opened all the doors for the stranger and showed him the piled-up treasures.

But the prince said she could keep everything; he wanted none of it. Then he rode on with his servant. After a long journey, they came to a town where there lived a beautiful but proud princess.

She had announced that whoever could give her a riddle she could not guess would become her husband, but if she guessed it, his head would be cut off. She had three days to guess, but she was so clever that she always found the answer before the time was up.

Nine suitors had already died this way when the prince arrived. Blinded by her great beauty, he was willing to risk his life. He went to her and presented his riddle. "What is this?" he said. "One killed none, and yet killed twelve." She didn't know what that meant.

She thought and thought, but couldn't figure it out. She opened her riddle books, but it wasn't there. In short, her wisdom failed her. Not knowing what to do, she ordered her maid to creep into the young man's bedroom at night and listen to his dreams, thinking he might speak in his sleep and reveal the riddle.

But the clever servant had taken his master's place in the bed. When the maid came, he ripped off the cloak she had wrapped herself in and chased her out with a stick. The second night, the princess sent her lady-in-waiting to see if she could have better luck listening.

But the servant also took her cloak away and chased her out with a stick. Now the master thought he was safe on the third night, so he lay down in his own bed. Then the princess herself came. She wore a misty-gray cloak and sat down near him.

When she thought he was asleep and dreaming, she spoke to him, hoping he would answer in his sleep as many do. But he was awake and understood everything. She asked, "One killed none – what is that?" He replied, "A raven that ate a dead, poisoned horse and died from it." She asked further, "And yet killed twelve – what is that?" He answered, "That means twelve murderers who ate the raven and died from it." When she knew the riddle's answer, she wanted to slip away, but he held her cloak so tightly that she had to leave it behind.

The next morning, the princess announced that she had guessed the riddle. She called the twelve judges and explained it to them. But the young man asked to speak and said, "She crept into my room at night and questioned me.

Otherwise she could not have discovered it." The judges said, "Bring us proof of this." Then the servant brought the three cloaks. When the judges saw the misty-gray one that the princess usually wore, they said, "Let this cloak be embroidered with gold and silver, and it will be your wedding cloak."