the queen of bees

Tale of the Brothers Grimm, translated by Ruth Salles

Once, two sons of a king went out in search of adventures and gave themselves to a life so unruly and dissolute that they didn't even remember to return home. The youngest, who was called Fool, went in search of his brothers; when he finally found them, he only heard mockery, because, being so naive, he thought of winning in life, while they, much smarter, had not been able to.

• Blackboard drawing by teacher Beatriz Retz, from Escola Waldorf Aitiara.

The three set off together and came to an anthill. The two eldest wanted to rummage through it to see the ants run away in a frenzy carrying their own eggs, but the Fool said to them:
– Leave the pets alone, I can't stand you hurting them. So they kept walking and came to a lake where many, many ducks were swimming. The two brothers wanted to get some to bake, but the Fool did not consent and said:
– Leave the animals alone, I can't stand them being killed. Finally, they arrived at a hive, where there was so much honey that was running down the trunk of the tree. The two wanted to light a fire below to suffocate the bees and extract the honey. The Fool stopped him again, saying:
– Leave the pets alone, I can't stand them being burned. After all, the three brothers arrived at a castle.

In the stables there were stone horses, and no one appeared. They went through all the rooms until, at the end, they found a door with three locks. In the middle of the door, however, there was a small hole through which one could peer into the room. Inside they saw a little gray-haired man sitting at a table. They called to him once, twice, but the little man did not hear. When they called him for the third time, he got up, opened the locks, and left. He didn't say a word, but led them to a richly prepared table. The three having eaten and drunk, he led each to his bedchamber. The next morning, the little gray-haired man approached the eldest, beckoned him, and guided him to a sign on which were written three tasks that could disenchant the castle. The first said that in the forest, under the moss, were the pearls of the king's daughter, numbering a thousand, which would have to be gathered; and at sunset, if only one was missing, the person looking for them would turn to stone. The eldest went and searched all day. But as the day came to an end and he had found only a hundred pearls, what was written on the plate happened, and he turned to stone.

The next day, the second brother took over the task, but he did no better than the eldest, for he only found two hundred pearls and was turned into stone. At last it was Fool's turn, who searched the moss; but it was so difficult to find the pearls, and it took so long, that he sat on a rock and wept. Thereupon appeared the king of ants, whose life he had saved. He was accompanied by five thousand ants. It didn't take long, and the animals found all the pearls and piled them there. But the second task was to go and get the key to the king's daughter's room at the bottom of the lake. When the Fool reached the pond, the ducks he had once rescued came swimming up and swooped down and got the key from the bottom.

The third task was the most difficult, for of the three sleeping daughters of a king he had to choose the best. They were, however, completely alike, having nothing to distinguish them from each other, except that they had eaten, before going to sleep, three different sweets: the oldest, a lump of sugar; the second, a little molasses; the youngest, a spoonful of honey. Then came the queen of the bees, whom the Fool had protected from the fire, and she tasted it from the mouths of all three; at last it rested in the mouth of the one who had eaten honey, and so the Fool recognized which was the right king's daughter. With that, the spell broke, everything in the castle awoke from its slumber, and whoever had turned to stone resumed its form. The Fool married the king's youngest and best daughter, and after her father died he was king; his brothers, however, married the other two sisters.