A Boat for Land and Water

Once a king issued this decree:

The man who builds a boat That glides o'er land and water Will surely wed my daughter.

Now in that country was a father with three sons, and all he had to his name were a horse, a donkey, and a piglet. When the oldest son heard the decree, he said to his father, "Papa, sell the horse and with the proceeds buy me tools for building boats, and I'll build a boat that glides over land and water and wed the king's daughter."

He kept after his father, who finally gave in for the sake of a little peace and sold the horse and bought the tools. The son rose bright and early and went off to the woods with the tools to cut the timber for the boat.

He was already halfway through building the boat, when a little old man came walking by. "What are you working on there, my lad?"

"Just what I please."

"And what pleases you, may I ask?"

"Barrel staves," replied the boy.

"You shall find barrel staves all cut out for you," said the old man and left him.

The next morning upon returning to the woods where he had left the boat half built, together with the timber and tools, the young man found only a pile of barrel staves. He went home crying as though his heart would break and told his father what had happened. You can just imagine the bad mood that put the man in, who had sold his horse to humor the boy whose neck he now could have wrung!

Less than a month later the middle son was itching to try his luck building such a boat. He went to work on his father and kept begging and pleading until the man finally had to sell his donkey and buy him the proper tools. The lad took them to the woods right away and cut his timber. He had the boat half finished, when the old man showed up asking, "What are you making, my lad?"

"I'm making what I please."

"And what pleases you, may I ask?"

"Broom handles!"

"You shall find broom handles all cut out for you!" said the old man and turned away.

The boy went home that night, dined, slept, and at dawn returned to the woods. His experience was exactly like his brother's: there lay only a pile of broom handles.

When he too came home heartbroken, his father shouted; "It serves you right! It serves you both right for having such foolish ideas! And it serves me right, too, for ever listening to you! "

At that point, the youngest son, who had been listening, spoke up; "We've gone this far, so we might as well go the rest of the way. Papa, I want to try too. Let's sell the piglet, replace the tools, and who knows but what I might succeed where they failed."

In short, the piglet was sold and the youngest son went off to the woods with the tools. He was already halfway through building the boat, when the same old man showed up. "My lad, what are you doing?"

"I'm building a boat to glide over land and water."

"You shall find a boat all built and ready to glide over land and water," said the old man and left him.

That night the boy went home, dined, slept, and at dawn returned to the woods. There stood the boat finished down to the smallest detail, with the sails unfurled. He went aboard and commanded, "Boat, glide over land," and the boat moved through the woods as smoothly as if it had been on water and came out before his house; his father and brothers were too amazed for words.

Then the boy repeated his command, "Boat, glide over land," and headed for the king's palace, skimming over mountains, plains and, naturally, any rivers that had to be crossed along the way.

He now had the boat but no crew. He came to a river fed by a creek, but water from the creek was not reaching the river, since just above the mouth of the river a huge man was kneeling on the bank drinking the creek dry.

"Good heavens, what a gullet!" exclaimed the boy. "How about coming along to the king's palace with me?"

The huge man took one mote gulp, gurgled, and said, "Gladly, now that my thirst is somewhat quenched." Then he came aboard.

The boat sped over water and over land and came to where a huge man was turning a hefty buffalo on a spit.

"Hello!" called the boy from the boat. "Would you like to come to the king's palace with me?"

"Gladly," he answered. "Just give me time to eat this morsel here."

"By all means."

At that, the man popped the buffalo off the spit and into his mouth as if it were a roasted thrush. Then he came aboard and they moved onward.

The boat skimmed lakes and fields and came to another huge man leaning against a mountain.

"Hello!" called the captain of the boat. "Would you like to come along to the king's palace with me?"

"I can't move."

"Why can't you?"

"Because if I don't lean against the mountain, it will fall down."

"Let it fall."

The man moved away, holding the mountain up with one hand, and jumped into the boat. The boat had no sooner sailed off than a boom and a rumble were heard, and the mountain came crashing down.

Gliding over roads and hills, the boat finally drew up before the king's palace. The boy disembarked and said, "Sacred Crown, with my own two hands I built this boat to go over land and water. Please keep your promise now and give me your daughter in marriage."

The king, who wasn't expecting this, was dismayed and regretted his decree. Now he would have to give his daughter to some pauper he'd never laid eyes on.

"I'll give you my daughter," replied the king, "on condition you and your crew eat every mouthful of the banquet I shall offer you, without leaving so much as one chicken wing or raisin on your plates."

"Very well. When is this banquet to take place?"

"Tomorrow." And he ordered a banquet of one thousand dishes, thinking, This ragamuffin certainly won't have a crew capable of putting away a spread like that.

The captain of the boat showed up with only one member of the crew, the man who ate buffaloes like roast birds. He ate and ate, chewing ten dishes one after the other, then swallowing a hundred whole, and on and on until he'd polished off one thousand. The king, who looked on speechless, snapped out of his amazement to ask the servants, "Is there anything left in the kitchen?"

"There're still a few leftovers."

The leftovers were brought in, and the man ate everything down to the last crumb.

"Of course you'll marry my daughter, but first I want to offer your crew all the wine in my cellar, which you must drink to the last drop."

The drinker of rivers came in and drained a cask, then a barrel, then a demijohn. He even got his hands on the two flasks of malmsey the king had set aside for himself and emptied those with all the rest.

"Understand," said the king, "I'm not in the least opposed to giving you my daughter. But there's the matter of the dowry that comes with her: dresser, cupboards, bed, washstand, linen, treasure chests, and everything else in the house. You must take it all away in one trip, immediately, with my daughter seated on top of the load."

"Do you feel like a little work?" said the boy to the man who held up mountains.

"Do I! " he replied. "That's my weakness! "

They went up to the palace, and the boy said to the movers, "Are you ready? You can begin loading things onto his back."

They brought out wardrobes, tables, and trunks of jewels and piled them on the big man's back all the way up to the roof. To get on top of the pile, the king's daughter had to climb to the tower of the palace and step off from there. Once she was on, the huge man called out, "Hold on tight, princess." He ran all the way to the boat with everything and jumped aboard.

"Now fly, my boat," commanded the boy, and the boat sped through the streets and town squares out across the fields.

Looking from his balcony, the king shouted, "After them! Seize them and bring them back in chains! "

The army charged after them, but was checked by the cloud of dust the boat stirred up.

The boy's father was overjoyed to see his youngest son return with a whole boatload of treasure and the king's daughter in a wedding dress. The boy had the most beautiful palace in the world built, gave one floor of it to his father and brothers, one to each of his companions, and kept all the rest for himself and his bride, the king's daughter.