Once upon a time, a poor family had a son who was very handsome.
Since he was born under a good omen, it was said everywhere that he would one day marry a princess.
When this news reached the king, he was furious. How could his precious daughter marry a poor child?
So he went to the family and offered to buy the child.
Although the family was initially unwilling, they agreed when the king offered a large sum of money.
The king placed the child in a wooden box and threw the box into a river, thinking he would no longer have to worry about his daughter marrying a poor man.
However, the box did not sink; it floated down the river and was discovered by a couple from a mill.
They had no children and were delighted to adopt the child, raising him with great care.
Years later, the child grew into a handsome young man.
One day, the king happened to pass by the mill.
Somehow, he had a premonition that this handsome young man was the same child he had thrown into the river.
He inquired with the mill couple and confirmed his suspicion.
The king was very angry.
But he kept his composure and gave the young man a letter, saying, “Deliver this letter to the queen at the palace, and she will reward you handsomely.”
In reality, the letter instructed the queen to have the messenger killed immediately.
Unaware of the king’s scheme, the young man set off for the palace.
On the way, he grew tired and entered a house to rest, not realizing it was a den of robbers.
When the robbers returned and discovered him, they initially intended to kill him.
However, upon reading the letter in his bundle, they changed their minds because they had a grudge against the king and wanted to use this opportunity for revenge.
They took the letter and replaced it with a new one that read: “Queen, immediately arrange for the princess to marry this messenger!”
The young man took the letter to the palace, and the queen, upon reading it, arranged a grand wedding for him and the princess.
The princess was thrilled to marry such a handsome man, and the young man was delighted to marry such a beautiful princess.
The king, upon returning to the palace and discovering that his daughter had married the young man, was furious and almost fell ill.
After investigating, he realized the letter had been switched by robbers.
Determined to resolve the matter, he told the young man, “If you wish to stay with the princess forever, you must go to hell and obtain the devil’s three golden hairs! Otherwise, leave the princess immediately!”
Surprisingly, the young man agreed to retrieve the devil’s golden hairs.
He set off and, on the way, passed through two cities where the guards asked him two questions:
“There is a magical fountain in the city that used to spout wine, but why has it suddenly stopped?”
“There is a magical apple tree in the city that used to bear golden apples, but why has it suddenly stopped?”
They said, “Only the devil can answer these questions. If you can get the answers from him, we will let you pass.”
The young man agreed.
He then crossed a river where the ferryman, having heard he was going to find the devil, asked, “I row here day and night and am exhausted. How can I find someone to replace me? Only the devil can answer this question. If you get the answer from him, I will take you across the river.”
The young man agreed.
Finally, he arrived in hell.
But the devil was not home; only his grandmother was there.
The grandmother, touched by the young man’s risk-taking for his wife, said, “I can help you. I will handle the three golden hairs and the three questions!”
She turned the young man into a tiny ant to avoid detection.
However, when the devil returned, he sensed something unusual and said, “I smell someone!”
The grandmother quickly made excuses and served him wine and food.
After the devil had eaten and drunk his fill, he fell asleep in his grandmother’s lap.
The grandmother took this opportunity to pluck the first golden hair.
The devil woke up, exclaiming, “Grandmother, what are you doing?”
The grandmother replied, “Oh, I had a nightmare and grabbed your hair. In my dream, a city had a magical fountain that used to spout wine, but now it has stopped. Do you know why?”
“Of course! It’s because a toad is sitting on a large stone under the fountain. Kill it, and the wine will start flowing again.”
With that, the devil fell asleep again.
The grandmother seized the chance to pluck the second golden hair.
The devil woke up in pain.
The grandmother said, “Oh, sorry! I had another nightmare and grabbed your hair. I dreamed that a kingdom had a magical apple tree that bore golden apples, but now it has suddenly stopped. Do you know why?”
“Of course! It’s because a mouse is hiding under the tree and gnawing at the roots. Kill it, and the golden apples will start growing again.”
The devil fell asleep once more. The grandmother took the opportunity to pluck the third golden hair.
The devil woke up in pain again.
The grandmother said, “Oh, I’m sorry! I had another nightmare. I dreamed that a ferryman was complaining about rowing endlessly with no one to replace him. Do you know what to do?”
“Of course! If someone crosses the river, give him the oar, and he will replace him, rowing continuously.”
Thus, the grandmother helped the young man obtain the devil’s three golden hairs and the answers to the three questions.
The young man thanked her and returned home.
On his way back, he told the answers to the guards and the ferryman.
In gratitude, they gave him a lot of gold.
When the young man returned to the palace, the king was astonished.
Upon learning the truth, he thought, “This fool didn’t even take more gold.”
Determined to get the gold himself, he went to the riverbank.
However, as soon as he arrived, the ferryman handed him the oars and ran away.
To this day, the king is said to still be ferrying people, perhaps as penance.
👉 Very Short Story
A poor family’s child was born with various auspicious signs, and word spread that this child would marry a princess in the future.
When the king heard this, he was furious: “How could my beloved daughter marry a pauper?”
So he disguised himself as a commoner and went to the poor family, offering to buy the child.
Initially, the family refused, but they agreed after the king offered a large sum of money.
The king then placed the child in a wooden box and threw it into the river, thinking, “Now, I won’t have to worry about my daughter marrying a pauper!”
However, the box floated downriver and was discovered by a couple who, having no children of their own, happily adopted the boy and raised him with care.
Years passed, and the boy grew into a handsome young man.
One day, the king was passing by and spotted him. Somehow, his intuition told him that this was the very child he had thrown into the river years ago, and a sense of dread came over him.
After some questioning, his suspicion was confirmed.
Fuming with anger, though he kept a calm appearance, the king wrote a letter, handed it to the young man, and said, “Take this letter to the palace. The queen will reward you handsomely.”
In reality, the letter instructed the queen: “Kill the messenger of this letter immediately!”
Unaware of the king’s plot, the young man bid farewell to his adoptive parents and set off for the palace.
On the way, he encountered a group of bandits. The bandits initially intended to kill him but changed their minds after reading the letter.
The bandits switched the letter, writing a new one that read: “Queen, immediately marry the bearer of this letter to the princess!” They then released the young man.
As it turned out, these bandits held a grudge against the king and saw this as an opportunity to get revenge.
When the young man arrived at the palace, the queen read the letter and promptly arranged a grand wedding, marrying him to the princess.
The young man was handsome, the princess was beautiful, and they genuinely liked each other.
When the king returned to the palace, he found not only that the young man was alive but that he had married his daughter, making the king so angry he nearly fainted.
After some investigation, he realized this was the work of the bandits.
Unwilling to let the matter rest, he told the young man, “Unless you bring me three golden hairs from the devil, you must leave the princess at once!”
The king thought to himself: if the young man accepted, he would surely perish—pulling hairs from the devil’s head was like provoking a tiger.
To his surprise, the young man agreed, driven by his love for the princess.
After overcoming countless obstacles, the young man finally reached the devil’s home, only to find that the devil was away, with only his grandmother there.
Moved by the young man’s courage and his sincere love for the princess, the grandmother decided to help him.
She managed to obtain three golden hairs from the devil and gave the young man a great deal of gold as well.
When the king saw that not only had the young man returned unharmed, but he also brought back the devil’s golden hairs and so much gold, his greed led him to make the journey to the devil’s home himself.
He was never heard from again; perhaps he got lost, or maybe he met a darker fate.
In time, the young man inherited the throne, and he and the princess lived happily ever after.
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