The Griffin

The Griffin

The Griffin

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A king has a sick daughter, who will become healthy again by eating apples. So the king proclaims that whoever brings apples and makes her well will marry her and become king. The three sons of a peasant each take turns bringing apples from their garden. The two oldest sons lie about the contents of their basket to a little man, and whatever they make up is what’s actually in the basket when they arrive at court. The youngest son, named Hans tells the truth to the little man, saying that he has apples to make the princess regain her health, so it comes true. The king regrets promising his daughter to whoever cures her, so first he makes Hans bring him a boat that will travel on land. The father asks the two older sons to help with this task, but again they lie to the little man and again Hans says what he’s intending to happen, so he’s successful. The king sets another condition: Hans must herd one hundred hares without one escaping. The little man gave him a whistle to make all the hares come to him, so he passes that task too. Finally, the king makes him get a feather from the Griffin’s tail. Along the way, Hans takes requests from people he passes for answers that the knowledgeable griffin can provide. Before Hans meets the Griffin, the Griffin’s wife warns him of the danger, and tells Hans to pluck a feather from his tail while he’s sleeping, so he won’t provoke the beast. Hans follows her instructions, and the wife gets the answers to all the folks’ questions to boot. When Hans returns victorious, the king tries to backtrack to get the riches that Hans got for helping people along the way. But he’s drowned by the ferryman Hans had helped, so Hans becomes king next.