2923. Barter © Bruce Goodman 3 December 2023

This is the fourth of a week’s retelling of traditional folk tales. Hopefully the stories are not well-known ones. They will be told in my own words, so some details perhaps might be changed a bit here and there. My favourite type of folk tales are the ones that don’t try to teach us all a good lesson! A stranger appeared to three brothers and offered them – apparently for no reason at all – gold, silver, or the ability to develop a skill. The oldest son chose the gold. The middle son chose the silver. The youngest son choose the skill-learning. The stranger taught the boy how to run like a rabbit, fly like a bird, and swim like a fish. Suddenly war was declared. On the battlefield the king suddenly realized that he had forgotten to bring his notebook of war plans. He offered his daughter’s hand in marriage to anyone who could bring the notebook to him in a day. The youngest son volunteered and ran like a rabbit, flew like a bird, and swam like a fish. He returned with the notebook. The king won the war. The youngest son was offered the hand of the princess in marriage. (Here gentle reader, we divert from the story’s original concept). The princess said she wasn’t going to be a sack of beans in a bargaining process. She would marry who and when she wanted. In the end she married Virginia, the daughter of a neighbouring king. The youngest son was really relieved. “Thank goodness I don’t have to marry that sack of beans.” Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story