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The King’s Servant
by
No sooner had Hans come into the land than the king stopped him and would not let him go on.
“No one shall pass through my kingdom,” he said, “till he has done one piece of work for me.”
Hans was not afraid of work. “Show it to me that I may do it at once,” he said; “for I am hastening to see my mother.”
Then the king took Hans into a room as large as a meadow where some of all the seeds in the world was stored. There were lettuce-seeds, and radish-seeds, flax-seeds and grains of rice, fine seeds of flowers and small seeds of grass, all mixed and mingled till no two alike lay together.
Hans had never seen so many seeds in all his life before; and when he had looked at them the king bade him sort them, each kind to itself.
“The lettuce-seed must be here, and the radish-seed there; the flax-seed in this corner and the grains of rice in another; the fine seeds of flowers must be in their place, and the small seeds of grass all ready for planting before you can pass through my kingdom and go on your way,” he said; and when he had spoken he went out of the room and locked the door behind him.
Poor Hans! He sat down on the floor and cried–the tears rolled down his cheeks I do assure you–for he said to himself:
“If I live to be a hundred years old I can never do this thing that the king requires. I shall never see my mother or the good king, my master, again.”
How long he sat there, neither I nor anybody else can tell you, but by and by he saw a little black ant creeping in through a crack in the floor. Behind it came another and another, like soldiers marching; one by one they came, till the whole floor was black with hundreds and hundreds of the ant people.
“You helped us, and we have come to help you,” they said; and they set to work at once to sort the seed as the king required.
By the next day when the king came in to inquire how Hans was getting on, the work was done. The lettuce-seed was here and the radish-seed was there, the flax-seed in one corner, and the grains of rice in another; the fine seeds of flowers were in their place and the small seeds of grass were all ready for planting.
The king was astonished. He could scarcely believe his eyes; but he would not let Hans go.
“Such a fine workman must do one other piece of work before he passes through my kingdom,” he said; and he took Hans out in the open country and pointed to an orchard far away.
“Bring me one golden apple that grows in that orchard and you shall go free,” he said.
“Ah, what an easy task is this,” said Hans, and he set off at once to the orchard.
But, alack, when he had come to the orchard gate it was guarded by a fiery dragon, the like of which he had never seen in all his life! “Come and be devoured!” it cried, as Hans came into sight.
Poor Hans! He sat down by the roadside and held his head between his hands and cried–the tears rolled down his cheeks I do assure you–for he said to himself:
“If I go into the orchard I shall be eaten alive by the dragon, and if I do not go I shall never see my mother or the good king, my master, again.”
How long he sat there, neither I nor anybody else can tell you, but by and by he saw two birds flying through the air. Nearer and nearer they came till at last they reached the spot where Hans sat and lighted at his feet. And they were the very birds that Hans had helped. Their wings had grown strong enough by this time to carry them wherever they wanted to go and they flapped them joyfully as they cried: