Long ago in a kingdom far away, there lived a princess who never smiled. The King and the Queen tried everything possible to make her happy. She had fabulous clothes and jewels. The Court Jester tried to make her laugh with jokes and tricks.
Then they called the Chief Medicine Man and asked his opinion. He tried all the medicines and herbs he knew about. But still, the Princess did not smile.
The Vizier said, “Your Majesty, let us proclaim a reward for anyone who can make the Princess smile. The reward should be very valuable.”
“The most valuable thing in my kingdom is my daughter. I shall give her in marriage to anyone who makes her smile,” declared the King.
So it was proclaimed that anyone who made the Princess smile would marry her. Acrobats and clowns and magicians, rich men and poormen, merchants and beggars, all began to think of marrying the Princess and planned all kinds of things to make her smile.
Someone brought a talking parrot; magicians pulled out rabbits, ribbons and coloured scarves out of hats; acrobats performed all kinds of tricks; merchants showed wares from all over the world. It was a never-ending stream of dazzling things and shows. But the Princess did not smile!
There was a young woodcutter who had not heard the proclamation. He had been in the forest at the time. He was an extremely simple and foolish fellow. He had not seen much of the world.
He found a horse that had strayed into the forest. The horse was a new young one in the stable of the King. The woodcutter hadn’t seen a horse earlier. He went all around it. It had a face and a long body and something like a whisk at the back.
“I think this thing can help me carry the wood to my house,” he thought, “It has eyes on one side, but none on the other. So I’d better sit facing the other side. That way we’ll be able to see both sides!”
So, he clambered on the horse, facing backwards and holding his bundle of wood. He hung on to the “whisk” that was actually the horse’s tail. This startled the horse so much that it bolted. The woodcutter became terrified and dropped the bundle of wood.
The horse galloped to its stable. The Princess saw the woodcutter going backwards on the horse and burst out laughing! The King and the Queen were delighted. The woodcutter was summoned and, much to his surprise, he was married to the Princess!
