The Unwise Hans

　　In the countryside, there lived three brothers. The first and second brothers were very wise. But the third was not very wise. People called him unwise Hans. All three of the brothers wanted to marry the princess. The princess had said that she wanted to marry the wisest man on the land. "We only have one week."

　　So in order to marry the princess, they hurried off on their way. The father of the three brothers gave horses to only two of the sons. The first brother got a brown horse and the second brother got a white horse. But, no horse was given to Hans. The unwise Hans left on a goat, instead of a horse.

　　The older brothers laughed at Hans. Still, Hans left with his brothers. After sometime, Hans picked up a dead crow on the road. "Brothers, look at this." "What are you going to do with that?" "I'm going to give it to the princess." The brothers continued to laugh at Hans.

　　As Hans was going along the road, besides the crow, he picked up an old wooden clog and good quality mud. The older brothers no longer paid attention to Hans' strange behavior and hurried off on their horses reaching the castle before Hans.

　　In front of the castle there stood the princess and many people who wanted to marry her. However, all the people who went inside of the princess' room came out stuttering andmutteringquietly to themselves. Finally the first brother went in. "You're not right. Please go."

　　The first brother had forgotten everything that he had memorized. So, he could not say one word. Next the second brother went in. The princess told him to leave, as well. The second brother could not understand the princess’ question. Hans was the last person to go in.

　　"The room is hot." "The rooster is being roasted." "Then roast my crow, as well, please." "What should we do? There is no plate." "Here it is."

　　Hans showed the old wooden clog that he had hidden. The princess made a smile on her face. "Then where can we get the sauce?"

　　Hans showed her the mud that he had picked up on the road, too. "Ha, Ha, Ha- this is really fun."

　　The unwise Hans gave the princess the wisest answers. That's how the princess and the unwise Hans got married. The unwise Hans became the king of that land.

　　單詞注釋：

　　stuttering n. 口吃;結巴

　　mutteringn. 獨自怨言，喃喃自語