“One summer-day he was working alone in the garden, and it was so hot that he took off his hat so that the air could cool his head.
As the sun shone on his hair it glistened and twinkled and the rays reached the bedroom of the king's daughter. So she jumped up to see what it was.

“She saw the boy and called him, ”Bring me a bunch of flowers!”

“In a rush he put his hat back on his head, picked some wild flowers and put them together.

“On his way upstairs he met the gardener who said, ”How can you bring the king's daughter a bunch of such poor flowers? Quickly go and get some others and do pick the most beautiful and rare ones!”
“Oh no,” replied the boy, ”the wild ones smell stronger and she will certainly like them better.”

“When he entered her room the princess said, ”Take off your hat; it is not becoming for you to keep it on in front of me!”
He did not answer but also did not seem to be willing to comply with her request. When he was about to leave she grabbed his hat and his golden hair fell on his shoulders, and it was a magnificent sight.

“The king's son wanted to run away but she held him by the arm and gave him a handful of ducats.
He took them but did not appreciate their value; he rather brought them to the gardener and said, ”Give them to your children to play with.”

“The next day the king's daughter called him again to bring her a bunch of wild flowers, and as he entered her room she reached after his hat to take it away; however he held firmly on to it with both hands.
Again she gave him a handful of ducats, but he did not want to keep them for himself and gave them to the gardener for his children to play with.
The same happened the third day: she could not take his hat away and he did not want her gold.

“From the moment the two soldiers had entered the king's service they always thought, as they drove their coach over the fields, how to do something good to their travel-companion whom they hardly ever saw.
They recalled the tales of their friend and devised a plan.

“One day they went to the king, ”Your Royal Highness; this new assistant said that if Your Majesty would appoint him steward not one single grain of wheat would disappear under his hand; he was confident that if Your Majesty would order one sack of millet and one sack of wheat be poured out together before you begin your mental exercises in the early morning, he would sort them out again - before Your Majesty had finished your exercises - so that not one single grain of wheat remained among the millet. Therefore Your Majesty may send for him and order him to prove it.
If he should deny it, Your Majesty should not believe him, but rather order him to do it.”

“At once the king sent for the king's son. ”Now, my son,” he said to him, ”I understand you have said you wanted to become steward and not one grain of wheat would be lost under your hand.
In the morning therefore, before I begin my mental exercises, I will order one sack of wheat and one sack of millet to be emptied before you.

“When I have finished my exercises and you havenit sorted them out yet - and among the pure wheat there should be not one single grain of millet - then on the spot you will be locked up in a cage and shown to all the people as a braggard and liar.
If, however, you should succeed in sorting them out, I will appoint you steward.”

“In vain the king's son asserted that he never had said anything like it.
It was of no avail; they shut him up in an empty room.

“In the morning, when the king began his exercises, the servants poured out a vast quantity of wheat and millet before the boy, mixing it well, for him to separate them.