The king then announced another contest, where he decided that the person who brings the most beautiful ring to him shall inherit the kingdom. Same as before he blew the three feathers into the air and each brother was to follow one of the feathers' directions to see whether they could fulfill their destiny.
This time too the eldest brother went east and the second brother went west. Again Simpleton's feather flew straight ahead and fell to the ground.
Then Simpleton climbed down to see the toad. There, Simpleton told the toad that he needed a beautiful ring.
The toad had a box brought out again and from it brought out a ring this time. The ring had precious stones and looked very beautiful.
The two elder brothers did not make too much effort this time either. Instead, they drove the nails out of an old wagon ring and brought it to the king. When Simpleton presented his ring, the king decided that the kingdom had to go to Simpleton.
Naturally, the two oldest sons would not hear it and they wanted a third contest.
The third contest of the king involved finding the most beautiful woman.
Again, the king blew the three feathers into the air and they flew in the same direction as before. This time too, Simpleton was led by the feather to the toad under the trap door.
The toward smiled on listening to Simpleton's request.
This time the toad gave simpleton a hollowed out yellow turnip, which was harnessed to six little mice. Simpleton was confused. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
The toad shrugged. “Just put one of my little toads inside the turnip.”
Simpleton grabbed one of the mice from the group and set it inside the yellow coach.
The little toad was scarcely inside when it turned into a beautiful young lady. The turnip turned into a coach and the six mice became horses.
Simpleton was stunned and he kissed the beautiful girl and raced away with the horses and brought her to the king.
His brothers had come forward with girls of their own. However, they had not made an effort to find a beautiful woman and they simply brought along the first peasant woman that they came upon.
The king again decided that the kingdom had to go to the youngest son.
However, the oldest sons again shook their heads. “We cannot allow Simpleton to become the king.”
The two eldest sons demanded that the crown should go to the brother whose woman could jump through a hoop that was hanging in the middle of the hall. The elder brothers were sure that the peasant women would be able to do that very well because they were very strong. However, Simpleton's beautiful lady would not be able to do it.
The old king agreed to this as well.
The two peasant women indeed jumped through the hoop, but they were so plump that each fell down and broke their arms and legs.
The beautiful lady that Simpleton had brought jumped through the hoop as lightly as a deer.
After this, all the protests stopped and Simpleton became the ruler of the king and he ruled the kingdom wisely for a long time.
Adapted from the Grimm Brothers Stories
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