Once upon a time there was a King and he was growing very old and he had only one son. And one day he called his son to him and said: "I am getting on in years and I don't know if God will give me many more years to live. But before I go away from this earth I would like to know who will be your wife and queen and so I want you to get married."

The Prince answered, "I would gladly obey you, father, but I don't know any girl I would like to marry."

And the King said, "Well, then go up into the tower to the room that is right on the top. Look well at the things you will see there and then come back to me and tell me who is going to be your wife." And he gave the Prince a golden key.

The Prince wondered what there was in the top room of the old tower, as he had never been there. But he did as his father had told him, went to the old tower and climbed up the many stairs, and at long last he came to the room that was right on top and opened the door with his golden key. It was a strange room, for its ceiling was dark blue like the night's sky and there were silver stars glittering on it. And all around the walls there were twelve windows in golden frames. But they were not ordinary windows, because on each of the twelve windows there was a picture painted—the picture of a beautiful maiden. Each maiden wore a crown on her head to show that she was a Princess. And these pictures were not like the pictures we paint, because as the Prince looked at them, the beautiful ladies moved as if they were alive, they smiled at him and made curtsies. And they were all so lovely that the Prince did not know which one he liked best. But then he noticed that over one of the windows there hung a curtain and so he could not see what was on that window. He went and drew the curtain back. And on it there was a maiden in a white robe, bound by a silver belt and the crown she wore was made of pearls. And this Princess was lovelier than all the others. But this picture did not smile— she looked pale and sad.

When the Prince saw this picture of the beautiful Princess all in white, he said, "This is the one I am going to marry and no other."

And when he said these words, the Princess bowed her head and blushed like a rose and in the same moment, all twelve of the pictures vanished.

The Prince went down and told his father which of the twelve ladies he had chosen to become his wife. And the old King sighed deeply and he looked very sad. And then he said, "You have chosen the Princess which can only be gained by facing great dangers. This Princess is in the power of an evil magician and he has shut her up in a tower of iron. Many brave Princes have tried to set her free, but not one of them has returned and yet—you have chosen her and so you must go and try your luck. May God be with you and protect you."

And so the Prince said goodbye to his father, mounted his horse and set out on his journey. He came to a great forest and after a time he lost his way in it and wondered how he could find his way out again.

And just then he heard someone shouting behind him, "Hey, wait!"

The Prince looked round and saw a very, very tall man hurrying after him.

The man said, "Wait, and take me with you. If you let me be your servant, you will not regret it."

"Who are you and what can you do?" asked the Prince.

The man answered, "My name is Tall and I can stretch myself. Do you see the birds' nest in that tall pine tree? Watch how I bring it down!"

And then the man whose name was Tall began to stretch and his body grew and grew until it was as tall as the pine tree and he reached for the nest, picked it up and gave it to the Prince.

"That's fine," said the Prince, "but it doesn't get me out of this forest."

"Oh, that's easy," said Tall, and he stretched himself until he was taller than the highest tree; he looked round and said, "Ah, this is the shortest way!" Then he shrank back to a nearly normal size, took the Prince's horse by the bridle and in a short while, he had brought them both out of the wood. And so the Prince was well content to have him as a servant. And soon he found a second servant!

The Prince and his new servant Tall came out of the forest and before them there stretched open fields and hills. And Tall said to the Prince: "Look master, over there in the distance is a friend of mine and he, too, would make you a good servant."

"Well," said the Prince, "Call him so that I can have a good look at him."

"Call him?" said Tall. "Oh, no! I know a better way to bring him here."

And he stretched and stretched until his head was nearly up in the clouds and his legs were taller than the tallest tree. And then he made a few wide steps and he stood by his friend. He picked up his friend, and a few steps and he was back beside the Prince and put his friend down.

The Prince looked at the newcomer. He was a short, stout fellow and as round as a barrel. "Who are you and what can you do?" asked the Prince.

And the stout man answered, "My name is Broad and I can swell."

"Show me what you mean," said the Prince.

"I will do so gladly," said the man called Broad. "But please ride off quickly, back to the forest!"

The Prince did not understand why he should ride away, but he saw Tall running to the forest and so he gave his horse the spurs and rode swiftly after him. And Broad began to puff himself out and he grew wider and wider in all directions and so quickly that the Prince only just escaped being crushed by the swelling that stretched over miles and miles. It was as if suddenly a low hill had sprung up. And then Broad stopped puffing himself out and he blew out the air he had taken in and that blast of air was like a storm that shook and swayed all the trees in the forest and when Broad had blown out the air, he had shrunk back to his ordinary size.

And then the Prince came back and said, "Well, one doesn't find a man like you every day. You may also be my servant; come with me."

And Tall said, "Master, there is still a third friend. We shall meet him soon. I hope you will take him into your service too!"

And then they travelled on until they came to hills full of rocks and there they met a man who wore a black bandage over both his eyes and Tall said, "This is my other friend and if you take him as servant you will find him very useful indeed."

And the Prince asked, "Who are you and why do you have this bandage over your eyes?" Surely you can't see where you are going?"

"Oh, Master," said the man, "indeed I can see where I am going. It is because I see TOO much that I must put this thing over my eyes! With this bandage on, I see like you or any other person whose eyes are not covered, but when I take the bandage off, I can see right through everything. And when I stare at something really very hard, that something either bursts into flames or falls to pieces. It is because I have such keen sight that my name became 'Keen'. Would you like me to show you what I can do?"

And he turned round to a rock that was standing there and he took the bandage from his eyes and stared hard at the rock. At once the rock began to fly to pieces—bits of it flew in all directions—and in a little while there was nothing left of it but a little lump of sand and in this sand was something that gleamed and shone. Keen put the bandage over his eye, bent down and picked it up, and he gave it to the Prince. It was a lump of gold!

"Well," said the Prince, "I would be silly if I did not take you as a servant. You are very useful indeed!"

And so the Prince now had three servants to help him rescue the Princess from the powers of the magician; he had Tall, who could stretch himself, Broad, who could puff himself out and swell, and Keen who could see through everything, and could make things burn or fly to pieces by his stare.

Now the Prince has his strange three servants: Tall, who could stretch, Broad, who could swell, and Keen, who could see through everything!

And the Prince said to Keen: "I am on my way to rescue the Princess who is kept as a prisoner in the Castle of Iron. Can you see her?"

And Keen took the bandage from his eyes and he looked through mountains and hills far away and he said, "Yes, I see her, and she is still kept prisoner by a wicked magician."

And when the Prince heard this, he cried, "Oh, my faithful servants, help me to get there quickly so that I can help her and set her free."

And so they all set out and travelled swiftly. If they came to a wide river and there was no bridge, Tall would stretch himself and step from one bank to the other with a great stride and every time he did this he carried one of the others over. And when there was a steep hill in front of them, they did not have to climb up and down, because Keen would stare at that hill and his staring bored a tunnel right through and they could walk through the tunnel. And so this journey was made shorter and on the evening of the third day they reached the Castle of Iron.

The Prince found a stable for his horse and then he and his three faithful servants walked into the Castle and they came to a big hall. There were many people in that hall: knights and ladies in beautiful dresses and many servants, but they all stood still. They neither spoke nor moved: they were all turned into stone. But on a table there was food and drink and so the Prince and his servants sat down and ate and drank until they had enough. And when they had finished, they wondered where they would sleep.

But just then a door sprang open with a crack like thunder and in came the magician. He was an old man with a gray beard. He wore a black robe and on his head there was a black pointed hat. But the strangest thing about him was this: around his waist he wore instead of a belt: three iron hoops. And the wizard was not alone. By the hand he held the most beautiful maiden; she wore a white dress, a silver belt, and on her head a crown of pearls. Her face was pale and sad. The Prince recognized her at once: she was the maiden he had seen on the window in the top room of the tower.

He wanted to greet her, but before he could say a word the magician spoke.

He said, "I know why you have come. You want to take the Princess away and you will perish just like many others who have tried. But you also shall have your chance to try. You can take the Princess away if you keep a watch on her for three nights. And you must keep a good watch for she will slip away from you! And if she does, if she escapes from you, then you and your servants will be turned into stone like all the others who have tried and failed."

Then the magician made a sign to the Princess and she sat down by the table. Then he walked out. The Prince could not take his eyes from the maiden she was so lovely! He began to speak to her; he wanted to ask her so many things! But she never answered, she did not speak a word and she did not even look at him. The Prince sat down beside her and he said, "I will not sleep all night, but watch so that you cannot slip away."

And the servant Tall said, "I shall make sure that she cannot get away."

He stretched and stretched himself and he wound himself all around the room against the wall.

And Broad said, "I shall also make sure," and he put himself in the doorway and puffed himself out so that not even a mouse could have gone through.

And Keen stood in the middle of the room with the bandage over his eyes and watched the Princess.

But after a time they all began to nod, they just could not keep their eyes open and soon they fell asleep and they slept soundly all night. When the day began, the Prince was the first to awaken. He looked around, and there was no Princess! He wakened the servants and asked what he should do.

As you can imagine, the Prince was in despair when he woke up in the morning and found that the Princess had gone.

But his three servants said: "Don't worry, dear Master, we shall get her back before the magician finds out."

First Keen took the bandage from his eyes, opened the window and said: "Yes! I can see her! A hundred miles from here is a forest and in the middle of that forest is an oak tree and on the very top of that tree is an acorn and in that acorn is the Princess. Now let Tall put me on his shoulders and stretch himself and we shall get her back in no time."

And Tall picked him up at once and he stretched himself and walked away, taking ten miles with each stride and Keen showed him where to go.

And in just a few moments they were back again and Tall gave the Prince the acorn and said, "Master, drop this acorn on the floor!" The Prince dropped the acorn on the floor and at that very moment the Princess stood beside him.

And just then the sun began to shine above the mountains, the door flew open with a bang and the magician came into the room. When he saw the Princess, his face became red with rage and then crash!—one of the iron hoops around his waist broke into pieces and fell to the floor. Then he took the Princess by the hand and led her away.

Now the Prince had to wait all day until the magician would bring her back to be watched. And as the Prince had nothing to do till then, he walked through the many rooms of the Castle and marvelled at the strange things he saw there. Everywhere he found people who looked as if they had been frozen stiff. In one room was a knight who held his giant sword raised in two hands as if he were about to cut his enemy into pieces, but the blow had never fallen and the knights had turned to stone. In the Castle and all around it everything was dead. The trees had no leaves, the meadows were brown and withered, the water in the river was not running, there were no flowers and no birds in the air and no fish in the water.

But the Prince and his servants were well looked after because at mealtimes the food carried itself in and put itself onto plates and the wine poured itself from the bottles into their glasses. And when evening came the door flew open again with a crash and the magician brought in the Princess so that the Prince should watch over her.

When the magician had left, the Prince said, "Tonight I shall not sleep a wink. I shall keep my eyes open so that she cannot slip away."

But no matter how hard they tried to keep awake, the Prince and his three servants fell asleep as before. And when the Prince awakened at daybreak, he saw that the Princess was gone!

He shook Keen by the shoulder and shouted, "Wake up, Keen, wake up and tell me where the Princess is!"

Keen took the bandage off, rubbed his eyes, looked out of the window and said, "I see her! Two hundred miles from here is a mountain, in that mountain is a rock, in that rock is a crystal and in that crystal is the Princess! But don't you worry. Tall and I will get her back in no time!"

And Tall picked him up, stretched himself, Keen showed the way and with a few strides they were by the mountain. Then Keen stared at the mountain with his piercing eyes, the mountain broke up and one of the rocks flew into little pieces and among the pieces there was a glittering crystal. They brought the crystal to the Prince, he dropped it to the floor and the Princess stood beside him.

And when the magician came in and saw her, he jumped with rage and with a great crash the second iron hoop round his waist broke into pieces and fell to the floor. He grumbled to himself and led the Princess away.

When the third night came, the magician brought the Princess again and he said, "You have been lucky the two nights before, but this time you will not win and you and your servants will be turned into stone."

He gave the Prince a grim look and went out. And that night the Prince and his servants tried harder than ever to stay awake. They would not even sit down or lie down: they walked up and down to keep awake! But after a time their legs grew tired, their heads felt heavy and one after another, they slumped down and fell asleep. And when the Prince awakened at daybreak, the Princess had again disappeared.

The Prince shook Keen, saying, "Hey, wake up and please look for the Princess!"

Keen looked out of the window for a long time and he said, "Oh, she is far, far away. Three hundred miles from here is the Black Sea and in the middle of it, right down at the bottom, lies a shell and in that shell is a ring and in that ring is the Princess. It is not easy to get her back quickly, but never fear, Master, we shall do it. But today Tall must take me AND Broad along."

And so, once more, Tall stretched and stretched himself and he put Keen on one shoulder and Broad on the other and he walked away with such big strides that with every step he went thirty miles! When they came to the Black Sea, Keen showed them where the shell was and Tall tried to stretch his arm as far into the water as he could, but the sea was so deep there that even his long arm could not reach to the bottom!

Then Broad said, "Wait, let me help you!"

And Broad puffed himself out as far as he could. And when he had blown himself up until he was like a hill, he lay down on the shore and began to drink the water of the sea! And he drank and drank and soon the water of the sea had become lower and lower. And when Broad had swallowed down about half of the Black Sea, the water level was so low that Tall could reach down with his long arm and he picked up the shell with the ring in it.

Then Tall put Keen and Broad on his shoulders again and set out on the way back and he ran to get back in time before the magician came. But Tall found it very hard to run with Broad on his shoulders, because inside Broad there was still half the Black Sea! And as Tall was running through a wide valley, he stumbled and Broad fell off! And when Broad fell hard on the ground, all the water he had drunk came out of his mouth again and in a moment the whole valley was flooded with water like a great lake and Broad, who had shrunk again to his normal size, had to swim for it! But now Tall could carry him easily and he ran with great strides like the wind, but they were still far from the Castle!

It was getting late and so Tall said to Keen: "Have a look what is happening at the Castle."

Keen took off his bandage and said, "I can see the Prince; he is walking up and down looking terribly worried because the sun is coming up over the mountains and the Princess is not back yet. Oh!—now the door is opening and the magician is coming in and he looks at the Prince with an evil smile!"

And when Tall heard that, he took the shell and from the shell he took the ring and he threw the ring with his long arm and the ring flew all the way to the Castle, through the window and fell to the floor right beside the Prince. And the next moment, of course, the Princess was standing there. And when the magician saw the Princess, he howled and roared with rage and the third iron hoop around his waist popped and fell to the floor and in that moment the magician was turned into a black raven and he flew away through the window.

And at once, the lovely Princess could speak and thank the Prince for rescuing her. And all the people and animals who had been turned into stone came alive again! And the Prince brought his lovely bride to his father, the old King, who was overjoyed to see him alive and well.

The three faithful servants had come with the Prince and he said, "Stay with me, please, I will give you anything you want."

But the three friends did not want to live a lazy life. They wanted to go about helping good people. So they said goodbye to him and the Princess and they are, probably, still wandering about the world.