THE WISE GIRL
by Katharine Pyle · from Tales of Folk and Fairies
Adapted Version
Lena lived in a small village. Lena was very, very smart. Her father told everyone about it!
The King heard Lena's father. The King called Lena's Father to him. The King had thirty eggs. He said, "Make eggs hatch." Father was scared. The eggs were boiled.
Lena looked at the eggs. She knew they were boiled. Boiled eggs cannot hatch. Lena gave her father boiled beans. She said, "Plant these beans. Ask the King: Can boiled beans grow? No! So, boiled eggs cannot hatch!"
The King heard Lena's words. He saw Lena was very smart. He took back the eggs. The King gave Lena's Father some flax. He said, "Make sails from this. Make sails for a big ship."
Lena's Father was sad. Lena gave him a small wood piece. She said, "Take this to the King. Tell him, 'First, make a big ship. Make it from this wood!'"
The King was surprised. Lena was very clever. He gave Lena's Father a glass cup. The King said, "Tell Lena this. Empty the big ocean. Empty it with this small cup!"
Lena thought again. She gave her father some tow. Tow is like soft string. She said, "Take this to the King. Tell him, 'First, stop all rivers. Stop them with this tow!'"
The King knew Lena was wise. He asked Lena to come to him. Lena came to the palace. She wore simple clothes. She looked very kind. She was also very pretty.
The King asked Lena two things. "What sound travels far?" he asked. Lena said, "Thunder. Your words." King asked, "Staff worth?" Lena answered very well. The King was happy.
The King wanted to marry Lena. Lena said, "I will marry you." She asked a promise. "If you send me away," she said. "I take my best thing." King wrote his promise.
Lena married the King. She became the Queen. Lena liked pretty clothes. She wore rich dresses. The King saw her clothes. He thought she loved things more. He felt sad and angry.
One day, the King was very angry. He told Lena to leave him. He said, "Go to your home. Take your best thing. This is my promise to you."
Lena asked for one last dinner. The King agreed to this. Lena gave the King a drink. It was a special sleepy drink. It made him sleep well. The King drank it all. He fell asleep.
The King slept. Lena took him. She took him to her old home. It was her father's small house. He slept in a bed.
The King woke up. He was in the small house. Lena stood by his bed. She wore her old clothes. Lena said, "You are my best thing. You are my treasure. I brought you with me."
The King understood Lena. His anger went away. He was not sad now. They went back to the palace. They lived happily ever after.
Smartness and love are better than things. True love is the best treasure. The King and Queen lived happily. They knew love was the most precious thing. Lena and King lived happily. They remembered love.
Original Story
THE WISE GIRL
A Serbian Story
There was once a girl who was wiser than the King and all his councilors; there never was anything like it. Her father was so proud of her that he boasted about her cleverness at home and abroad. He could not keep his tongue still about it. One day he was boasting to one of his neighbors, and he said, “The girl is so clever that not even the King himself could ask her a question she couldn’t answer, or read her a riddle she couldn’t unravel.”
Now it so chanced the King was sitting at a window near by, and he overheard what the girl’s father was saying. The next day he sent for the man to come before him. “I hear you have a daughter who is so clever that no one in the kingdom can equal her; and is that so?” asked the King.
Yes, it was no more than the truth. Too much could not be said of her wit and cleverness.
That was well, and the King was glad to hear it. He had thirty eggs; they were fresh and good, but it would take a clever person to hatch chickens out of them. He then bade his chancellor get the eggs and give them to the man.
“Take these home to your daughter,” said the King, “and bid her hatch them out for me. If she succeeds she shall have a bag of money for her pains, but if she fails you shall be beaten as a vain boaster.”
The man was troubled when he heard this. Still his daughter was so clever he was almost sure she could hatch out the eggs. He carried them home to her and told her exactly what the King had said, and it did not take the girl long to find out that the eggs had been boiled.
When she told her father that, he made a great to-do. That was a pretty trick for the King to have played upon him. Now he would have to take a beating and all the neighbors would hear about it. Would to Heaven he had never had a daughter at all if that was what came of it.
The girl, however, bade him be of good cheer. “Go to bed and sleep quietly,” said she. “I will think of some way out of the trouble. No harm shall come to you, even though I have to go to the palace myself and take the beating in your place.”
The next day the girl gave her father a bag of boiled beans and bade him take them out to a certain place where the King rode by every day. “Wait until you see him coming,” said she, “and then begin to sow the beans.” At the same time he was to call out this, that, and the other so loudly that the King could not help but hear him.
The man took the bag of beans and went out to the field his daughter had spoken of. He waited until he saw the King coming, and then he began to sow the beans, and at the same time to cry aloud, “Come sun, come rain! Heaven grant that these boiled beans may yield me a good crop.”
The King was surprised that any one should be so stupid as to think boiled beans would grow and yield a crop. He did not recognize the man, for he had only seen him once, and he stopped his horse to speak to him. “My poor man,” said he, “how can you expect boiled beans to grow? Do you not know that that is impossible?”
“Whatever the King commands should be possible,” answered the man, “and if chickens can hatch from boiled eggs why should not boiled beans yield a crop?”
When the King heard this he looked at the man more closely, and then he recognized him as the father of the clever daughter.
“You have indeed a clever daughter,” said he. “Take your beans home and bring me back the eggs I gave you.”
The man was very glad when he heard that, and made haste to obey. He carried the beans home and then took the eggs and brought them back to the palace of the King.
After the King had received the eggs he gave the man a handful of flax. “Take this to your clever daughter,” he said, “and bid her make for me within the week a full set of sails for a large ship. If she does this she shall receive the half of my kingdom as a reward, but if she fails you shall have a drubbing that you will not soon forget.”
The man returned to his home, loudly lamenting his hard lot.
“What is the matter?” asked his daughter. “Has the King set another task that I must do?”
Yes, that he had; and her father showed her the flax the King had sent her and gave her the message.
“Do not be troubled,” said the girl. “No harm shall come to you. Go to bed and sleep quietly, and to-morrow I will send the King an answer that will satisfy him.”
The man believed what his daughter said. He went to bed and slept quietly.
The next day the girl gave her father a small piece of wood. “Carry this to the King,” said she. “Tell him I am ready to make the sails, but first let him make me of this wood a large ship that I may fit the sails to it.”
The father did as the girl bade him, and the King was surprised at the cleverness of the girl in returning him such an answer.
“That is all very well,” said he, “and I will excuse her from this task. But here! Here is a glass mug. Take it home to your clever daughter. Tell her it is my command that she dip out the waters from the ocean bed so that I can ride over the bottom dry shod. If she does this, I will take her for my wife, but if she fails you shall be beaten within an inch of your life.”
The man took the mug and hastened home, weeping aloud and bemoaning his fate.
“Well, and what is it?” asked his daughter. “What does the King demand of me now?”
The man gave her the glass mug and told her what the King had said.
“Do not be troubled,” said the girl. “Go to bed and sleep in peace. You shall not be beaten, and soon I shall be reigning as Queen over all this land.”
The man had trust in her. He went to bed and slept and dreamed he saw her sitting by the King with a crown on her head.
The next day the girl gave her father a bunch of tow. “Take this to the King,” she said. “Tell him you have given me the mug, and I am willing to dip the sea dry, but first let him take this tow and stop up all the rivers that flow into the ocean.”
The man did as his daughter bade him. He took the tow to the King and told him exactly what the girl had said.
Then the King saw that the girl was indeed a clever one, and he sent for her to come before him.
She came just as she was, in her homespun dress and her rough shoes and with a cap on her head, but for all her mean clothing she was as pretty and fine as a flower, and the King was not slow to see it. Still he wanted to make sure for himself that she was as clever as her messages had been.
“Tell me,” said he, “what sound can be heard the farthest throughout the world?”
“The thunder that echoes through heaven and earth,” answered the girl, “and your own royal commands that go from lip to lip.”
This reply pleased the King greatly. “And now tell me,” said he, “exactly what is my royal sceptre worth?”
“It is worth exactly as much as the power for which it stands,” the girl replied.
The King was so well satisfied with the way the girl answered that he no longer hesitated; he determined that she should be his Queen, and that they should be married at once.
The girl had something to say to this, however. “I am but a poor girl,” said she, “and my ways are not your ways. It may well be that you will tire of me, or that you may be angry with me sometime, and send me back to my father’s house to live. Promise that if this should happen you will allow me to carry back with me from the castle the thing that has grown most precious to me.”
The King was willing to agree to this, but the girl was not satisfied until he had written down his promise and signed it with his own royal hand. Then she and the King were married with the greatest magnificence, and she came to live in the palace and reign over the land.
Now while the girl was still only a peasant she had been well content to dress in homespun and live as a peasant should, but after she became Queen she would wear nothing but the most magnificent robes and jewels and ornaments, for that seemed to her only right and proper for a Queen. But the King, who was of a very jealous nature, thought his wife did not care at all for him, but only for the fine things he could give her.
One time the King and Queen were to ride abroad together, and the Queen spent so much time in dressing herself that the King was kept waiting, and he became very angry. When she appeared before him, he would not even look at her. “You care nothing for me, but only for the jewels and fine clothes you wear,” he cried. “Take with you those that are the most precious to you, as I promised you, and return to your father’s house. I will no longer have a wife who cares only for my possessions and not at all for me.”
Very well; the girl was willing to go. “And I will be happier in my father’s house than I was when I first met you,” said she. Nevertheless she begged that she might spend one more night in the palace, and that she and the King might sup together once again before she returned home.
To this the King agreed, for he still loved her, even though he was so angry with her.
So he and his wife supped together that evening, and just at the last the Queen took a golden cup and filled it with wine. Then, when the King was not looking, she put a sleeping potion in the wine and gave it to him to drink.
He took it and drank to the very last drop, suspecting nothing, but soon after he sank down among the cushions in a deep sleep. Then the Queen caused him to be carried to her father’s house and laid in the bed there.
When the King awoke the next morning he was very much surprised to find himself in the peasant’s cottage. He raised himself upon his elbow to look about him, and at once the girl came to the bedside, and she was again dressed in the coarse and common clothes she had worn before she was married.
“What means this?” asked the King, “and how came I here?”
“My dear husband,” said the girl, “your promise was that if you ever sent me back to my father’s house I might carry with me the thing that had become most precious to me in the castle. You are that most precious thing, and I care for nothing else except as it makes me pleasing in your sight.”
Then the King could no longer feel jealous or angry with her. He clasped her in his arms, and they kissed each other tenderly. That same day they returned to the palace, and from that time on the King and his peasant Queen lived together in the greatest love and happiness.
Story DNA
Moral
True wisdom and love are more valuable than material possessions or superficial appearances.
Plot Summary
A peasant girl, renowned for her wisdom, is challenged by the King with a series of impossible tasks after her father boasts about her. She cleverly outwits each challenge, impressing the King who then marries her. However, the King's jealousy over her love for fine things leads him to banish her, allowing her to take her most precious possession. The Queen then takes the sleeping King himself to her father's house, revealing he is what she values most, leading to their reconciliation and a happy life together.
Themes
Emotional Arc
doubt to certainty | conflict to reconciliation | humility to triumph
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
This story reflects a common folk tale motif found across many cultures, where a clever commoner outwits a powerful ruler, often leading to marriage and social elevation.
Plot Beats (16)
- A peasant girl is known for her exceptional wisdom, which her father constantly brags about.
- The King overhears the father's boast and summons him, challenging the daughter to hatch thirty boiled eggs.
- The girl discovers the eggs are boiled and instructs her father to 'sow' boiled beans in front of the King, questioning how boiled beans can grow if boiled eggs can't hatch.
- The King recognizes the cleverness and withdraws the egg challenge, giving the father flax and demanding a full set of ship sails within a week.
- The girl tells her father to ask the King to first provide a ship made of wood from a small piece she sends.
- The King is again impressed and gives the father a glass mug, commanding the girl to dip out the ocean water so he can ride dry-shod.
- The girl sends her father back with a bunch of tow, asking the King to first stop all rivers flowing into the ocean with it.
- Convinced of her wisdom, the King sends for the girl, who appears in simple clothes but is beautiful.
- The King tests her with two riddles: what sound travels farthest and what his scepter is worth; she answers both wisely.
- The King proposes marriage, but the girl makes him sign a promise that if he ever sends her away, she can take the most precious thing from the castle.
- They marry and she becomes Queen, but her love for fine clothes makes the King, who is jealous, believe she cares only for possessions, not him.
- In a fit of anger, the King banishes her, telling her to take her most precious possession as promised.
- The Queen requests one last supper with the King, during which she gives him a sleeping potion in his wine.
- While he sleeps, she has him carried to her father's cottage.
- The King awakens in the cottage, and the Queen, dressed in her old peasant clothes, reveals that he is the 'most precious thing' she took from the castle.
- The King's anger and jealousy vanish; they reconcile and return to the palace, living happily ever after.
Characters
The Wise Girl ★ protagonist
Of average height and slender build, with a graceful presence despite her humble origins. Her movements are deliberate and thoughtful, reflecting her inner wisdom. She possesses a natural beauty that shines through any attire.
Attire: Initially, she wears a simple, practical homespun dress made of coarse linen or wool, likely in earthy tones like grey, brown, or undyed cream, paired with rough, sturdy leather shoes and a plain cap covering her hair. As Queen, she wears magnificent robes of silk and brocade, adorned with intricate embroidery, jewels, and gold ornaments, in rich colors like crimson, sapphire, or emerald. She returns to her homespun dress at the story's climax.
Wants: To protect her father from harm and to prove her worth and wisdom. Ultimately, her deepest motivation is to secure a loving and respectful relationship with the King, based on genuine affection rather than superficiality.
Flaw: Her initial willingness to embrace the superficial trappings of royalty (magnificent robes and jewels) temporarily obscures her true values and causes a rift with the King.
Begins as a wise peasant girl who uses her intellect to save her father. She rises to become Queen, briefly succumbs to the allure of royal finery, but ultimately reaffirms her true values, demonstrating that love and genuine connection are her most precious possessions, thereby transforming the King's understanding of love and marriage.
Intelligent, resourceful, calm, loyal, and deeply loving. She is not easily flustered by challenges and consistently finds clever solutions. She values love and connection above material possessions.
Image Prompt & Upload
A young Serbian peasant woman standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. She has a slender build, fair skin, and a calm, intelligent expression. Her dark brown hair is neatly tucked under a simple, undyed cream linen cap. She wears a long, loose-fitting homespun linen dress in a muted greyish-brown color, with long sleeves and a round neckline, cinched at the waist with a simple rope belt. Her feet are covered by rough, sturdy leather shoes. She holds a small, smooth piece of light-colored wood in her hands. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The King ○ supporting | antagonist (briefly)
A man of regal bearing, likely of average height and a sturdy, authoritative build, befitting a ruler. His presence commands respect, though he can be prone to jealousy and anger.
Attire: Wears rich, formal royal attire, including a long, flowing tunic or robe made of fine wool or silk, possibly embroidered with gold thread, in deep colors like royal blue or crimson. He would wear a crown or a jeweled circlet, and a heavy cloak draped over his shoulders. His clothing signifies his power and wealth.
Wants: To test the girl's famed wisdom and to find a suitable, intelligent partner. Later, to assert his authority and to find genuine love and respect in his marriage.
Flaw: His pride, jealousy, and quick temper, which lead him to misjudge his wife's intentions and nearly ruin their marriage.
Begins as a skeptical and testing ruler. He marries the Wise Girl, becomes jealous of her perceived love for finery, banishes her, but then realizes her true love for him. He learns to value genuine affection over superficial appearances and becomes a more loving and understanding husband.
Proud, intelligent, initially skeptical, easily angered, jealous, but ultimately loving and capable of admitting his mistakes. He values cleverness and wisdom.
Image Prompt & Upload
An adult Serbian king standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. He has a sturdy, authoritative build, a commanding face with dark, observant eyes, and a neatly trimmed dark beard with hints of grey. He wears a rich crimson silk tunic embroidered with gold thread, a heavy, dark blue velvet cloak draped over his shoulders, and a golden crown adorned with rubies on his head. He holds a golden sceptre topped with a large ruby in his right hand. His posture is regal and confident. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Father ◆ supporting
A peasant man, likely of a sturdy but weathered build from years of manual labor. His face shows the lines of worry and hard work, but also pride in his daughter.
Attire: Wears typical Serbian peasant clothing: a simple, coarse linen tunic or shirt, practical wool trousers, and sturdy leather boots. His clothes would be well-worn and patched, in muted, earthy tones.
Wants: To avoid the King's punishment and to protect himself. His primary motivation is to survive the challenges set by the King, relying entirely on his daughter's wit.
Flaw: His excessive boasting, his tendency to panic under pressure, and his inability to solve problems himself, making him entirely dependent on his daughter.
Remains largely static, serving as the catalyst for the plot and the messenger for his daughter. He learns to trust his daughter implicitly and is ultimately saved from punishment by her cleverness.
Proud (to a fault), anxious, easily troubled, trusting of his daughter, somewhat simple-minded compared to his daughter. He loves his daughter deeply.
Image Prompt & Upload
An elderly Serbian peasant man standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. He has a weathered face with deep lines, a simple, unkempt grey beard, and anxious brown eyes. His hair is sparse and grey. He wears a coarse, undyed linen tunic, practical dark wool trousers, and worn leather boots. His posture is slightly hunched, conveying worry. He holds a small, plain cloth bag in his hands. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Locations
Peasant Girl's Cottage
A humble, rustic dwelling, likely a traditional Serbian 'kuća' with whitewashed walls, a thatched or tiled roof, and simple, sturdy wooden furniture. The interior would be modest, perhaps with a stone hearth for cooking and warmth, and a basic bed. The overall impression is one of simplicity and practicality.
Mood: Warm, secure, humble, a place of clever thought and refuge.
The girl lives here with her father, devises her clever plans, and the King is eventually brought here by the Queen.
Image Prompt & Upload
A cozy, rustic Serbian peasant cottage interior. Sunlight streams through a small, square window, illuminating dust motes in the air and falling on a simple wooden table. A stone hearth with a simmering pot sits in the corner, casting a warm glow. The walls are whitewashed, and the floor is packed earth or rough-hewn planks. A modest bed with homespun blankets is visible in the background. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
King's Palace
A grand and imposing royal residence, likely reflecting medieval Serbian architecture with strong stone walls, perhaps some Byzantine influences in its design. Interiors would feature large halls, richly decorated chambers, and a throne room. The overall impression is one of power, wealth, and formality.
Mood: Formal, powerful, sometimes tense, later loving and magnificent.
The King holds court here, issues his challenges, and the girl eventually lives here as Queen.
Image Prompt & Upload
A grand, high-ceilinged throne room within a medieval Serbian palace. Sunlight filters through tall, arched windows, illuminating intricate frescoes on the walls depicting historical scenes. Polished stone columns rise to support a vaulted ceiling. A large, ornate wooden throne sits on a raised dais, flanked by heavy, richly embroidered tapestries. The floor is made of large, smooth stone slabs. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
Field by the King's Road
An open agricultural field, likely with tilled earth or stubble, bordering a well-traveled road where the King often rides. The landscape would be typical of rural Serbia, perhaps with rolling hills in the distance and scattered trees.
Mood: Open, rural, a place of public display and subtle challenge.
The girl's father sows boiled beans here to deliver the girl's clever message to the King.
Image Prompt & Upload
A wide, open agricultural field under a clear morning sky in rural Serbia. The ground is a mix of freshly tilled dark earth and patches of dry grass, with small stones scattered throughout. A dusty, winding dirt road cuts through the field, leading towards a distant line of deciduous trees and gently rolling hills. The sunlight is bright and even, casting soft shadows. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
