Episode 106
In this special episode Landon reads a folk tale his grandmother, Elizabeth A. Szabo, translated into English way before he was even a twinkle in MY eye!
THE KING’S GOLDEN LAMB
Long ago, in the kingdom of Hungary, lived a King named Matthias. The people of Hungary loved their king because he was such a good king and very, very just.
The king of Prussia had heard that King Matthias owned a golden-fleeced lamb, and so together with his daughter, a beautiful princess, he decided to pay a visit to King Matthias.
“We hear you own a beautiful, golden-fleeced lamb, King Matthias. Is this true?”
“Of course it is true!” answered King Matthias. “The golden lamb is in my flock.
And the shepherd who tends my flock has never been known to tell a lie.”
“That is hard to believe, my good king. A shepherd who has never been known to tell a lie?”
“Never!” insisted King Matthias.
“I cannot believe it,” said the King of Prussia. “I will prove to you that your shepherd will lie if he must save his own head.”
“No power on earth will make him tell me anything but the truth.”
“I’ll set a trap for him,” decided the visiting king.
“You will still not be able to make him tell a lie. I’ll give you half of my kingdom if you succeed,” King Matthias said.
“If I cannot make your shepherd tell a lie, I will give you half of my kingdom,” answered the King of Prussia.
So the two kings shook hands and said good night to each other. Then the King of Prussia and his daughter went to their rooms for the night.
But instead of staying there, the Prussian King dressed himself up in peasant clothes and went out to find the shepherd.
“The shepherd will never know me dressed up this way, and I shall set a trap for him,” thought the Prussian King.
When the King found the shepherd tending the flock, he spoke to him in a friendly
way.
“Welcome, Your Majesty!” replied the shepherd.
“But how do you know I am a king?”
“It is easy enough to tell you are a king from the way you talk, Your Majesty.”
The King decided he would try to set his trap for the shepherd anyway.
“If you will give me the golden lamb from King Matthias’ flock, I in turn will give
you a large sum of money and a carriage of six horses besides.”
“No! No! Your Majesty! Not for the whole world would I give you the good King’s golden lamb. It would be a terrible punishment I would receive if I did.”
The King of Prussia offered the shepherd even more gold and greater riches if only he would give him the golden lamb. But the shepherd answered him again in the same way.
“No! No, Your Majesty! Not for the whole world would I give you the good King’s golden lamb.”
Sadly, the King of Prussia returned to his room. His daughter saw how sad he was and tried to comfort him. “Do not be so sad, my father, I will go myself to the shepherd and perhaps I can get the golden lamb for you. I will take along a bag of gold.”
“No gold will win him over, my child. I offered him great riches and still he would not give me the golden lamb.”
“Perhaps the ways of a woman are different, Father.”
And so the Prussian King’s beautiful daughter went out to look for the shepherd, taking the gold with her. When she found the shepherd, she offered him the bag of gold if he would give her the golden lamb from King Matthias’ flock.
“No, no, my fair lady, I cannot. I have no need of the money, and besides, not for the whole world would I give you the golden lamb. The King would punish me if he found his golden lamb was missing.”
“If you will not give me the golden lamb,” said the Prussian King’s daughter, “let us at least be merry this night.” And the beautiful princess laughed and joked with the shepherd until he could no longer resist her beauty. The shepherd begged her for first one kiss and then another and still another. The poor shepherd was lost to her beauty and charm.
“You must give me the fleece from the golden lamb,” she told the shepherd.
And since the shepherd could no longer resist her wishes, he killed the lamb and gave her the golden fleece from it.
When she returned to her father he rejoiced in his good fortune. The trap had been set. Now surely the shepherd must tell King Matthias a lie in order to save himself from punishment.
The next morning found the shepherd with a very troubled heart. How would he be able to tell the good King about the loss of the golden lamb? As he walked toward the palace he tried to think of a lie that would save him from punishment. On the road, the shepherd stopped often, for he did not want to reach the palace before he had thought up a good lie to tell the good King Matthias. Once he paused near an anthill and began digging his shepherd’s stick into it. He placed his hat on top of the stick and pretended he was before the king.
“Your Majesty,” said the shepherd to the hat.
“What news do you bring me about my flock?” said the king (the hat).
“Nothing new, Your Majesty, except the golden lamb is lost. A wolf came along and ate it up.” But when the shepherd spoke this lie, he was afraid for he knew the good King would not believe him.
“A lie!” (said the hat). “You have told me a lie for the wolf would have eaten the whole flock.”
The shepherd walked on and as he was getting closer to the palace, he found another anthill. He stuck his stick into it and again placed his hat on top.
“Your Majesty!” said the shepherd to the hat.
“What news do you bring me about my flock?” asked the King (the hat).
“Nothing new, Your Majesty, except that the golden lamb is lost. It drowned in
the well.” But when he spoke this lie he was afraid again.
“A lie!” said the hat. “You have told me a lie for the others too would have fallen
in.”
The shepherd walked on and he was getting closer still to the palace. Again he
found an anthill. He stuck his stick into it and again placed his hat on top.
“Your Majesty!” said the shepherd to the hat.
“What news do you bring me about my flock?” said the King (the hat).
“Nothing new, Your Majesty, except that the golden lamb has been stolen!”
“A lie!” (said the hat). “A lie for the whole flock would have been stolen, too.”
The shepherd pulled the stick from the anthill and walked on, never stopping until he reached the good king’s palace. There he found King Matthias and the King of Prussia and his daughter having dinner. He bowed to the two Kings and the beautiful princess.
“Your Majesty!” said the shepherd.
Now the King of Prussia had already showed King Matthias the golden fleece which his daughter brought to him the night before, and the King and his daughter were waiting to see what kind of lie the shepherd would tell King Matthias. It would cost King Matthias half of his kingdom.
“What news do you bring me about my flock?” asked the King.
“No news, Your Majesty, except that I have traded the golden lamb for a lovely black one.”
“Then bring in the lamb!” shouted King Matthias.
“There she is,” said the shepherd pointing to the princess, “sitting between you, Your Majesty, and the King of Prussia.”
“Bravo!” cried the King, “and because you have not told a lie, I have won, from the King of Prussia, half of his kingdom. It will be yours my truth-loving shepherd.”
“And I,” said the King of Prussia, “will give you my daughter for your wife since there is love between you anyway.”
And this is how the shepherd, who never told a lie, became the King of Prussia.
