Two princes once went out to seek their fortune, but they spent their money foolishly and could not return home. Their younger brother, whom they called "Simpleton," went out to find them. When he finally found them, they laughed at him. "How can you succeed in the world when we are much smarter than you?" they said.
Still, the three traveled together. First, they saw an ant-hill. The older brothers wanted to destroy it, but Simpleton said, "Leave the poor things alone. Let them enjoy themselves."
Next, they saw ducks swimming on a lake. The brothers wanted to kill and roast them. "Leave them alone," Simpleton said. Finally, they found a bees' nest full of honey. The brothers wanted to burn the tree to kill the bees. "Leave the pretty insects alone," Simpleton said again.
Eventually, they arrived at a castle where everything was made of stone. Even the horses in the stables were made of marble. They found a small, grey man who gave them food and beds. The next morning, the man showed them a stone table with three tasks to break the spell on the castle.
The first task was to find a thousand pearls hidden in the moss of the forest. If they failed to find them all before sunset, they would turn into stone. The two older brothers tried, but they failed and became stone statues.
When it was Simpleton’s turn, he felt very sad because the task was impossible. He sat on a stone and cried. Suddenly, the ant-king appeared with five thousand ants. Because Simpleton had saved their home, the ants found every single pearl for him.
The second task was to find the key to the princess's bedroom at the bottom of the lake. The ducks he had saved swam over and dived down to get the key for him.
The final task was the hardest. He had to identify the youngest of the king’s three daughters. They were all beautiful and looked exactly alike. The only difference was that the eldest had eaten sugar, the second had eaten syrup, and the youngest had eaten honey.
The queen of the bees, whom Simpleton had saved from the fire, flew into the room. She smelled the lips of the three sisters and sat on the mouth of the one who had eaten honey.
The spell was broken! The stone statues turned back into people. Simpleton married the youngest princess and became king, and they all lived in peace.