A father had two sons. The older son was clever, but the younger son was considered stupid. He couldn't learn anything. Most importantly, he didn't understand what it meant to be afraid. When people told scary stories that made them shake, the boy would say, “I don’t understand. I want to learn how to shudder!”
One day, his father told him, “You are growing up. You must learn a job to earn money.”
The boy replied, “Father, I want to learn how to shudder. That is all I want.”
The father was annoyed, so he sent the boy to live with the sexton at the church. One night, the sexton decided to play a trick. He told the boy to ring the church bell at midnight. The sexton dressed in a white sheet to look like a ghost and stood on the stairs.
The boy saw the white figure and shouted, “Who are you? Speak or I will throw you down the stairs!” The "ghost" stayed silent. The boy pushed him, and the sexton fell and broke his leg. The father was very angry and told the boy to leave home. He gave him fifty gold coins and said, “Go into the world and don't tell anyone who your father is.”
The boy began his journey, constantly saying, “If I could only learn to shudder!”
He met many people who tried to frighten him. He spent a night under a tree where seven dead men were hanging, but he wasn't afraid. He even tried to warm their cold bodies by his fire.
Eventually, he came to an inn. The innkeeper told him about a haunted castle nearby. The King had promised that anyone who could stay there for three nights would marry his beautiful daughter and get a great treasure. Many had tried, but no one had ever come out alive.
The boy went to the King and said, “I will try.” He asked for three things: a fire, a wood-turning machine, and a cutting board with a knife.
The First Night:
At midnight, two huge black cats jumped into the room. They had glowing eyes and long claws. “Let’s play cards!” they screamed.
“Sure,” said the boy, “but first, let me cut your long nails.” He caught them and killed them. Then, many more black cats and dogs appeared with red-hot chains. They made a terrible noise, but the boy fought them off with his knife. Later, his bed started moving around the castle like a fast carriage, but he just laughed and went to sleep.
The Second Night:
Half of a man fell down the chimney, followed by the other half. The two parts joined together! Then other men arrived and played bowling with dead men’s legs and skulls. The boy joined the game. When he saw the skulls weren't round, he used his machine to make them perfect. He lost some money but had a good time.
The Third Night:
Six men brought in a coffin. The boy thought it was his dead cousin. He tried to warm the body in the bed, but when the dead man woke up and tried to kill him, the boy put him back in the coffin.
Then, a giant old man with a long white beard appeared. He challenged the boy to a test of strength at an anvil. The boy was stronger. He trapped the giant’s beard in the metal and beat him until the giant promised to show him the treasure. In the cellar, the boy found three chests of gold.
The next morning, the King arrived. He was surprised to see the boy alive. “You have saved the castle!” the King said. “You shall marry my daughter.”
The boy was happy, but he still said, “I still don't know what it is to shudder!”
After the wedding, the young King was still complaining about it. His new wife became tired of hearing it. One night, while he was sleeping, her maid brought a bucket of cold water full of tiny, jumping fish. The Queen pulled off the blankets and poured the cold water over him.
The little fish started jumping all over him. The King woke up and shouted, “Oh! I am shuddering! I am shuddering, dear wife! Now, at last, I know what it means!”