In ancient times, there was a beloved prince named Prince Adam. One day, during a journey to another kingdom, Prince Adam became separated from his soldiers. After walking for a long time on his donkey, he felt the fatigue, so he sat to rest under a tree. He had felt the hunger, so he took out a piece of food from his bag and found an ant on it. He placed it on the ground and took out another piece and found two ants on it, so he placed it, and he took out a third piece and found three ants on it, so he placed it with the others. He didn’t realize that the ants had gathered on all his food.
But the prince smiled despite his sadness and said to the ants, “You are feeling the hunger. So eat my food, then laugh and don’t expect to hear the answer.” But the surprise was that the ant answered him saying, “You are very generous. Why do you ask from me so I go with you?” So the prince was amazed and said to the ant, “Do you speak?” She answered him that she understood his speech and she could speak, and she was the queen of these ants. She could fulfill for him what he wanted right away for his generosity.
But the prince told her that he wanted everything, and the ant said to him that he missed one thing, which was his capacity.
The prince was amazed and didn’t understand the ant’s speech. So she said to him that there was a beautiful princess living in a great neighboring kingdom called Princess Lalo, and the oracle said that the princess would marry from a generous man. And the ant said to the princess that she felt that he was the destined one, and that he would harm her when he found the princess, and that what he must do was to find any ant when he reached the princess and ask from her to show him the queen of the ants.
He rode for another time until he met a tiger crying in the forest. So Prince Adam came down from above his horse and found a thorn in the tiger’s hand. So he took it out, and he took out another thorn and found two thorns on it, so he placed it, and he took out a third thorn and found three thorns on it, so he placed it with the others. He didn’t realize that the ants had gathered on all his food.
But the prince smiled from the sadness and said to the ants, “You are feeling the hunger. So eat my food then laugh, and don’t expect to hear the answer.” But the surprise was that the ant answered him saying, “You are very generous. Why do you ask from me so I go with you?” So the prince was amazed and said to the ant, “Do you speak?” She answered him that she understood his speech and she could speak, and she was the queen of these ants. She could fulfill for him what he wanted right away for his generosity.
But the prince told her that he wanted everything, and the ant said to him that he missed one thing, which was his capacity.
The prince was amazed and didn’t understand the ant’s speech. So she said to him that there was a beautiful princess living in a great neighboring kingdom called Princess Lalo, and the oracle said that the princess would marry from a generous man. And the ant said to the princess that she felt that he was the destined one, and that he would harm her when he found the princess, and that what he must do was to find any ant when he reached the princess and ask from her to show him the queen of the ants.
He rode for another time until he met a tiger crying in the forest. So Prince Adam came down from above his horse and found a thorn in the tiger’s hand. So he took it out, and the tiger said to him, “You are a kind man and generous to the story.” The prince was amazed because the tiger spoke and before he spoke a word, the tiger said to him, “Where are you going?” He answered him that he was searching for the princess Lalo.
So the tiger said to him, “The oracle says that a man who is generous with a heart of gold will marry her, and she will live behind the trees of the forest and the high mountains. And you must ride until you meet a man who is generous, and you must tell him about your substitute with the queen of the ants and the tiger, and he will give you what he needs. And in the end, he will help you to reach the princess, and all you must do is to ask the trees about him.”
He rode Prince Adam for another time until he met a generous man sitting under a tree. So he came down from above his horse’s back and went to the generous man. When the generous man saw him, he looked in his eyes and said to him that he was the oracle, and he gave him a walking stick, and he gave him a stick also and a walking stick, and he said to him, “This walking stick is magical and will give you water if you want to drink.”
Prince Adam left his horse and sat on the bed which the generous man had given him, and flew above the forest until he reached the kingdom of Princess Lalo. He came down in the forest to rest a little. So he found a generous man sitting and feeling the fear. So he took out the magical clothes and gave them to the generous man, and he drank until he recovered. So the generous man thanked him and told him that he knew that he had come for the sake of the princess, and that he couldn’t remain here because the king prevented the entering of the strangers, for the strangers used to come every day to marry from the princess, but no person could reach her.
The prince was amazed at these words, so the generous man told him that the kingdom didn’t have doors because the princess was the one who created the kingdom, and that when she died, the fairy rose from her and cast upon her with her magic a spell that harmed the kingdom, and that whoever would marry her must perform three missions.
And these missions were: to extract the oil from 80 tons of olives in one night, and to carry two baskets, and place the existing one at the highest point in the mountain. The prince thought about his friends, and immediately the queen of the ants asked him to prepare ants from the ants to extract the oil in one night. And indeed they began to execute the mission, and Prince Adam went to the queen with him a large amount of the oil.
The king was amazed and thought that this prince would fulfill the oracle. So he asked him the second mission. And in the water, Prince Adam prepared the bed to carry the prince with two baskets, and in the water, Prince Adam entered the bed with him the tiger. And immediately the tiger attacked the two baskets and defeated them. The king rejoiced and asked from Prince Adam to fulfill the third mission.
But the prince didn’t feel any sadness. And immediately he rode on the magical bed and flew until he reached the top of the mountain and began to beat the barrel whose voice came out like the voice of the thunder. So the king rejoiced and decided that he would marry his daughter from the generous prince Prince Adam with the kind heart, and he lived with him in continuous happiness.
Translated from: The Magic Bed