GOOD BOWLING AND CARD PLAYING

Once upon a time there was an old king who had the most beautiful daughter in the world. One day he announced: "Whoever can keep watch in my old castle for three nights can have the princess for his bride."

Now, there was a young man from a poor family who thought to himself, "Why not risk my life? I've got nothing to lose, and a lot to win. What's there to think about?"

So he appeared before the king and offered to keep watch in the castle for three nights.

"You may request three things to take with you into the castle, but they have to be lifeless objects," the king said.

"Well, I'd like to take a carpenter's bench with a knife, a lathe, and fire."

All of these things were carried into the castle for him. When it turned dark, he himself went inside. At first everything was quiet. He built a fire, placed the carpenter's bench with the knife next to it, and sat down at the lathe. Toward midnight, however, a rumbling could be heard, first softly, then more loudly: "Bif! Baf! Hehe! Holla ho!"

It became more dreadful, and then it was somewhat quiet. Finally, a leg came down the chimney and stood right before him.

"Hey, there!" the young man cried out. "How about some more? One is too little."

The noise began once again. Another leg fell down the chimney and then another and another, until there were nine.

"That's enough now. I've got enough for bowling, but there are no balls. Out with them!"

There was a tremendous uproar, and two skulls fell down the chimney. He put them in the lathe and turned them until they were smooth. "Now they'll roll much better!"

Then he did the same with the legs and set them up like bowling pins.

"Hey, now I can have some fun!"

Suddenly two large black cats appeared and strode around the fire. "Meow! Meow!" they screeched. "We're freezing! We're freezing!"

"You fools! What are you screaming about? Sit down by the fire and warm yourselves."

After the cats had warmed themselves, they said, "Good fellow, we want to play a round of cards."

"All right," he replied, "but show me your paws. You've got such long claws that I've got to give them a good clipping before we begin."

Upon saying this, he grabbed them by the scruffs of their necks and lifted them to the carpenter's bench. There he fastened them to the vise and beat them to death. Afterward he carried them outside and threw them into a pond that lay across from the castle. Just as he returned to the castle and wanted to settle down and warm himself by the fire, many black cats and dogs came out of every nook and cranny, more and more, so that he couldn't hide himself. They screamed, stamped on the fire, and kicked it about so that the fire went out. So he grabbed his carving knife and yelled, "Get out of here, you riffraff!"

And he began swinging the knife. Most of the cats and dogs ran away. The others were killed, and he carried them out and threw them into the pond. Then he went back inside to the fire and blew the sparks so that the fire began again and he could warm himself.

After he had warmed himself, he was tired and lay down on a large bed that stood in a corner. Just as he wanted to fall asleep, the bed began to stir and raced around the entire castle.

"That's fine with me. Just keep it up!"

So the bed drove around as though six horses were pulling it over stairs and landings: "Bing bang!"

It turned upside down, from top to bottom, and he was beneath it. So he flung the blankets and pillows into the air and jumped off.

"Anyone who wants a ride can have one!"

Then he lay down next to the fire until dawn.

In the morning the king arrived, and when he saw the young man lying asleep, he thought he was dead and said, "What a shame."

But when the young man heard these words, he awoke, and as soon as he saw the king, he stood up. Then the king asked him how things had gone during the night.

"Quite well. One night's gone by smoothly, the other two will go by as well."

Indeed, the other nights were just like the first. But he already knew what to do, and so on the fourth day, he was rewarded with the king's beautiful daughter.