` Hallo ! Where are you carrying that straw to ? ' ` To the village , ' said the man . ` Do you mean to say there is no straw in the village ? ' ` Ah ! but this is quite a peculiar straw . If you strew it about even in the hottest summer the air at once becomes cold , and snow falls , and the people freeze . ' Then the Simpleton asked him also to join them . At last the ship , with its strange crew , arrived at the King 's Court . The King was having his dinner , but he at once despatched one of his courtiers to find out what the huge , strange new bird could be that had come flying through the air . The courtier peeped into the ship , and , seeing what it was , instantly went back to the King and told him that it was a flying ship , and that it was manned by a few peasants . Then the King remembered his royal oath ; but he made up his mind that he would never consent to let the Princess marry a poor peasant . So he thought and thought , and then said to himself : ' I will give him some impossible tasks to perform ; that will be the best way of getting rid of him . ' And he there and then decided to despatch one of his courtiers to the Simpleton , with the command that he was to fetch the King the healing water from the world 's end before he had finished his dinner . But while the King was still instructing the courtier exactly what he was to say , the first man of the ship 's company , the one with the miraculous power of hearing , had overheard the King 's words , and hastily reported them to the poor Simpleton . ` Alas , alas ! ' he cried ; ` what am I to do now ? It would take me quite a year , possibly my whole life , to find the water . ' ` Never fear , ' said his fleet-footed comrade , ' I will fetch what the King wants . ' Just then the courtier arrived , bearing the King 's command .
` Tell his Majesty , ' said the Simpleton , ` that his orders shall be obeyed ; ` and forthwith the swift runner unbound the foot that was strung up behind his ear and started off , and XXXXX less than no time had reached the world 's end and drawn the healing water from the well .
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