But he only chose from them all the three that the emperor had described . These he secured by a silken rope to his own horse , and then looked about for the cypress tree . It was standing by itself in one corner , and in a moment he was beside it , tearing away the earth with his knife . Deeper and deeper he dug , till far down , below the roots of brass , his knife struck upon the buried treasure , which lay heaped up in bags all around . With a great effort he lifted them from their hiding place , and laid them one by one on his horses ' backs , and when they could carry no more he led them back to the emperor . And when the emperor saw him , he wondered , but never guessed how it was the young man had been too clever for him , till the betrothal ceremony was over . Then he asked his newly made son-in-law what dowry he would require with his bride . To which the bridegroom made answer , ` Noble emperor ! all I desire is that I may have your daughter for my wife , and enjoy for ever the use of your enchanted knife . ' -LRB- Volksmarchen der Serben . -RRB- JESPER WHO HERDED THE HARES There was once a king who ruled over a kingdom somewhere between sunrise and sunset . It was as small as kingdoms usually were in old times , and when the king went up to the roof of his palace and took a look round he could see to the ends of it in every direction . But as it was all his own , he was very proud of it , and often wondered how it would get along without him . He had only one child , and that was a daughter , so he foresaw that she must be provided with a husband who would be fit to be king after him . Where to find one rich enough and clever enough to be a suitable match for the princess was what troubled him , and often kept him awake at night . At last he devised a plan . He made a proclamation over all his kingdom -LRB- and asked his nearest neighbours to publish it in theirs as well -RRB- that whoever could bring him a dozen of the finest pearls the king had ever seen , and could perform certain tasks that would be set him , should have his daughter in marriage and in due time succeed to the throne . The pearls , he thought , could only be brought by a very wealthy man , and the tasks would require unusual talents to accomplish them . There were plenty who tried to fulfil the terms which the king proposed . Rich merchants and foreign princes presented themselves one after the other , so that some days the number of them was quite annoying ; but , though they could all produce magnificent pearls , not one of them could perform even the simplest of the tasks set them .
Some turned up , too , who were mere adventurers , and tried to deceive the old king XXXXX imitation pearls ; but he was not to be taken in so easily , and they were soon sent about their business .
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