A young man answered the riddles the king set a miller, and...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1978.133; SA1978.134
Original Tape ID
Summary
A young man answered the riddles the king set a miller, and married the miller's daughter.
An old miller had a very beautiful daughter. The king told the miller he would marry his daughter if the miller did not answer three riddles in a year and a day. The son of another miller had been courting the miller's daughter for a long time. He told the old miller not to worry, but to leave everything to him. When the year and a day came to an end the young man disguised himself as the miller and went to meet the king.
The king's first riddle was: what is the weight of the moon? The young man answered that as the moon had four quarters, it weighed a hundredweight. How many stars are in the heavens? The young man named a huge exact number and said that to contradict him the king would have to count them himself. What was the king thinking at that moment? The young man answered that the king was thinking he was talking to the miller. He then revealed that he was the miller's intended goodson [son-in-law]. The king was defeated and the young man married his sweetheart.
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good