ÉTIENNE THE CLEVER
There once was a king who had a daughter as beautiful as the day. On her way to church one Sunday, she found a bedbug on her neck. She took it and locked it in a chest. Morning and evening, she fed it with her blood. So the bedbug grew and grew, and became as strong as a small dog. But it ended up dying. What did the princess do then? She skinned the beast and gave the skin to a tanner so that he could prepare it to cover the chest. This done, the king made it trumpet everywhere that he would give his daughter in marriage to the boy who knew what animal the skin that covered the chest was.
Three years were spent waiting. Many people showed up and returned without being able to guess. This was being talked about throughout the country, so much so that one day a boy, named Étienne the Clever, said to his assembled neighbors:
"Listen. I'm going to leave for the king's castle, and I take it upon myself to guess what skin the princess's chest is covered with."
Étienne the Clever set off alone, with five saddled and bridled horses. After seven leagues, he found a man listening with his ear to the ground.
“What are you doing here, my friend?”
"Sir, I am Jean Good-Ear. I listen to what people from the other world say."
"Jean Good-Ear, come with me. Soon I will need you, and you will be well rewarded."
Jean Good-Ear therefore mounted his horse, and they set off again. After seven leagues, they found, behind a hedge, a man firing a gun.
“What are you doing here, my friend?”
"Sir, I am Pierre Good-Aimer. I shoot at the wrens, which are over there, over there, on the mountain."
"Pierre Good-Aimer, come with me. Soon I will need you, and you will be well rewarded."
So Pierre Good-Aimer mounted his horse, and they set off again. After seven leagues, they found a man holding himself with ropes.
"What are you doing here, my friend?"
"Sir, I am the Greyhound-Dog. I bind myself with ropes to chase hares. If I didn't restrain myself, I would run too fast, and I would pass them by."
"Greyhound-Dog, come with me. Soon I will need you, and you will be well rewarded."
So Greyhound-Dog mounted his horse, and they set off again. After seven leagues, they found a man bending a hundred-year-old oak tree.
“What are you doing here, my friend?”
"Sir, I am Samson the Strong. I twist this hundred-year-old oak, to make a link, to bind a bundle."
"Samson the Strong, come with me. Soon I will need you, and you will be well rewarded."
So Samson the Strong mounted his horse, and they set off again. After seven leagues, they arrived at the king's castle. But Étienne the Clever could not guess with what skin the princess' chest was covered.
They had to return as they had come. After seven leagues, Jean Good-Ear said to Étienne the Clever:
“Sir, I hear the king chatting with the princess. They say: “This one too could not have guessed that the chest is covered with the skin of a fattened bedbug."
Immediately, all five of them set off again and arrived at the king's castle.
“King,” said Étienne the Clever, “your daughter’s chest is covered with the skin of a fattened bedbug. Now you have to give me the princess in marriage."
“Étienne the Clever,” replied the king, “I and you are related. You will not marry my daughter until you go to Rome to seek dispensations from the Pope."
Immediately, all five left for Rome. But the king secretly sent a messenger, with a letter, to beg the pope not to give the dispensations. After seven leagues, Jean Good-Ear said to Étienne the Clever:
“Sir, I hear the king say: “Étienne the Clever will not have my daughter in marriage. I sent a messenger to Rome with a letter, to beg the Pope not to give the dispensations. As soon as he has the answer, he will tie it to the neck of a pigeon, so that it comes to me faster."
Étienne the Clever quickly, quickly wrote a letter to the pope. Immediately Greyhound-Dog left for Rome. When the king's messenger arrived, the dispensations were given. What did the pope do then? He wrote a letter to the king to withdraw the dispensations. This letter left, tied to the neck of a pigeon. But Pierre Good-Aimer killed the pigeon on the fly, with a shot, and Greyhound-Dog arrived with the dispensations.
All five returned to the king's castle.
— “King,” said Étienne the Clever, “here are the dispensations of the pope. Now you have to give me the princess in marriage."
"Étienne the Clever, you won’t get it. But I will give you as much gold as a man can carry."
Étienne the Clever called Samson the Strong and charged him with a hundred quintals of gold, which weighed no more than a feather cushion. Then the king said:
“Étienne the Clever, give me back my gold. I give you my daughter in marriage."
Étienne the Clever and the princess married together. John Good-Ear, Pierre Good-Aimer, Greyhound-Dog, and Samson the Strong were invited to the wedding. They returned home the next day, each with their horse loaded with gold coins.
Source: Étienne l’Habile, from the French book Contes populaires de la Gascogne, tome 2, published in 1886
Previous Tale: The Ship Walking on Land
Next Tale: The Two Girls
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
In this short tale too, the king promises his daughter in marriage to anybody that can guess something hard.
And the king also reneges on his promise when Étienne gives him the correct answer.
And Étienne was also helped by powerful friends he met while going to the king's castle.
In the future game that I am going to play, HOLOZING, the gamer will be a healer and will Play against the Environment (PvE) and will Play against other Players (PvP).
The game will use a token called ZING that is kept on the Hive Engine. It can be staked or not.
Before the launch of the game, there is currently a distribution of the ZING tokens. There are four ways to get staked ZING tokens:
- Keep ZINGs staked
- Delegate Hive Powers to
- Keep POSH tokens in your Hive Engine wallet
- Put ZING tokens and Hives in a liquidity pool.
I am currently getting staked ZING tokens using these four ways.
I delegated almost a month ago more than 200K Hive Powers to 
I keep most of my ZING tokens staked.
I do not sell my POSH tokens.
I have put some ZING tokens and Hives in the liquidity pool.
The result is that I am now the top contributor as I am the one, so far, who got the most ZING tokens.
-- Vincent Celier