Then the king gave him thirty eggs and said, ‘Take these eggs to your daughter, and tell her that if she bring forth chickens from the eggs, I will make her rich presents; but if she fails, then I will have you tortured.’
The poor man went back to his cottage weeping, and told all this to his daughter. The girl saw at once that the eggs which the king had sent had been boiled, but she told her father to go to sleep quietly, and she would take care for everything. The father did as she said, and, whilst he slept, she took a pot, filled it with water and beans, and boiled them.
Next morning she told her father to take a plough and oxen, and go to plough in a wood near to which the king would pass. ‘When you see the king coming,’ said she, ‘take a handful of beans, and begin to sow, shouting, “Go on, my oxen, and God grant that the boiled beans may bear fruit!” When the king asks you, “How can you expect boiled beans to grow?” answer him, “Just as much as from boiled eggs to hatch chickens!”’
The poor man listened to his daughter, and went to plough. When the king came near, he began to shout, ‘Ho ho, my oxen! go on! and God grant that these boiled beans may bring me a good crop!’
The king, hearing these words, stopped his carriage, and said to the poor man, ‘Poor fellow, how can boiled beans bear a crop?’
‘Just as well as boiled eggs can bring forth chickens,’ answered the man.
The king saw that his daughter had taught him what to say, and he ordered his servants to bring the man before him. Then the king gave him a bunch of flax, saying, ‘Take this, and make from it all the sails a ship needs. If you do not, you shall lose your life.’
The poor man took the bunch of flax with great fear, and returned weeping to the cottage to tell his daughter, who bade him go to sleep quietly. Next morning she gave him a small piece of wood, and told him to take it to the king and demand that, from this piece of wood, all the tools needful for spinning and weaving should be made. ‘Then,’ continued she, ‘I will make all that he has ordered me.’
The king was surprised, and considered a moment what to do. At last he said, ‘Take this little glass to your daughter, and tell her she must empty the sea with it, so that dry land shall be where the water now is.’
The poor man took the little cup to his daughter, and, weeping, told her all the king required. The girl bade him be quiet till morning, and then she would do all that was needed. Next morning she called her father, gave him a pound of tow, and said, ‘Take this to the king, and tell him that with this tow he must first stop all the sources of the rivers and lakes, and then I will dry up the sea.’