The Soldier and The Hundred Hares
A King with a Dilemma
Once upon a time, there lived a king named Coimbra. King Coimbra had only one daughter, a very beautiful princess. “When the princess marries, her husband will succeed me as king, for I have no son to follow me,” the king thought to himself. “Therefore, I must be very careful who I choose as my son-in-law.” He announced that he would marry his daughter to the man who could correctly answer three riddles.
Princes, dukes, knights, earls, and barons all flocked to the palace to test their luck at answering the king’s three riddles. Each one failed, and each one was sent away in disgrace. Soon, very few suitors remained, making it seem that the princess might never get married. King Coimbra was not entirely displeased. “For,” he pondered, “it shows that there is no one worthy to succeed me. I must be a very superior king indeed.”
The Arrival of Sigmund
Then a soldier named Sigmund arrived at the palace. To the king’s great annoyance, Sigmund succeeded in answering all three riddles quite easily. King Coimbra did not want an ordinary soldier as a son-in-law, and he was furious. He devised a plan to rid himself of Sigmund.
“It will take several days to prepare the great wedding feast required for such an important person as my daughter,” said the king. “In the meantime, I shall put you in charge of my hundred hares. You will take them out to graze in the morning and bring them back at night. If you lose one, I will have your head.”
Sigmund and the Hares
Sigmund agreed and the next morning set out with the hundred hares. Upon reaching the meadow, the hares dashed off, leaping and running in all directions. “That’s alright, you can go,” Sigmund laughed, “I know how to bring you back easily enough.” He sat down to rest for an hour, then pulled out a magic pipe. When he blew on it, all the hares returned and crowded around him. After giving each one a hazel-nut twig, he lined them up and taught them military exercises.
That night, when he returned to the palace, King Coimbra was astonished to see Sigmund marching like a general with all the hares following him. The king counted and recounted the hares, but not one was missing.
A Series of Tricks
The next day, Sigmund set out again with the hares. The king, suspicious, sent a servant disguised as a peasant to follow Sigmund with orders to buy one of the hares. “If you want one of these hares,” Sigmund said, “you only need to choose it. In return, I shall beat you fifty times with my stick.” The servant accepted the beating and hurried away with his hare. However, when he was half a mile away, Sigmund blew on his magic pipe, causing the hare to leap out of the astonished servant’s arms and run back to join the others.
The following day, the king sent one of his ministers to follow Sigmund, this time disguised as a woodcutter. “You may choose the biggest and fattest hare you see,” Sigmund offered. “But in return, I shall beat you a hundred times with my stick.” The minister submitted to the beating and took his hare, only to have it escape back to the group when Sigmund played his pipe.
The King’s Final Attempt
After three days of similar events, the king decided to follow Sigmund himself, dressed as a shepherd. He also requested to buy a hare. “Take one,” said Sigmund, “but in return, you must let me give you one hundred kicks.” The king endured the kicks in silence and, as he tucked the hair inside his jacket, it tore free upon hearing the magic pipe, returning to the others.
The next morning, the king summoned Sigmund. “Dear Sigmund,” he said, “you have solved my riddles cleverly and cared for my hares diligently. Now I want you to fill this sack with truth. If you fail, I shall have your head.”
The Twist of Fate
Sigmund, aware of the king’s previous disguises, began recounting the story of the peasant who wanted a hare and received fifty strokes. At that moment, the servant who had dressed as the peasant passed by, and Sigmund blew softly on his pipe, forcing the servant to jump into the sack, crying, “It’s true! It’s true!”
Then Sigmund told the story of the woodcutter, and as he blew on the pipe again, the minister appeared and jumped into the sack, exclaiming, “It’s true!” Just as he began recounting the tale of the shepherd, the king hurriedly stopped him, not wanting to join the others in the sack. Realizing he had been outsmarted, the king conceded defeat.
“Dear Sigmund,” he said, “you are indeed a clever young man, and I am pleased that you will marry my daughter and become the next king.” The king genuinely meant it, awestruck that Sigmund had outwitted him at every turn. “He will make a worthy successor and my daughter a fine husband,” he thought, content with the outcome.