The Wicked Is Taken In His Own Snare

This tale has been adapted from the original for readability:

There was once a boy called Pass-all-king-fo’-wise, and his father was a king with so many wives that he barely noticed when one of them went missing. She slipped away and hid in an old farm house, living there quietly until the other wives’ children were grown. One day those older children came to clear the land near the farm house, and the hidden wife was ashamed to see how big they were while her own child was still small. So she fled with her son, travelled far, and came upon a great ant hill. She climbed to the top, sat down, and sighed that she wished her child were strong enough to do work like the others. The ant hill spoke, promising not strength, but sense and riches. She agreed, and in no time her son grew into a man of wealth, with a fine house, servants, and advisers.

When the king heard that the wife he had lost had a splendid, successful son, he sent a messenger to bring them back. But the messenger was a wicked man, and he warned the king that this son would take the country from him unless he was killed. The king did not want to murder his own blood outright, so he chose a different path. He would set the boy special trials, and if he failed, then he would die.

The first trial was a tall tree with sweet fruit that nobody dared to pick, because it swarmed with stinging ants. The king told the boy that by morning every fruit must be picked and piled beneath the tree, or he would be killed. The boy agreed, went straight to the ant hill, and told it what had happened. The ant hill called its ants, and through the night they picked until the fruit was gathered in a heap. At dawn the king found the work done, said nothing, and sent the boy away.

The wicked messenger was not finished. He told the king that his herd of cattle had multiplied until there were more than a hundred, and that the boy must point out the very first cow the king had bought, or die. The king repeated the demand. The boy agreed, but told them not to open the cattle enclosure until the sun stood high. Then he went again to the ant hill. This time the ant hill sent for a butterfly and ordered it to help. The butterfly told the boy that when the cattle were lined up, it would circle and land on the first cow. When the hour came, the herd was arranged in rows, the boy watched a moment, saw the butterfly settle, and pointed straight to the right animal. Everyone marvelled at his wisdom.

Still the messenger pressed on. He had a pit dug deep, with sharp blades and broken glass set all around, and a chair placed over it as bait. The boy was summoned and told to sit and talk. He walked up, then said he never sat anywhere until he tested the spot. The king hesitated, but agreed. The boy took a heavy stick and struck at the chair, and at once it tipped and fell into the hidden hole. The boy did not sit; he went home.

The messenger said this was the last chance, and the king let him try. The boy was called again, and they laid out a mat, saying they would crown him king. They told him to lie down, wrapped him tight so he could not move, weighed him with heavy stones, and planned to throw him into deep water and leave him there for three days, claiming this was the way of crowning. But the boy had come with a servant. Just as they were about to carry out their plan, the servant cried out that he had forgotten something a mile away. At once the others began to say the same, even the king, and they all rushed off in confusion, as if their minds had been pulled loose.

When they were gone, the boy called a small child nearby. The child came and untied the ropes, and the boy slipped free. He filled the mat with heavy stones, tied it again exactly as before, and quietly made his way home. Soon the servant returned, and the king and his people came back with him. They lifted the mat, believed the boy still inside, and threw it into the deep water.

Three days later they heard drumming and celebration from the boy’s town. When the third day ended, the boy rode out wearing a crown, with a great company following him, all rejoicing. He returned to his father’s town, gathered the people, and said he had come to tell them what he had seen when he died. The people believed him. He said that after he was thrown into the water, he met the one who crowned him, and that person told him, “When you go back, you must crown the messenger in the same way.”

At that, the wicked messenger tried to run, but the people seized him. They wrapped him in a mat, tied him so he could not escape, loaded him with heavy stones, and sank him in the water, and he died. And that is why it is no good to plot evil against an innocent person.