The Riddling Tale

Three brothers, poor and wandering, come upon a king's offer: answer his riddle and marry his eldest daughter; fail, and be hanged. The first brother attempts and dies. The second tries and perishes. The third brother, the youngest, resolves to try. The king's riddle is this: "One killed none, yet killed twelve; one went to the gallows, yet was not hanged; one lay in the water three days and three nights yet did not drown; and one ate and drank and yet starved." The young man, through wit and observation of the natural world, answers thus: the riddle concerns famine. A famine kills none directly yet brings death to twelve (the king's knights, it is implied). The famine itself was hanged in effigy to ward off evil. In famine, bread lies in water—hard bread soaked in water—yet cannot save the starving. A man may eat and drink the poorest fare, yet if food is scarce, he starves. The king, astonished and bound by his oath, grants the youth his daughter's hand. Through wit and understanding of justice—answering fairly what was fairly asked—the young man claims his reward. Commutative justice, the exchange of equal values, is satisfied. The youth has given wisdom for a wife, a fair trade that benefits both giver and receiver.