Once upon a time there were three brothers who were knights
in a certain kingdom. Now there was a Princess in a neighboring kingdom
who was of marriageable age. The three brothers set off to travel there
and see if one of them could win her hand. They set off in full armour,
with their horses and their page. The road was long and there were many
obstacles along the way, robbers to be overcome, hard terrain to cross.
As they coped with each obstacle they became more and more disgusted with
their page. He was not only inept, he was a coward, he could not handle
the horses, he was in short a complete flop. When they arrived at the
court of the kingdom, they found that they were expected to present the
Princess with some treasure. The two older brothers were discouraged,
since they had not thought of this and were unprepared. The youngest,
however, had the answer: Promise her anything, but give her our page.