An Intelligent Man Who Slew A 3-Headed Monster
Once upon a time, there was a poor family, and the mother was the head of the family. The mother had two sons. Since the family was impoverished, the elder one decided to leave the house and wanted to earn some money for his family.
The elder one told her mom that he wanted to earn some money so that they could live a good life. His mother’s eyes swelled with happy tears. On hearing this, the mother said,
“Only 5 pieces of bread are available at home, do you want all of it, or do you want to share with us?”
Without a second thought, the elder son told her,
“I have to go a long way in search of a job and I don’t know when I will come back, so I will take all of it, mother.”
The mother just smiled and gave all 5 pieces of bread.
Before he left, the elder one gave the younger one a sword and told him,
“If I don’t come back — that means I am in danger; Another important thing is that this sword will become red if I am in danger — so watch out for this one, brother.”
The younger one said, “yes, brother I will always keep an eye on this.”
The elder one left the house and started his journey for the job.
He started his travel. On his way, he saw one poor, old woman begging on the streets. The poor, old woman asked him for some food.
“I have just 5 pieces of bread if you want I will give you all of them,” he said
The penniless woman profusely refused after he explained his situation.
Without any bad feelings, he left the place and resumed his expedition. After he began his stroll for a while, he saw an old man with a lot of sheep. He surprised — and asked the old man,
“whose sheep are these?”
The old man said, “these sheep belong to a 3-headed monster.”
For a second, the elder one was shocked.
He was surprised and also a little worried after he found out that there is a 3-headed monster on his route. He left him and started his journey again.
As he started walking, the old man started singing a song.
“Oh, my beautiful princess!”
“Why did you refuse to marry him?”
“Why have you got trapped in the 3-headed monster’s jail?”
“Who’s going to save you now?”
The old man hinted at him obliquely about the state of the princess. He didn’t care about this, and he started his journey again.
After going some distance, he noticed a few outrageous animals were coming at him aggressively from a far distance. All of those animals look very unfamiliar — violent — strange — and most importantly, so frightening. The penetrative eyes of those animals send chills down his spine.
He started running at the mere sight of these violent beasts running towards him. He didn’t know where he was running, but he was completely petrified and wanted to escape as quickly as possible.
After he ran some distance, he reached an old bungalow which looked — dreadful, but he thought it was better for him to take shelter in that big bungalow for that day to avoid those bloodthirsty monsters.
Without asking anyone, he entered that horror-struck bungalow. He heard some noise in the kitchen and it seemed there was someone. He ran to the kitchen. There he saw an old woman cooking something. He told the old woman about his situation.
On hearing the situation, the old woman said,
“I have no objection if you want to stay in this bungalow, but this bungalow belongs to the 3-headed monster — it’s not safe for you to stay here.”
After contemplating for a while, he said to the old woman,
“It is okay I will stay here, but hide me somewhere where the 3-headed monster can’t find me.”
The old woman took him and hid him in a small cupboard. Momentarily, the 3-headed monster in the bungalow sniffed some human smell in his sleep. Immediately he woke up and started yelling,
“Human scent, human scent, human scent.”
The 3-headed monster looked all-around to find the human. Finally, he found him in the cupboard and dragged him outside with his hair. The man requested the beast to show some mercy.
The 3-headed monster gave him a choice that if he could answer his 2 puzzles, then he could leave — but if not — then he would become a statue in his cell.
The man agreed to the proposition. The 3-headed monster started asking,
“What becomes dangerous as it becomes smaller?”
“Which non-living thing carries the living thing?”
The man obviously didn’t know the answers. As per the agreement, the 3-headed monster turned him into a statue and put the statue in a cell.
Meanwhile, at home, the sword turned red. The younger one noticed it and said to his mom,
“Mother, brother is in danger; I have to go.”
Mother said, “only 5 pieces of bread are at home.”
Immediately, her son replied,
“It’s okay mother, we will share these slices of bread evenly.”
His mother felt happy with his words and blessed him to come back with a victory.
As he started his journey, he saw the same poor, old woman on his travel, and she asked him for food.
Without any questions, he gave some part of his food to the poor, old woman. The old woman was enchanted by his gesture and rewarded him with the magic staff and disappeared at once.
On his expedition, he ran into the same old man and listened to his story and promised him that he would come back with the princess.
As he resumed his walk, he noticed the same group of nasty animals running towards him. Without any fear, he walked forward. All these nasty animals became so scared looking at this man coming forward and started running backward and gradually disappeared.
Finally, he reached the bungalow. Standing at the front gate, he yelled,
“who is there in the house?”
The old woman came outside and told him that this is not a place for humans. As soon as the young man came to the house, the 3-headed monster started yelling again,
“Human scent, human scent, human scent.”
And there at the front gate, the 3-headed monster saw the young man and gave him the same option as he did with his elder brother if he wanted to live.
The young man said, “yes,” with no fear. The 3-headed monster noticed his audacity and was taken aback for a while, but then started asking his 2 puzzles.
“What becomes dangerous as it becomes smaller?”
The young man said, “A bridge.”
The 3-headed monster took a step back with his answer.
“Which non-living thing carries the living thing?”
The young man replied, “A boat.”
The 3-headed monster was shocked by his intelligence.
Without wasting time, he took his sword out of his bag and slew the 3-headed monster at once. The old woman cherished the death of the 3-headed monster and took the young man to a cell where the monster jailed the princess and there he released the princess.
With so much gratitude, the princess said,
“Thank you, thank you so much for the help.”
“My father will reward you for your bravery.”
The young man said,
“It is my duty to save my princess, my lady; I take this as a great honor.”
Without wasting time, all three headed to a room where his brother became a statue. Upon seeing his brother become a statue, he took out his magic staff and turned him into a human again.
After turning into a human — his elder brother hugged him with so much love and affection. Later, all three started returning to the King’s landing.
On the occasion of their return, the king announced his daughter’s marriage with the younger brother.
And thereafter, the poor (or not so poor) family lives happily ever after.