An injured soldier, loyal to his king, was cast out after failing to be useful during the war. He felt betrayed and left the palace, walking across the kingdom in search of a way to earn a living. While on his journey, he entered a forest and came across a witch’s house.
He begged for food and a place to stay for the night.
The witch agreed but told him he would have to dig around her house. The soldier readily agreed. The next day, he worked hard but couldn’t finish the task. The witch offered him another day if he chopped a pile of wood into small pieces. He agreed.
The next day, he chopped the wood as instructed.
The witch was pleased and offered him another day on the condition that he help her find a blue light that had fallen into a dried well in her backyard. The next day, she took him to the well and placed him in a basket at the bottom. Upon finding the blue light, he signaled her to pull him up. When the basket neared the surface, the witch reached out for the light, but the soldier saw her plan and stretched the light out of her reach. She was angered and dropped him, sending him crashing to the bottom of the well.
The moist soil protected him from injury.
Thinking he was about to die, he reached into his pocket and found some rolled tobacco. He lit the tobacco with the blue light and blew a circle of smoke. A little dwarf appeared and asked for his commands.
The soldier asked the dwarf to take him out of the well.
The dwarf led him through an underground passage where the witch had hidden plenty of gold. The soldier took a large amount with him before reaching the surface. Then he ordered the dwarf to blind the witch, and she became blind.
Next, the soldier got the best furnished home and finest clothes for himself.
He summoned the dwarf again and ordered him to fetch the king’s daughter to do his chores. This was his plan to take revenge on the king. The dwarf obeyed and brought the princess, who was still asleep. She was hypnotized into doing all the tasks the soldier asked. Each night, the dwarf returned the princess to the palace.
After some time, the princess told the king about her strange dreams.
The king asked her to carry a bag of peas with a small hole in it. The next time she was carried somewhere in her sleep, the peas would fall and create a path. This would happen regularly.
The dwarf overheard the plan and decided to act.
That night, he scattered peas all over the kingdom. The princess dreamed of being carried again, but the king failed to realize what was happening. This time, the king ordered her to hide one of her slippers wherever she was carried. His soldiers would find it and catch the culprit.
The dwarf heard the plan and tried to warn the soldier, but he was stubborn.
As a result, the dwarf was caught and sent to prison. He found a ducat in his pocket and asked a soldier to retrieve his bundle with the blue light and gold in exchange for the coin. The soldier agreed.
The soldier was sentenced to death through an unfair trial.
Before being hanged, he asked the king for the last smoke. The king allowed him three. He lit one, and the dwarf appeared. He commanded the dwarf to kill the king, who fell to his knees and begged for his life in exchange for his kingdom. The soldier pardoned the king but took his kingdom in return.
Moral:
Power without wisdom can lead to injustice and revenge.
Use strength and opportunity wisely, not for harm but for good.
