Forgotten Fairytales - Three sons and the Curse

Once upon a time...

There were three sons to the king. The two eldest sons were daring and always seeking adventure, where the third son was more simplistic; spending much of his time reading and learning the world. 

One day, the two eldest went into the woods to seek adventure and stumbled on an ant-hill in which they began stirring it. Soon all the ants were rushing out, carrying all their young eggs away from danger. This pleased the two sons to witness the ants fright but they soon became disinterested and continued on their way. Soon they came to a lake full of swimming geese and began throwing stones at them until one was struck and started thrashing around in pain. This pleased the two sons to cause pain on others and jumped with joy to watch the injured goose struggle to swim but as before, they soon became disinterested and continued on their way. Soon enough they came to a bee hive that was so full of honey that it dripped from the next and ran down the tree. They both agreed that the honey would be perfect to bring home and so had built a fire at the base of the tree in hopes the smoke would drive the bees away and they would gain access to the spoils of honey. When the bees were forced from the hive, the eldest of the two climbed up and grabbed a handful of the sweet honey. After they consumed enough to suffice there content, they continued on their way. 

At last, the two sons found a forgotten castle deep in the woods. As they walked through the stable, there were horses but not of the common type, as they were all made of stone. As they travelled through the courtyard, there were people but not of the type they would expect as they were all made of stone. The sons went from room to room finding all sorts of animals and people but all were made of stone until they entered the palace. 

Sitting on the kings thrown was an elderly man who was not made of stone. When they approached him he looked up and spoke to them,

"From whence you came, the heart’s desire. For this castle is cursed, and you have entered. Until sunset you have or suffer the fate forever."

The man got to his feet and led them to a stone table with words carved into it.

The princess is cursed and will remain until a prince comes as savior. The first task is to retrieve her missing noble pearls. One thousand in total, and should a single pearl be missing, then stone he will become at sunset.

The man showed the sons that the pearls were scattered and buried in a small patch just outside the castle and warned them that if they don't return to the castle by sundown then they would disappear, and if they didn't contain all one thousand pearls upon returning, then they would be caste into stone.

Confident and determined, the two sons began digging the earth and plucking pearls where they found them. But as the sun began to set, they had only found a mere couple hundred. Remembering what the man had said, they returned to the castle as the sun was setting, and pleaded with him to give them another chance tomorrow. But the old man replied that it wasn't his decision and he could do nothing and as soon as the sun sank below the horizon, the two sons turned into stone.

After a few days, the third and youngest son who remained behind began to wonder and decided that he would go seeking his lost brothers in the woods. Shortly, he came across a nearly destroyed anthill, busy with its workers and asked

"My friends the ants. I have lost my two brothers. Have you happened to notice them?"

The ants answered in a furious rage,

"Why those were responsible for destroying are home!"

Feeling ashamed of his brothers, he got down and helped the ants rebuild their home. After some time, the queen ant came out and spoke,

"Thank you, for your kindness you will be rewarded."

The queen ant pointed at the direction the brothers had gone and the son went on his way. Soon he reached a lake full of geese and after asking if any had seen his brothers they replied,

"Why those were responsible for injuring our friend!"

At once he noticed the injured goose had a broken foot and began feeling ashamed of his brother’s actions. So the youngest son then provided bandages and fixed the goose with a splint for its broken foot. After this, the geese pointed in the direction his brothers had went and then said,

"Thank you, for your kindness you will find reward."

Once again, he set out in search for his lost brothers. Soon enough, he came across a tree buzzing with bees, frantically busy gathering honey and repairing a damaged hive. The youngest son quickly asked if they had seen his brothers to with a reply,

"Why those were responsible for stealing our honey!"

Shaking his head, the youngest son felt compelled to assist in order to clear his brothers of the wrongdoings they had done. Once the bee nest was repaired, the queen bee came to the youngest brother and said,

"Thank you, for you will find reward from this kindness."

The queen bee then pointed in the direction the two eldest brothers had gone and the youngest son went on his way.

Soon enough, the youngest son came across the lost castle. After noticing all the stone people and animals and searching endlessly, he made his way into the palace where he found the old man sitting on the throne and asked if he had seen his brothers.

"Your brothers are here, tho cursed like the rest."

The old man then brought the youngest son to the stone table and informed him that he must retrieve the princess’s noble pearls before sunset or the curse would take hold and he would also become stone.

"All one thousand, missing only will not do, you must get them all."

When the old man led the youngest son to the patch where the pearls were buried, he quickly noticed this job was too difficult for one person alone. Even all day would never bring forth all one thousand pearls but he was determined and began digging frantically, as fast he could. One pearl, two, three...

Just then, one of the ants from the hive came walking past and noticed the boy struggling and exhausted. So the ant went back to the ant-hill and gathered the entire colony and came to the youngest son’s aid. The thousands of ants scoured the ground and before long came forth and produced all one thousand lost pearls and gave them to the boy saying,

"You have found your reward for your kindness past."

The youngest son scooped up the pearls with thanks and rushed them to the old man in the castle. After giving him the one thousand pearls the old man brought him back over to the stone table and said,

"You have completed the first task, but two more remain. In order to break the curse, you must free the princess from her prison. You must find the key to open the lock before sunset, or you will curse into stone along with the rest."

The old man then brought the son to the nearby lake.

"This task is more difficult, as you see; the key is at the bottom of this very lake, in which you must retrieve."

After the old man left, the youngest son swam out into the middle of the lake and attempted to dive to the bottom. Time after time he failed to reach the bottom and was soon becoming exhausted.

Just then, the injured goose was swimming by and noticed the boy struggling. So the goose went back and gathered the entire flock of geese to come to his aid. Each goose dove down to the bottom of the lake and searched, before long one came bearing the golden key and gave it to the boy.

"Your reward for kindness past."

The boy was relieved and rushed the key back to the castle and showed it to the old man who showed him to the locked door. Taking the key, he opened the door to reveal not one, but a total of three sleeping princesses.

"You have gathered the pearls, and you have freed the princess, but what princess is she? This being task number three, the most difficult task of all. You must wake the real princess, for the other two are witches. Wake the wrong one and the curse of stone will be upon thee, you have until sunset."

After the old man left, the youngest son stood staring at the three sleeping women. Each one beautiful as the next, and such he couldn't decide which one was the true princess. As the sun was beginning to set the boy began to get scared that he would wake the witch, and began to weep.

Just then, a bee flew by and noticed the boy weeping. So the bee went back to the hive and told of what he saw to the queen, which prompted the queen bee to see firsthand and when she arrived to the weeping son she asked,

"Why are you weeping my boy?"

The youngest son then told of his predicament. He couldn't decide the princess from the witches and only had a short time before he turned to stone.

"Oh, I can surely help. As you helped me, I will help thee. Your reward for your kindness past."

The queen bee knew the princess very well because she had given the princess honey for as long as she could remember. So the bee flew from each woman to the next, getting close to their mouths as to smell what they had been eating. Soon enough, the queen bee settled on one,

"This one, my boy. She smells like my delicious honey, and is the true princess you seek."

The Youngest son then woke the princess and the curse was broken. Everyone in stone burst into life, and the old man came to the youngest son and told him.

"You have broken the curse and reclaimed the castle! As such a deed you have done, you will be rewarded for your kindness."

As true as it was, the old man produced as crown and claimed the youngest son King and being so, was also married to the princess he had saved. Where-as his two eldest brothers were made to wed the two remaining witches.