The Lazy Threesome

An old king, with death approaching, remembered that he had not yet decided to which of his three sons he would leave his kingdom. As he thought about this, he realised that there was only one thing which they knew how to do well, and that was nothing! So he decided he would leave his throne on the son who was best of all at doing nothing. He called the three princes to him and began to question them.

‘I am so lazy,’ said the first, ‘what if a grain of dust lands in my eye while I am falling asleep, rather than go to the effort of getting it out, I prefer to forget about sleeping and remain all night with my eyes open,’

‘Ah but if I,’ said the second prince, ‘should sit near the fire to warm myself, why, rather than tax myself by moving my feet, I let them get burnt by the flames.’

‘I am so lazy,’ boasted the third prince at this point, ‘that if I were being hung and I was given a knife to cut the rope, I would let myself strangle to death, rather than make the effort of raising my hand.’

‘That really is astonishing!’ thought the old king. ‘You couldn’t get lazier that that! The throne is yours!’ he said, turning to the third and laziest of the three princes.

The Magic Fish Bone

Once upon a time there was a man who had twelve children, but was not able to give them enough to eat. Alice, the obedient and hard working eldest daughter, became very thin, and it was, perhaps, for this reason that the Sea Fairy took pity on her and brought her a gift of a sardine, telling her to be sure to keep the bone after she had eaten the fish. ‘It is a magic fish bone,’ the Sea Fairy told Alice, ‘and it will grant you one wish, but only one. So be sure to use it wisely.’

Alice was tempted on many occasions to use her magic fish bon; when one of her brothers was ill; when her sister was lost; but he always managed to put she always managed to put things right by herself, without resorting to the magic.

One day, however, Alice found her father in desperate poverty: he had no money left at all. ‘Is there no way to find any money?’ she asked, worriedly. ‘No, I have already done every thing possible!’ her father replied, sadly. ‘Well, then, if there really is no other answer….,’ and the young girl put her hand in her pocket and stroked the fish bone.

The Sea Fairy appeared and at once set about resolving all their problems: she even managed to find a handsome young man who married Alice, so that she never again felt the need to use the services of a magic fish bone!

The Wolf and the Shepherd

A certain wolf got into the habit of following a flock of sheep without ever attacking any of them. As a result, after some time the shepherd began to think of the wolf as more of a guardian than an enemy. One day the shepherd had to go to the city on business, and it seemed natural for him to leave his flock in the care of the wolf.

When he returned that evening, every single one of his sheep had been killed. The shepherd thought long and hard over what had happened, and, in the end, realised that it was completely his own fault: whoever puts his faith in wicked friends should expect no better.

The Lucky Snowdrop

Somehow a ray of sunlight penetrated the snow on the ground and the flower, hidden underneath, thought that the spring had come. It stretched up, lengthening its stem as far as it could, and made a little hole in the icy roof, so that it could peek out at the world.

Oh dear! It had made a terrible mistake. It was still winter. Everyone laughed at the silly snowdrop, which would have died from the cold if a little boy had not picked it and taken it home. The snowdrop was put in a vase of water in a warm room, and it felt like a king.

Not long after, the little boy’s big sister took the flower from the vase and put it in an envelope with a letter. The snowdrop would not read, but it somehow knew that the words in the letter were beautiful. After a long and uncomfortable journey in a bag with other letters and packages, the snowdrop found itself lifted gently out of the envelop by a young man who put the flower to his lips and gave it a loving kiss.

The young man became a great poet who remembered the lovely snowdrop in his poems, and it became famous. So, even though it might have been rather silly, it was still a lucky snowdrop

The Lute-Playing Queen

During the Crusades, the tsar was taken prisoner by the Turks. He wrote at once to his wife, asking her to pay the ransom demanded for his freedom, but he heard nothing.

One day, sometime later, a lute-player arrived at the sultan’s palace. He played so brilliantly that the sultan insisted he stay at the palace as a quest, and the finally offered him anything in his kingdom as payment. The lute-player asked to take away the tsar as his leave, and the sultan kept his promise.

They journeyed a long way, and when at last they were near the capital city of the whole of Russia, the lute-player suddenly freed his new slave and, without saying another word, disappeared.

At court, the unexpected return of the tsar caused great joy and excitement. The only unhappy aspect was that the tsar refused to see his wife. ‘She didn’t even bother to pay the ransom to free me from captivity.’ He sighed.

The tsar was about to condemn his uncaring queen to death, when he heard the gentle strains of a lute and the mysterious musician reappeared. At last, the tsar recognised his queen in her disguise, and realised that her cunning had freed him. Thus it was a day of great rejoicing for everyone.

The Cockerel and the Weathercock

Fixed to the roof of the farmhouse was one of those metal cocks which show which way the wind is blowing. This weathercock, so high above the other farmyard animals, was in a very good position to crow. Instead, he never made a sound.

The farmyard cockerel, on the other hand, was very proud of his red crest and his loud ‘cock-a-doodle-doos’. In fact, he liked boasting so much to the hens and the little chickens that he sometimes told very big lies.

‘Cockerel can lay eggs as well, you know,’ he said one day to the hens.

‘But they only ever lay one egg in their whole lives, Hah, but that one egg contains a dragon which is so terrifying that men die as soon as they set eyes on it. So you see, humans are very scared of us, and the real masters of the world are us cockerels, not men at all.’

Naturally the weathercock heard every word of this. He merely snorted. He had seen so many things and heard so many empty words in his long life that noting surprised him anymore. He knew very well that the cockerel’s boasts were nothing but hot air, but he felt so superior that he did not even bother to contradict him.

And, in the end, whether the cockerel of the weathercock was more important is a difficult question.

The Great Issumboshi

Issuboshi was a tiny Japanese man who was so small that he was really of no use at all at working in the fields. For this reason, his grandfather decided to send him to the city so that he might learn to become a valiant samurai warrior. As he was leaving, his grandfather gave him a wooden cup as a gift, to use a boat, his mother gave him two long grains of rice, to use as oars, and his father gave him a pin, to use as a sword.

The journey was full of dangers, especially when you consider that a frog was the size of an elephant next to little Issumboshi. However, the young man soon learnt how to look after himself, and, because of his great courage and intelligence, the arrived at the city safe and sound.

He found the streets deserted; everybody was cowering indoors for fear of a fierce giant who was terrorising the city. Issumboshi did not hesitate for a moment, and strode straight out to face this terrible enemy. Small as he was, he found it easy to avoid the monster’s clumsy blows. And he found it just as easy to sink his sword into the huge body, until the giant finally crashed to the ground, in agony from thousands of tiny wounds.

‘What a mighty warrior,’ shouted onlookers joyfully. Issumboshi felt taller than the giant.

The Lazy Girl and the Three Spinning Women

There was once a young girl who was so lazy that one day, in sheer desperation, her mother began to beat her. At that very moment, the queen happened to pass by and, hearing the commotion, she went in to see what the cause was. The mother was so ashamed of the truth of the matter that what she finally said was the exact opposite: ‘My daughter insists on working day and night on her spinning wheel, but I can’t afford the flax.’

The queen had always been very impressed by people who worked hard, and so she look the young woman to the palace and left her with three huge chambers full of flax, ‘When you have spun this flax,’ said the queen, ‘you shall marry my son.’

The young girl obviously did not even know where to begin. Luckily her three cousins came to her aid, and they were all highly skilled spinners. Unfortunately, as a result of acquiring this skill, one had an enormous foot from constantly working the pedal to make the wheel turn; the second had a thumb which was horribly swollen from twisting the flax, and the third, from constantly wetting the flax, had a grotesquely wetting the flax, had q grotesquely large bottom lip.

When the queen’s son, the prince, saw the three cousins, he at once ordered his wife-to-be never go to near a spinning wheel again.

The fox and the Cockerel

A hungry fox was out looking for dinner one day when he came across a plump cockerel. The cockerel, however, was very quick in getting to the safety of a branch high in a tree. The fox pretended that he was hurt by such mistrustful actions.

‘Why have you run away?’ he complained. ‘I only wanted to give you a brotherly embrace.’

‘I am not so stupid as to believe that.’ replied the cockerel.

‘Ah, so you still haven’t heard the news?’ said the fox.

‘And what exactly should I have heard?’ asked the cockerel.

‘Peace throughout the world has been proclaimed between all animals,’ announced the fox. ‘And now that we’re all brothers, ‘he went on, ‘come down here so that we can show our love and goodwill.’

‘Well, I would never have believed it’ said the cockerel, pretending to be absolutely delighted. ‘In that case it would, without a doubt, be best of all to wait for that pack of hounds that I can see over there. They’ll certainly want to show you their affection.’

The fox looked very uncomfortable. He looked up at the cockerel and said: ‘It’s not that I’m not telling you the truth, It’s just that I can’t be sure they’ve heard the good news yet.’ ‘And he ran off as fast as he could.

The Flowers from the Moon

High in the mountains lived a prince whose great wish was to journey to the moon, because he loved its gentle glow. His dream finally came true. When he reached the moon he discovered its light came from the moon king’s beautiful daughter.

The two young people soon fell in love, but the worlds they came from were just too different and soon they had a part. As a sign of her great love, the moon king’s daughter gave the prince one of the smooth and lovely flowers that covered the moon like snow and this was how the first alpine flower was brought to earth.

The Fly and the Ant

A fly and an ant got into an argument over a silly question as to who had right of way. Then fly, which has always been one of the rudest insects, said all sorts of horrible things to the unassuming ant.

‘You are such a tiny, insignificant creature,’ it said. ‘How dare you compare yourself to me, a daughter of the air? I go to the places of the greatest lords, and eat out of the plates of bishops. If I choose to, I can even walk about on the crown on the king’s head!’

Then ant waited patiently for the fly to finish, and then he answered carefully: ‘Yes I know that you can land on heads, but you are not even capable of distinguishing between the head of a king and the head of an ass. Furthermore, it is not as if you are welcomed in places….. But why am I wasting my time with you when I should be off gathering supplies for the winter? Although ants may be tiny, we are wise, and the cold doesn’t kill us. You flies can fly up high….but when the first cold comes, but fall to the ground, along with the dry leaves, and what good to you are your wings then!’

The Hole in the Water

A young man who was alone in the world decided to get married. He was handsome and rich, but it seemed that in the whole land there was not the right wife for him: either they were too young, or too old, or already betrothed. There remained just one lovely young maiden, whom he had met at the well, but she seemed to be a bit mad. Not only did she say that her stepmother was a fairy, but she also insisted that her stepmother would only allow her to marry a man who could perform a certain very difficult task. ‘What is that?’ asked the young man. ‘He has to make a hole in the water.’

‘That’s impossible,’ exclaimed the young man. ‘You will never find a husband.’

‘Yes, I will find one,’ replied the young girl. ‘My stepmother says that when someone is truly in love, they can even work miracles.’

The young man was truly in love, but he had no idea how to slove the problem. He sighed and suffered for a long time but he did not give up. Then one day he found that the well had frozen over. Suddenly he understood. Seizing a stout stick, he made a hole in the frozen surface…..and so he was able to marry the beautiful maiden.

The Little Piggy Bank

The little piggy bank was so full of coins that it did not even rattle when it was shaken. It stood on the highest shelf in the playroom, and it must be said that it looked very handsome indeed, being made for shiny porcelain and painted with little blue flowers.

Because of its great wealth, the piggy bank was much respected, by all the other toys. Often, at night, the theatrical puppets would perform just of its pleasure, and the doll spent all her time singing or sighing in the hope that the piggy bank would notice her and ask her to marry it. The little tin soldiers marched endlessly to and fro in front of the shelves to ensure that no thief ever tried to rob the piggy bank.

One day, however, on of the children of the house tried to push another coin in through the slot on the piggy bank’s back, but it was no full already that it simply shattered into thousands of pieces.

Somebody gathered up the coins and swept up the pieces and a new piggy bank was bought to replace the old one. It was still empty and so it did not rattle either, and in this respect it was not so very different from the old one.

The Frightened Cake

Once there was a mother who was always baking cakes for her children. One day she prepared a cake with so much love that when she took it out of the oven, even her spoilt children’s mouths watered.

‘Dear mother, kind mother,’ her greedy and impatient children begged her, ‘hurry up and give us a slice.’

‘wait until it cools down and you can eat it all.’ was the reply.

But when the cake heard the fate that was in store for it, it was terrified. The cake jumped out of the dish, rolled off like a wheel, out of the door, and then disappeared down the road.

The Seven Wives of Bluebeard

In a distant town lived a very rich man with a sinister reputation. It was widely known that he had already been married six times and, on account of his beard, which was a fearful blue shade, it was whispered that he was really an ogre. He became known as ‘Bluebeard’.

One day another maiden accepted his proposal of marriage, and at first everything seemed to go well. The husband gave every key he had to his new wife. What is more, he told her she could do anything she wished, forbidding her only to open one small room in the house.

This one strange order made the new wife very curious, and one day, as soon as Bluebeard had gone out, she ran to open the door to the little room….She almost died of fright; in the room she found the bodies of the other six wives of Bluebeard. The seventh wife, still shaking with fear, had scarcely close the door when Bluebeard stomped in.

‘Now,’ shrieked the ogre, ‘you’ll go back into that little room, and this time you’ll stay there with the other six that you should never have seen.’

But, by good fortune, the seventh wife did not suffer the same fate as the others. At that very moment, her two brothers, who were valiant soldiers, arrived and slew her evil husband, to save her from a horrible end.

The Wedding of the Mice

The dream fairy woke up young Johnny, ‘Hurry,’ she urged, ‘urged, ‘there are two mice about to be married underneath the floorboards and we’ve been invited. It’ll be a splendid occasion.’

Even though he was really still asleep, Johnny rose from his bed in as instant. ‘I’d love to go.’ He said excitedly, ‘but how will I ever get down that tiny hole?’

The dream fairy waved her magic wand and Johnny became so small that he was able to put on a uniform that a tin soldier was king enough to lend him. A thimble was the perfect size for a carriage drawn by a small mouse. The banquet hall was crowded. All the guests were licking the walls, which were made of lard, and the tables were made of slabs of real cheese. The bride and bridegroom were sitting in a hollow dug in a large piece of cheese and were embracing happily. Every so often they threw pumpkin seeds over the quests.

Johnny had a wonderful time, until finally the dream fairy told him that it was time to go home and he was suddenly back in bed, sound asleep as before.

The Spindle, the Spool and the Needle

All alone in the world, a young girl once lived in a small house in the middle of the woods. She was very poor, but she knew how to sew and, because she was very hard working and clever, she managed to earn her living by using her spindle, her spool and her needle.

One day, looking for a wife, a young price came to the village asking who was the most beautiful and the industrious young girl in the place. Many girls were pointed out to him, the richest and most elegant ones, but nobody thought of the poor young seamstress. Only the objects that she used in her daily work thought of her. The spindle jumped out of her hand and ran off through the woods, pulling a long golden thread behind it. The spool also jumped away, but it stopped outside the door and wove a lovely rug. The needle began to dance wildly in the amazed young girl’s fingers, and made tablecloths, curtains and cushions, transforming the poor little house into a pretty and welcoming one.

When the spindle and the golden thread led the prince to her door later, the lovely little seamstress and her pretty house pleased him so much that he never left her side again.

Metabo and Camille

King Metabo was a famous javelin thrower. One day he went out hunting with his young daughter, Camille.

All of a sudden, the king was attacked by a band of enemies. He had to flee from them until he came to a fast flowing river, which he was unable to swim across because of his daughter on his back. It seemed he was lost until he thought of a way out.

Trying his daughter to his javelin, he hurled it with all his strength to the other side of the river, then he dived in himself and swam across to where Camille was. His enemies were so amazed that they gave up the chase.

The Stork in the hen House

There was once a stork who was so tired from its long migratory flight that it crash-landed in a hen house.

There the turkey began showing off to the stork and puffed himself up as much as he could. The hens, though, were jealous and made fun of the stork. ‘What long legs you have! They really are so ungainly!’

The stork acted as if it had not heard. Instead, it began to tell them all about Africa, where it went often, about the heat of the desert, and the ostriches there. ‘What a silly goose,’ said the ducks, not understanding once word the stork was saying.

Soon the turkey also grew bored with the visitor and wandered off. Then the ducks and the hens jumped on the intruder, making a terrible noise. Along came the farmer to see what was happening: he opened the hen house door and away flew the stork.

The farmer was very sorry to see the bird go because all the other farmers would have envied him for having a stork. He turned on the hens and said: ‘Do you think you are queens just because you are destined to end up in the stock pot?!’

The Man Who came from the Sky

One day, a man who mad his living by tricking people stopped a good woman on the road.

‘Who are you?’ asked the woman. ‘Where do you come from?’

‘I feel from the sky,’ the man replied craftily.
‘Oh really.’ The woman’s face lit up.
‘Then maybe you have met my husband. He died last year.’
‘Certainly I know him, but he’s not doing too well. He hasn’t got enough to eat or enough clothes to wear!’

‘The poor man! Cried the woman. ‘If I give you some clothes, can you take them up to him?’

‘No I’m sorry but it’s forbidden to take clothes into paradise,’ replied the man ‘I might manage to smuggle some money to him. Nobody would find a little money bag hidden in a pocket.’

‘Oh thank you, then please take this. It’s all my savings,’ and the woman gave the man a little pile of money. She was no grateful to him for doing her such a kind service.

‘Well who would have thought.’ She kept repeating, ‘that in paradise my husband would be lacking even the bare necessities.

The Coachman Who Could Paint

John, even though he was in the service of the king himself, was only a coachman, but he loved to paint and had a great talent for art. His paintings seemed so alive that the people in them seemed almost to move. The one John liked most of all, however, was his portrait of Mary, his sister, of whom he was very fond. He kept this painting in his room in the palace stables, and when he felt sad he talked to the picture and sometimes he felt that his sister really did reply.

All this talking made the other servants so curious that they spied on him through the keyhole. The only thing they could see was the face on the painting, which they mistook for the face of a real young woman.

Very soon, people were talking about the indescribable beauty of the mysterious guest whom the young coachman kept hidden in his room, Finally, even the king learnt of this, and he too went to peer through the keyhole. When his eyes fell on Mary’s enchanting face, he feel in love at once. When he learnt that his beautiful girl really did exist, John was asked to bring his sister to court, whereupon the king married her at once.

Thus his beloved sister became queen, and John was able to spend all his time painting instead of being a royal coachman.

The Indians of the Enchanted Valley

One autumn, in the valley, a great fire broke out and raged so violently the Indians of the tribe could not extinguish it. In desperation, they sent a request for help to Man of Ice, a great man of magic who lived in the north. Man of ice did not answer with a prayer. Instead, he simply removed his crown of feathers from his dead, undid his long braids and shook his thick hair. The amazed messengers noticed an unexpected breeze blow across his face. He shook his hair again and it began to rain; then the rain changed to hailstones and then to snow.

The messengers returned to their valley where the fire was still burning. The Indians stared helplessly at the fearful sight from the surrounding hills. They knew what the messengers had seen but were afraid that their request had been made in vain.

A few days later, a strong wind blew up, but it served only to fan the flames still further. The rain which followed only caused damp clouds of vapour to form; but then the hail, which drove the Indians to find shelter far off, put out the flames and, finally, snow fell and covered even the ashes. Slowly the snow melted and when, at the start of spring, the Indians returned to their home, they discovered a beautiful lake where the fire had raged.

A Happy Family

An old couple of snails lived happily in a wood where they reigned supreme, there being no other snails to dispute their sovereignty; but this was also their greatest heartache – they had absolutely no idea of where they might find a wife for their only son.

‘Let us know if you see a beautiful little snail who might be suitable for our young one,’ they instructed the files, who buzzed everywhere in a frantic way, trying to give the impression that they were busy.

On day, at last, a butterfly told them, ‘There’s a pretty little snail ten minutes’ flying time from here. She’s a poor orphan but she has all the right qualities.’

‘Tel her to come and visit us!’

They pretty little snail set out at once. It look her only eight days to complete the journey, which proved she was of excellent breeding. The marriage was celebrated at the earliest possible moment. The bees made the wedding-cake, and fireflies were in charge of the lighting arrangements: two ants acted as bridesmaids, and the wedding march was performed by the rain on the leaves. The new couple had many little snails and lived happily and long, as did the old couple who still ruled supreme in their wood.

The Greedy Dog

One day, a dog stole a big piece of meat and, proud of his own courage, ran off with it held tightly in his jaws. He reached the bank of the river where he looked down and spied another dog with a piece of meat in its mouth, every bit as big as his own.

He did not realise that it was merely his own reflection in the water. Feeling full of himself already, he threw himself on the other dog to seal his meat as well. Unfortunately, when he found himself in the water, he had to let go of his own piece of meat to avoid drowning, and so was left with nothing.

The Gifts of the Three Kings

One night, a comet appeared in the sky. All who saw it were surprised and afraid. King Caspar consulted with two other kings who were, like himself, amongst the wisest men in the world, and asked them if they knew the meaning of this strange star. King Balthasaar, while studying old books, discovered and ancient prophecy: the comet was to announce the coming of the Messiah and showed the place where he was to be born.

He invited the others to accompany him to pay tribute to the Messiah, and asked them to think of the most suitable gifts to take.

Melchior, who knew that the Messiah was going to be a man, decided to take a jar of myrrh as his offering, because with this he would be able to perfume his body. Caspar, on the other hand, said that he Messiah was Lord of heaven and earth, and he searched for and wide for a gift precious enough for such a powerful king. At last he chose a casket full of gold. Balthasaar believed that the Messiah ought to be worshipped as the Son of God, and he therefore decided to take him franking cense as his gift, the substance that people have always burnt to their gods as a sign of their devotion.

And in the stable at Bethelehem, the gifts of the three kings lay alongside those of the shepherds, whose riches lay in the love they showed.

The Fox and the Stork

In order to pay back a debt, the fox had to invite the stroke over for dinner, even though he did not really want to. He made a tasty soup, but he served it up in a very shallow dish, and the stork’s long beak could hardly manage to get hold of any of it.

Like a true lady, the stork did not complain, and even invited the fox to dinner with her. The stork in her turn cooked a delicious meal, but she served it in a tall narrow goblet that the fox could not even get his nose into. So he did not get anything to eat dinner. So he did not get anything to eat either.

If you play dirty tricks on people, then you must expect to have them played on you as well.

The Little Goldfish

One day a poor fisherman found in his net a little golden fish, which waved its fins about and moved its mouth, as if to beg him to let it go. The fisherman was no moved that he threw the fish back into the sea, even though; he would have earned a considerable sum of money.

‘You will see how grateful I am,’ called the fish from beside the boat, before disappearing back under the waves, ‘but you must never tell anybody what has happened.,

When the fisherman arrived home, he found that his miserable hut had been transformed into a fabulous castle and his wife was wearing a dress fir for a queen.

‘Where did all these riches come from?’ was the first thing the wife asked, when she saw her husband again.

‘Do not ask me, my wife, or everything will disappear again.’

But the woman would not give her husband a moment’s peace, and in the end he told her about the little castle turned back into a hut, and everything was the way it had been before, and the woman remained what she had always been, nosey and dissatisfied.

The Town mouse and the country Mouse

The town mouse was lived by his friend, a country mouse, to come for a visit. The fresh air was lovely and the hospitality very warm, But for the tastes of the town house life in the food was too plain and not very appestising. The country mouse listened to what his friend had to say and decided to close up his own house and follow the town to the city.

The town mouse’s house was small and had no garden, but it was very luxurious; marble floors, mirrors, and paintings on the walls, and a large cupboard, not filled with wheat and hay, but dates, figs, and fruit, not to mention bread, cheese and delicious cakes.

The two friends sat down to dinner and for the country mouse it was a meal fit for a king. But it was also very stressful. From time to time, a cat would come along, or woman would pass by, or a child, and two mice would have to run and hide in a hole, with their hearts in their mouths.

After this had gone on for some time, the country mouse could not stand it and more. He was plane and trembling. ‘Keep your luxury and your riches,’ he said to his friend, packing his case. ‘I prefer my own way of life. It may be dull, but it is so much more peaceful than yours.,

The Queen of Riddles

The queen of Petersburg promised that she would marry anyone who could ask her three riddles she could not answer. Many young men tried to win her hand, but to no avail. Finally, along came Ivan the peasant and he said:

I saw one good thing with another good thing in it. In order to do good, I took the second good thing out of the first good thing.

The queen did not know what to say so pretended she had a headache to put off her answer. She got her maidservant to coax the answer out of Ivan. Next day the queen said to Ivan:

‘Here is the answer: A horse was in a wheat field and I chased it out’

Then Ivan put his second riddle: ‘On the road I saw a bad thing. I took up a second bad thing and hit it, So one bad thing killed another bad thing.’

Once again, the queen got her maidservant to find out the answer from Ivan. Next day the queen said:

‘Here is the answer. I saw a snake on the road and killed it with a stick.’

Then Ivan asked her the third riddle. ‘How did you know the answers to the first two riddles?’

The queen did not want to admit that she had found out by cheating.

‘I don’t know.’ She answered. That was how Ivan married the queen.