A few days later the king celebrated his wedding to Maria, the girl who owned a carriage and six horses produced by a fruit tree. Maria was very happy with her king, long enough to have seven sons, so she must have been happy for ten years.

It was at about this time, however, that the stepmother was released from prison. The first thing she did was steal the seven sons. She invited the boys to go boating on the river. As soon as the boys were in the boat, she pushed it into the current and it drifted out to sea.

Many days later, the boat beached on a lonely island, far from their home. On this island there lived a hermit of great knowledge. He had an oracle or, some say, gods spoke to him. The oracle had told the hermit to go to a certain place on the shore, and there he found the shipwrecked princes. He adopted the boys as his own sons.

Alas! This news came to the ears of the wicked stepmother. She then sent the boys poisoned food. After they ate it, they died. The hermit wept, but the voice of the oracle spoke to him: “Go to the Sun’s mother,” she said (it was a female oracle). “She will give you medicine to bring them back to life.”

The hermit set out on the long journey, finally arriving at the Sun’s house on a mountaintop. There, the Sun’s mother gave him the medicine that brings the dead back to life. After many adventures, the hermit arrived back home. He put a spoonful of the medicine into the mouth of each of the dead princes. They soon woke up, alive and healthy once again.

The hermit then taught them to build a ship. In it, they sailed back to the king’s palace. The hermit told the king to execute the stepmother. This was done. So at last, there was peace.

Jan Knappert, a frequent contributor and special adviser to the Culture section of THE WORLD & I since the magazine's inception, has published more than thirty books.