In vain he protested his innocence; he was not believed.
In his grief and anxiety he went down into the courtyard and wondered how he should get out of his difficulty.
A number of Ducks were lying peaceably together by a stream, stroking down their feathers with their bills, while they chattered gaily.
The Servant stood still to listen to them. They were telling each other of their morning’s walks and experiences.
Then one of them said somewhat fretfully: ‘I have something lying heavy on my stomach. In my haste I swallowed the Queen’s ring this morning.’
The Servant quickly seized it by the neck, carried it off into the kitchen, and said to the Cook: ‘Here’s a fine fat Duck. You had better kill it at once.’
‘Yes, indeed,’ said the Cook, weighing it in her hand. ‘It has spared no pains in stuffing itself; it should have been roasted long ago.’
So she killed it, and cut it open, and there, sure enough, was the Queen’s ring.
The Servant had now no difficulty in proving his innocence, and the King, to make up for his injustice, gave the Servant leave to ask any favour he liked, and promised him the highest post about the Court which he might desire.
The Servant, however, declined everything but a horse, and some money to travel with, as he wanted to wander about for a while, to see the world.
His request being granted, he set off on his travels, and one day came to a pond, where he saw three Fishes caught among the reeds, and gasping for breath. Although it is said that fishes are dumb, he understood their complaint at perishing thus miserably. As he had a compassionate heart, he got off his horse and put the three captives back into the water. They wriggled in their joy, stretched up their heads above the water, and cried—
‘We will remember that you saved us, and reward you for it.’
