The Three Feathers

A king, unsure which of his three sons — two clever, one considered simple and often mocked as "Dummling" — should inherit his throne, decided on an unusual test: he would blow three feathers from the castle tower, and whichever direction each landed, that son must travel to find the finest carpet in the world.

The two clever sons' feathers blew only a short distance, sending them off in ordinary, unremarkable directions. Dummling's feather, however, dropped straight down through a hidden trapdoor into the earth below, leading him to a hidden underground realm ruled by a kind toad, who gave him a carpet more beautiful than any woven by human hands.

The king, testing further with tasks of a fine ring and then the most beautiful woman, found Dummling's underground toad-companions provided the finest results each time, while his clever brothers, dismissing the whole test as beneath them, brought back only mediocre substitutes from nearby villages. Despite his brothers' scorn and their attempts to cheat the final contest, Dummling's honest patience and the toad's genuine gifts won every test, and he was declared the rightful heir — proof that those quickest to mock a challenge are often the least prepared to actually meet it.