The Queen Bee

Two princes left home to seek their fortunes and soon wasted what they had, living so foolishly they dared not return. Their youngest brother—small, overlooked, often called a dwarf—set out to find them. When he did, they mocked him. “How can someone as young and simple as you hope to get on in the world,” they said, “when we, who are so much wiser, have failed?” Even so, the three travelled on together.

They reached an anthill. The older brothers wanted to smash it open for sport, to watch the ants panic and haul their eggs away. The youngest forbade it: leave the creatures in peace. Later they came to a lake crowded with ducks. The older pair meant to seize a few and roast them; again the youngest refused and would not let them kill. Still later they found a hollow tree thick with bees and honey dripping down the bark. The brothers would have lit a fire beneath it to destroy the swarm and take the honey; the youngest held them back and would not allow the insects to burn.

In time they arrived at a castle. In the stables stood splendid horses, every one of marble, and no living person appeared. Room after room they searched until they found a door fastened with three locks and a small wicket in the middle. Through it they saw a grey old man at a table. Twice they called without answer; the third time he rose and came out. Silent still, he led them to a fine meal, and after they had eaten he showed each to a sleeping-chamber.

In the morning he brought the eldest brother to a marble slab bearing three inscribed tablets that explained how to lift the castle’s enchantment. The first demanded that a thousand pearls belonging to a king’s daughter be gathered from under the moss in the wood—every one of them—before sunset, or the seeker would turn to marble. The eldest hunted all day and by evening had not even collected the first hundred; he hardened into stone as the writing warned.

The second brother tried the next day and fared little better: he found only about two hundred pearls and shared his brother’s fate. When the youngest’s turn came, the search among the moss seemed endless. Worn out, he sat on a rock and wept. Then the ant-king whose nest he had spared arrived with five thousand helpers; soon every pearl lay in a pile.

The second tablet required the key to the princess’s chamber to be raised from the lake. At the water’s edge the two ducks he had saved swam up, dived, and brought the key from the depths.

The hardest trial remained: to pick out the youngest among three royal daughters who looked exactly alike. He was told the eldest had tasted sugar, the middle one syrup, and the youngest a spoonful of honey, and he must name which mouth had held the honey. The queen bee he had saved from the fire came and tested each pair of lips; she settled at last on the girl who had eaten honey. That was how he knew the youngest. The enchantment broke; every marble figure woke into living shape. He wed the youngest princess and later ruled after her father; his brothers married the other two sisters.

Where this story comes from

“The Queen Bee” is German, collected by the Brothers Grimm, and is not an Indian tale. It is number 62 in Margaret Hunt’s 1884 translation (Die Bienenkönigin). Our telling keeps to the Project Gutenberg English, which rests on Taylor and Edwardes and calls the youngest brother a little dwarf.

The three animal encounters prepare the three tasks: creatures the brothers first see as obstacles or resources later supply exactly the abilities the youngest needs. The story gives those small lives a role in undoing a much larger enchantment.

Read the original: Grimms’ Fairy Tales, tr. Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes (Project Gutenberg #2591, The Queen Bee)

Best for ages 6–8 with an adult — includes threats to animals and people temporarily turned to stone, followed by rescue.

Reading the story closely

The youngest does not receive the same kind of help three times. The ants solve a problem of numbers, the ducks a problem of access, and the bee a problem of identification. His kindness matters before he knows any reward will follow, while his later success depends on abilities he does not possess himself.

Match each task to its helper and explain why swapping the helpers would fail. Then notice who is restored at the end: even the brothers who mocked him benefit. The ending values cooperation and mercy; it should not be turned into a promise that every kind act will earn wealth or marriage.

Talk about it

• What did the older brothers want to do to the ants, the ducks and the bees?
• Why do you think the youngest brother protected the animals, even when his brothers laughed at him?
• Which task would have been impossible without the animals’ help? Explain why.

Related stories

• The White Snake — a Grimm servant who helps fish, ants and ravens and is helped in return
• The Three Languages — a Grimm youth who understands animals and is rewarded for listening
• The Golden Goose — a kind youngest Grimm son whose brothers think him simple