Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a king with a very special son who loved to go hunting every day. One day, the queen, his mom, told him, “You can hunt anywhere you like on these three sides of the kingdom, but you must never, ever go to the fourth side!” She said this because she knew that if he went to that fourth side, he would hear about the amazing Princess Labam. And if he did, he would want to leave his parents and go find her.

The young prince listened to his mom and obeyed her for a while. But one sunny day, while he was hunting on the three sides where he was allowed, he couldn’t stop thinking about what his mom had said about that fourth side. He decided he just had to go see what was so special about it! So, he went to the fourth side. He found himself in a thick jungle, filled with lots and lots of colorful parrots! The prince tried to shoot some with his bow and arrow, but they all zoomed up into the sky! Well, almost all. One parrot stayed behind, and it was their leader, a parrot named Hiraman.

When Hiraman Parrot realized he was all alone, he shouted to the other parrots, “Don’t fly away and leave me when the prince tries to shoot us! If you leave me like this, I’m going to tell Princess Labam!”

Then, the parrots all flew back to their leader, chattering and squawking. The prince was super surprised! “Wow, these birds can talk!” he said. Then, he asked the parrots, “Who is Princess Labam? And where does she live?” But the parrots wouldn’t tell him where she lived. “You can never, ever reach Princess Labam’s country!” That’s all they would say.

The prince got really sad when they wouldn’t tell him anything more. He threw his bow and arrow down on the ground and went home. When he got home, he didn’t want to talk or eat. He just lay in his bed for days, looking very sick.

Finally, he told his mom and dad that he wanted to go see Princess Labam. “I have to go!” he said. “I have to see what she’s like! Please, tell me where her country is!”

“We don’t know where it is,” his mom and dad said sadly.

“Then I have to go look for it!” said the prince.

“No, no!” they cried. “You can’t leave us! You’re our only son! Please stay with us. You’ll never find Princess Labam!”

“I have to try!” said the prince. “Maybe God will show me the way. If I find her, I promise I’ll come back to you. But maybe I won’t find her and I will never see you again. But I still must go.”

So, they had to let him go, even though they cried a lot when they said goodbye. His dad gave him fancy clothes to wear and a strong, beautiful horse to ride. The prince packed his bow and arrows, and a bunch of other weapons, “Just in case!” he said. His dad also gave him lots of money.

Then, the prince got his horse ready and said goodbye to his mom and dad. His mom took her handkerchief and wrapped some yummy candies in it, and gave it to her son. “My dear child,” she said, “Whenever you’re hungry, eat some of these candies!”

He started his journey, riding on and on until he came to a jungle with a sparkling pond and shady trees. He gave himself and his horse a bath in the pond, and then sat down under a tree. “Now,” he thought, “I’ll eat some of the candies my mom gave me, drink some water, and then keep going!” He opened his handkerchief and took out a candy. Eww! There was an ant in it! He took out another one. There was an ant in that one too! So, he laid the two candies on the ground and took out another, and another, and another, until he had taken them all out. But in each one, he found an ant! “That’s okay,” he said. “I won’t eat the candies. The ants can have them!” Then, the Ant-King came and stood in front of him and said, “You have been so kind to us. If you ever need help, just think of me, and we’ll come to you!”

The prince thanked him, hopped on his horse, and continued his journey. He rode on and on until he came to another jungle, and there he saw a big tiger who had a thorn stuck in his foot! The tiger was roaring super loud because it hurt so much.

“Why are you roaring like that?” asked the young prince. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve had this thorn in my foot for twelve whole years!” answered the tiger. “It hurts so bad, that’s why I’m roaring!”

“Well,” said the prince, “I’ll take it out for you. But maybe, because you’re a tiger, you’ll try to eat me after I help you?”

“Oh, no!” said the tiger. “I won’t eat you! Please, please help me!”

Then, the prince took a little knife from his pocket and carefully cut the thorn out of the tiger’s foot. But when he cut it, the tiger roared even louder than before! It was so loud that his wife heard him in the next jungle and came running to see what was happening. The tiger saw her coming and quickly hid the prince in the bushes so she wouldn’t see him.

“What man hurt you so badly that you roared so loud?” asked the tiger’s wife.

“No one hurt me,” answered the tiger. “But a prince came along and took the thorn out of my foot!”

“Where is he? Show him to me!” said his wife.

“If you promise not to hurt him, I’ll call him!” said the tiger.

“I won’t hurt him! I just want to see him!” answered his wife.

Then, the tiger called the prince, and when he came out of the bushes, the tiger and his wife bowed down to him many times! They gave him a yummy dinner, and he stayed with them for three days. Every day, he looked at the tiger’s foot, and by the third day, it was all healed! Then, he said goodbye to the tigers, and the tiger said to him, “If you ever need help, just think of me, and we’ll come to you!”

The prince rode on and on until he came to a third jungle. Here, he found four wise men, called fakirs, who were arguing over four special things that their teacher had left them when he died. There was a magical bed that could fly whoever sat on it wherever they wanted to go! There was a magic bag that could give its owner anything they wanted, like jewels, yummy food, or beautiful clothes! There was a stone bowl that could give its owner as much water as they wanted, no matter how far they were from a river or lake! And there was a special stick and rope. If anyone tried to hurt its owner, all they had to say was, “Stick, beat all the bad guys here!” and the stick would beat them, and the rope would tie them up!

The four fakirs were all fighting over these amazing things. One said, “I want this!” and another said, “You can’t have it! I want it!” and so on.

The prince said to them, “Don’t fight over these things. I’ll shoot four arrows in four different directions. Whoever gets to my first arrow first, can have the bed! Whoever gets to the second arrow first, can have the bag! Whoever gets to the third arrow first, can have the bowl! And whoever gets to the fourth arrow first, can have the stick and rope!” They all agreed to this, and the prince shot off his first arrow. Away raced the fakirs to get it! When they brought it back to him, he shot off the second arrow. When they had found it and brought it to him, he shot off his third arrow. And when they had brought him the third arrow, he shot off the fourth!

While they were all busy looking for the fourth arrow, the prince let his horse run free in the jungle. Then, he quickly sat on the magic bed, took the bowl, the stick and rope, and the bag with him. Then, he said, “Bed, I wish to go to Princess Labam’s country!” The little bed instantly rose up into the air and began to fly! It flew and flew until it came to Princess Labam’s country, where it gently landed on the ground. The prince asked some people he saw, “What country is this?”

“This is Princess Labam’s country!” they answered. Then, the prince went on until he came to a small house where he saw an old woman.

“Who are you?” she said. “Where do you come from?”

“I come from a far, far away land,” he said. “Please, can I stay with you tonight?”

“No,” she answered. “I can’t let you stay with me. Our king has ordered that people from other countries can’t stay here. You can’t stay in my house!”

“But you’re like my aunt!” said the prince. “Please let me stay with you for just one night. It’s getting dark, and if I go into the jungle, the wild animals might eat me!”

“Well,” said the old woman, “you can stay here tonight. But tomorrow morning, you have to leave, because if the king hears that you spent the night in my house, he’ll throw me in jail!”

Then, she took him into her house, and the prince was very happy. The old woman started getting dinner ready, but he stopped her. “Aunt,” he said, “I’ll get us some food!” He put his hand into his bag, saying, “Bag, I want some dinner!” and the bag instantly gave him a yummy dinner, served on two shiny gold plates! The old woman and the prince ate dinner together.

When they had finished eating, the old woman said, “Now I’ll go get some water.”

“Don’t go!” said the prince. “You can have plenty of water right here!” So, he took his bowl and said to it, “Bowl, I want some water!” and it filled up with cool, clear water! When it was full, the prince cried out, “Stop, bowl!” and the bowl stopped filling. “See, Aunt,” he said, “with this bowl, I can always get as much water as I want!”

By this time, it was nighttime. “Aunt,” said the prince, “why don’t you light a lamp?”

“There’s no need,” she said. “Our king has forbidden everyone in the country from lighting any lamps. As soon as it gets dark, his daughter, Princess Labam, comes and sits on the roof of her palace. She shines so brightly that she lights up the whole country and all our houses, and we can see to do our work as if it were daytime!”

When it was completely dark, the princess got up. She put on her beautiful clothes and sparkly jewels, and fixed her hair. She put a band of diamonds and pearls across her head. Then, she shone like the moon, and her beauty made the night seem like day! She came out of her room and sat on the roof of her palace. During the day, she never came out of her house. She only came out at night. All the people in her father’s country then went about their work and finished it.

The prince watched the princess quietly and was very happy. He said to himself, “She is so beautiful!”

At midnight, when everyone had gone to bed, the princess came down from the roof and went to her room. When she was in bed and asleep, the prince got up quietly and sat on his magic bed. “Bed,” he said to it, “I want to go to Princess Labam’s bedroom!” So, the little bed carried him to the room where she lay fast asleep.

The young prince took his magic bag and said, “I want a lot of betel-leaf!” and the bag instantly gave him piles of betel-leaf. He carefully laid it near the princess’s bed. Then, his little bed carried him back to the old woman’s house.

The next morning, all the princess’s servants found the betel-leaf and began to eat it. “Where did you get all that betel-leaf?” asked the princess.

“We found it near your bed!” answered the servants. Nobody knew that the prince had come in the night and put it there.

In the morning, the old woman came to the prince. “Now it’s morning,” she said, “and you have to go. If the king finds out what I’ve done for you, he’ll throw me in jail!”

“I’m feeling sick today, dear Aunt,” said the prince. “Please, can I stay until tomorrow morning?”

“Okay,” said the old woman. So, he stayed, and they got their dinner out of the magic bag, and the magic bowl gave them water.

When night came, the princess got up and sat on her roof. At twelve o’clock, when everyone was in bed, she went to her bedroom and was soon fast asleep. Then, the prince sat on his bed, and it carried him to the princess. He took his bag and said, “Bag, I want a most beautiful shawl!” It gave him a wonderful shawl, and he gently spread it over the princess as she lay asleep. Then, he went back to the old woman’s house and slept until morning.

In the morning, when the princess saw the shawl, she was so happy! “Look, Mother!” she said. “God must have given me this shawl! It’s so beautiful!” Her mother was very happy too.

“Yes, my child,” she said. “God must have given you this amazing shawl!”

When it was morning, the old woman said to the prince, “Now you really have to go!”

“Aunt,” he answered, “I’m still not feeling well enough yet. Let me stay a few more days. I’ll stay hidden in your house so that no one will see me!” So, the old woman let him stay.

When it was dark night, the princess put on her lovely clothes and jewels and sat on her roof. At midnight, she went to her room and went to sleep. Then, the prince sat on his bed and flew to her bedroom. There, he said to his bag, “Bag, I want a very, very beautiful ring!” The bag gave him a sparkly, glorious ring! Then, he gently took Princess Labam’s hand to put on the ring, and she woke up with a start, very surprised!

“Who are you?” she said to the prince. “Where do you come from? Why are you here in my room?”

“Don’t be afraid, Princess,” he said. “I’m not a thief. I’m the son of a great king. Hiraman Parrot, who lives in the jungle where I went to hunt, told me about you. That’s why I left my mom and dad and came to see you!”

“Well,” said the princess, “since you’re the son of such a great king, I won’t have you hurt. I’m going to tell my mom and dad that I want to marry you!”

The prince then returned to the old woman’s house. When morning came, the princess said to her mother, “The son of a great king has come to this country, and I want to marry him!” Her mother told this to the king.

“Good,” said the king. “But if this prince wants to marry my daughter, he has to do whatever I tell him to do first. If he can’t, I’ll have him killed! I’ll give him eighty pounds of mustard seeds, and he has to squeeze all the oil out of them in just one day. If he can’t do it, he’ll die!”

In the morning, the prince told the old woman that he wanted to marry the princess. “Oh!” said the old woman. “Please, leave this country, and don’t even think about marrying her! So many princes and kings have come here to marry her, and her father has had them all killed! He says that anyone who wants to marry his daughter has to do whatever he tells them to do first. If they can, then they can marry the princess. But if they can’t, the king will have them killed! But no one can ever do the things the king asks them to do, so all the princes and kings who have tried have been put to death. You’ll be killed too if you try! Please, just go away!” But the prince wouldn’t listen to her.

The king sent his servants to bring the prince from the old woman’s house to the king’s palace. There, the king gave him eighty pounds of mustard seeds and told him to squeeze all the oil out of them that day, and bring the oil to him at the palace the next morning. “Anyone who wants to marry my daughter,” he said to the prince, “has to do everything I tell him to do first. If he can’t, then I have him killed. So if you can’t squeeze all the oil out of these mustard seeds, you will die!”

The prince felt very sad when he heard this. “How can I possibly squeeze all the oil out of these mustard seeds in just one day?” he thought to himself. “And if I don’t, the king will kill me!” He took the mustard seeds to the old woman’s house and didn’t know what to do. Finally, he remembered the Ant-King! And the moment he thought of him, the Ant-King and all his ants came to him! “Why do you look so sad?” said the Ant-King.

The prince showed him the mustard seeds and said, “How can I possibly squeeze all the oil out of these mustard seeds in just one day? And if I don’t take the oil to the king tomorrow morning, he’ll kill me!”

“Don’t worry,” said the Ant-King. “Just lie down and sleep. We’ll squeeze all the oil out for you during the day, and tomorrow morning you can take it to the king!” The prince lay down and slept, and the ants squeezed out all the oil for him! The prince was very happy when he saw the oil.

The next morning, he took it to the palace to show the king. But the king said, “You can’t marry my daughter yet. If you want to marry her, you have to fight my two demons and defeat them first!” A long time ago, the king had captured two scary demons. He didn’t know what to do with them, so he locked them up in a cage. He was afraid to let them go because he worried they would eat all the people in his country! And he didn’t know how to get rid of them. So, all the princes and kings who wanted to marry Princess Labam had to fight these demons! “Maybe the demons will finally get defeated, and then I’ll be rid of them!” the king thought to himself.

When he heard about the demons, the prince was very sad. “What can I do?” he thought. “How can I fight with those two demons?” Then, he remembered the tiger! And the tiger and his wife came to him and said, “Why are you so sad?” The prince answered, “The king has ordered me to fight his two demons and defeat them! How can I do that?” “Don’t be scared,” said the tiger. “Don’t worry. My wife and I will fight them for you!”

Then, the prince took two sparkly coats out of his magic bag. They were made of gold and silver and were covered with pearls and diamonds! He put them on the tigers to make them even more beautiful! Then, he took them to the king and said, “Can these tigers fight your demons for me?” “Yes,” said the king, who didn’t care at all who defeated his demons, as long as they were defeated. “Then call your demons,” said the prince, “and these tigers will fight them!” The king did, and the tigers and the demons fought and fought until the tigers defeated the demons.

“That’s good,” said the king. “But you have to do one more thing before I give you my daughter. Up in the sky, I have a giant drum. You have to go up there and beat it! If you can’t do this, I’ll kill you!”

The prince thought of his little magic bed. So, he went back to the old woman’s house and sat on his bed. “Little bed,” he said, “up in the sky is the king’s giant drum. I want to go to it!” The bed flew up with him, and the prince beat the drum, and the king heard him! Still, when he came down, the king wouldn’t give him his daughter. “You’ve done the three things I asked you to do,” he said to the prince. “But you have to do one more thing!” “If I can, I will!” said the prince.

Then, the king showed him the trunk of a tree that was lying near his palace. It was a very, very thick trunk. He gave the prince a hatchet made of wax and said, “Tomorrow morning, you have to cut this trunk in half with this wax hatchet!”

The prince went back to the old woman’s house. He was very sad and thought that the king would definitely kill him now. “The ants squeezed out the oil. The tigers defeated the demons. My magic bed helped me beat the drum. But now what can I do? How can I cut that thick tree trunk in half with a hatchet made of wax?”

At night, he went on his magic bed to see the princess. “Tomorrow,” he said to her, “your father will kill me!” “Why?” asked the princess.

“He has told me to cut a thick tree trunk in half with a wax hatchet! How can I ever do that?” said the prince. “Don’t be afraid,” said the princess. “Just do what I tell you, and you’ll cut it in half very easily!”

Then, she pulled a hair from her head and gave it to the prince. “Tomorrow,” she said, “when no one is around, you have to say to the tree trunk, ‘Princess Labam commands you to let yourself be cut in two by this hair!’ Then, stretch the hair down the edge of the wax hatchet!”

The prince did exactly as the princess had told him. The moment the hair that was stretched down the edge of the hatchet touched the tree trunk, it split into two pieces!

The king said, “Now you can marry my daughter!” Then, the wedding took place! All the kings and queens of the nearby countries were invited to come to it, and there were big celebrations! After a few days, the prince said to his wife, “Let’s go to my father’s country!” Princess Labam’s father gave them lots of camels and horses and money and servants, and they traveled in style to the prince’s country, where they lived happily ever after!

The prince always kept his magic bag, bowl, bed, and stick. But since no one ever tried to hurt him, he never needed to use the stick.