Imagine a boy who wasn't scared of anything. Not spiders, not the dark, not even spooky stories! His older brother was clever and brave in ordinary ways, but this younger boy, well, he just didn't understand what it meant to be scared. His father would often sigh and say, "Oh, my son, if only you could learn to shiver! It worries me that you don't know fear."

The boy would reply, "Shiver? What's that? I really want to learn how to shiver!"

So, his father, hoping to help, sent him to the village sexton, the man who looked after the church. "Maybe he can teach you," the father said.
The sexton thought, "I have an idea!" That night, he dressed up in a white sheet, hid in the church tower, and when the boy came by at midnight, the sexton rang the bell and moaned, "Wooooo! Who goes there?"
The boy, not at all scared, called out, "Who are you? What are you doing up there making all that noise?"
The "ghost" moaned again.
"If you don't tell me who you are, I'll come up and push you down!" shouted the boy.
When the sexton didn't answer, the boy climbed the stairs, saw the figure in the sheet, and said, "Oh, it's just you! What are you doing?" And he gave the sexton a little push. The sexton tumbled down the stairs, a bit bumped but okay. The boy went home, still not knowing how to shiver.

He decided he needed a bigger adventure. He heard tales of a haunted castle. The King who owned it promised, "Anyone who can spend three nights in that castle and break its curse can marry my daughter, the Princess!" Many brave knights had tried, but they all ran out screaming before the first night was over.
"Perfect!" thought the boy. "Maybe I'll learn to shiver there!"
The King was pleased someone else was willing to try. He told the boy he could take three things into the castle each night. For the first night, the boy asked for a fire, a workbench, and a carving knife.

As he sat by his warm fire in the huge, dark hall, two enormous black cats with fiery eyes appeared. "Meeeow! Shall we play a game of cards?" they hissed.
"Why not?" said the boy. "But let me see your paws." Their claws were very long and sharp. "Hmm," said the boy, and he cleverly used his tools to gently trap their paws on the workbench so they couldn't scratch. "Now we can play."
Suddenly, more black cats and strange dogs with glowing eyes rushed out from dark corners, howling and hissing. The boy grabbed a leg from a broken chair. "Get back!" he shouted, waving it around until they all scattered and vanished.
Later, his bed started to move and dance around the room all by itself. "Whee!" said the boy, finding it rather fun, and he soon fell fast asleep.
In the morning, the King was amazed to see him. "Well?" asked the King.
"It was interesting," said the boy, "but I still didn't shiver."

For the second night, the boy again asked for a fire. As he sat there, PLOP! Half a man fell down the chimney. Then another half, and another, until many halves were there. They started to put themselves together, forming whole, ghostly men. Then, they brought out nine human skulls and two leg bones and started playing skittles (like bowling)!
"Can I join?" asked the boy.
"If you can make the skulls rounder!" one of them rasped.
So the boy took out his carving knife and made the skulls into better bowling balls. He played skittles with them all night and had a grand time.
In the morning, he told the King, "Lots of fun last night! But still no shivers."

For the third night, the boy was feeling quite hopeful. This time, a huge, very old man with a long, white beard came into the room. He carried a massive iron axe. "Aha!" boomed the old man. "You are brave, but no one can beat me!" He swung the axe and chopped a log in one go.
Then he led the boy to an anvil, a big iron block. "Let's see you do this!" he said, and with one mighty blow of a hammer, he split the anvil, but his long beard got caught in the crack!
"Help me! Get me out!" cried the old man.
"Only if you show me the treasure of this castle," said the boy.
The old man, trapped, had to agree. The boy freed him, and the old man showed him three chests full of gold, silver, and sparkling jewels.
In the morning, the King was overjoyed. "You've done it! You've broken the curse! You shall marry my daughter!"
"That's very nice," said the boy, "but I still haven't learned to shiver!"

So, he married the Princess. She was a kind and clever young woman. She noticed her husband was still trying to learn to shiver. One morning, while he was fast asleep, she had an idea. She tiptoed to the stream, filled a bucket with cold water and lots of little, wriggly fish.
Then, she crept back into their room and SPLASH! She poured the whole bucket over him.
The boy leaped out of bed, cold water and slippery fish all over him. "Brrrr! Ooooh! I'm shivering! I'm shivering!" he cried out, shaking from head to toe. "Oh, Princess, thank you! Now I finally know what it feels like to shiver!"
And from that day on, the boy who went out to learn what fear was lived happily, and though he was still very brave, he finally understood what it meant to shiver.

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