In a cozy little kingdom, a king had three sons. The two older sons thought they were very clever. The youngest son didn't say much, so everyone called him Simpleton.

One day, the two older brothers decided to go out into the world to find their fortune. "You stay here, Simpleton," they said. "You'll only get in the way." But Simpleton wanted an adventure too, so after they left, he followed them.

Soon, the brothers came to an anthill. "Look!" said the first brother. "Let's poke it with a stick and watch the ants run around!"
"Yes, let's stir them up!" said the second brother.
But Simpleton said, "Please, leave the little ants alone. I don't like to see them scared." So, they left the ants in peace.

A little later, they came to a lake where some ducks were swimming. "Aha!" said the first brother. "Let's catch a couple of those ducks!"
"Good idea! We can have them for dinner!" said the second.
But Simpleton said, "Please, leave the pretty ducks alone. They look so happy swimming there." So, they left the ducks in peace.

After a while, they found a big tree with a beehive in it, full of honey. "Perfect!" said the first brother. "Let's make a fire under the tree. The smoke will drive the bees out, and we can get all their honey!"
"Yes, all that sweet honey!" said the second.
But Simpleton said, "Please, don't hurt the bees. If you burn them or smoke them out, where will they go?" So, they left the bees in peace.

Finally, the three brothers arrived at a castle. But it was a strange, quiet castle. Everything seemed to be asleep, even the horses in the stable. They walked through many empty rooms until they found a little gray man sitting at a table.

The little gray man didn't say hello. He just pointed to three tasks written on a stone tablet. If they could do these tasks, the castle would wake up.

The first task was to find one thousand pearls belonging to the princess. These pearls were scattered in the forest moss, and they had to be found before sunset. If even one was missing, the person who tried would be turned to stone.

The first brother tried. He looked and looked, but by lunchtime, he had only found a hundred pearls. He knew he couldn't do it. And poof! He turned to stone.
The second brother tried. He searched even harder, but he only found two hundred. And poof! He, too, turned to stone.

Now it was Simpleton's turn. He felt very sad looking at his stone brothers. He went to the moss and started to search, but it seemed impossible. He sat down and began to cry.
Just then, who should come marching along but the King of the Ants, the one whose anthill he had saved! With him came five thousand ants. In no time at all, the little ants found every single pearl and piled them up in a neat heap. The first task was done!

The little gray man showed Simpleton the second task: to get the key to the princess's bedroom from the bottom of the lake.
Simpleton went to the lake and wondered how he could ever reach the bottom. As he stood there, the ducks he had saved swam up to him. They dived down into the water, and soon, one of them came back up with the shiny key in its beak! The second task was done!

Now for the third task, the hardest of all. In a room, three princesses were sleeping. They all looked exactly alike. Simpleton had to choose which one was the youngest and sweetest. The only clue the little gray man gave was that before they fell asleep, one had eaten a spoonful of honey, one had drunk some sweet syrup, and one had eaten a piece of sugar.

Simpleton looked at the three sleeping princesses. They were all beautiful. How could he choose?
Suddenly, a bee flew in through the window – it was the Queen Bee from the hive he had protected! She flew to each princess. Then, she landed gently on the lips of one of them. This princess had eaten the honey!
"This is the one!" said Simpleton.

Instantly, the castle woke up! The horses neighed, the birds sang, and people started moving about. The two stone brothers turned back into themselves, though they felt a bit silly.
Simpleton had chosen the right princess! She woke up, smiled at him, and everyone was very happy.

Simpleton married the youngest, sweetest princess, and when the old king passed away, Simpleton became the king of that land. And because he was always kind to creatures big and small, he ruled wisely and well for many, many years. His two older brothers learned that sometimes, being kind is much cleverer than trying to be clever.

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