There was a young man, not so long ago, who had a heart full of adventure but not much money in his pockets. "I know!" he thought one sunny morning, "I'll go be a soldier for the king!"

The king was very pleased. "If you fight bravely and come back safe," he boomed, "you can marry my daughter, the princess! And when I'm an old, old king, you'll be the new king!"

So, the young man went to war. He was so brave, the enemies often just packed their bags and went home when they heard he was coming! (Well, almost.) He returned a hero, and just as promised, he married the beautiful princess. They had a grand wedding with cake so tall it nearly touched the ceiling.

Now, this princess was lovely, but she had a very peculiar wish. "My dearest husband," she said, "if I should ever, ever pass away, you must promise to be buried with me. And if you pass away first, I shall be buried with you."
"That's... a very serious promise," said the young man, a little nervously, but he loved her, so he agreed.

Not long after, the princess became very ill. The doctors shook their heads sadly, and one day, she closed her eyes and didn't wake up. The young man was heartbroken. But a promise was a promise. So, when the princess was placed in a dark, quiet tomb, the young man was locked in there with her, with just a little food and water. It was very gloomy.

Suddenly, he saw something slither in the corner. A snake! "Eek!" he thought, and not knowing what else to do, he took his sword and chopped the snake into three pieces.
A little while later, another snake poked its head into the tomb. It saw its friend in pieces and looked very sad. Then, it slithered away and came back holding three bright green leaves in its mouth. It carefully placed one leaf on each piece of the chopped-up snake. Wiggle, wiggle, pop! The first snake was whole again, and the two snakes scurried away together.

"Wow!" thought the young man. "Those leaves are magic!" He picked up the three green leaves. He looked at his dear princess. "Could it work?" he wondered.
He gently placed one leaf on her eyes, and one on her lips. He wasn't sure where the third one went, so he just sort of waved it over her heart.
Slowly, a little color came back to her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open. "Yawn! Where am I?" she asked.
The young man was overjoyed! He helped her up, and they banged on the tomb door until the guards came running. "She's alive! She's alive!" everyone shouted. There was much rejoicing!

They sailed back to the old king, who was thrilled to see his daughter again. But as they sailed, something strange happened. The princess, who had been so loving, started to act a bit cold towards the young man. She spent a lot of time talking to the ship's captain, who was tall and had a very twirly mustache.
One night, while the young man was looking at the stars, the princess and the captain tiptoed up behind him. "Heave ho!" they whispered, and SPLASH! They pushed him into the dark, cold sea. "Oops, what a clumsy fellow," said the captain, winking at the princess.

But wait! A faithful servant of the young man had seen everything from a small boat nearby. He quickly rowed to where his master had fallen. He pulled the young man, sputtering and shivering, from the water. "Oh, master!" cried the servant. "Are you alright?"
The young man coughed. "The... leaves..." he gasped, remembering the magic snake leaves still tucked in his pocket. The servant carefully placed the leaves on him, just as the young man had done for the princess. And poof! He felt strong and warm again.

They rowed quickly and secretly back to the old king's castle. The young man told his father-in-law everything that had happened. The old king was very, very angry. "How dare they!" he roared.
He ordered the princess and the wicked captain to be put on a ship with lots of holes in it. They sailed away and, well, let's just say they didn't make it to any dry land.

The brave young man, who was now a king, ruled wisely and kindly for many years. And he always kept those three green snake leaves in a special box, just in case. But mostly, he just lived happily, and always remembered to be kind to snakes.

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