The White Snake (Grimm)
Short summary
A king's servant discovered his master's secret: eating white snake meat granted the power to understand animal speech.
When the queen's ring went missing, the servant was accused. Using his new ability, he overheard ducks discussing the swallowed ring and proved his innocence. He left the palace to travel the world, helping three fish, an ant colony, and three starving ravens along his journey.
Arriving at a city, he fell in love with the king's daughter and accepted three impossible tasks to win her hand. The grateful fish retrieved a golden ring from the sea, the ants gathered ten sacks of millet seeds overnight, and finally the ravens brought him the golden apple.
We are the three young ravens whom you saved from starving... we flew over the sea to the end of the world, where the Tree of Life stands, and have brought you the apple.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The kings mysterious dish and the servants discovery
Long ago there lived a wise king who was renowned throughout the land for his knowledge of even the most secret matters. Every day after dinner, when the table was cleared and no one else remained, he had a strange custom of eating from a covered dish that only a trusted servant brought to him.
One day, overcome with curiosity, the servant carried the dish to his room and lifted the cover, discovering a white snake lying inside. Unable to resist, he cut off a small piece and tasted it.
No sooner had it touched his tongue than he heard a strange whispering of little voices outside his window... Eating the snake had given him power of understanding the language of animals.
The theft of the queens ring and the servants vindication
That same day, the queen lost her most beautiful ring, and suspicion fell upon the trusted servant who had access to all areas of the palace.
The king threatened the servant with execution unless he could identify the real thief by the next day. In his despair, the servant went to the courtyard where he overheard ducks talking by a brook. One duck complained of something heavy in her stomach, confessing she had hastily swallowed a ring while eating under the queen's window.
The servant seized the duck and brought it to the cook, who prepared it for roasting and discovered the queen's ring inside.
With his innocence proven, the king offered the servant any reward he desired. The servant refused wealth and position, asking only for a horse and traveling money to see the world.
The servants journey and his good deeds to animals
Setting out on his journey, the servant came to a pond where he found three fishes trapped in reeds and gasping for water. Though fishes were said to be mute, he heard them lamenting their fate. With a kind heart, he dismounted and returned them to the water.
They quivered with delight, put out their heads, and cried to him, 'We will remember you and repay you for saving us!' ...the ant-king cried out to him, 'We will remember you—one good turn deserves another!'
Continuing his journey, the servant heard a voice from the sand complaining about his horse's heavy hoofs trampling ant people. He quickly turned onto a side path to avoid further harm.
In a wood, he encountered two old ravens throwing their young from the nest, declaring they could no longer feed them. The helpless young ravens lay on the ground, unable to fly yet expected to fend for themselves.
So the good young fellow alighted and killed his horse with his sword, and gave it to them for food... 'We will remember you—one good turn deserves another!'
Now forced to travel on foot, the servant eventually reached a large city where crowds gathered in the streets. A herald announced that the king's daughter sought a husband, but suitors faced a deadly challenge.
The first task: retrieving the ring from the sea
Despite the danger, the servant was overcome by the princess's beauty and declared himself a suitor.
If you come up again without it you will be thrown in again and again until you perish amid the waves... All the people grieved for the handsome youth; then they went away, leaving him alone by the sea.
As he stood contemplating his fate, the three fishes he had saved swam toward him. One carried a mussel containing the golden ring, fulfilling their promise to repay his kindness.
The second task: collecting the millet seeds
The proud princess, scorning his humble birth, demanded another task. She scattered ten sacks of millet seeds across the garden, requiring them to be collected by sunrise with not a single grain missing. The seemingly impossible task left the servant despairing until dawn revealed all sacks filled completely.
The ant-king had come in the night with thousands and thousands of ants, and the grateful creatures had by great industry picked up all the millet-seed and gathered them into the sacks.
The third task: obtaining the apple from the Tree of Life and the happy ending
Still refusing him, the princess demanded an apple from the Tree of Life. The servant wandered through three kingdoms until the three ravens he had fed brought him the golden apple from the world's end. With no more excuses left, the princess accepted him.
They cut the Apple of Life in two and ate it together; and then her heart became full of love for him, and they lived in undisturbed happiness to a great age.